Chinese plan to build megacity the size of New England, housing 130 million

[jimmy olsen]

Laudable ambition, but I wonder how much will actually get built. Their bubble economy ain't going to keep growing forever, especially as the work force quickly ages.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/china/jing-jin-ji-china-planning-megalopolis-size-new-england-n734736

TIANJIN, China — China's rulers are planning a megacity that will be home to 130 million people and cover an area the size of New England.

Sitting on the northeast coast of China, Jing-Jin-Ji — which stands for Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei — is a central plank of the country's economic development plan over the next century.

The sheer numbers around the the project are startling. In November, the government approved $36 billion to build some 700 miles of new rail there within just three years' time.

Residents of bedroom communities just outside Beijing's city limits who now spend five to six hours a day on their commute are expected to be the main beneficiaries of a new transport system serving the megalopolis.

In the longer term, 24 intercity railways are planned for completion by 2050 — eight alone by 2020. The goal is a "one-hour commuting circle" across the area, according to the government.

"The biggest change is in transportation," Zhang Zhongmin, a humanities professor and environmental campaigner based in the Hebei captial of Shijiazhuang told NBC News. "It used to take almost one day to travel from Hebei to Beijing, but now it's only a few hours."

With 13,670 miles, China already boasts of the world's longest network of high-speed rail lines — which serve trains traveling between 120 mph and 220 mph. The next two countries on the list are Spain with 1,930 miles and Japan with 1,887 miles. And China plans to build 10,000 more miles.

With its new shipping and transport network and gleaming office towers and apartments under construction, the Tianjin Free Trade Zone already hints at the colossal resources Beijing is committing to the next phase of China's economic rise. President Xi Jinping is seeking for China to become the world's largest economy.

The government is expected to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on transport and infrastructure projects that will connect around 130 million people living in Beijing, the bustling port city of Tianjin and 11 other cities in Hebei province.

A crucial part of the strategy is the revitalization of Tianjin as a base for advanced manufacturing and international shipping. Beijing will remain as the nation's capital and political and cultural center, while Hebei province will shift to clean manufacturing and wholesale trading.

Communication will get easier, too, with roaming or long-distance fees being scrapped for all intercity cellphone calls.

"The biggest advantage of Jing-Jin-Ji is that we can have a more coordinated development and better environmental plan over a wider area," said Zhang Chao, an official at the Tianjin Free Trade Zone.

He spoke to NBC News while showing off a new container terminal that will link Tianjin to Minsk, Belarus, more than 4,000 miles away.

The project will also help ease the housing crunch for young professionals in and around Beijing, according to Guo Yi, a Tianjin newspaper reporter who is working with the government to publicize the plans.

"By developing Tianjin, we can encourage a redistribution of talent," he said. "Education and housing is cheaper by half here than in Beijing."

It is hoped that the project will boost the movement of talent and labor, and help under-developed areas catch-up, a scenario that should benefit Hebei, which has an average income of 40 percent that of Beijing and Tianjin.

With high-speed rail links, residents of Chongli county — one of the hosts of the 2022 Winter Olympics — will be able to get to Beijing in just 50 minutes. Today the trip takes between three and four hours by car.

According to a strategy detailed in a report released Wednesday, the megalopolis is one of three key projects aimed at boosting China's economy over the next 100 years along with the Yangtze River Delta Economic Region led by Shanghai in the south, and the "One Belt, One Road" program in the west created to promote China's trading links with Asia, Europe and Africa.

While it is supposed to become a motor for innovation and growth within China, some experts think Jing-Ji-Ji could also become a model of sustainable growth for the rest of the country and the world.

"All eyes are on the Jing-Jin-Ji region as a testing ground for innovative solutions," according to an October 2015 report by the Paulson Institute, a think-tank founded by former U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Jr.

Hebei, China's most industrialized and polluted province and the main source of smog in Beijing, also has strong winds and higher than average sunlight. This could translate into wind and solar power and ease its transition to low-carbon manufacturing.

Lu Xiangzhou, a native of Handan city which will be part of Jing-Jin-Ji region, has already seen the promise of the new megacity. The 31-year-old entrepreneur has pooled about $1.5 million of investment capital with other partners to set up an incubator company in the free-trade zone.

"We nurture start-ups, provide them with half-year free rent in the beginning, and if they become viable businesses or get listed in the stock market, we can take up to five percent ownership," he said.

[Zanza]

The Hebei province plus Beijing and Tianjin already have like 100 million inhabitants. Building some more infrastructure there does not make it a more of a megapolis than it already is.

[Admiral Yi]

FAKE NEWS!

[Josquius]

I hate the way Chinese and Japanese often use the word city to mean counties.
Something the size of new england is the size of a decent sized country. The population of Germany in an area half the size of Germany?
Err.... OK.

[Josquius]

Annd I've just realised I somehow mixed up Japan and Germanys populations.
Regardless it doesn't sound like city population density

[Monoriu]

The Hebei province plus Beijing and Tianjin already have like 100 million inhabitants. Building some more infrastructure there does not make it a more of a megapolis than it already is.

[DGuller]

There are worse things you can do with the proceeds of bubble economy than building in-demand transportation infrastructure.

[MadImmortalMan]

Laudable ambition,

Not really.

[Eddie Teach]

Laudable ambition,

Not really.

What's wrong with trains?

[The Brain]

Laudable ambition,

Not really.

What's wrong with trains?

They don't run on time and people smell.

[MadImmortalMan]

Laudable ambition,

Not really.

What's wrong with trains?

Nothing. Megacities are a problem though.

[Razgovory]

Not for Judge Dredd.

[Scipio]

The Hive.