Harmony and Prosperity Unlimited : Real Estate Rhetoric Between Shanghai and London

In global cities, regeneration is driven by increased housing demand and the appetites of market economies looking to exploit the built environment. This process has seen systemic changes in the pattern of land ownership with an augmented emphasis on luxury buildings. These gigantic, urban developments have disrupted local communities at the same time as they have produced spaces which are homogenous, banal, and purified. This homogenisation starts in the early stages of regeneration projects – in the marketing and promotion strategies. These strategies are layered with codes and the ideologies, produced not in isolation but transnationally. Regeneration projects produced between Newham, London and Shanghai provide powerful examples of this.