See this 2013 snippet in which the author is visiting a “ghost city” publicized on 60 Minutes. He shows the program segment to bemused residents – the same day it first aired! It’s not just an exercise in debunking, because it includes the “why” of new but deserted cities, and the track record of what happens once they’re built. I’m curious now to read the Ghost Cities of China book (Wade Shepherd, ISBN 13 978-1783602186, published by ZED Books 2015 – that’s the publisher of our China’s Urban Billion, a publisher that wants short, readable but quality books with a promise of a very short time space between receipt of the completed digital manuscript and when the book goes on sale).
Curious enough in fact that I just ordered it as an Amazon Prime customer, using smile.amazon.com to see that the associated donation to a non-profit goes to a local organization, the United Way of Rockbridge, which raises funds for Campus Kitchen and many other local organizations. {I now have the book, but yet to read any of it.}
Note that JT uses Shepherd for the final paragraph of his post. Once I glance through the book I’ll have a better sense of how strong the evidence is that ghost cities are an apparition, whose specter does not in fact haunt the Chinese economy.
The concept of ‘ghost cities’ interests people from the United States. Cities that are purportedly empty are foreign to us, so it makes sense 60 Minutes and other news sources report on the topic. What they neglect to do is take into account the size of China’s growing urban population. It’s necessary for the government to plan these cities in order for growth to happen properly. There is not enough space in the current urban areas to house all who are interested in living there. Conveniently, the infrastructure creation promotes an increase in GDP and helps the country meet its target levels as well.