Wednesday, June 26, 2013

China's newest city

(cont'd from previous post)

The current goal of moving 250 million people off their rural land and into cities is just the next chapter in a long story of Chinese urbanization.  From 1978 to 2011 about 510 million Chinese made that move.

Part of this effort includes building new cities.  One is Lanzhou New Area: 

"Until a few months ago, this dusty plateau tucked away in a remote corner of China was home to a cluster of water-starved villages whose residents lived in rural obscurity around 750 miles from Beijing. Now, it is a giant construction site and a front line in China's breakneck race towards urbanisation."[sic]

Go to the link (U.K. Telegraph) so you can see what it looks like - trucks are tearing down arid mountains for the new city.  There's not a green plant in sight.  About twenty such new cities go up every year.  Eventually, it will be home to 500,000.

Some of the relocated are happy for the change, many are angry.  Either way, it's quite a life transition.  Is it accurate to say that the Chinese people are used to doing what they're told by their government?  Looks that way.

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