China needs new growth driver as urbanisation is reaching its limit
Demographic and economic changes are setting the country's new urban settlements up for problems
Shanghai
THE skylines of some of China's biggest cities sprout from land that was farmed less than a generation ago. For the government, they're a soaring testament to the country's transformation into an urbanised superpower. And despite China's economic slump, there are plenty of bureaucrats who'd like to see the process continue. According to a report last week, local governments are planning to develop more than 3,500 new urban areas in the next few years, with a capacity to house 3.4 billion people - or roughly half of humanity.
It's an audacious set of uncoordinated blueprints, and a good reminder that China's economic planners have yet to find a tool for growth they like more than shoehorning people into newly …
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