Rohan Shivkumar states that the 2008 crisis has rescued the Mumbai slum

 

The moment the crisis occured, all urban planning ideas concerning the Dharavi slum were dropped for a lack of financial resources. It seems that this was the time for thinkers who were listening to the actual inhabitants of these areas. Read on here:

 http://www.design.nl/item/rohan_shivkumar_on_what_design_can_do

A dragon for downtown Shanghai

 

This unorthodox spiraling structure is an entry in the current Re-Thinking Shanghai 2012 competition, designed to be constructed in the city's center. While inspired by the ancient Chinese Dragon symbol, it's striking contemporariness isn't limited to sheer aesthetics. Aside from merging commercial and residential buildings, a park, waterways, roads and subway lines, "Sity", as the structure is named, could be able to generate power through solar panels and wind/water turbines, as well as collect rain water and function as a sort of natural air conditioner.

http://www.detail.de/daily/sity-glanzender-drache-fur-shanghai-13902/
http://www.10design.co/think/competitions/re-think-shanghai/