Posted on 06/18/2011 3:51:49 PM PDT by SanFranDan
FULL TITLE: China's ghost towns: New satellite pictures show massive skyscraper cities which are STILL completely empty
As sprawling housing developments and skyscrapers in one of the world's most populous countries, these tower blocks and recently-built neighbourhoods should be busy and swarming with people.
But on closer inspection these stunning pictures show elaborate public buildings and open spaces which are left completely empty.
The most recent pictures of unused housing emerged as China announced plans to build 20 cities a year for the next 20 years.
And despite pictures last year showing some of the reported 64 million empty homes, Chinese authorities have since erected masses more buildings.
Gillem Tulloch, an aanlyst for Forensic Asia Limited, described one of the areas in Chenggong, as a 'forest of skyscrapers'.
When asked what has happened in the past six months since the ghost cities were built, he said: 'China built more of them.
'China consumes more steel, iron ore and cement per capita than any industrial nation in history.
'It's all going to railways that will never make money, roads that no one drives on and cities that no one lives in.
'It's like walking into a forest of skyscrapers, but they're all empty.'
Chinese government think tank have warned that the country's real estate bubble is getting worse, with property prices in major cities overvalued by as much as 70 per cent.
Tulloch said that apartments in Chenggong, a fishing village near Hong Kong, were selling for up to $80,000.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Possibly -- and China is hardly communist any more, it's a ruling oligarchy, but if you got the money you can have servants etc. and have a completely cocooned life.
Georgia’s Hank Johnson (D- of course) is quivering in fear for the Chinese as this mass exodus will surely cause China to tip over and capsize.
Bump for after work viewing.
If only. It would raise the common sense level in both countries.
Yes, and they also need something to invest money in. Chinese save their personal salaries at rates that would shock Americans. And many of them are rather naive about international finance. Having lived in a poor country all their lives, and dealing primarily in cash, they don’t have much of an idea about boom & bust cycles.
It’s a combination of centralized planning and a shortage of investment projects for all the money that the Chinese people save. They save a much higher percentage of their pay than Americans would ever consider. They have to speculate in order to invest it.
This cash hoarding habit is also why they own so many US financial instruments—we’ve been a good investment for them for years, in a place where investment opportunities are small compared to the amount of money hoarded and looking for investments.
And of course, if the investors aren’t there to supervise the building process, it’s not important in the short term, if it’s only a speculative build and there are no complaints because there are no tenants.
The Chinese population isn’t very savvy about boom & bust cycles, having been re-educated for years, and having been accustomed to dealing in cash for much longer.
You have to remember that much of their history was re-written you know. Witnesses were murdered. They “started over” in some very real sense in the 40s-60s.
[This is something we are having to contend with, in a way too. Schools in the West have a far different purpose than they used to have.]
Bingo!
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