Better City, Better Life', the omnipresent theme of the World Expo, which ended yesterday, is certainly etched in the memories of over 73 million visitors to the displays of culture and technology at the six-month-long extravaganza.
Out-of-town visitors are also surely impressed by the skyline and cosmopolitan feel of the host city, which reportedly spent up to 400 billion yuan (HK$464 billion) to spruce up the infrastructure.
Indeed, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon probably voiced the opinion of many millions of people by noting Shanghai had 'secured its reputation as one of the world's most cosmopolitan cities'.
The praise will be music to the ears of not only the mainland leadership and Shanghai municipal officials but also bureaucrats nationwide.
Following the close of the expo, the baton will go to Guangzhou - the host of the Asian Games, which starts in 12 days - which equally yearns for international cosmopolitan status after spending 120 billion yuan on its infrastructure.
Everywhere on the mainland, cities large and small are finding pretexts, valid or not, to roll out ambitious urban development plans. They bulldoze old towns and force peasants to sell their farmland cheaply, often in the menacing presence of police or hired thugs.
According to some estimates, about 655 mainland cities have reportedly set their sights on international standards in terms of urban development, and 183 other cities have aimed to become 'international metropolises'.
