When it comes to the building of cities of the future, all eyes these days, not surprisingly, are on China.
And one symbol of China's extraordinary growth isn't Beijing; 140 kilometers southeast --
just by high-speed train -- 30 minutes, Tianjin. Its growth far outstrips the national average, the middle of a spectacular upgrade.
Tianjin, you get three cities for the price of one. In Binhai New Area, there's the development that's driving the whole region's economy.
There [are] three cores, each representing some of China's most dynamic sectors: technology, industry, and tourism.
Not surprisingly with such growth, it's our "Future City."
Every city has its shape and size. Here in Tianjin, both are changing. Big, bold construction projects are underway.
And some, like Binhai New Area, are up to 50 kilometers from the rest of the city. This is much more than a city suburb.
It's one of many new dots on the map that surround traditional Tianjin. Eventually, high-speed rail will join these dots.
Nothing really prepares you for the size and scale of the construction underway here.
An hour from Tianjin proper, and they're building up a storm.
Binhai includes Yujiapu, a brand-new financial district that will serve the city.
Yujiapu covers 3.86 square kilometers. It will provide modern financial services to not only Tianjin, but also the whole of Northern China.
Last year, Tianjin's economy grew by 17 percent. For Binhai, the figure was as high as 25 percent.
All the while, Beijing has now set the national growth target at a mere seven percent.
If the central government's idea is for more modest growth, that's a forlorn hope, certainly here in Greater Tianjin.
Behind me they're constructing Yujiapu. The ambition is it competes with Shanghai and Hong Kong.
It's all part of China's wider ambition to draw more people into its cities, an ambition that will see 50,000 skyscrapers built in the next 15 years.
I think I'm lucky. It's my destiny to work in design and to plan this area.
Binhai will become the window of Northern China's open and reformed policy towards the world.
We're putting up 122 high buildings here. By early 2015, companies, bankers and financial agencies can start working in these buildings.
And by 2020, everything will be complete. I have to admit that our construction speed at Yujiapu has been much faster than normal speed.
In Tianjin, the old is giving way to the new. The ancient traditions are seeking their modern-day incarnations.
The established ways of structuring cities are being tested. A single urban core is no longer the only way to map a city.
In China, the need to modernize cities is urgent. Tianjin's urban planning is giving us a glimpse into the future.