[asdfman123]

I don't think China is more imaginative, but they are far more nimble. For instance, if a city is growing, they just plop down a ton of apartment buildings, throw in 8 new subway lines, connect a bullet train and they're done.

The US spends about that length of time discussing on whether or not to build a new tower in a historic neighborhood.

I don't know why this is the case, but I think it has something to do with a rapidly growing economy versus an already grown economy. If someone could explain to me why that's the case, I'm all ears.

My off-the-cuff guess: if a country is growing, the easiest way to make money is hop into a growing industry and building as fast as you can. If a country is grown, the easiest way to make money is to siphon it from somewhere else. So in developed economies you have stagnation and inefficiency because the elites are more interested in redistributing the wealth (to them), instead of creating new wealth.

[entropicdrifter]

The other big factor is the government can make unilateral decisions because they're not a democracy and their human rights are a joke. If they want to tear down your building to build a new one they'll buy you off or if you refuse that kick you out by force, historical value be damned.

The citizens in the US and their political power are the source of most of the inertia.

[logfromblammo]

They don't always kick owners out by force. Search for "nail house". Sometimes they just go on about their development as though the holdouts are not there. Sometimes they cut the water and power in the middle of the night.

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/gallery/2014/apr/15/china...

[gowld]

> If they want to tear down your building to build a new one they'll buy you off or if you refuse that kick you out by force, historical value be damned.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eminent_domain_in_the_United_S...

[EADGBE]

My old college is doing this to an old employer/business owner/friend. If anyone feels passionate about Eminent Domain being theft; check out their petition.

https://www.change.org/p/eminent-domain-is-theft-save-new-yo...

[EADGBE]

> My off-the-cuff guess: if a country is growing, the easiest way to make money is hop into a growing industry and building as fast as you can. If a country is grown, the easiest way to make money is to siphon it from somewhere else.

You could replace "country" with "company" and describe why startups are continuing to disrupt existing industries.

[jchallis]

This is typically framed as "Grow the Pie" vs "Split the Pie" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grow_the_Pie_(phrase)