How high can China’s population possibly go? Ambitious urban plan to house 3.4 billion people sparks concern
For one thing, the projected combined population of thousands of new centres is 3.4 billion – 2.5 times the current population
Ambitious expansion plans by small and medium towns across China have lead to the creation of more than 3,500 “new areas” for residential and economic use raising fears many are destined to become ghost towns.
The combined projected population of these new areas is an “impossible” 3.4 billion people – 2.5 times the current number of people in the country, experts say. The world’s population today stands at 7.3 billion, according to the US Census Bureau.
Beijing has pinned high hopes on making urbanisation a new engine of growth as the economy matures and slows. But the number of towns that have rushed to join the urbanisation wave has outpaced the central government’s plans.
Xinhua citied a study by the National Development and Reform Commission, the top state planning body that as of May, the 3,500 new areas included 17 administered at the national level (like Shanghai’s Pudong New Area), 500 economic development zones of various descriptions, 1,600 provincial level industrial parks, 1,000 city level new areas and tens of thousands of industrial parks at the town level.