'Canadian Town' Vision Derailed In Shanghai

"It was touted as the first Canadian town to be built in China. There were breathless reports that "Canadian Maple Town" would feature a slice of the Rocky Mountains, a replica of the Northern Lights, eco-friendly Canadian technology and even a depiction of the RCMP Musical Ride.

Today the dream has crashed into the reality of Chinese capitalism. A handful of shrunken maples are about all that survives of the much-vaunted scheme to build a Canadian suburb in the heartland of China.

Almost every trace of Canada has been wiped out of the blueprint. Instead the developers are talking vaguely about a "North American flavour" for the planned suburb of 25,000 residents. Their models show palm trees where the maples were once envisioned.

Maple Town was born at the turn of the millennium when Shanghai decided to build nine satellite towns on its outskirts. Each would take its theme from a foreign country: Britain, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Nordic countries -- and Canada.

Six years later, some of the projects are progressing rapidly...But little has happened at Maple Town, except a gradual drift away from the original ideas. To make matters worse, Maple Town has fallen far behind the pace of the others. Its developers have spent $100-million (U.S.) on roads and infrastructure, but that represents only one-fifth of the planned budget. None of the housing has been built, except for apartments for the 3,000 residents who will be relocated to make room for the suburb."