CorporateNature No 143
Cities come in different shapes and sizes. If global cities were groups of plants, they could be divided into three categories: old oak forests, colonies of quaking aspens, and fast-growing bamboo groves.
Bamboo is the fastest-growing plant in the world. Some species of bamboo can grow up to 9 centimetres an hour.
Shenzhen, in southern China, has emerged as a city as rapidly as a bamboo grove. It was only founded in 1979 when Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping started the policy of opening up China to the world. However, only after 40 years, its population is now 13 million and its GDP of around USD 400 billion is bigger than that of neighbouring Hong Kong. Remarkably, it has also managed to reinvent itself economically: starting from low-cost manufacturing, it has moved up the value-added chain and is now a global hub for computer hardware, finance and fintech.
Bamboo Grove (image source: Wikipedia)
