China’s Case for a Megalopolis

The Challenge of Governance in Agglomerations

By Raymond B. Kaniu

Raymond B. Kaniu is the Chief Executive & Chairman of Strähl Composite.

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Executive Summary:

• It should be in the best interest of urban cities to actively seek synergies within regions that would benefit from the creation of a megalopolis.

• The regions that China will create, share amenities like unified transportation, technology, and economic infrastructure to boost efficiency and support hundreds of millions of residents

• China’s most important megalopolis projects are the Greater Bay Area and the Jing-Jin-Ji, massive urban planning strategies designed to fuse multiple neighboring cities into giant, interconnected economic hubs

• Less effective institutional mechanisms for coordinated development could lead to issues related to policy implementation, benefit distribution, and the sharing of government information. These in turn affect the integration, policy components, construction timelines, and capabilities of the created regions.

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We often refer to massive populations in a country as an untapped resource but fail to realize how daunting a task it can be for a government to squeeze all those people within its borders let alone coordinate the mobility of that same population. The relation between infrastructure and population drives the demand for services like roads, water, and power that make up part of the urban sprawls where people reside and work. Conversely, the strategic location and quality of infrastructure direct and attract population growth by creating jobs and improving living standards. Most importantly, it triggers public and private investment into innovative ideas that can facilitate economic hubs and improve human development.

The Concept of a Megalopolis

Population agglomeration, describes the urban and regional economics that happen when businesses, people, and industries move close to one another in cities or specific clusters. Take the example of China, the world’s second highest population at 1.4 billion people, and the relation becomes more interesting. Imagine the coordination it would take to make infrastructure for a population encompassing approximately 17 percent of the world’s total? It is a challenge China is meeting as the population gradually declines due to demographic shifts. Roughly 94 percent of the country’s population is heavily concentrated in the eastern half of the country, while the much larger western half accounts for the remainder. As necessity is the mother of invention, she has encouraged innovation as she should. China is creating a megalopolis; mega-regions, stretching hundreds of miles, connecting millions of people through shared economies, transportation networks, and communication systems. However, the concept of megalopolis is not new. In the United States, the ‘BosWash’ is an agglomeration stretching from Boston to Washington D.C. In Japan, the Taiheiyo Belt blends Tokyo, Yokahama, and Osaka. These make up large urban conurbations, which, in their erection and functionality, do not necessarily increase population, they improve a municipality’s contribution to national economic growth. It is precisely what China is aggressively pursuing as it moves to its next stage of development.

Why is China is Building These Projects

China’s megalopolis projects are massive urban planning strategies designed to fuse multiple neighboring cities into giant, interconnected economic hubs. The success of their endeavor will reverberate across economies dealing with similar population issues – like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, Congo, and Brazil – as more people move from the rural areas to the urban areas. This is caused by the swelling of populations against available resources, and grows gradually from a town to a city. From a city to a metropolis, and from a metropolis to a megalopolis. The regions that China will create, share amenities like unified transportation, communication, technology, and economic infrastructure to boost efficiency and support hundreds of millions of residents. China’s most important megalopolis projects are the Greater Bay Area and the Jing-Jin-Ji.

The Greater Bay Area (GBA)

The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area or the Pearl River megalopolis consists of nine cities and two special administrative regions in South China. It is the largest continuous urban area in the world. It includes a 36km bridge connecting Macau and Hong Kong , which cost nearly $20 billion, a $11 billion rail link that will connect Hong Kong to the mainland’s high-speed rail network, and a key component of the overall project because it will link those two big cities to nine other urban areas, including Shenzhen and Guangzhou. The project attends to almost 70 million humans with a $1.5 trillion economy (bigger than some of your favorite G20 nations) that will graduate to about $3 trillion by this year. China is building it in the mold and rivalry of San Francisco (The Bay Area), New York and Tokyo.

Jing-Jin-Ji

As the name suggests, it consists of Bei-jing, Tia-jin, and Hebei (Ji). The largest urban agglomeration region in the Northern part of China. This region is expected to rise to the levels of regions in the Pearl River Delta and the Yangtze River Delta. With a Global domestic product (GDP) of $1.7 trillion, Jing-Jin-Ji bears the weight of about 130 million humans and boasts a diversified industry portfolio of aviation, logistics, shipping, petrochemical, education, and research and development. The Xiongan New Area, a new city created by the project, will absorb the Beijing’s government and corporate functions. A $36 billion rail link will connect various cities and includes the construction of nine railways to create a one-hour commuting region with an additional 24 intercity railways to be built before 2050. The region has also strategically established five economic development zones (EDZs) and 45 national new industrialization demonstration bases to serve as vital drivers for promoting technological advancement, innovation, and the convergence of industries. The creation of the Jing-Jin-Ji has achieved landmark results. There has been a steady progress in economic growth, industrial layout optimization, accelerated capacity of industrial construction, and a boosted 5G network capacity.

The Challenges

Challenges unfolding in the completion of the project include, disparities in development among the three regions as suggested by the per capita GDP that contributes to differences in livelihood and industrial resources. Difficulties in the coordinated environmental governance of the region in light of the total current carbon emission of the agglomeration, the highest in China. It generously contributes to the slow progress in the development of green and digital economies. Moreover, less effective institutional mechanisms for coordinated development could lead to issues related to policy implementation, benefit distribution, and the sharing of government information. These in turn affect the integration, policy components, construction timelines, and capabilities of the created regions. From a governance perspective, it is an enigma wrapped in a parcel stored in an igloo that is slowly melting. Urban cities are fully aware of this that is why the concept of a megalopolis is gathering momentum. Across developed nations, cities sharing resources runs parallel to the national bottom line. It makes economic sense to pool resources especially when the benefit is to the advantage of all parties involved. Take the current example of the ongoing FIFA World Cup. It is hosted by three nations, with matches taking place in eleven cities in the United States, three cities in Mexico, and two cities in Canada. The increasing costs of hosting an international event are shared by three nations. They have the ability to do more with less and ensure that the benefit – not just the burden – is shared too. Therefore, it should be in the best interest of urban cities to actively seek synergies within regions that would benefit from the creation of a megalopolis. By actively seeking these synergies, the governance issue can be engaged preemptively.