Construction in China continues to boom at a rapid pace, even without 3D printers that can print a skyscraper in just 19 days.
Developers and local governments in China are known for building master planned developments from scratch, but as Forbes contributor Kenneth Rapoza points out, many of them today are still ghost towns.
“From shopping malls to soccer stadiums, hundreds of new cities in China are largely empty. And yet more cities are still being built deep in the heart of the country,” Rapoza writes.
The city of Ordos, in China’s province of Inner Mongolia, is an example of such city. It made headlines in Western media after journalist Wade Shepard featured the city in his book, “Ghost Cities of China.”
Time magazine published a web slideshow of Kangbashi District in Ordos, with photography by Michael Christopher Brown. It shows swaths of subdivisions, mid-rise apartments, and commercial complexes built to entertain and accommodate a population the size of San Diego, but remains nearly empty.
Yet under-occupancy doesn’t seem to deter development. Last week, renderings started to circulate online of a walkable, terrace-shaped exhibition hall that Chinese practice Kuanlu Architects designed for Otog, also in Ordos.
“China’s continued urbanization push can be viewed as a full-on effort to develop an insulated economy that’s based on domestic production delivering goods and services to domestic consumers,” Rapoza writes, adding that it is a result of economic crises in the U.S. and E.U. taking a toll on China’s economy.
Related Stories
| May 23, 2012
Summit Design+Build selected as GC for Chicago restaurant
Little Goat will truly be a multifunctional space. Construction plans include stripping the 10,000 sq. ft. building down to the bare structure everywhere, the installation of a new custom elevator and adding square footage at the second floor with an addition.
| Apr 30, 2012
HSA Commercial selected as consultant for Orland Park’s Main Street Triangle project
HSA will be responsible for designing an overall mixed-use merchandise plan, attracting a unique retail tenant mix and completing leases with prospective tenants.
| Apr 20, 2012
Shawmut completes Yard House Restaurant in Boston
12,000-sf restaurant marks new addition to Boston’s Fenway neighborhood.
| Apr 6, 2012
Batson-Cook breaks ground on hotel adjacent to Infantry Museum & Fort Benning
The four-story, 65,000-ft property will feature 102 hotel rooms, including 14 studio suites.
| Apr 4, 2012
JCJ Architecture designs New York City's first casino
Aqueduct Racetrack complex transformed into modern entertainment destination.
| Apr 3, 2012
Luxury hotel 'groundscraper' planned in abandoned quarry
Would you spend $300 a night to sleep underground? You might, once you see the designs for China's latest hotel project.
| Mar 16, 2012
Temporary fix to CityCenter's Harmon would cost $2 million, contractor says
By contrast, CityCenter half-owner and developer MGM Resorts International determined last year that the Harmon would collapse in a strong quake and can't be fixed in an economical way. It favors implosion at a cost of $30 million.
| Jan 15, 2012
Smith Consulting Architects designs Flower Hill Promenade expansion in Del Mar, Calif.
The $22 million expansion includes a 75,000-square-foot, two-story retail/office building and a 397-car parking structure, along with parking and circulation improvements and new landscaping throughout.
| Dec 27, 2011
Ground broken for adaptive reuse project
Located on the Garden State Parkway, the master-planned project initially includes the conversion of a 114-year-old, 365,000-square-foot, six-story warehouse building into 361 loft-style apartments, and the creation of a three-level parking facility.
| Dec 19, 2011
Chicago’s Aqua Tower wins international design award
Aqua was named both regional and international winner of the International Property Award as Best Residential High-Rise Development.
