Déjà Vu: Bigger Than Big
2011, China
“The ‘Turn The Pearl River Delta Into One’ scheme will create a 16,000 square mile urban area that is 26 times larger geographically than Greater London, or twice the size of Wales. The new mega-city will cover a large part of China’s manufacturing heartland, stretching from Guangzhou to Shenzhen and including Foshan, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Zhuhai, Jiangmen, Huizhou and Zhaoqing. Together, they account for nearly a tenth of the Chinese economy.”
1933: Magnitogorsk, USSR
“The tempo of construction was such that millions of men and women starved, froze, and were brutalized through inhuman labor and incredible living conditions. Many individuals questions whether or not it was worth it. Stalin suppressed such ideas with his usual vigor. The Ukraine had been invaded by the Germans in 1918. It might be invaded again. The Soviet Union must have an heavy industry base, and must have it immediately, said the Georgian Bolshevik. His word was law.”
