About 20 million square metres of land were developed in the city between 2000 and 2005 alone, equal to one-third the size of Manhattan. Literally hundreds of new skyscrapers and apartment blocks went up in a few short years, on top of an already massive building programme in the previous decade. On the east bank of the Huangpu river opposite the main metropolis, an entire, ready-made financial district had been constructed where there had once been a small village.
