My mailbox is old, fully amortized, and made of steel of the type that America used to produce back when we forged steel that won wars.

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The goal is clear, but getting there, finding a way through the murk and smog that hangs over cities like Wuhan, and forging a future based not on steel but a different type of economy - that's the hard part.

BBC: Can Wuhan's state-owned giants adapt?

And they have even turned up in a type of hard, specialised steel made by Sandvik, a Swedish engineering firm.

ECONOMIST: The 2011 Nobel prizes

We also looked at several groundbreaking building systems that stand to make our cities stronger and more sustainable, starting with a new type of flexible superglass that is stronger than steel.

ENGADGET: Inhabitat's Week in Green: sexy green cars, glass strong as steel, and Tianjin's Eco-City revealed

This Ohio company, founded as a wooden barrel maker, makes steel drums, corrugated boxes, water bottles, rain barrels and basically every type of packaging you could think of.

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