China’s Ghost Towns

Mumbai Mirror ( June 20,2011 ) had following to write about China’s ghost towns :

Ø            China has been building an average of 10 cities / year over the last few years

Ø            Recently, China announced plans to build 20 cities / year for the next 20 years ( 400 brand new mega cities ? )

Ø            There are more than 70 million uninhabited houses in China

Ø            Apartments in Chenggong ( a fishing village near Hong Kong ) are selling for up to $ 80,000 , with no takers !

Ø            Some of these ghost towns are twice the size of Los Angeles ! Some don’t even have a name ! All of them have a world-class facilities with empty shops, unused roads and no residents !

Ø            China consumes more steel, iron ore and cement per capita than any industrial nation in history.

Ø            Walking thru these towns is like walking thru a forest of skyscrapers, but they are all empty.

·                                      Incidentally, world’s biggest mall is in China – except that it is only 1 % occupied !

It would be a win-win situation, if China could “ export “ some of these ghost towns to India which is facing a current shortage of 25 million dwellings, and / or India “ exports “ to China, some 100 million Indians !

With regards

hemen  parekh