China to create largest mega city in the world with 42 million people

[Newsjock]

Source: The Telegraph (UK)

City planners in south China have laid out an ambitious plan to merge together the nine cities that lie around the Pearl River Delta.

The "Turn The Pearl River Delta Into One" scheme will create a 16,000 sq mile urban area that is 26 times larger geographically than Greater London, or twice the size of Wales.

The new mega-city will cover a large part of China's manufacturing heartland, stretching from Guangzhou to Shenzhen and including Foshan, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Zhuhai, Jiangmen, Huizhou and Zhaoqing. Together, they account for nearly a tenth of the Chinese economy.

... By the end of the decade, China plans to move ever greater numbers into its cities, creating some city zones with 50 million to 100 million people and "small" city clusters of 10 million to 25 million.

Read more: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/8278315/China-to-create-largest-mega-city-in-the-world-with-42-million-people.html

[aquart]

1. Oh, that's going to be messy.

And how nice that they see their industrial superiority will go unchallenged.

[nyy1998]

20. I've been in that region(operative word here is region).

It takes 2 HOURS by BOAT to get from Hong Kong to Machau. It's one thing if it takes a couple hours across NYC or Tokyo by train, but by boat, it's absolutely ridiculous.

[somone]

2. Visualize the pollution and waste products

[quakerboy]

4. visualize the traffic jams

[roguevalley]

32. visualize the riots when the food and drought problem hits them.

visualize the disease epidemic potentials. this is nuts.

[AngryAmish]

19. There is a very good argument that urban areas are cleaner than rural and suburban areas

More density.

That said, this is China.

[fleabert]

31. in china is right...a good friend lived there for 2 years...

and his office was covered in soot and dust every morning- despite duct taping the windows shut and wiping it down every single day. he was in Guangzhou for two years. happiest day in two years was the day he left (the pollution was only one reason, animal cruelty, dignity, and general disgust were others)

[qazplm]

3. this is why china will never be a superpower

just too much messiness involved with having 1.5 billion people.

[Threedifferentones]

18. Wait

They aren't a superpower right now? And the U.S. is? Hey, 1990 is calling, they'd like their global perspective back...

[CJvR]

39. No not really.

China's ability to project power outside it's immediate area is very limited. A Great Power, and growing, but still mostly a regional power.

[handmade34]

5. 17 Facts about China

"...The speed and size of economic development happening today in China is unprecedented. The Chinese economy has grown 316% in the past decade, passing Japan and on track to pass the U.S. as soon as 2025..."


http://www.businessinsider.com/incredible-facts-about-china-2011-1#

[Systematic Chaos]

6. And then they realize that infinite growth is impossible in a closed system.

That's when shit gets messy and lots of people starve and/or drop dead from living in massive concentrations of their own filth.

:popcorn:

[bossy22]

24. china's growth is slowing

they also have to deal with an impending massive population aging which will put a significant strain on the economy. You think our social services are inadequate....just look at the chinese

[Buddha2B]

7. I think of cities like Detroit

What happens in 30-40 years when those factories close down or there is a problem.

You have a massive amount of people all squished together and unemployed.

You get a "2000AD Judge Dredd" crime problem.

[SnakeEyes]

8. This would be a great thing...

if this were an environmentally conscious and responsible country doing it. The ability to centralize a population so that resources were efficiently used and less expensive, thus allowing for society to better afford social programs for all, would be the ideal situation in all countries. And China has the right laws and government controls that they can make it happen.

[davidinalameda]

13. and they can kill or imprison

anyone who doesn't want to go along

totalitarianism is a wonder thing

[RandySF]

9. What's really scary

Is that Guangzhou and the surrounding area is where many flu viruses and other nasty diseases originate (remember SARS?).

[somone]

11. Not mention they ruined Hong Kong's air quality

big time.

[somone]

10. They will need lebensraum - maybe they'll invade Russia in 50 years

water will be one reason

[Javaman]

26. It'll be sooner than that. nt

[JVS]

12. If you're twice the size of Wales, you're not a city.

[dipsydoodle]

16. That's a UK link

So - broadly speaking all you need to be termed a city is a cathederal. Size doesn't matter - London is big but Durham which only needs a hop skip and a jump to get in and out is tiny.

[muriel_volestrangler]

22. I think what JVS is saying is that an area that large is too big to be called a city

It's a bit bigger than the Netherlands, for instance - 16,000 square miles v. 14,442.

[DeSwiss]

14. Well.....

...let's hope they can keep the buildings from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pktM__i-8IQ&feature=related">falling over this time.



- Hey, I know! It could happen to anybody......

K&R

[TheMadMonk]

15. As I noted at the time. Apart from the footings, overall that building...

...held together remarkably well. Kudos for the builders, if not the site survey and preparation.

[Javaman]

27. Yeah, because as long as the building is okay...

People can just enter the room through the ceiling!

:rofl:

[TheMadMonk]

29. That is not what I said at all. I said the building itself was well built.

And I ackowledged that the foundations/footings were what let it down. (ha-ha)

Those footings are clearly inadequate for that building, and even more so for that apparent soil type.

A little subsidence and goodnight Irene. However that building did topple as a homogenous unit and it remained so AFTER it had hit the ground. That's solid for any structure, for masonry it's pretty damned amazing.

[Javaman]

33. I was clearly joking and meant no offence. nt

[name not needed]

36. Luxury apartments - now with skylights!

[somone]

30. Good observation

I've seen several tall buildings throughout China that were finished but unoccupied for that very reason. Fairly well put together otherwise. The general contractor spent very little on soil engineering/preparation and got the permit to start construction by bribing local authorities, and then all of a sudden somebody noticed that the structure wasn't level - or still moving

[girl gone mad]

17. Sounds horrific.

[paparush]

21. A new life awaits you in the Off-world colonies!

A chance to begin again in a golden land of opportunity and adventure!

/from Blade Runner if you don't get the reference.

[LibertyLover]

23. China has done this before and the results are less than stellar

My daughter was adopted from Hubei province and my husband and I had to travel to the provincial capital, Wuhan, in order to get her and finalize the Chinese portion of the adoption. Wuhan is a large city full of pollution from tens of thousands of cars and factories and people. It is made from 3 smaller cities, Wuchang, Hankou and Hanyang, that lay along the Yangtze and the Hanjiang rivers. They were merged together in 1926. There were days when the air pollution was so bad that from our hotel room we couldn't see buildings we knew were only 2 or 3 blocks away. I don't see a lot of good coming from 'turning the Pearl River Delta into one'.

[bigworld]

25. Simcity folks know what's next!

[muriel_volestrangler]

28. This is administative; it's not saying it's going to be continuously built up

42 million people in an area of 16,000 sq miles (41,000 sq km) is not an incredible amount. For instance, if you take the same area in the centre of England - roughly from Surrey and Essex up to Lancashire and West Yorkshire - it has a population of about 32 million. That includes a fair amount of agricultural land, and even a few hills like the southern end of the Pennines.

If the population then went up significantly, it might become crowded.

[Vidar]

34. Sounds like a pretty large target for something.

[eppur_se_muova]

35. They're trying to control population by encouraging epidemics.

Should work, but likely to spread worldwide.

[Codeine]

37. Concentrated urban areas are more environmentally responsible than

sprawling suburbia and country living that encroaches ever more on wild areas.

[and-justice-for-all]

38. That is how you create jobs....

A high speed rail system and national infrastucture repair/undating here would create jobs.

[harvey007]

40. Sounds like hell on earth

And if the people get restless or uppity, the mobile execution vans will be brought in to kill the trouble-makers and harvest their organs.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1165416/Chinas-hi-tech-death-van-criminals-executed-organs-sold-black-market.html

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-06-14-death-van_x.htm


:puke: