Will ghost cities haunt China? (5)

Urbanization puzzle

Experts said that beyond the "ghost cities" phenomenon, the real urgency is the need to reflect on current urbanization patterns in China.

"China is so big and cities are very different from each other due to their particular situations. To be frank, I think that having the occasional vacancy problem is normal during any development process," Li Zhanjun, director of the Research and Development Institute at E-house China told the Global Times

"But the lesson of cities like Ordos for local governments is that a well-developed city needs to build up a well-developed industrial chain and well-balanced industrial structure first. If the local authority's strategy is to attract popularity by just building a city, then it is taking great risks for its economic future," Li noted.

Meanwhile, Liu Yuan, senior manager of Centaline Property real estate agency in Shanghai told the Global Times that prices are a key indicator of a property bubble.

"New cities can't price their real estate too high for people to afford," Liu said. While such a move might initially be used to attract demand and interest from a high-class or wealthy clientele, the real estate market in China is tired and high prices will simply put people off.

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