POLLACK PERIODICA An International Journal for Engineering and Information Sciences DOI: 10.1556/606.2016.11.1.12 Vol. 11, No.1, pp. 129–143 (2016) www.akademiai.com HU ISSN 1788–1994 © 2016 Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest THOUGHTS FROM THE DYNAMICAL CHANGING CITY, SHANGHAI János GYERGYÁK Department of Urban Studies Design, Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, University of Pécs, Rókus u. 2, H-7624 Pécs, Hungary e-mail: gyergyak.janos@pmmik.pte.hu Received 6 March 2015; accepted 21 September 2015 Abstract: The paper represents the rapidly developing cities in China, namely Shanghai. The metropolis has become a show-case city of the Chinese economy in the last couple of decades. By means of vast investments Shanghai is constantly being renewed and re-edified. The goal of the paper is to present the transformation of the existing conditions, related to public spaces through scientific and empirical elements. Keywords: Urbanism, Urban design, Urban development, Urban development strategy, Public square, City life, Public space, Future of the cities 1. Urban development as the engine of economic investment The amazing economic growth of the last decades in China was mainly about industrial developments and the expansion of commerce. The artificially formed enormous surfaces, which involve these ‘tiny’ urban tissues, were hardly ever mentioned. The development of the Chinese cities is one of the most significant architectural performances [1] of the 21 th century. Instead of quality, the emphasis is on quantity in this case. Due to the great pace of the Chinese urban development, the vast majority of inhabitants live [1] in an urban environment nowadays. Considering the large number of population, this means renewed living conditions and living environment of huge masses of people, which were constructed almost from one week to another. If it is thought for a second, that according to some studies 300-400 million people will be living in an urban environment in the next 15 years in order to possess