Shanghai Caught In Web Of Technology

An excess of telephone, fiber-optic and electrical wires criss-crossing the city is just one of the problems related to the city's recent explosion of technological advancements.

1 minute read

December 6, 2003, 7:00 AM PST

By David Gest


The wires "are everywhere, and they're gumming up the works...[the government is] mounting a campaign, asking the masses for help -- and unrepentantly yanking down wayward wires as it goes...as of earlier this year, Shanghai had some 7,850 miles of above-ground wires within its outer-ring road...The wire jungle is also partially responsible for a ban on kites in Shanghai's 125 parks; too much tangling...[the city's plans to bury the wires] are four times more expensive than they should be...because they require costly efforts to protect historical sites...The progress is no accident, but rather the result of policy. No other Chinese city can match the investment -- human, financial and educational -- in Shanghai's tech ascendance...Shanghai's recent urban development, like China's itself, is nevertheless characterized by a sometimes astonishing lack of planning -- a problem hardly surprising for a land whose east-coast cities have done a century's worth of modernization in barely two decades...the municipal government is considering limits on new skyscrapers; tall buildings, it seems, have helped make the city sink an inch every year."

Thanks to David Gest

Wednesday, December 3, 2003 in Star Tribune

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Aerial view of town of Wailuku in Maui, Hawaii with mountains in background against cloudy sunset sky.

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly

Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

July 1, 2025 - Honolulu Civil Beat

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

July 2, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

White and purple sign for Slow Street in San Francisco, California with people crossing crosswalk.

San Francisco Suspends Traffic Calming Amidst Record Deaths

Citing “a challenging fiscal landscape,” the city will cease the program on the heels of 42 traffic deaths, including 24 pedestrians.

July 1, 2025 - KQED

Google street view image of strip mall in suburban Duncanville, Texas.

Adaptive Reuse Will Create Housing in a Suburban Texas Strip Mall

A developer is reimagining a strip mall property as a mixed-use complex with housing and retail.

4 hours ago - Parking Reform Network

Blue tarps covering tents set up by unhoused people along chain link fence on concrete sidewalk.

Study: Anti-Homelessness Laws Don’t Work

Research shows that punitive measures that criminalized unhoused people don’t help reduce homelessness.

6 hours ago - Next City

Aerial tram moving along cable in hilly area in Medellin, Colombia.

In U.S., Urban Gondolas Face Uphill Battle

Cities in Latin America and Europe have embraced aerial transitways — AKA gondolas — as sustainable, convenient urban transport, especially in tricky geographies. American cities have yet to catch up.

July 6 - InTransition Magazine