The ALTER concept store is located in Xin Tian Di, Shanghai’s bustling shopping and entertainment district. The administration set out the guidelines for the development of this part of the city in the late 1900s. While the development of other districts, where the rising cost of land was a major issue (among others), resulted in a higher density and greater function congestion, Xin Tian Di was more sparsely built-up, as part of a master plan that set out to reconstruct the quarter as it was in the 19th century: a network of narrow alleys lined with shikumen, two- or three-storey houses influenced by the Western culture of the day. Xin Tian Di creates a simulated image of the city of the past, shaped by the leisure economy, its residential character now transformed into luxury boutiques. It has been a success for the administration and for its designers who, anticipating the radical change of image the city would undergo, created an area with an artsy feel that attracts locals and tourists alike.

The ALTER concept store is located in Xin Tian Di, Shanghai’s bustling shopping and entertainment district. The administration set out the guidelines for the development of this part of the city in the late 1900s. While the development of other districts, where the rising cost of land was a major issue (among others), resulted in a higher density and greater function congestion, Xin Tian Di was more sparsely built-up, as part of a master plan that set out to reconstruct the quarter as it was in the 19th century: a network of narrow alleys lined with shikumen, two- or three-storey houses influenced by the Western culture of the day. Xin Tian Di creates a simulated image of the city of the past, shaped by the leisure economy, its residential character now transformed into luxury boutiques. It has been a success for the administration and for its designers who, anticipating the radical change of image the city would undergo, created an area with an artsy feel that attracts locals and tourists alike.