In an era of accelerating population growth, mass urbanisation, and increasing pressure on the natural environment, the megacities of China's eastern seaboard have become a focal point of architectural and urban-design attention. The reform and opening-up era has touched China's major cities in different ways, variously affecting the existing fabric of dynastic capitals, trade hubs, and former European colonies and concessions, this in turn has provided the setting for a rang e of complex reactions by contemporary architects.