From EastSouthWestNorth blog:
In China, Henan province is the largest province in terms of population and the fifth largest province in terms of GDP (Gross Domestic Product). Yet its capital city Zhengzhou is ranked outside of the top twenty cities in China in both population and area size. The only way Zhengzhou was going to rise in the rankings is through some monumental public project by incorporation and urbanization of surrounding areas.
Since Zhengzhou was not going to get the Olympics or the World Expo, the decision was to establish an eastern Zhengzhou area which includes a university town.. Here are the plans for the Longzihu University Town as drawn by a consortium from Australia, United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Jilin and Henan (via far2000 on December 4, 2005). This campus will accommodate more than a dozen different universities. Impressive, eh?
In order to realize this grand vision, it is necessary to mobilize the resources such as construction funds and, most importantly, making the land available. The nature of this project is that publicity is important and the scale of the project is such that it cannot be hidden. As it turns out, this project went against central government edicts about unapproved large public works and, specifically, against illegal land expropriation. [Full Text]
