Shanghai's red capitalists are making money off its red relics. As the city gradually sweeps heavy industry to its periphery, it is leaving behind huge swathes of abandoned warehouses and derelict factories.
But unlike the mill lands in Mumbai which lay abandoned for decades, China's capitalist roaders are ensuring that these crumbling spaces make a comeback.
Formerly used to punch out identical products, they are now being re-branded as 'creativity clusters' - design communities that house art galleries, shops, restaurants, bars and office spaces for start-up creative companies.
With smart makeovers, they have managed to create what seems a 'Bohemian' ambience - plain, cement floors, exposed pipes and high ceilings.
Text: Rebecca Catching & Anurag Viswanath
Image: Construction workers demolish existing buildings on the site of the future Shanghai Center which is proposed to be China's tallest building at 580 metres, dwarfing the Jin Mao Tower (L) at 421 metres and the Shanghai World Financial Center (R) at 492 metres | Photograph: Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images
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