China is home to one of the most expensive infrastacture project in the world. Yet despite also being the second most populated country on the globe, this multi-billion megacity remains practically empty.
Xiongan, located 60 miles of Beijing, was designed to reduce the pressure on the overcrowded capital which houses over 20 million residents.
Since 2018, high-rise buildings, office complexes, incredible hotels, and a massive train station the size of 88 football fields, have all been constructed to make this city. Yet it remains practically empty.
The city that the “Chinese leader, Xi Jinping has staked his legacy on” cost a $93 billion, equivalent to around a staggering £73 billion. Not only did it cost a heap of money but protecting it cost people’s livelihoods.
When floods in 2023, hit the nearby province of Hebei, officials went to extreme lengths to protect Xiongan. This was done by diverting flood waters to what the government called designated flood zones, reports The Wall Street Journal.
Neighbouring cities and villages were submerged, causing thousands of homes to be destroyed and residents protesting on the streets as they claimed their homes were ruined by the diverted waters and not the heavy rainfall.
But why is was so much money put into this city with barely anyone in it and why were other people’s livelihoods sacrificed to protect it?
Well a vast majority of the money that went into it was a personal investment from President Xi Jinping and the hopes of the city is that it will be a “socialist modern metropolis”. As well as the extraordinary buildings, dotted around the city you’ll find quotes from the leader.
The communist party want this city to stand besides successes such as Shenzhen, known for its strong tech reputation and a symbol of China’s transformation which started in the 1980s.
However, the technological city in the south has experienced chaotic growth and so where Xiongan differs is that it will have limits on which companies will be able to set up there and have strict controls on house prices, the report adds.
Currently, it has been reported by local media that the city is home to just 1.2 million people.
It is said that in the coming decades the city’s population will grow to five million.
