In many ways, the linked growth of Singapore and its neighboring cities, Batam and Johor, brings to mind Hong Kong and Shenzhen some years earlier. In 1979 Shenzhen, then a fishing village, was declared China’s first special economic zone, and grew rapidly, serving as Hong Kong’s productive hinterland. Today however, the roles are changing. Going from Hong Kong’s vertical factories to Shenzhen’s urban villages, we were searching for the sites and the stories of the twin cities.