A short history of the Chinese Central Business District

The Central Business District (CBD) is one of the great governmental projects of Chinese cities in the early twenty-first century. In preparation for transition to an information-based economy and to accelerate such transition, major cities have sponsored the plans and infrastructure as well as some of the buildings of these new central places, in locations far removed from the heretofore central city. Over the 15 years of concerted building, there have been several distinct phases, as cities evaluated the previous effort and responded to new exigencies. These project phases can be distinguished by location and intention and in certain instances by formal expression. The late Modernist architecture of these places, punctuated with iconic structures and vast, representational open spaces, symbolize the national drive towards a globalized modernity. CBDs mark the latest generation of urban plans in hundreds of Chinese cities, although there is little doubt that Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen will remain the largest and most advanced. This article recounts the brief history of the emergence of the Chinese CBD in those first four cases, why new phases of development were deemed necessary, and how these new efforts can be distinguished in terms of internal characteristics and economic role.