China has decided to push ahead with a sweeping plan to move 250 million rural residents into newly constructed towns and cities over the next 12 years. This will be - by far - the largest mass-migration in human history and could set off booming growth, or saddle the massive country with a whole new set of problems for generations. The NY Times has a very informative 2-part investigative series on this with awesome multimedia, but in short, the Chinese government is trying to create a consumer base to further drive its economy. It appears China's leadership has become obsessed with modernizing and trying to compete with the United States. But they must be careful and patient in how they go about this or they risk creating brand new problems out of thin air--like if people can't find the jobs necessary to support the $19,000 apartments they are being forced to buy, the government may, in-effect, be creating massive slums with staggeringly high unemployment and homelessness... And a lot of densely populated cities and towns, with a lot of unhappy people - with a lot more access to each other and the internet - could sow the seeds for a lot more unrest and insurrection against a government that feels like it has the right to control everything from the top down. That's our comment question of the day: what will come of China's mass migration? Read the full story here: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/16/world/asia/chinas-great-uprooting-moving-250-million-into-cities.html?_r=0 Subscribe to The Daily Conversation http://bit.ly/WZnLnd Join the conversation on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/thedailyconversation Add TDC to your circles on Google+ https://plus.google.com/100134925804523235350/posts Follow The Daily Conversation on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/thedailyconvo Keywords: TDC TheDailyConversation The Daily Conversation

• published: 25 Oct 2013
• views: 188