Shanghai urban planners are trying to preserve the center of the city by not building any more new highways, and by setting up 9 satellite cities, or "New Towns" far out in the Shanghai suburbs. But they need to attract people out of the city, into the outskirts--a tough job, unless you can create an atmosphere and lifestyle that one can't find downtown. Thus the 9 theme cities, 7 based on the architecture of the UK, Italy, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Holland and Canada.

luring people to the burbs by turning them into disneylands