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scottapeshot's review against another edition
5.0
I was hoping for a sustained overview of the cultural and economic history of China over the past few decades, and this book fulfilled my expectations brilliantly. My ignorance about current Chinese society is fairly complete, so the illumination provided by this book was most appreciated. The author, a architectural history professor, discusses how the economic developments in post-Communist China have physically changed the urban landscape and the lives of the citizens of this amazing nation. The massive human scale of the changes occurring (and soon to occur) is as frightening as it isexciting. China is a enormous, clumsy giant stumbling to its feet and we'd be wise to watch where they are going.
pearseanderson's review against another edition
4.0
Not the easiest to read, and I did want some more evidence for sections of Campanella's argument (no results for a lot of what he was talking about on Google), but it was an educational read. He's smart, he's been across the country, got some good pictures, and wrote a quality Asian urbanism read. I took notes since it was dense and confusing, but that's just me. The book opened my eyes to a swath of problems and ideas I hadn't seen before, and helped my worldbuilding a lot. Thanks, man.
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