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This paper attempts to build on these published works by examining the role planning has played in directing development in Shenzhen, Guangdong Sheng, China. "Planning" in this paper is not restricted to spatial land use planning, but rather also includes socio-economic planning. Integration of these two types of planning is essential because socioeconomic activities must take place in physical space, and if spatial planning is not integrated with socioeconomic planning, the latter will be very difficult to implement. This paper is divided into two main parts. The first part argues that existing theoretical perspectives do not adequately explain the Shenzhen experiment. However, one thing is certain, socioeconomic and spatial planning by the central and local governments has played a major role in the transformation of Shenzhen from a rural county into a modem metropolis. The second part of the paper analyzes in detail how planning rhetoric was fashioned to accommodate the development realities of Shenzhen over time.