Cities think big – but can they all really win?
Zhengzhou's new town eventually will cover 115 square kilometres, almost twice the size of New York's Manhattan Island, and cost 150 billion yuan, funded by the local government and property developers involved in the project.In the short term, such big projects boost employment and burnish the reputation of local authorities. But in the long term, the flurry of construction - much of it funded by local government borrowings - could leave the cities lumbered with white elephant projects for years to come and Chinese banks stuck with sour loans.