11–20 of 59 posts
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/16/world/asia/chinas-great-up...
The casual dismissal of their sincerity is annoying ("don't know if they're telling the truth, or just saying government-friendly things because the governmental people are here right now!"). At least do the due research if such claims are going to be made by trying to get interviews from these folks without governmental people's presence, or just don't doubt their sincerity. But please don't just sprinkle in the the…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ghost_towns_in_the_Uni...
I'd be more interested in why two such different countries as the US and China seem to have independently arrived at the same problem of ghost cities. We know that China's problems arise from a top-down, state-directed model of development under a one-party rule. But that was never the case in the US, right?
Conversely, there are very few instances of such ghost cities in India (at least that I know of). Possibly because India's urban development has up till now (though today many new cities are currently being proposed as urbanization becomes the need of the hour in India) been much more organic and bottom-up, largely because we couldn't afford otherwise.
The casual dismissal of their sincerity is annoying ("don't know if they're telling the truth, or just saying government-friendly things because the governmental people are here right now!"). At least do the due research if such claims are going to be made by trying to get interviews from these folks without governmental people's presence, or just don't doubt their sincerity. But please don't just sprinkle in the the…
To add further, doesn't America have its own share of "ghost cities" that were once booming but are now decrepit? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ghost_towns_in_the_Uni... I'd be more interested in why two such different countries as the US and China seem to have independently arrived at the same problem of ghost cities. We know that China's problems arise from a top-down, state-directed model of development un…
The casual dismissal of their sincerity is annoying ("don't know if they're telling the truth, or just saying government-friendly things because the governmental people are here right now!"). At least do the due research if such claims are going to be made by trying to get interviews from these folks without governmental people's presence, or just don't doubt their sincerity. But please don't just sprinkle in the the…
To add further, doesn't America have its own share of "ghost cities" that were once booming but are now decrepit? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ghost_towns_in_the_Uni... I'd be more interested in why two such different countries as the US and China seem to have independently arrived at the same problem of ghost cities. We know that China's problems arise from a top-down, state-directed model of development un…
Can foreigners buy/rent there? After living in cars, RVs, and the wilderness, will edgy hackers go for cheap digs and cheap food in the 90% empty Paris replica in the hinterlands of China? Get a dozen friends together and start something there. I'm sure you can find some cheap programmers there too. Heck, you could start a zh-combinator there.
Can foreigners buy/rent there? After living in cars, RVs, and the wilderness, will edgy hackers go for cheap digs and cheap food in the 90% empty Paris replica in the hinterlands of China? Get a dozen friends together and start something there. I'm sure you can find some cheap programmers there too. Heck, you could start a zh-combinator there.
They always mention these as "Ghost Cities" but the numbers are always mentioned like "This city was meant to house upto a million people"... a million people, is not a city, it's a large suburb. Or a very small city (in China), given they always build with med-high density housing.
Could the reporters please do there job and ask the farmers out of earshot of the "government minders" (What exactly are they?). Having spoken to a number of different government officials in China, there are many who are openly skeptical of the Communist party (and many who are die hard believers). This idea that if you say something wrong you'll be thrown away, doesn't seem to hold true. (Maybe it's different when talking to media).
I just took a train from Shanghai down to 黄山. While I can't confirm there are entirely empty cities (I don't doubt it though), There were massive modern housing complexes... with no one in them. It was so surreal.
1. A road grid are build with 4 lane roads, redlights, etc. 2. Housing complexed are build on the resulting squares with the ground floor for business and shops. 3. Small businesses get the ground floor spaces for free for two years, to make them move in here despite not having any peolpe living there. 4. People start to move in, because there are shops around and the rents and still low. 5. After two years, the buildings are largely rented or sold out, the shops start to earn money and pay rent too. 6. After 4 years it looks like the center of a city.
I have lived in such places, both at the very begining when there was nothing around, and later when it seemed to be an overcrowded city center.
All these stories about "Chinas empty buildings" are largely bullshit. At least on the east coast.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
To add further, doesn't America have its own share of "ghost cities" that were once booming but are now decrepit? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ghost_towns_in_the_Uni... I'd be more interested in why two such different countries as the US and China seem to have independently arrived at the same problem of ghost cities. We know that China's problems arise from a top-down, state-directed model of development un…
I don't know if you're baiting for a conspiracy, but I'd go as far as to say top level politics are to blame in both countries, albeit more directly in the case of China.