In the context of the Pearl River Delta, or Greater Bay Area, the bottom-up actions have long informed the top-down decisions. When Deng Xiaoping took his southern tour, he was inspired by the dispersed yet collective behavior of the people of the region. This ultimately led to the generation of the Special Economic Zone of Shenzhen, and other areas in China. This sense of dispersed competition formed vast industrial areas that often have been transformed to key cultural districts within Shenzhen. Further, this creation of multitudes of working-class jobs drew vast immigrants from all over China to move to Shenzhen. This demand for massive rapid housing led to the transformation of many existing villages in the area to become ‘Urban Villages’ to house the migrants. Eventually these once perceived eyesores are now seen as the key to the future of Shenzhen as centers of affordable housing, small scale businesses, creative districts, etc.
Collective Individuality: The Chinese dream is about thinking big, starting small, and seeking friends to collaborate with. It is in many ways a form of critical regionalism at the human scale. The citizens of Shenzhen ideals are rooted in an international perspective, but tied to their geographic and emergent cultural context.
Scaled Diversity: Shenzhen is filled with an array of entrepreneurs, from an assortment of contexts, with a range of spatial needs. This need for flexible spaces for living and working manifests itself in a seemingly ad hoc arrangement of differing spatial moments.
Finger Plan: The existing grid framework is juxtaposed to the existing rigid grid system by providing a five-pronged series of themes that are the framework for emergent social space of the future while referencing the basic elements of nature.
Layered Linkages: Existing and new buildings are intertwined with a series of small scale upper level bridges and walkways to increase social cohesion, generate more common spaces as well as provide easy for networking and communication between elevated spaces.
