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Years ago I saw an article and pictures about ghost cities in China. New cities with little to no people living in them. Did they fill those cities with people or are they still deserted?
Years ago I saw an article and pictures about ghost cities in China. New cities with little to no people living in them. Did they fill those cities with people or are they still deserted?
Most of them have very low occupancy rate, but is not deserted. Many people don't realize that the homes are sold, but to people who used them as investment or as a future home. It was inevitable that some of them would move in.
And they are actually making a new one. Xiongan is Xi Jingpings pet project that is already headed for trouble. Construction is delayed becsuse of conflict, they can't convince business and people to move there and the location and building style is very unappealing.
Years ago I saw an article and pictures about ghost cities in China. New cities with little to no people living in them. Did they fill those cities with people or are they still deserted?
It's actually not sad imo. (I know you didn't use that word, I'm just stating this) There are ghost cities in the US (and I'm sure many other places) that are quite depressing because they used to be vibrant and are now deserted. They represent tragedy, economic collapse, and other negative events depending on the particular example.
In China's case, this is the development of infrastructure ahead of schedule, which is actually in theory a very good thing. Most places are always struggling to play catch up. Now I'm not saying necessarily that the approach in these cities in China is the best way, just saying that it is a very different animal.
@project: Do you know if they provide incentives for people to live there? I wonder if the few that live there work.
Not that I know of. I'm sure some do work. You have service industry that needs to exist to cater to those who live there, even if they are not working. And of course other professional supporting services.
Here's a wikipedia article about the topic, and realizing that Pudong and Zhujiang New Town were both ghost cities at one point is astonishing considering how dense and vibrant they are now (at least in the case of Zhujiang, I've only seen Pudong passing through but it seems to be quite active)
My in-laws family seems to fall somewhat into the category of upper middle class Chinese who buy properties as commodities. They aren't necessarily holding tons of properties vacant (I think there are a few vacant ones owned by some relatives) but they do all own at least one property in Guangdong which they live in only part time. For example, in the case of my in-laws they are there on avg about 4 or 5 months per year. But then again because of the pandemic it's been 2 years since they were last there. So within the family that's like a dozen condos all empty for the past two years. (Their Chinese homes are in Zhongshan so certainly not a ghost town by any stretch, but just painting a picture of the general behavior of a large portion of Chinese)
It's actually not sad imo. (I know you didn't use that word, I'm just stating this) There are ghost cities in the US (and I'm sure many other places) that are quite depressing because they used to be vibrant and are now deserted. They represent tragedy, economic collapse, and other negative events depending on the particular example.
In China's case, this is the development of infrastructure ahead of schedule, which is actually in theory a very good thing. Most places are always struggling to play catch up. Now I'm not saying necessarily that the approach in these cities in China is the best way, just saying that it is a very different animal.
In the case of the US, those “ghost” cities/towns rose, fell (and may arise again) organically, as lagging indicators of socioeconomic conditions. Houses were homes, and not treated as commodities.
In China’s case, these ghost towns arose, as you stated, as forced artificial developments to spur economic growth through construction jobs, and the many of the houses are treated as commodities. They’re viewed as hopeful leading indicators, regardless of whether the local socioeconomic conditions necessary to support them long term exists.
If they don’t, or are insufficient, you get conditions seen in many such developments today: empty, decaying buildings with inflated rents beyond the ability of the working class to afford, yet needed by investors to recoup the money they spent to buy it. So they sit empty and decay.
China has been developing at breakneck speed, and its hardware is certainly impressive, but its software lags because you can’t force that kind of developmental change on humans, not those who just emerged from the setbacks caused by the Cultural Revolution. And certainly not in a country as vast and diverse as China.
I wonder about the thought process of regular folks who bought these ghost houses as investment properties, knowing all this and China’s property laws regarding home ‘ownership’. Did they really think they make a ROI immediately and in the long term?
I wonder about the thought process of regular folks who bought these ghost houses as investment properties, knowing all this and China’s property laws regarding home ‘ownership’. Did they really think they make a ROI immediately and in the long term?
Even in Ordos, the famous ghost city, property prices initially fell, but then increased again. Most Chinese have never experienced a property price crash and think prices can only go up. They also believe that the government will buy them out if the property gets too old, hence old rundown apartments cost almost the same as well maintained ones. No wonder people are so willing to buy investment properties.
For a long time, China has had very high wage growth, even higher debt growth, mass migration from rural areas to the cities and a massive housing shortage. Everything was set for a massive housing boom.
But today the conditions are different. Wage growth has dropped to 5%, government is trying to limit debt growth, migration has almost stopped and 20% of properties are vacant, even in big cities like Beijing. Rent has not kept up with property prices and many young people have lost interest in buying property. They also cannot expect the government to buy them out anymore, because the government can't afford to buy up properties at these prices.
Property prices are likely to drop, and when they do then properties in ghost towns and in the middle of nowhere will go to almost zero. Many investors are likely to go into denial, and hold their worthless properties for years while their property is falling apart.
China has about 50 ghost cities. Here, why they are underpopulated: https://www.ndtv.com/offbeat/why-chi...cities-2032322
Cities designed for millions are inhabited by only a 100,000 people, as most people did not want to move to a completely new and unproven city.
However, former ghost city like Pudong has now about 99% occupancy.
Also Ordos booms again thanks to education fever. Having sold previously empty apartments, the town is building more high-rise complexes. Home prices in Ordos's Kangbashi district now soar after top-flight school relocates.
China is hoping free-trade designation makes once-abandoned ghost cities attractive to manufacturers, in bid to boost the local economy and help curb the impact of a trade war with United States. https://etramping.com/china-ghost-cities/
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