Shaping Canton: The Mountains are High and the Emperor Far Away

(Paperback)

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Description

The book takes as its starting point the city of Canton, at the heart of the most populous built-up metropolitan area in Mainland China, and a city that has for several centuries held a central position with regard to economic, social, and physical change in the country.

Shaping Canton focuses on the modern history of Canton. The text and illustrations explore and set out the various stages and events leading up to the modern city, by way of a reinvigorated Chinese superpower, from the founding of trade between Europe and the East in the late 15th century, to the beachheads of foreign influence, and forces of transformation through periods of revolution, political transition, and reform up to the present time.

Author Bio

Dr. Peter Cookson Smith is an architect, urbanist, and founder of the URBIS consultancy in Hong Kong, which has operated throughout Asia for more than forty years. He is a former professor of architecture and former president of Hong Kongs Institutes of Planning and Urban Design. He is the author of six previous books on cities and urban design, including his three most recent publications, with ORO Editions, Seeking Savannah (2018), An Enterprising Path to Barrio Chino (2019), and After Dante (2020).