What do you think?
Rate this book
The Shenzhen Experiment: The Story of China’s Instant City
An award-winning Hong Kong–based architect with decades of experience designing buildings and planning cities in the People’s Republic of China takes us to the Pearl River delta and into the heart of China’s iconic Special Economic Zone, Shenzhen.
Shenzhen is ground zero for the economic transformation China has seen in recent decades. In 1979, driven by China’s widespread poverty, Deng Xiaoping supported a bold proposal to experiment with economic policies in a rural borderland next to Hong Kong. The site was designated as the City of Shenzhen and soon after became China’s first Special Economic Zone (SEZ). Four decades later, Shenzhen is a megacity of twenty million, an internationally recognized digital technology hub, and the world’s most successful economic zone. Some see it as a modern miracle city that seemingly came from nowhere, attributing its success solely to centralized planning and Shenzhen’s proximity to Hong Kong. The Chinese government has built hundreds of new towns using the Shenzhen model, yet none has come close to replicating the city’s level of economic success.
But is it true that Shenzhen has no meaningful history? That the city was planned on a tabula rasa? That the region’s rural past has had no significant impact on the urban present? Juan Du unravels the myth of Shenzhen and shows us how this world-famous “instant city” has a surprising history―filled with oyster fishermen, villages that remain encased within city blocks, a secret informal housing system―and how it has been catapulted to success as much by the ingenuity of its original farmers as by Beijing’s policy makers. The Shenzhen Experiment is an important story for all rapidly urbanizing and industrializing nations around the world seeking to replicate China’s economic success in the twenty-first century.
Shenzhen is ground zero for the economic transformation China has seen in recent decades. In 1979, driven by China’s widespread poverty, Deng Xiaoping supported a bold proposal to experiment with economic policies in a rural borderland next to Hong Kong. The site was designated as the City of Shenzhen and soon after became China’s first Special Economic Zone (SEZ). Four decades later, Shenzhen is a megacity of twenty million, an internationally recognized digital technology hub, and the world’s most successful economic zone. Some see it as a modern miracle city that seemingly came from nowhere, attributing its success solely to centralized planning and Shenzhen’s proximity to Hong Kong. The Chinese government has built hundreds of new towns using the Shenzhen model, yet none has come close to replicating the city’s level of economic success.
But is it true that Shenzhen has no meaningful history? That the city was planned on a tabula rasa? That the region’s rural past has had no significant impact on the urban present? Juan Du unravels the myth of Shenzhen and shows us how this world-famous “instant city” has a surprising history―filled with oyster fishermen, villages that remain encased within city blocks, a secret informal housing system―and how it has been catapulted to success as much by the ingenuity of its original farmers as by Beijing’s policy makers. The Shenzhen Experiment is an important story for all rapidly urbanizing and industrializing nations around the world seeking to replicate China’s economic success in the twenty-first century.
384 pages, Hardcover
Published January 7, 2020
24 people are currently reading
404 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
January 21, 2020
Amazing details and so much fascinating background. I’ve been to Shenzhen more times than I can count and didn’t know most of its background.
Read
September 30, 2025Clear, compelling, well written and well structured account of the many layers of experiences that contributed to the emergence of Shenzhen as an urban metropolis. Cities are designed to be lived in, and in turn, city designers/planners/managers are trained by residents who work, live, and grow up with the spaces they choose to inhabit over time. The thesis that the Shenzhen Experiment is both the product of "self-motivated village entities" which sprouted from a particular cultural soil (i.e., Shenzhen was chosen as a SEZ because of its unique location and geography) as well as the concerted effort of leadership at all levels of government and the private sector, is a welcome addition to the corpus of English literature explaining the "instant" rise of China's megacities. Especially clarifying is the use of a series of lens, neatly tucked together like a pocket magnifier, which allows the author to zoom seamlessly between frames of reference reaching back into history to guide readers on a curated tour of Shenzhen in the present day. While there are many themes enjoyable for any reader interested in modern China (e.g., books such as The Myth of Chinese Capitalism) or urban studies (e.g., books such as Seeing Like a State), this book is also very enjoyable as a standalone read on a fascinating city/region in the world's most dynamic continent.
January 15, 2022
I enjoyed this easy-to-read book and found it both informative and a quick read. I liked how it was written through the eyes and experiences of individuals who played a role in Shenzhen's development, economic and population growth and overall success. I highly recommend the book and here is why...
The Shenzhen Experiment: The Story of China's Instant City is much more than the typical "rags to riches" story most people envision when hearing about Shenzhen's extraordinary economic success and growth as a Special Economic Zone (SEZ).
The Shenzhen SEZ was the first initiative of China's Reform and Opening Up Policy under Deng Xiaoping from 1979 to 1989. Deng's humble objective was not for China to be rich and powerful but to not be poor. At the time, China suffered deep and widespread poverty. Deng's goal: introduce SEZs and market reforms (open markets) in an attempt to experiment with possible economic reforms in an effort to alleviate poverty and improve quality of life. As a result of his self-proclaimed "critical experiment," Deng lifted millions out of poverty and ultimately transformed and catapulted China onto the world stage. Despite popular opinion, however, he and the Chinese Central Government didn't do it alone.
Juan Du points out in her book that no other SEZ has been able to match Shenzhen's economic success. She attributes this to the fact that Shenzhen, a complex and unique city, has a variety of specific features that have contributed to its meteoric growth. In particular, Shenzhen's local, decentralized governance, its bottom-up responsiveness, local negotiations and practices, local geography, history, and culture (before 1979) are all factors that were just as essential to the mega city's evolution and success as the national Chinese Central Government's economic policies and plans.
As a result of Shenzhen's extraordinary economic success, the city was viewed as a land of opportunity. There was mass rural migration to the SEZ, and Shenzhen experienced immense population growth. By 2000, 20 million people lived in the Shenzhen SEZ. Despite Urban Villages having a negative stereotype (through 2016) because they didn't fit into the image of a well-planned city, the 300 urban villages - aka, peasant houses and villages in the city (6-7 floor "towers" & "nail houses") supplied half of the residential floor area, and provided affordable housing to its growing population. Additionally, within these communities, township and village enterprises (TVE) sprouted and became the industrial engine of Shenzhen's economy during the SEZ's first decade.
These challenges offered new perspectives on collaborative governance, inclusive community, flexible planning, the rural urban continuum; and brought about many government supported reforms. Shenzhen's story is a fascinating success story and I'd love to see it replicated, however, to date, no other SEZ has been as successful as Shenzhen.
Juan Du does a great job providing insight into the whole picture of Shenzhen's rise and backs up her claims with personal experiences of people who lived through and contributed to the transition. Her style flowed well, was concise and provided vivid details and examples of life in Shenzhen pre-1979, during the SEZ period, and beyond.
Happy reading, happy learning.
The Shenzhen Experiment: The Story of China's Instant City is much more than the typical "rags to riches" story most people envision when hearing about Shenzhen's extraordinary economic success and growth as a Special Economic Zone (SEZ).
The Shenzhen SEZ was the first initiative of China's Reform and Opening Up Policy under Deng Xiaoping from 1979 to 1989. Deng's humble objective was not for China to be rich and powerful but to not be poor. At the time, China suffered deep and widespread poverty. Deng's goal: introduce SEZs and market reforms (open markets) in an attempt to experiment with possible economic reforms in an effort to alleviate poverty and improve quality of life. As a result of his self-proclaimed "critical experiment," Deng lifted millions out of poverty and ultimately transformed and catapulted China onto the world stage. Despite popular opinion, however, he and the Chinese Central Government didn't do it alone.
Juan Du points out in her book that no other SEZ has been able to match Shenzhen's economic success. She attributes this to the fact that Shenzhen, a complex and unique city, has a variety of specific features that have contributed to its meteoric growth. In particular, Shenzhen's local, decentralized governance, its bottom-up responsiveness, local negotiations and practices, local geography, history, and culture (before 1979) are all factors that were just as essential to the mega city's evolution and success as the national Chinese Central Government's economic policies and plans.
As a result of Shenzhen's extraordinary economic success, the city was viewed as a land of opportunity. There was mass rural migration to the SEZ, and Shenzhen experienced immense population growth. By 2000, 20 million people lived in the Shenzhen SEZ. Despite Urban Villages having a negative stereotype (through 2016) because they didn't fit into the image of a well-planned city, the 300 urban villages - aka, peasant houses and villages in the city (6-7 floor "towers" & "nail houses") supplied half of the residential floor area, and provided affordable housing to its growing population. Additionally, within these communities, township and village enterprises (TVE) sprouted and became the industrial engine of Shenzhen's economy during the SEZ's first decade.
These challenges offered new perspectives on collaborative governance, inclusive community, flexible planning, the rural urban continuum; and brought about many government supported reforms. Shenzhen's story is a fascinating success story and I'd love to see it replicated, however, to date, no other SEZ has been as successful as Shenzhen.
Juan Du does a great job providing insight into the whole picture of Shenzhen's rise and backs up her claims with personal experiences of people who lived through and contributed to the transition. Her style flowed well, was concise and provided vivid details and examples of life in Shenzhen pre-1979, during the SEZ period, and beyond.
Happy reading, happy learning.
May 21, 2022
Wow this book is interesting. It describes the transformation of Shenzhen from a small town (not quite a "sleepy fishing village", as the author remarks) to a 12, 17 million city known for its technology and financial sectors. It doesn't go into the economic side of its growth very deeply, but it highlights how unlike most other SEZs, Shenzhen actually received a lot of domestic investment during its first decade and only foreign investment later on. The basic is that it grew from being kind of known for its aquaculture, but having village residents fleeing constantly to Hong Kong for work, and being an overall barren and rural area (during the Qing dynasty, people were forbidden by the government to farm or keep ships near the ocean because of fear of pirates, so a lot of land was vacated), to "sanlaiyibu" light industry powered by labor, to a diverse array of industries in many fields...
There isn't really an argumentative point to the book, besides describing this miracle of transformation. The author kind of highlights the role of individual actors, including of the mayor Liang Xiang and his role in encouraging long term investments in education, schools, and hospitals. She also sort of takes a stance on the urban villages within Shenzhen such as Baishizhou, talking about how important they, and the illegal peasant housing built within them, were to the development and growth of the city as a whole, but there really aren't any strong claims made. Which makes sense because the title is just "The story of China's instant city".
Anyways, this book was really fun to read and has gotten me super interested in recent chinese history and other SEZs, the culture and geography of China as a whole, and the ethnic minority groups.
There isn't really an argumentative point to the book, besides describing this miracle of transformation. The author kind of highlights the role of individual actors, including of the mayor Liang Xiang and his role in encouraging long term investments in education, schools, and hospitals. She also sort of takes a stance on the urban villages within Shenzhen such as Baishizhou, talking about how important they, and the illegal peasant housing built within them, were to the development and growth of the city as a whole, but there really aren't any strong claims made. Which makes sense because the title is just "The story of China's instant city".
Anyways, this book was really fun to read and has gotten me super interested in recent chinese history and other SEZs, the culture and geography of China as a whole, and the ethnic minority groups.
April 20, 2022
I have always been curious about Shenzhen since the first time I visited the city back in 2005. I think it's somehow inevitable to feel curious about a city you've barely heard of, full of skyscrapers, wide roads and neon lights that is today home to 17 million people.
Until I read Juan Du's book I knew what the average person knows about Shenzhen. A city emerged from nothing thanks to its designation as the first Special Economic Zone of China. Juan Du's book busts the myth. She does it by digging into Shenzhen's history, giving voice to its habitants, and providing tons of maps, statistics and data. It's only when we learn about these facts that we can fully understand how Shenzhen came into being the city that is today. Basically, Juan Du's work debunks the official narrative that claims the emergence of Shenzhen is the consequence of direct top-down planning, thus it's a replicable model. The consequences of this are huge. For instance, there are hundreds of SEZs in China and thousands all over the world and none of them has come to be as successful as Shenzhen. Juan Du’s book will help you understand why. Also, at this moment China is building what it claims to be the new Shenzhen just 100 km away from Beijing, in the area of Xiong'an. After reading Juan Du's book I very much believe the Xiong'an area won't live up to its expectations.
Anyway, going back to the book. It's the first book I read about Shenzhen history but I find it hard to believe there might be any other books as good as this one. Juan Du's background is as an architect. She has the right profile to analyze things like city's planning, expansion, growth, architecture, etc. She is Chinese but emigrated to USA on her teens. She can read Chinese which comes very handy for research. For instance, she quotes, refers to and mentions books written in Chinese, some of them as important as the Shenzhen (Baoan or Xin’an) annual books, fundamental to understanding the city’s history. Another thing that I really liked about the book is how it's conducted. Every topic is generally carried through personal stories of individuals. For instance, the rise and consolidation of Shenzhen is carried through the personal story of the composer of the song "The story of spring", which is a composition dedicated to Shenzhen. The book is rich in details and it's backed up by a lot of research, something that I personally really appreciate. I think I can assure it took the author many, many years of work to write this book, as it permeates through its pages. The prose and style is excellent and very pleasant. Topics that sometimes could be rather thick are made interesting.
Cons? No, there isn't any. If you're not interested in Shenzhen, possibly you can skip it. But if you are curious about China's posterchild city, this is possibly one of the best books you can ever read. This is also a great book about how to tell the story of a city.
Until I read Juan Du's book I knew what the average person knows about Shenzhen. A city emerged from nothing thanks to its designation as the first Special Economic Zone of China. Juan Du's book busts the myth. She does it by digging into Shenzhen's history, giving voice to its habitants, and providing tons of maps, statistics and data. It's only when we learn about these facts that we can fully understand how Shenzhen came into being the city that is today. Basically, Juan Du's work debunks the official narrative that claims the emergence of Shenzhen is the consequence of direct top-down planning, thus it's a replicable model. The consequences of this are huge. For instance, there are hundreds of SEZs in China and thousands all over the world and none of them has come to be as successful as Shenzhen. Juan Du’s book will help you understand why. Also, at this moment China is building what it claims to be the new Shenzhen just 100 km away from Beijing, in the area of Xiong'an. After reading Juan Du's book I very much believe the Xiong'an area won't live up to its expectations.
Anyway, going back to the book. It's the first book I read about Shenzhen history but I find it hard to believe there might be any other books as good as this one. Juan Du's background is as an architect. She has the right profile to analyze things like city's planning, expansion, growth, architecture, etc. She is Chinese but emigrated to USA on her teens. She can read Chinese which comes very handy for research. For instance, she quotes, refers to and mentions books written in Chinese, some of them as important as the Shenzhen (Baoan or Xin’an) annual books, fundamental to understanding the city’s history. Another thing that I really liked about the book is how it's conducted. Every topic is generally carried through personal stories of individuals. For instance, the rise and consolidation of Shenzhen is carried through the personal story of the composer of the song "The story of spring", which is a composition dedicated to Shenzhen. The book is rich in details and it's backed up by a lot of research, something that I personally really appreciate. I think I can assure it took the author many, many years of work to write this book, as it permeates through its pages. The prose and style is excellent and very pleasant. Topics that sometimes could be rather thick are made interesting.
Cons? No, there isn't any. If you're not interested in Shenzhen, possibly you can skip it. But if you are curious about China's posterchild city, this is possibly one of the best books you can ever read. This is also a great book about how to tell the story of a city.
January 25, 2024
I wish the architect author had collaborated with a sociologist and an economist. The insights those disciplines offer could have really helped explain the instant city's past/present/future.
However, I was intrigued to know that China's famously modern urban spaces are pock-marked with old "villages." I'd bet those spots are the places for crime (that China does not report) and counter-cultures (that China does not admit exist) as well as the incoming poor from deeper inside China that Du notes are living there.
Also, I appreciated Du noting that wealthy individuals may have been created but such was not the primary goal. She points out that the late 70s / early 80s effort was pretty clearly aimed at just finding a way to pull more Chinese out of crushing poverty - and that it has been pretty successful for many, many of them despite the foreign media's focus on the wealthy few.
However, I was intrigued to know that China's famously modern urban spaces are pock-marked with old "villages." I'd bet those spots are the places for crime (that China does not report) and counter-cultures (that China does not admit exist) as well as the incoming poor from deeper inside China that Du notes are living there.
Also, I appreciated Du noting that wealthy individuals may have been created but such was not the primary goal. She points out that the late 70s / early 80s effort was pretty clearly aimed at just finding a way to pull more Chinese out of crushing poverty - and that it has been pretty successful for many, many of them despite the foreign media's focus on the wealthy few.
June 22, 2024
I thought this book was a very informative and detailed read about China's economic rise through its most important technological city. It does go on for longer than I expected, but the level of interviews, detailed mapping, and anecdotes (including from many of the people building) made me feel like I was there. The insight of how Shenzhen compares itself to San Francisco opened my eyes, and I feel like this level of detail is very missing for one of the most important economic events of our time (the post-Cultural Revolution period and subsequent economic growth in China).
I ended up citing this book and research for my own book on Bitcoin + China which covers China's techno-nationalist rise through that same period (https://www.amazon.com/Would-Mao-Hold...).
I ended up citing this book and research for my own book on Bitcoin + China which covers China's techno-nationalist rise through that same period (https://www.amazon.com/Would-Mao-Hold...).
May 26, 2020
This book is dense with details on Shenzhen and it’s complex history. I bought this book hoping it can help me better understand modern China. It does, though not in the way I expected. It makes one more thoughtful about the development of urban cities. I’ve never been to Shenzhen so I do feel like I’m under appreciating just how special this city is and how much it has transformed in the last five decades.
February 16, 2021
Excellent history of the development of Shenzhen. The author examines the regions past and underlying social structures, particular my the urban villages that existed in Bao'an Cty before the establishment of the SEZ.
A valuable resource.
A valuable resource.
April 25, 2022
A very pro CCP history of Shenzhen that glossed over things like corruption and environmental damage.
June 14, 2024
文字挺好的。谈城市规划、建筑为主，也限制了critical experiment这个概念的展开。除了由上至下和由下至上以外，政策角度的新意不多。
June 30, 2024
Mostly a political story -- I was hoping it would diginto economics/the mechanics of how they set up the markets.
June 15, 2020
So different. I won’t lie, it was quite a task to get through this. The author is an academic and there is a dryness to the text. However, it was completely worth it though for the new (to me) spin on the Nail houses. I’d followed that story in the western media so intently back in 2007 and the full detailed backstory blew my mind. A totally different take on the same series of events.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews