Will Maglev take off?

For those who have not flown into Shanghai in recent years, the Maglev is a magnetically levitating train linking Pudong airport to the city’s financial center. Initially developed by Siemens, it is one of the few commercially operating magnetic train in the world – it has yet to provide financial viability.

In addition to being a technological showcase, Maglev is becoming a political experiment. In 2007 relocation plans for thousands of residents was announced in order to extend the track to the other side of Shanghai. The new middle class, a crucial constituency in the country’s future political development, have shown signs of a willingness to take political action when the government’s top-down infrastructure plans have threatened their economic interests.

Since organized demonstrations tend be politically sensitive, residents (mostly white-collars) along the planned line have gathered on Shanghai’s People’s Square to express their opinion using the method of “taking collective walks”. Proof that the topic disturbs: the Internet police has banned it from the Chinese cyberspace.