Shanghai has not. But it is difficult not to admire what Shanghai is trying to do and wonder whether Hong Kong has lost its way. Consider Hong Kong's right of abode debacle . The Tung administration estimated 1.67 million immigrants would flood in if nothing was done. The people here evidently see only a future of limited growth.
Societies decline when their people lose faith in themselves.
Hong Kong people may be on the verge of doing so. Worse, Hong Kong is also beginning the process of walling itself off from the rest of the world. Here, the quality of teaching English is declining dramatically. Hong Kong is starting to emulate a country that, in most respects, is not as far advanced as itself. When Shanghai gets a vision, implementation is no problem.