Cities Issue
Our special issue dedicated to the cities of the future has its eye squarely toward China, because the cities of the future are increasingly going to be speaking Mandarin — even more than you realize. It’s no longer news that China has embarked on the largest mass urbanization in history, a monumental migration from country ...
Our special issue dedicated to the cities of the future has its eye squarely toward China, because the cities of the future are increasingly going to be speaking Mandarin — even more than you realize. It’s no longer news that China has embarked on the largest mass urbanization in history, a monumental migration from country to city that will leave China with nearly a billion urbanites by 2025 and an astonishing 221 cities with populations over 1 million. But this isn’t just about size: It’s about global heft. And that’s where the scale of China’s transformation into a world leader is truly astonishing. In an exclusive index for FP, the McKinsey Global Institute has run the numbers to produce what we’re calling The 75 Most Dynamic Cities of 2025 — an extraordinary 29 of which are in China. Some are already global powers, from top-ranked Shanghai to manufacturing dynamo Shenzhen; others, from Fuzhou to Xiamen, were little more than provincial backwaters in the 20th century but look to be household names in the 21st, powering the global economy not just through their sheer size but also through their urban innovation and pulsing drive. Europe, meanwhile, will manage only three cities on the list by 2025; the United States finishes second to China — a very distant second — with 13. Still think that debate about Western decline is overblown?
-
The Most Dynamic Cities of 2025
-
‘Twitter Is My City’: An Exclusive Interview with Ai Weiwei
-
The East Is Rising: 29 Chinese Cities Powering Global Growth
-
Weapons of Mass Urban Destruction
By Peter Calthorpe -
7 Chinese Innovations That Will Change the Way We Live
By Dustin Roasa -
The Rise and Fall and Rise of New Shanghai
By Daniel Brook -
Beijing Forever: The Capital Where Change Is the Only Constant
By Michael Meyer -
Postcards from the Future
-
Mr. Happy: Is this Communist Party Boss About to Make the Big Time?
By Geoff Dyer -
Building a Better China
By Richard Dobbs and Jaana Remes -
China’s Debt Bomb
By Jonathan Kaiman -
Unlivable Cities
By Isaac Stone Fish -
Once Upon a Time in Shanghai
-
Life in a Big Box
By Matthew Niederhauser -
The Souls of Chinese Cities
By Christina Larson
More from Foreign Policy


Saudi-Iranian Détente Is a Wake-Up Call for America
The peace plan is a big deal—and it’s no accident that China brokered it.


The U.S.-Israel Relationship No Longer Makes Sense
If Israel and its supporters want the country to continue receiving U.S. largesse, they will need to come up with a new narrative.


Putin Is Trapped in the Sunk-Cost Fallacy of War
Moscow is grasping for meaning in a meaningless invasion.


How China’s Saudi-Iran Deal Can Serve U.S. Interests
And why there’s less to Beijing’s diplomatic breakthrough than meets the eye.