China’s new megalopolis would be bigger than Uruguay and more populous than Germany
China might not be willing to relocate its capital city, but it can make it bigger. The country’s top economic planner has reportedly drawn up a plan for a Beijing-centered “economic circle” (link in Chinese) that combines the municipalities of Beijing and Tianjin and parts of Hebei province into one huge megalopolis.
Officials believe that integrating the three areas will help alleviate traffic, population, and housing pressure in Beijing, which is struggling with air pollution, water scarcity, and a flood of migrant workers. Last month, officials said that some administrative bodies in Beijing would be offloaded to Baoding, a nearby medium-sized city in Hebei. Other initiatives range from a joint plan for improving air quality to expanding transportation links so that more families opt to live outside Beijing, easing demand for housing in the capital.
The effect would be to create one of the country’s largest regions—already colloquially known as “Jing-Jin-Ji” (for (Bei)jing, (Tian)jin and Hebei, which is sometimes referred to by the character ji). Already, Hebei is China’s 12th largest province in terms of area—adding on Beijing and Tianjin would increase its total area to 187,728 sq. km (972,482 sq. miles)—bigger than the total area of Uruguay. The combined economic output of Jing-Jin-Ji surpassed 6 trillion yuan ($970 billion) last year, accounting for about 10.9% of the country’s total GDP. The area’s total population is over 100 million, more than that of Germany or Vietnam.
http://qz.com/198337/chinas-new-megalopolis-would-be-bigger-than-uruguay-and-more-populous-than-germany/
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