After watching its progression over the course of many stimulating math classes, I slipped out into the site one day at lunchtime. Stepping over shrubs and hoses, I strike a conversation with a man working on the landscaping.

He says he’s from Hunan province and arrived in Shenzhen a month ago. Drawing upon stories about the exploitation and abuse faced by rural migrant workers and the hazardous working conditions I saw on the site, I gingerly ask him about his experience here.

I brace myself for stories about the ugly side of the construction industry. My subconscious mind prepares a sympathetic nod and a look of condolence.

Instead, furrowing his brow, he squints out towards the expanse of ocean beyond the bay. He tells me he came out to see more of the world and to experience life beyond his village. As he’s getting old, he says, he wants to challenge his mind and body.

Another man speaks of the opportunities in the city, and how the extra money has changed his family’s lives. He adds that he imagines the city will change tremendously in the next few years.

Both tell me they would recommend anyone back home to come out here and experience the city for themselves.

As I digested their words, I cringed at my ignorant preconceptions and lack of perspective; at the pity I felt for these workers despite only having seen their living and working conditions from afar.

As I saw, these people are dignified and hopeful, drawn to the city’s promise of opportunity and new experiences. This narrative is rarely told, subsiding to the more sensational news headlines of abuse or workplace injuries occurring on construction sites. But it should be, for these men and women are the people at the frontlines of Shenzhen’s rapid urbanization.

Old Residential Architecture

There’s something distinctive about the older high-rises built in the city's business districts during the late twentieth century. Because of the nature of the Chinese government, some overzealous officials would intervene in construction projects with their own ideas for the buildings. In many cases, they strong-armed developers into designing the buildings to their liking

The product of these clashes between developers and politicians reflects on the bizarre facades of many downtown buildings, where extreme density meets odd proportions and shapes. Today, these buildings are widely scorned as the physical embodiment of government overreach and bureaucracy. They are dismissed as the ugly predecessors of Shenzhen’s gleaming skyscrapers and monumental convention centers; an early, brutish stage in the evolution of contemporary Chinese architecture.

But, looking closely, one sees that there’s more to them.

In a cluster of pink high-rises in Luohu district, I see the interaction between Shenzhen’s initial efforts to modernize with its attempts to grapple with its rapid expansion.