Shenzhen – Future Cities

INTRODUCTION

Shenzhen started from fishing village. The population grew from 300,000 to 20 million. They believe
no city in the world was able to achieve such growth.

Why did Shenzhen succeed?

It succeeded because of the the trailblazing spirit to breakthrough from barriers and to reform.

Facts- 1.Shenzen is creating more millionaires than any other city in the world.

2.The model that is followed by Shenzhen is frightening for other already established models around
the world.

3.There is a huge cultural change due to the growth of technology in the city and they believe that
the future is possible.

ARGUMENT –

The speaker says it’s not that silicon valley got divorced from technology but they kept moving up
the stacks. Their ideology was driven by Moore’s law

-Fact – Moore’s law was named after Gordon Moore who was the co-founder of Intel.

Moore’s law says that the number of components that can be fit in a circle can be doubled.

Case 1 – If in one year if 10 transistors can be fit then the next year it will be 20 transistors. After a
decade it will be millions of transistors.

Case 2 (supporting case 1) – We decrease the size of the font to be more efficient while printing.
Similarly we are reducing the font size of the circuits.

ARGUMENT- Being in hadware was not profitable.

Case 1 – They used to sell features back then.

A lot of time and money is being put in the research. It’s cheaper for others to sit back and let the
established companies do the research.

Case 2 (supporting case 1) – In 1983 the world wide sales of computers increased 75 Percent but the
growth in 1982-1983 was just 19 percent and its is predicted it will go down to 4 percent.

Two of biggest companies loss surpassed 600 billion dollars.

Argument

Even after the loss of value and money the optimism took the technology forward.
Case 1 – Invention of super computers (phone)

Case Study - Trainerbot ( automatic table tennis ball ejector)

Case Study - Tuneable Headphones

ARGUMENT- In Shenzhen the products can be manufactured quicker than any other country.

Case 1- In Switzerland it will take 9 months to make the movable robot but in Shenzhen that can be
done in 3 months.

Argument – Development in Shenzhen happened by introducing it as SEZ ( Special economic zone).

Case 1 – The population grew from 300,000 to 10 million people.

Case 2 – Shenzhen became the manufacturing hub.

Argument- In 1980s China was in a very poor state.

There was no economic plans.

There were no reforms.
It was experiencing economic depression.

ARGUMENT
The President stated that “ It is not a question of the government’s effectiveness, it is a question of
policy”.

- He changed the policy and introduced reform and opening up process.

- They set up 4 Special economic zones
The model of Shenzhen was set up in the rest of China.
- The development and urbanisation happened faster than they ever predicted.

ARGUMENT- How can they have a maker faire in China?

Case 1 - People in China doesn’t make for recreational thing they do it for job.

Case 2 – Making in the west is used to remind others who is in the service. But when you have a
manufacturing economy you don’t have to remind them that you are manufacturing.

ARGUMENT- Maker’s faire had an impact on Shenzhen.

Case 1- Most of China’s population belongs to middle class category.

- Even if the small section of people participate in the faire it can bring change.
- There’s been jump from 60 to 200 makers within a year.

ARGUMENT – Open source leads to more innovation and there should be no ego attached to the
product.

Case 1 – ‘Enough already ‘ a product which mutes TV each time when it listens to a particular name.

Case 2 - A robotic hand for Parkinson disease which remains stable even if you shake it.

ARGUMENT - The reason the market has grown so much is because of the electronic market here.

Case 1 - All types of gadgets and electronics are available here in one form or another form.

Case 2 – A combination of electronics and gadgets lead to new innovations.

Case 3 – Great inventions make it to west. Some don’t but 3 out of them make it to the west.
Case study 1 ( supporting the above cases) - A product to charge your phone also to warm up your
hand.

Case Study 2 – A gadget invented to record data when you play badminton.

ARGUMENT - People in Huaqiangbei have the latest technology.

Case Study – A phone cover which has a built-in 3D lens.

Case 1 – You get a wide range of electronic part choices.

Case Study - When a person wants to buy a switch which fits into your product accurately it will be
difficult to find it.
Here in Shenzhen exact size of switch is available in thousand different types.

ARGUMENT – The electronics part are cheaper and faster to make and produce in Shenzhen.

Case Study 1 – Mobile cover repair for 15 Euros.

- The person in the shop got this skill from working in different shops under different people.

Case Study 2 - Someone can buy a chipset for euros here.

- People who works in the market are a team. One will design it ,other guy manufactures it and
the third person sells it. They believe this is how the city of Shenzhen works. This is how things
are done faster.
- It takes only 3 months for a product to be made. Outside Shenzhen it takes more than a year to
do the same.

Argument – The open source system makes it possible

Case 1 – There’s a very little difference between a maker and a start-up.
Case 2 -In west people start making stuff for fun but when they enter the business they are
supposed to become serious and focus on the business.
But in Shenzhen you there is a very little difference between fun and business.
Case 3 – The speaker says you should not be forced to make choice between open and closed
source sharing.
Case Study - The original iPhone costs around 700 Euros but in China you get same high quality
copy in around 100 euros.

Argument - Open source system is better and more relevant.

Case 1 - Many companies in the West earn a lot of money without doing anything because of
copyrights.
Case 2 – A lot of money is being put into lawyers and suing .
Case 3 - They believe that if you want to stop copying then make something better every time
the copy maker catches up with your invention so that the previous product becomes ir-
relevant.

Case study - Smart wheels. Investors in west spent a lot of money in suing people. But in
Shenzhen they build their brand around it by making the product more valuable and advanced.
 Case 4 - In west they come up with something new and then keep the manufacturing process a
secret. In china they develop what’s already in the market. They believe it’s not copying but
evolution of the product.

Argument – The model in China is frightening for other people around the world.
Case 1 – They are looking up on methods to adjust to the system that the Chinese people are
following.
ARGUMENT
How did Shenzhen change with time?
Case 1 - Shenzhen used to produce low end products but after 20 years of development in
Shenzhen the city began to feel pressure with it’s population, land and environment. Many
other cities in China have now caught up with Shenzhen in terms of development. Many
thought Shenzhen will get abandoned. Innovation was the only way they can stay above others.

ARGUMENT - The open source system is going to grow.

Case 1 – Shenzhen system is catering to everybody’s need.
Case study – Bill Gates back in 90s stated that open gate is communalism and it will destroy the
industry. Down th years now Microsoft is one of the biggest supporter of open source system.
Case 2 (supporting case study) - They opened up the entire Windows 10.

Argument – People in Shenzhen have learned to co-exist with the laws and life. They look away
when it’s needed. This is how they ensure that everyone feels compensated
Case 1 – The communist party is making laws which bring prosperous.

Argument - The government’s involvement should be according to the community.

Case 1 - 20 years back art districts in China was an emerging art and trend. As soon as the
government were involved many art cafes and points were formed. The people who were really
trying to experiment had to move out. So there is a concern when government tries to formalise
it.

Argument – The villages are also growing with the emerging city.
Case 1 – They are taking up a very important role in taking up housing, certain social structure ,
jobs, general stability which wasn’t planned it simply evolved with the city.

Case Study – Baishizhou,Shenzhen

- When the government announced Shenzhen as SEZ the government also left patches of land for
the villager themselves to build homes.
- These urban villages are also contributing a lot to the innovation.
- Re-cycling happens in these urban village markets.

The video concludes by stating that China won’t stop growing no matter what. People did it without
the government. If China can do that in 30 years they can do the whole thing again. There’s a lot of
questions on the future and government reforms. It would be interesting to see where the answer
will end up.