Economy
Inside the Architecture of Shenzhen's Urban Villages
Buildings were constructed so close to one another that it gave rise to “handshake architecture.”
Unidentified Acts of Design: The Workers/Urban Villages from the Victoria and Albert Museum on Vimeo.
In just three decades, Shenzhen has grown from being a small fishing village of just 30,000 people into an economic powerhouse. It houses at least 11 million people today, many of them migrants from across China. (The count doesn’t include those living there undocumented). In that time, shopping malls have popped up and sleek skyscrapers have transformed the skyline—evidence of the city’s industrial success.