[lbo-talk] China’s ghost cities and the biggest property bubble of all time

[fernando cassia]

[This is interesting, yet, in the interest of hype, the author turns two 
examples of empty shopping malls into a gigantic hyperbole in it 
headline "China´s Ghost Cities", in other words, an indictment of the 
whole country, which makes me question the conclusions of the rest of 
the article -FC]

http://www.grist.org/cities/2011-03-31-chinas-ghost-cities-and-the-biggest-property-bubble-of-all

A couple of months ago, a lot of people were passing around the news 
<http://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver/2011/02/development_china> 
about China's plan to create a megacity 
<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/8278315/China-to-create-largest-mega-city-in-the-world-with-42-million-people.html> 
that would be home to 42 million people, the so-called "Turn the Pearl 
Delta Into One" idea. The reporting was generally favorable, painting a 
picture of economic growth and opportunity -- the narrative of a 
prosperous China, with a growing middle class, that has become 
commonplace in recent years.

Unfortunately, the view of China's urban planning strategies from the 
ground is less shiny. A riveting report 
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPILhiTJv7E&feature=player_embedded> 
from Dateline, an Australian TV show, reveals a disturbing pattern of 
development for development's sake -- the construction of gigantic 
infrastructure projects with no regard for human needs.