Chris Thomas

THE concept of an "urban life" can conjure up drastically different ideas for different people.

That's particularly true when looking at things cross-culturally: urban dreams in the minds of Americans and Chinese consist of vastly different shapes, images and ideas.

If asked to name a place that epitomizes the dream of urban living, many people in Shenzhen would point to Xiangmihu, also known as Honey Lake. Many of the citizens who have been most enriched by Shenzhen's miraculous development live there.

Xiangmihu is best experienced from behind the wheel of a car. Driving in the subdistrict is a pleasure — the roads are clean, the medians and edges are dotted with green space, and beautiful, modern high-rise apartment buildings flank the streets. Some of Shenzhen's best local and international schools are a quick drive away, as are a grocery store and a mall.

On the horizon, the burgeoning skyline of Chegongmiao stands as a testament to the speed and ambition of Shenzhen's genesis. The city's growth, in many respects, is similar to the development of my home country, the United States, during its maturation.

So when I peruse the renderings of new urban development taking place in Shenzhen, Xiangmihu's influence is palpable. From what I see, the forms are but a rebus only slightly concealing the collective desires of the people: wealth, stability, modernity, fortune. Are not these desires why people come to Shenzhen? If Xiangmihu is not an explicit model, it is certainly an implicit dream.

The model is not without precedent. Most of America west of the Mississippi River was built on the same dream, with urban forms that are not entirely dissimilar. This is one road that could be taken, but perhaps, with a little imagination, there could be others.

From Xiangmihu, let's follow Xiangmihu Road south, past the mushrooming office park of Chegongmiao and across Binhe Boulevard. We will be greeted by KingKey's newest massive project, a 300-meter behemoth that is currently emerging from its foundations. The project is nestled into Xiasha, a village that has long stood testament to the high-rises multiplying around its borders.

Xiasha is best experienced on foot, and must rank among the world's most unique and fascinating places from that perspective. There are few places on the globe that support such a sheer amount of human diversity, particularly in a physical space that is so tightly woven and walkable. Where else would a banker get a massage from a blind masseuse? Where else could an alleyway become a well-traveled pathway? Where else would monumental development projects be coupled with preservation of traditional architecture?

Everything in Shenzhen exists in Xiasha — the range of economic activity is simply enormous. To quote Jane Jacobs, "By its nature, the metropolis provides what otherwise could be given only by traveling; namely, the strange." In this sense, Xiasha should be considered one of the most urban areas in the city.

To some, Xiasha is a relic of the past, a blemish on the ostensibly modern city of Shenzhen — put simply, just a village. While the model of a "village" while inspires a sense of backwardness to some, it should be anything but. All cities start as villages. Paris was once a farming village on the river Seine. New York was once a village started by a handful of Dutchmen who found an advantageous place to harvest oysters. Just across our border, Hong Kong was once simply a fishing village blessed with a deep port.

We should not be anti-development. We should not, in a fervor to preserve, block what is necessary to move forward. But we can, at the same time, learn from Xiasha, and integrate new development into the area that already exists — after all, is this not how a city truly forms?

The author is the financial controller of Jiahua School, a professional language school. A graduate of Northeastern University in the U.S., he has lived in Chinese cities including Hong Kong and Beijing and now lives in Shuiwei, Futian. He wrote a thesis on the renovation of the urban village of Shuiwei.