I saw a documentary once about two ghost cities, the documentary was 6 years old and those cites were almost with 0 resident, I saw on comment Chinese people saying that those cities are full now. It's just China being two steps forward.
This is exactly why the Baidu study is important. China is so big and data quality so poor that you can create your own version of ghost city narrative ("big crash" or "people moving in no worries" etc.) by selecting 10 cities. Even looking at things at a gross level ("cement/steel consumed") can only hint at the massive over-investment in property. Even the govt. is probably not sure.
I think I saw the same documentary. They are only ghost cities for so long. Then the government "seeds" the city by moving some public sector offices there (which in China could mean 100,000+ workers). That alone is enough to kick start the city into life.
The thing is that not like those cities are cheap to get an apartment in... China is more like still having a resident problem than a first world problem of ghost cities.
Aren't the "ghost cities" really investment properties for wealthier Chinese living in the cities? I seem to remember reading that there's a lack of diverse investment opportunities, so many invest in condos that they'll never use/inhabit.
Maybe this is the precursor to the next step of "seeding"?
Partly, but it is primarily to bring those living in rural areas into an urban context as a mechanism for modernizing the economy.
Right now, under the hukou system (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hukou_system), you can't just move anywhere you want. What ends up happening is those living in rural areas illegally move to cities like Beijing/Shanghai/Shenzhen for work, but can't get their children educated or get healthcare. This is a way to prevent mass migration to the first-tier cities.
Most Chinese are fairly nationalistic. They're not going to complain about this to a foreign documentarian, especially if there's political reprisal for criticizing the one-party regime that runs everything.
This is why stuff like this is important. We get a view behind the propaganda veil. The narrative of "See, we planned ahead all is good," is questionable especially considering their recent stock market and economic woes.
