Watford | |
---|---|
State | |
Country | |
Capital | |
Population | 0 |
Watford ( (listen)) is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 17.5 miles northwest of Charing Cross.
It is situated on the River Colne, and initially developed as a small market town until the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and breweries. While industry has declined in Watford, its location near to London and to good transport links has attracted several companies to site their headquarters in the town. It contains Cassiobury Park, a public park that was once the manor estate of the Earls of Essex, and Watford Football Club, a professional team who in the 2020/21 season play in the Championship after being relegated following the 2019/20 season from the Premier League – the highest level of English football.
The town developed on the River Colne on land belonging to St Albans Abbey until the 16th century. During the 12th century a charter was granted allowing a market, and the building of St Mary's Church began. The town grew partly due to travellers going to Berkhamsted Castle and the royal palace at Kings Langley. A mansion was built at Cassiobury in the 16th century. This was partly rebuilt in the 17th century and another country house was built at The Grove.
The Grand Junction Canal in 1798 and the London and Birmingham Railway in 1837 resulted in Watford's rapid growth, with paper-making mills such as John Dickinson at Croxley, influencing the development of printing in the town.
Shenzhen City | |
---|---|
State | |
Country | |
Capital | |
Population | 0 |
Shenzhen (; Chinese: 深圳; Mandarin pronunciation: [ʂə́n.ʈʂə̂n] (listen)) is a major sub-provincial city on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern Guangdong province, People's Republic of China. It forms part of the Pearl River Delta megalopolis, bordering Hong Kong to the south, Huizhou to the northeast and Dongguan to the northwest, and shares maritime boundaries with Guangzhou, Zhongshan and Zhuhai to the west and southwest across the estuary.
Shenzhen's cityscape results from its vibrant economy—made possible by rapid foreign direct investment (FDI) following the institution of the policy of "reform and opening-up" in 1979. The city is a leading global technology hub, dubbed by media China's Silicon Valley. It was one of the fastest-growing cities in the world in the 1990s and the 2000s, and has been ranked second on the list "top 10 cities to visit in 2019" by Lonely Planet. Shenzhen is ranked as an Alpha- (global first tier) city together with Guangzhou (China), Melbourne (Australia) and San Francisco (the U.S).Shenzhen, which roughly follows the administrative boundaries of Bao'an County, officially became a city in 1979, taking its name from the former county town, whose train station was the last stop on the Mainland Chinese section of the railway between Canton and Kowloon. In 1980, Shenzhen was established as China's first special economic zone.