Chengdu has had an eventful summer so far. First a new BRT system on the Second Ring, then the Fortune Global Forum, and now the grand opening of the World’s Largest Building. Is it time to celebrate, or will summer storms rain on the parade?
China’s development into a major world power is based on the achievements of a corrupt system that creates both massive infrastructure projects and fabulously wealthy individuals. When one of these individuals is taken down, the whole system shivers.
Ever since the government began construction on the massive Pubu Dam project, Hanyuan county in Sichuan has been rocked by protests and bloody pitched battles between dis-possessed, incensed locals and the government over the corrupt and broken relocation process.
A foreigner only housing complex will be completed in October 2010, according to Chengdu Daily. In an effort to maintain the districts “purity,” though, none of the units are for sale.
After four years of construction, the first line of the Chengdu subway will be opening in 2010. We check out how the construction is going and what it means for Chengdu, a city getting increasingly choked by auto traffic.