Few neighbourhoods in China are as impressive as the Overseas Chinese Town (OCT) in Shenzhen. Barely 20 years old, it occupies the lion's share of the city's Nanshan district, between the central business area of Futian and the port of Shekou. It is best known as home to the mainland's most famous theme parks: Window of the World, Splendid China, and Happy Valley.
At the end of this year, when the Western Crossing bridge opens, those theme parks will be as easy for Hongkongers to reach as Disneyland.
Mickey is probably not about to be deserted for mainland look-alikes. The 'house of mouse' is, despite recent publicity woes, still a world away from anything else in China.
Yet OCT is worth looking at as a case study of how infrastructure development is changing the pattern of human interaction in the Pearl River Delta. It will inevitably affect economic trends, too.
What makes OCT stand out in Shenzhen - indeed, in Guangdong province - is the quality of its environment. Theme parks require a lot of space, and so naturally contribute to the 'greening' of a city. The entire OCT area also has several large residential projects and offices, shops and hi-tech factories. All have been carefully laid out under a far-thinking design.
It may not have Disney's slick marketing, and it may still lack some of the modern conveniences of a typical Hong Kong upper-middle-class neighbourhood like, say, Discovery Bay - but OCT is not far from that level.
At the heart of the area lies the Crowne Plaza Hotel, which offers the kind of service you would expect at an international brand-name hostelry. Across the road, a new five-star resort hotel is going up, managed by the same InterContinental Hotel Group. Around the corner is the Portofino Restaurant and entertainment complex, which would satisfy many a Hong Kong-based connoisseur.