Shanghai's urban development began organically as a fishing village, evolving into a county seat under the Ming Dynasty where canals were vital for transport, not adhering to traditional Chinese planning codes. The city's landscape dramatically transformed after 1842, when the Treaty of Nanjing designated it a treaty port, leading to the establishment of British and French concessions along the Huangpu River, which eventually formed the iconic Bund. A massive influx of refugees from the Taiping Rebellion in 1853 rapidly swelled the foreign territories, prompting colonial administrators to attempt creating "model settlements" with modern infrastructure like paved streets, tram systems, and improved sanitation. In the Republican era, the Nationalist Government established "Greater Shanghai" in 1927 and introduced the "Greater Shanghai Plan," strategically aiming to build a new civic center in Jiangwan to assert Chinese sovereignty and modernize the city's infrastructure.