Rapid Urbanization and the Informational Metacity in China

Abstract

An informational revolution created a new awareness of recent rapid global urbanization, with
China providing a clear case study. Big data and global statistics created a governmental model of
an informational Metacity exemplified by China’s Shanghai Expo, but this model has unintended consequences.  Some consequences such as mass tourism are global in character with Chinese characteristics.  Others such as the conversion of old factory Danwei and urban villages are local and specifically Chinese.  The scale and speed of China’s urbanization and the Shanghai Expo provides a special laboratory for the study of the development of multi-scalar and mixed-use in a context of Asian smart city discourse.