Jakarta –
Chongqing is a city in southwest China, built on hills on the banks of the Yangtze River. Geographical conditions do not prevent Chongqing from becoming a dense city with many skyscrapers that are still being developed.
This city is an example of how future housing is built. In Chongqing, it is not unusual to see train lines cutting through skyscrapers, there are flying buses, and even facilities such as malls and highways are built on top of buildings.
Of course, Chongqing did not suddenly become the city that is now called the most futuristic in the world. Previously, this area was a simple village.
Throughout its history, Chongqing was part of Sichuan Province. Despite close cultural ties, tensions have increased between the two over the years.
“Chongqing has always had a complicated relationship with Sichuan because the city has a different provincial capital, Chengdu,” said Kyle Jaros, an expert on China’s urban and regional development and professor at the University of Notre Dame, quoted by Business Insider.
There was jealousy that Sichuan province had favoritism towards Chengdu, and that Chongqing, although important, was not getting the support it needed. Finally, Chongqing separated from Sichuan in 1997.
Construction and reconstruction period of Wushan, Chongqing Municipality along the Yangtze River in 2006. Photo: via Business Insider
Chongqing Changes
Chongqing has historically been an industrial city. Photos of this area in the 1990s show many buildings and a busy port.
Before China’s nationwide development of inland cities occurred in the late 1990s, there was extreme urban poverty in many areas of Sichuan province. Chongqing is also one of those having difficulty experiencing economic transition.
“You could say it is part of the Chinese-style ‘Rust Belt’. It’s like the US which has a Rust Belt in old industrial cities like Detroit and Chicago,” said Jaros.
One of the key moments in Chongqing’s evolution as a city occurred in 1994, when construction began on the Three Gorges Dam. This dam was completed in 2003.
At the time of its construction, the Three Gorges Dam was the largest hydroelectric project in the world, according to the industry website Water Technology. Upstream of the dam is the Yangtze River which flows through Chongqing.
As many as 1.5 million people were displaced, and 115 towns were submerged during dam construction, according to Water Technology. Historically, most of Chongqing’s population lived in rural areas.
Like the rest of China’s southwest, Chongqing’s topography is mountainous. “Most of the area is quite remote and rugged. So a lot of people historically didn’t live in cities until urbanization started to accelerate,” said Jaros.
In the mid-2000s, people from rural areas began moving into high-rise apartments in downtown Chongqing, according to a paper written by Georgetown University professor Kristen Looney.
When farmers began to leave their village homes, the municipal government began building homes in the city center.
Migration from rural to urban areas has social and economic impacts on cities. “Society is becoming more individualistic, moving more towards a capitalist economy,” said Jaros.
Historically, most of Chongqing’s population lived in rural areas. Photo: via Business Insider
Infrastructure development
To accommodate a city experiencing rapid urbanization, Chongqing had to create an extensive infrastructure network.
Foreign investment helped grow the city’s economy in the late 2000s. “Between 2010 and 2020 was a booming period for the development of Chongqing. Foreign investment also increased,” said Jaros.
Many multinational companies, including HP and IBM, have offices in Chongqing. US automaker Ford also has a factory in Chongqing, its largest outside the US.
According to Eye on Asia, more than half of the world’s top 500 companies operate in the city. Chongqing’s total imports and exports reached USD 83.95 billion in 2019, and the US is its largest export partner, accounting for nearly 30% of the city’s total exports.
As we can see now, there is a lot of talk on various social media about the admiration of tourists visiting Chongqing. Most tourists are amazed and say it feels like they are in a science fiction film.
The city is home to some of China’s most prominent futuristic buildings. Like the Raffles City Building which is the highest flyover in the world, connecting most of the towers.
Train lines cut through buildings and highways are built on top of buildings, a common sight in Chongqing. Photo: via The Tower Info
City Problems
On the other hand, residential expansion in Chongqing also raises its own concerns. Jaros said that many cities in China are building ‘mega blocks’ like this. From an aerial perspective, if you look at them from afar, these cities do look like cities.
“But on the ground level, they are of little use to the city itself, citing a lack of urban infrastructure such as transportation and commercial businesses,” explains Jaros.
He said that the problem with this area is that the area is not urban or resilient, and does not allow for changes in use.
“If people don’t want to live in that place, it’s not easy to make it an industrial area. That’s what I’m worried about regarding expansive external growth on the outskirts of Chongqing city,” he concluded.
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2024-02-10 11:45:04
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