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> ... we start building new cities ... I hope that you realize that cities are not just begun and built up (like the ghost-cities of China), but are built up o

> ... we start building new cities ... I hope that you realize that cities are not just begun and built up (like the ghost-cities of China), but are built up over time because the area was desirable and people migrated to those areas. The US isn't in the habit of just building a city somewhere. That just doesn't happen. That -new city building- is something that happens when a country's GDP is slipping so low they have no choice but to spend money (looking at you China) to falsely inflate their growth metric. In the west, we are capitalist driven. That means a city will spring up around a feature. Doesn't matter what that feature is, but it's growth is organic and not necessarily well-planned as you're suggesting. We could theoretically do this, but we don't.

maxsilver 9y ago
I don't think that's a fair representation of what's happening. It's like judging a movie theater based on it's attendance the day before the movie opens. For China, planned cities look like a "ghost town" for a while... until the people start moving in, and suddenly it's not a ghost town anymore. I'm not claiming their approach is perfect, but I do like that they tried to plan ahead, something the US does not do often enough. https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/mar/21/china-west-ghost-city-comes-to-life-lanzhou-new-area https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/mar/21/china-west-gh... I personally think America could benefit from taking a little bit of China's approach here. Can you imagine how much more affordable housing would be in San Francisco if a bunch of "unnecessary" / "ghost" housing got built before all the new tech jobs moved in. And sure, it's possible to misjudge things, not every future plan will be wildly successful. But what's really the worst case scenario? "Oh no, we built too much housing. I guess apartments will be really easy to afford. I guess we can start sheltering homeless people really cheaply now, or artists can retrofit some for cheap studio space."
- nercht12 9y ago
  Someone has to front the money though, and there have to be developers who believe that they are going to make their money back. sigh The US is profit-driven, so developers go where the money is at. No promise? No money.

maxsilver 9y ago

I don't think that's a fair representation of what's happening. It's like judging a movie theater based on it's attendance the day before the movie opens. For China, planned cities look like a "ghost town" for a while... until the people start moving in, and suddenly it's not a ghost town anymore. I'm not claiming their approach is perfect, but I do like that they tried to plan ahead, something the US does not do often enough. https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/mar/21/china-west-ghost-city-comes-to-life-lanzhou-new-area https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/mar/21/china-west-gh... I personally think America could benefit from taking a little bit of China's approach here. Can you imagine how much more affordable housing would be in San Francisco if a bunch of "unnecessary" / "ghost" housing got built before all the new tech jobs moved in. And sure, it's possible to misjudge things, not every future plan will be wildly successful. But what's really the worst case scenario? "Oh no, we built too much housing. I guess apartments will be really easy to afford. I guess we can start sheltering homeless people really cheaply now, or artists can retrofit some for cheap studio space."

nercht12 9y ago
Someone has to front the money though, and there have to be developers who believe that they are going to make their money back. sigh The US is profit-driven, so developers go where the money is at. No promise? No money.