Chinese New Cities (24 images)

The past two decades we have seen China catapult itself from an poor agrarian country in to a modern superpower. This economic explosion is expected to continue. Over the next 17 years, 350 million rural residents (more than the entire population of the US) will leave the farm and move to China's cities. In order to house this huge migration, the Chinese governement has announced a plan to build 400 new cities by 2020.

These new urban areas are expected to be occupied by...
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The past two decades we have seen China catapult itself from an poor agrarian country in to a modern superpower. This economic explosion is expected to continue. Over the next 17 years, 350 million rural residents (more than the entire population of the US) will leave the farm and move to China's cities. In order to house this huge migration, the Chinese governement has announced a plan to build 400 new cities by 2020.

These new urban areas are expected to be occupied by migrants from agrarian areas as well as China's emerging middle class, who have enthusiastically embraced the idea of home ownership. Some of these cities that exist today have been financed by local governments and therefore are enjoying various degrees of success, while other developments created by property developers and stand empty, with huge abandoned roads that stretch in to oblivion. Meeting the infrastructure needs of the newly expanded cities will be both a challenge and an opportunity.
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