These are China's ghost cities. Their existence has been well-documented. In one prominent example, CBS' "60 Minutes" ran a 2013 segment on China's ghost towns that opened with the correspondent Lesley Stahl on a major road at rush hour with barely a car in sight. But as China's real-estate market has risen to the forefront of the global conversation with Evergrande's $300 billion debt looming large, so, too, have ghost cities become a renewed source of interest. While they're a testament to China's reliance on real estate as a driver of economic growth and in its belief in the sector as a safe investment, their exact quantity is hard to define.
fredag 15. oktober 2021
China has at least 65 million empty homes — enough to house the population of France
If you drive an hour or two outside Shanghai or Beijing, you'll find something odd. The cities are still tall, and they're still modern. They're also, generally, in good condition. But unlike their bustling, Tier 1-city counterparts, they're basically empty.
These are China's ghost cities. Their existence has been well-documented. In one prominent example, CBS' "60 Minutes" ran a 2013 segment on China's ghost towns that opened with the correspondent Lesley Stahl on a major road at rush hour with barely a car in sight. But as China's real-estate market has risen to the forefront of the global conversation with Evergrande's $300 billion debt looming large, so, too, have ghost cities become a renewed source of interest. While they're a testament to China's reliance on real estate as a driver of economic growth and in its belief in the sector as a safe investment, their exact quantity is hard to define.
These are China's ghost cities. Their existence has been well-documented. In one prominent example, CBS' "60 Minutes" ran a 2013 segment on China's ghost towns that opened with the correspondent Lesley Stahl on a major road at rush hour with barely a car in sight. But as China's real-estate market has risen to the forefront of the global conversation with Evergrande's $300 billion debt looming large, so, too, have ghost cities become a renewed source of interest. While they're a testament to China's reliance on real estate as a driver of economic growth and in its belief in the sector as a safe investment, their exact quantity is hard to define.
