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Chongqing: The Biggest City You've Never Heard Of

Posted by: Michael Dudley

16 March 2006 - 6:00am

There has been little to equal the speed and extent of the development of the Chinese city of Chongqing, which is growing so rapidly, a population equivalent to that of Luxembourg is added each year.

"Nowhere is the staggering urbanisation of the world more evident than in Chongqing [China]. Never heard of it? This is where the pace and scale of urbanisation is probably faster and bigger than anywhere in the world today. This is the Coketown of the early 21st century.

Set in the middle reaches of the Yangtze, this former trading centre and treaty port has long been the economic hub of western China. But after its government was given municipal control of surrounding territory the size of many countries, it has grown and grown, becoming what is now the world's biggest municipality with 31 million residents (more people than Iraq, Peru or Malaysia). The population in its metropolitan areas will double from 10 million to 20 million in the next 13 years."

Full Story: Invisible city
Source: The Guardian Unlimited, March 15, 2006
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The areas where we have severe blight and indications of more blight to come are basically the same as they ever were. How in the world are we ever going to move our community development selves into an alternative future that thinks differently about the challenges we face in our cities and low-income suburban and rural communities?
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