{"id":185285,"date":"2015-07-20T20:12:15","date_gmt":"2015-07-21T03:12:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/?p=185285"},"modified":"2021-09-14T20:44:30","modified_gmt":"2021-09-15T03:44:30","slug":"china-molds-supercity-around-beijing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2015\/07\/china-molds-supercity-around-beijing\/","title":{"rendered":"China Molds a Supercity Around Beijing"},"content":{"rendered":"

At The New York Times, Ian Johnson provides an\u00a0in-depth look at the creation of Jing-Jin-Ji, a new mega metropolis that will span Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei<\/a><\/strong>. As a part of a comprehensive government plan to stimulate the region’s economy and promote the growth of innovative industries, the new supercity will accommodate over 100 million residents who will be connected across the region with high-speed rail.<\/p>\n

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For decades, China\u2019s government has tried to limit the size of Beijing, the capital, through draconian residency permits. Now, the government has embarked on an ambitious plan to make Beijing the center of a new supercity of 130 million people.<\/p>\n

The planned megalopolis, a metropolitan area that would be about six times the size of New York\u2019s, is meant to revamp northern China\u2019s economy and become a laboratory for modern urban growth.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe supercity is the vanguard of economic reform,\u201d said Liu Gang, a professor at Nankai University in Tianjin who advises local governments on regional development. \u201cIt reflects the senior leadership\u2019s views on the need for integration, innovation and environmental protection.\u201d<\/p>\n

The new region will link the research facilities and creative culture of Beijing with the economic muscle of the port city of Tianjin and the hinterlands of Hebei Province, forcing areas that have never cooperated to work together.<\/p>\n

[…]\u00a0It would be spread over 82,000 square miles, about the size of Kansas, and hold a population larger than a third of the United States. And unlike metro areas that have grown up organically, Jing-Jin-Ji would be a very deliberate creation. Its centerpiece: a huge expansion of high-speed rail to bring the major cities within an hour\u2019s commute of each other. [Source<\/a><\/strong>]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n