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Do China’s ghost cities offer a solution to Europe’s migrant crisis?
Reuters ^ | 09/19/2015 | By Wade Shepard

Posted on 09/19/2015 9:21:36 AM PDT by SeekAndFind

Nearly 150,000 Syrian refugees have already claimed asylum in Europe and tens of thousands more are flooding the borders in search of places to live. Meanwhile, in China, there are millions of new apartments sitting completely empty and entire sections of freshly constructed cities that are virtually uninhabited. This disparity between unmet housing need and oversupply has not been lost on many around the world, and after writing a book about China’s ghost cities, I’ve recently found my email inbox getting flooded with suggestions such as this:

Do you think the Ghost Cities could be used, even as a temporary situation, to accommodate those displaced from Syria? It seems that many of the cities are just waiting for a community and here is a community that needs a city.

This sentiment is widespread across popular social media platforms, and on Twitter alone roughly 7 out of 10 results for searches pertaining to China’s ghost cities reveal tweets recommending the mass movement of Syrian refugees to these under-populated urban terrains.

Realistically speaking, this suggestion isn’t worth analyzing with much depth. The political quagmire of relocating masses of people across the planet — not to mention the fact that refugees need more than just housing — means that this is a far greater ordeal than simply assuaging demand with supply. It does shed light, though, on the gulf that exists between the predominant international opinion on China’s so-called ghost cities and their present reality.

Even though there are between 20 and 45 million unoccupied homes across China, which account for roughly 600 million square meters of uninhabited floor space — enough to completely cover Madrid — these places are not the urban wastelands they are often posited to be.

(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.reuters.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; Syria
KEYWORDS: china; chinaghostcities; ghostcities; refugeecrisis; refugees; syria; syrianrefugees
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1 posted on 09/19/2015 9:21:36 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

China has the sense to just say no to Muslims.


2 posted on 09/19/2015 9:23:36 AM PDT by Vigilanteman (Obama: Fake black man. Fake Messiah. Fake American. How many fakes can you fit in one Zer0?)
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To: SeekAndFind

Brilliant idea! Ship all the Muslims to China.


3 posted on 09/19/2015 9:23:41 AM PDT by Cowboy Bob (With Trump & Cruz, America can't lose!)
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To: SeekAndFind

China has enough home grown Muslim problems already. They not likely to accept more Muslim problems from overseas willingly.


4 posted on 09/19/2015 9:24:28 AM PDT by Pontiac (The welfare state must fail because it is contrary to human nature and diminishes the human spirit.)
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To: SeekAndFind

5 posted on 09/19/2015 9:24:30 AM PDT by SeekAndFind (What is the difference between Obama and government bonds? Government bonds will mature someday)
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To: SeekAndFind
Better freebees in Europe.
6 posted on 09/19/2015 9:25:29 AM PDT by Parley Baer
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To: SeekAndFind

No. Because the Chinese aren’t stupid.


7 posted on 09/19/2015 9:26:31 AM PDT by dfwgator
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To: SeekAndFind
Save billions in demo costs for these Chinese white elephants. Give a city to the muslims - instant demo.


8 posted on 09/19/2015 9:26:33 AM PDT by dead ("I'm up to my eyeball in virgin goats!" - Mullah Omar)
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To: SeekAndFind
Realistically speaking, this suggestion isn’t worth analyzing with much depth.

Glad I didn't bother clicking through the link then.

Most of these housing units, though empty, are owned. It's a dumping ground for the Chinese wealthy to "invest" in real estate.

9 posted on 09/19/2015 9:27:54 AM PDT by dead ("I'm up to my eyeball in virgin goats!" - Mullah Omar)
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To: SeekAndFind

Considering the unrest and hostility of the Uighers, the Chinese would never invite more mooselimb minorities to live there.

Yes, sometimes they are smarter than the west.


10 posted on 09/19/2015 9:28:09 AM PDT by datura
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To: SeekAndFind

China doesn’t want any of those people around due to terrorists hiding in plain sight that only they, FR, and a few others notice. Just because China finances them doesn’t mean that they want them around.


11 posted on 09/19/2015 9:28:36 AM PDT by Hillarys Gate Cult (Liberals make unrealistic demands on reality and reality doesn't oblige them.)
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To: SeekAndFind
A great suggestion. My crystal ball shows the Chinese giving the mooslims the Chinese version of Sharia Law! “Things going badly for you Achmed?” Then “what ever became of Achmed?”
“Insist on praying morning noon and night? We don't believe in prayer, to the firing squad!”
12 posted on 09/19/2015 9:30:13 AM PDT by BatGuano (You don't think I'd go into combat with loose change in my pocket, do ya?)
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To: SeekAndFind
China has ghost cities but also a surplus of labor and China is not going to support hordes of refugeess, especially hordes of Moslems.
13 posted on 09/19/2015 9:30:24 AM PDT by arthurus (It's true.)
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To: SeekAndFind

No. Kill the terrorists back in the Middle East, convert the rest to Christianity, and send them back to their homeland


14 posted on 09/19/2015 9:31:27 AM PDT by FatherofFive (Islam is evil and must be eradicated)
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To: Vigilanteman
China has the sense to just say no to Muslims.

How true! They have their own problems with the "Religion of Peace" who already are in China! Although, enforcement of China's "One child" policy for Muslims has some appeal...

15 posted on 09/19/2015 9:31:37 AM PDT by ExSES (the "bottom-line")
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To: SeekAndFind

I like when they fall over like dominoes.


16 posted on 09/19/2015 9:32:05 AM PDT by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn.)
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To: dead

Concrete buildings in Moslem countries tend to be devoid of rebar. It doesn’t take much to bring them down. A Richter 3 can rubbleize a town.


17 posted on 09/19/2015 9:33:11 AM PDT by arthurus (It's true.)
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To: SeekAndFind

I’ve been to Urumqi (north western China) and trust me, China knows better than allow more of this parasite into their country. When I was there (on my way to Kashgar) the Muslims were injecting people in crowds with syringes filled with poison.


18 posted on 09/19/2015 9:35:16 AM PDT by Vic S
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To: FatherofFive

RE: No. Kill the terrorists back in the Middle East, convert the rest to Christianity, and send them back to their homeland

That’s what Ann Coulter essentially wrote in a column for National Review just after 9/11.

Result: She was banned from writing for the magazine.


19 posted on 09/19/2015 9:36:29 AM PDT by SeekAndFind (What is the difference between Obama and government bonds? Government bonds will mature someday)
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To: SeekAndFind

Besides being a stupid ides, how would they feed them?


20 posted on 09/19/2015 9:36:44 AM PDT by prisoner6 (Unmutual and Disharmonious)
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