Shanghai wants to know the secret of becoming a world-class shopping and tourist destination. A booming economic and trade center, the city is now trying to transform its Nanjing Road into one of the world's leading retail and entertainment districts. But although the street is China's best-known and most successful commercial thoroughfare, Shanghai local-government officials and businesspeople think it is far from realizing its potential, particularly in a city undergoing spectacular modernization in hopes of rivaling Hong Kong and Tokyo.
In order to understand how to turn a national shopping area into an upscale international one, local and regional officials last year reviewed the qualities shared by the world's leading retail districts—in particular, Carnaby Street and Oxford Street, in London; the Champs-Elysées, in Paris; the Via Montenapoleone, in Milan; Las Ramblas, in Barcelona; Michigan Avenue, in Chicago; Times Square, in New York; the Marina, in Singapore; and the Ginza, in Tokyo.1
To be counted as world-class, a district had to have a worldwide reputation, a high traffic volume, and strong revenues. The nine also had in common an interesting history, distinctive architecture and business formats, and a strong mixture of retailing, places to eat and drink, lodging, entertainment,...