Chinese Ghost Cities Popping Up in....Africa?

Originally posted by shoudesh
reply to post by Monkeygod333

 

well actually based on some news articles i have read it says some of china's ghost cities are actually being filled with people

Yes, same goes for the cities in Africa.

I know there are a lot of posts in this thread but did you catch my UPDATE POST?

What i find shocking is the lack of exposure this has.I mean,in my country the big news is the lack of proper housing,poverty and the homeless(Population 27 million). Yet there are ghost cities that have been around for YEARS and nobody talks about this, what do the chinese population have to say about this? What about the poor,the homeless and the unemployed say about this? Do they matter?

Great discussion and brainstorming, everyone! A pleasure, and quite thrilling to read!
It's got just the right mixture of anticlimactic, economic analyses and "out there" conspiracy theories to keep it interesting.

One of the most likely scenarios is probably the attempt to maintain the illusion of a productive economy. Personally, the fact that these ghost cities are in Angola of all places makes me a bit skeptical, but if you've got to build them somewhere, you might as well do it where it's cheap. Another thing I find strange is the attention to detail. We've got street lights, traffic signals painted on the asphalt, and what looks like shutters in the windows. If someone wanted to spend money for the sake of spending money, why not build a giant palace or monument within China instead of these "ghost cities" on another continent?

Originally posted by seabag
reply to post by hadriana

 

***UPDATE***One article from the BBC says they were built as part of a post-war construction project to house African citizens. Apparently these residences are FOR SALE right now yet very few people have purchased one. I guess they should have done a little better researching the area’s demographics before beginning construction!

The jewel in Angola's post-war reconstruction crown, Kilamba is the star of glossy government promotional videos which show smiling families enjoying a new style of living away from the dust and confusion of central Luanda where millions live in sprawling slums.

But the people in these films are only actors, and despite all the hype, nearly a year since the first batch of 2,800 apartments went on sale, only 220 have been sold.

link

If this is true then there is not a lot of mystery here...just a bone-headed idea.

I suppose that kind of takes away most of the mystery, doesn't it?
If that really is all there is to it, maybe it means that we shouldn't look to extensively into things such as these, haha.

What about squatters rights??

Can you get that in Angola?

If so, i may take a flight out....

Originally posted by TruthxIsxInxThexMist
What about squatters rights??

Can you get that in Angola?

If so, i may take a flight out....

edit on 12-7-2012 by TruthxIsxInxThexMist because: (no reason given)

Considering the poor record of virtually every other right in Angola, I wouldn't count on it.

When the standard of living, and therefore the cost of living go up in China... Having a ready-made city with most of the needed infrastructure for the working population in a dirt-cheap location for all your factories to relocate to isn't a bad idea. Notice that the areas they're picking are mostly along the coastline in areas suitable for building ports.

I don't think it's anything more nefarious than those calling the shots in China planning ahead for the next phase in outsourcing. They're just planning ahead earlier than the last wave of outsourcing to minimize the downtime that will happen once they make the move.

Everyone knows the Chinese are really aliens. where do you think there gonna put all of the rest of them when they arrive sometime in the future?

reply to post by seabag


Maybe these buildings are used but can we not see the tennants...

sec.line

On second thought, where did I come up with that bs..

Originally posted by highfreq
reply to post by johnnysixguns

 

Good call. We all know Africa has mass amounts of untapped oil and resources, and China needs them. Makes me wonder if this is part of some trade deal with Africa. China needs resources and Africa needs money and infrastructure.
Or maybe just maybe, when China and Russia take on the world these will support there efforts.

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edit on 8-7-2012 by highfreq because: (no reason given)

That image is very spooky "Strengthening Sino-Angolan Friendship" ...in deed!

As of July 11, 2011, according to the Angolan government website:

*30,000 candidates have entered the first phase of this three phase project, but that just means they are registered and still need the bank loans.
*$135 to $200 thou per unit
*24 nurseries/daycare centers, 9 primary schools and commercial spaces, public transport, and telecommunications.


I'm sorry, I'm stopping because I just thought of the mortgage crisis and got to ask the following:

Independent of whether the average Angolan can afford these homes or not, will the banks be (or at this point, have they been) giving out loans to the general public, en masse?

Is this an example of a new housing bubble/home loan securities scam being perpetrated on Angolans?

Maybe they are doing this to test some sort of weapon in a city environment ?

It is very strange though to have these cities full of emptiness.

How do you not see what they're doing

It's freaking obvious.

The Chinese have +1.3 billion people in a place slightly smaller than the US.

They're having ecological disasters, and the environmental pollution is at insane levels in some places.

They've been out-competing the west in contracting excavations of the natural resources from Africa to the east to build products which are then traded globally.

These contracts are often riddled with sadistic small print.

Essentially, the Chinese are pwning Africa, and looking to start colonizing that continent if/when things start to get too out of control in the mainland.

I recall hearing of this insane dam in China that was dangerously close to being breached, and causing the dislocation of roughly 200 million people. Yea, I think it's best for them to prep for the worst.

reply to post by unityemissionsChina and GB.co.uk. Have very strong ties historicly and monetery considering the UK has a lot off vested interest in Africa this could be a very cosy relationship.

reply to post by lordpiney

Everyone knows the Chinese are really aliens. where do you think there gonna put all of the rest of them when they arrive sometime in the future?

This is a theory that really interests me but gets little attention. Care to elaborate?