Many of China’s new cities are built in the hope that, if you build the physical instantiation of an industry, the industry will come. The “university cities,” like the one in Hebei Province pictured above, tend to be slightly more realistic, because the provincial governments can force universities to move their campuses. There are also numerous “steel cities” (also created by forced move), “logistics cities” (less successful), “auto cities,” “solar cities,” and many more.
THE OASIS TOWN OF TURPAN IN XINJIANG IS THE PERFECT PLACE FOR A SOLAR CITY. EXCEPT FOR THE LACK OF POPULATION.
STEEL BASES
Under its industrial plan for the steel industry, China’s central government provides funding to certain designated steel mills to move their operations out of cities and into steel “bases” where they will have convenient logistics and easy access to owned iron ore mines and coal. Authorities also want to move the pollution into less developed areas and, not coincidentally, free up valuable urban land for residential development.
CAOFEIDIAN
This Hebei city, named for the palace of a famous concubine, is the earliest and most famous steel base, home to Capital Steel, originally headquartered in Beijing and owned by the national government. Since moving, Shougang has dramatically lost share in the national steel market.
XIAOGAN, HUBEI
Xiaogan is a Tier 3 city located 70 kilometers from Wuhan. Xiaogan is developing a 2 million square meter building materials center designed to complement Wuhan Steel’s industrial base. Unfortunately, Wuhan Steel has developed its own logistics and materials capacities.
