Interview at the English speakers corner in Taiyuan (every Saturday at 19.oo at May 1st square) by embedded director Daniel van Veen.
On the west side of the river Fen in Taiyuan, a part of the city center will be realized: a culture island with 5 public buildings containing a diverse program. This is the current situation.
Chinese economist Andy Xie presents his view on how China should become the leading world economy within two decades in a column in China International Business. Like other economists he thinks China should shift from a producer of cheap manufactured goods into a consumption-driven economy. The anchor is urbanisation, he says. China should aim to increase its urbanization to 75% in the next 20 years.
China’s urbanization strategy should focus on building 30 mega-cities of more than 20 million residents each. These cities would have the right to issue bonds to fund their development. Because infrastructure in these cities would benefit from an economy of scale, the environment and job market would benefit, and the cities would have enough tax revenue to pay off their bonds [...] Basically, China should turn its urbanization into a sponge for global capital. Shifting the rural population into big cities is the only way for the nation to modernize.
It’s always hard not to be impressed by numbers in China. Thirty mega-cities of more than 20 million inhabitants. Where will they be located? And how will they be able to function? A lot of questions waiting to be answered.
The Central Business District is designed by Japanese architect Kurukowa. This new urban area consists of a circular shopping mall of 2 km which is still under construction. The apartment buildings are finished and mostly sold, but still empty, due to speculations.
A development in the Northeast of the city of Zhengzhou was started in the nineties, to lift up the area. The buildings were hotels and spas. The area has known more active times in its existence than nowadays.
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