Posted on 12/19/2010 8:25:00 PM PST by GravityFree
These amazing satellite images show sprawling cities built in remote parts of China that have been left completely abandoned, sometimes years after their construction.
Elaborate public buildings and open spaces are completely unused, with the exception of a few government vehicles near communist authority offices.
Some estimates put the number of empty homes at as many as 64 million, with up to 20 new cities being built every year in the country's vast swathes of free land.
The photographs have emerged as a Chinese government think tank warns that the country's real estate bubble is getting worse, with property prices in major cities overvalued by as much as 70 per cent.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
China and Russia/ex ussr will run back to command soviet style economies if the world economy collapses.
2025 headline:
EVERY COUNTRY IN THE WORLD BROKE!!!
“I’ll go the conspiracy theory route here: possible emergency civilian housing in the event of war, in case established major population centers are destroyed or rendered uninhabitable.”
We must wear the same size ‘tinfoil’ hat because that was my first thought as well. China always plans deep. They may have these as fall back positons. I’ve always worried that with their population problems that they might just decide a nice big war with lots of causualities would be a good thing.
Thought so. Spent a little time in Belarus...high rise for everyone. Those that live in the little villages have to be incredibly hardy. What to do? A little space, a little “freedom”, or a life of “ease” in the rabbit hutch.
Why do Americans hate their own country?
You know, I have traveled enough, that I NEVER take a hot shower for granted.
If that day ever came those buildings would not be habitable. The Chinese don’t even maintain the houses they live in. People would be better off living in tents.
You are forgetting that China has a severe problem with peasant labor from the countryside that has moved to the cities to find work. The only work those people can do is menial construction labor. What China has done is create jobs for those people by building things, whether they are needed or not. Remember there has been rampant real estate speculation there.
There are more than 900 million uneducated peasants in China. Many of them are unhappy with their lot in life after they realized they are not getting their share of the growth pie. China has to keep those idle hands busy or suffer rebellion.
2011 headline:
EVERY COUNTRY IN THE WORLD BROKE!!!
fixed it for you
“If you build it ....they will come”
Looks like Houston circa 1980 or Brazilia 1959
Mainly apartments, though some homes.
Mainly because of prices. The real estate market is way overheated.
The real reason why China built all these unused, unoccupied cities for millions is that is artificially increased their GDP.
Many of these cities were built with ‘Stimulus Packages’ to produce work for a product no one needs.
Another major part of China’s inflation problem is the price of food, which increased more than 11 percent in the past year. While some of this increase has to do with changes in international food prices, much of China’s problem is a function of increased agricultural wages. As has been pointed out elsewhere, the pull of higher wages in urban areas has left China with a depleted rural workforce. In some areas, this has led to a doubling of wages for farm laborers. Rising food costs indicate that these increased labor costs are being passed on to the Chinese consumer.
The story you have not heard is that China is in worse shape than the USA.
2011 headline:
EVERY COUNTRY IN THE WORLD BROKE!!!
More accurate, yes.
The high rise life is not bad. Best part is take the elevator to the first floor, wave at the doorman, out the door and walk to a store and the pub.
The high rise life is not bad. Best part is take the elevator to the first floor, wave at the doorman, out the door and walk to a store and the pub.
Belarus: High risers were built post WWII to get people out of the weather, out from under the bridges...because everything was destroyed.
Dark, stinky, dangerous stairwells. Homemade security doors. Little rooms, bare, bare neccesities.
The people are so much like us, it was easy to think about myself in their place, their limitations, challenges...and it was crushing.
If they used Chinese drywall, mold has already taken over most of these buildings.
One thing that stood out to him was that the train stations in the city he visited (maybe Shanghai) were immaculate, and were filled with custodians who were constantly mopping and scrubbing the public places. Apparently there has been a massive dislocation of Chinese farmers as these cities expand, and one way the government compensates the farmers is by giving them public works jobs maintaining the infrastructure. I wonder if the "ghost cities" in China were part of a make-work public spending initiative just to keep other displaced workers busy.
I don’t know - I can squint and see lots of tiny people down there
I like that part about walking to the pub. Seriously, if I were a young man, I would enjoy life in the center of some busy (but not too busy) metropolis, where I could walk to places. Or for that matter, I may just be the doorman.
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