Archinect - News

China leads world in investing in Africa, especially in Egyptian building projects

2017-05-30T13:25:00-04:00

How will China's $36.1 billion dollar investment shape the future of Africa? While China only has 66 projects over the continent compared to the United States' 91 projects, it has pledged about ten times the total amount of money, and the lion's share of that cash is earmarked for Egypt. As Global Construction Review notes:

The largest recipient of Chinese money is Egypt, which accounts for 25% of its African FDI. Here, China’s involvement is overwhelmingly in the construction and infrastructure sector, and it has plans to spend $15b on 15 electricity, infrastructure and transport projects. This would have been higher still if it had not in February pulled out of a $20bn plan to build a new capital city.

China plans to build an underwater "space station" in the South China Sea

2016-06-15T19:35:00-04:00

China is speeding up efforts to design and build a manned deep-sea platform to help it hunt for minerals in the South China Sea, one that may also serve a military purpose in the disputed waters. Such an oceanic “space station” would be located as much as 3,000 meters (9,800 feet) below the surface, according to a recent Science Ministry presentation viewed by Bloomberg.

For more news from the South China Sea, check out these links:

Chinese Urbanism takes root in Africa

2015-08-17T11:14:00-04:00

Across the continent, Chinese companies are building highways, railways, sports stadiums, mass housing complexes, and sometimes entire cities. But China isn’t just providing the manpower to fuel quickly urbanizing African cities. It is exporting its own version of urbanization, creating cities and economic zones that look remarkably similar to Chinese ones.

Related in the Archinect News:

Why haven't China's cities learned from America's mistakes?

2014-08-26T13:43:00-04:00

In the wake of economic reforms in the 1990s that helped set off the largest urban migration in history, China had the rare opportunity to embrace cutting-edge city-building approaches as it expanded its skyline. It could have avoided the mistakes that made Los Angeles into the land of gridlock, or bypassed the errors that turned the banlieues of Paris into what one American planner calls “festering urban sores”. But China looked back instead of forward.

Meanwhile in Africa: Urban China: Chinese Urbanism in Africa

Urban China: Chinese Urbanism in Africa

2014-08-07T13:54:00-04:00

China’s visible impact on urban development in Africa is substantial. One need only take a virtual bird’s-eye tour on Google Earth to catch a glimpse of some of the most impressive changes brought to Africa by Chinese constructors, developers and designers. Not far from the Angolan capital of Luanda lies arguably one of the most impressive examples: Kilamba New City. A massive housing development designed to accommodate 500,000 people [...].

China Bridge Collapse Raises Infrastructure Concerns

2012-08-24T17:35:00-04:00

One of the longest bridges in northern China collapsed on Friday, just nine months after it opened, setting off a storm of criticism from Chinese Internet users and underscoring questions about the quality of construction in the country’s rapid expansion of its infrastructure.

Just one month ago: Beijing Infrastructure Not Fit for Torrential Rains

Photos Of A Massive Chinese-Built Ghost Town In Angola

2012-07-16T13:56:00-04:00

The $3.5 billion development covers 12,355 acres and was built to house about 500,000 people, and this is one of "several satellite cities being constructed by Chinese firms around Angola," writes Redvers.