https://www.scmp.com/rss/508476/feed Mike Walker is a writer and translator (Russian and Korean) who lives in America and often writes about urban and architectural issues. He has a BFA in architecture history from the Savannah College of Art and Design. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com I have covered Russia, Belarus and post-Soviet issues since 1997 and also worked as a translator of Russian to English. Unlike many Western journalists, for a long time I was impressed overall with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s performance. Many of his accomplishments, especially in his first 10 years, would be rather incredible for a leader of any nation: from the ashes of the USSR, Russia became not only a free-market economy but a proud nation, and this was strongly based on Putin’s... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3170717/russias-war-ukraine-whatever-happens-next-china-wins?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3170717/russias-war-ukraine-whatever-happens-next-china-wins?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 18 Mar 2022 19:30:17 +0000 Most of us think of cities as ancient things, places that grew into urban centres over centuries and may often have played outsize roles in the development of their nations. As someone who writes about cities from San Francisco to Moscow and Seoul, that is typically how I consider them too. However, in the changing global landscape, this may no longer be the case. Dubai is often heralded as the prime example of an “instant” city that not only grew rapidly in mere decades but also grew due to... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3116761/hong-kong-versus-shenzhen-great-cities-are-more-their-gdp?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3116761/hong-kong-versus-shenzhen-great-cities-are-more-their-gdp?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 09 Jan 2021 01:45:15 +0000