Naypyidaw - Burma's super-size post-apolyptic capital city
-
- Expatriate
- Posts: 13458
- Joined: Wed May 28, 2014 11:37 pm
- Reputation: 3974
Naypyidaw - Burma's super-size post-apolyptic capital city
Looks like a contender for the world's most bizarre capital. The North Koreans must be pissed off.
Anyone been here?
http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/ ... hways-wifi
Extract:
Anyone been here?
http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/ ... hways-wifi
Extract:
On either side of the street, a seemingly endless series of giant detached buildings, villa-style hotels and shopping malls look like they have fallen from the sky, all painted in soft pastel colours: light pink, baby blue, beige. The roads are newly paved and lined with flowers and carefully pruned shrubbery. Meticulously landscaped roundabouts boast large sculptures of flowers.
The scale of this surreal city is difficult to describe: it extends an estimated 4,800 square kilometres, six times the size of New York City. Everything looks super-sized. The streets – clearly designed for cars and motorcades, not pedestrians nor leisurely strolls – have up to 20 lanes and stretch as far as the eye can see (the rumour is these grandiose boulevards were built to enable aircraft to land on them in the event of anti-government protests or other “disturbances”). There is a safari park, a zoo complete with air-conditioned penguin habitat, and at least four golf courses. Unlike in much of the country, there is reliable electricity here. Many of the restaurants have free, fast Wi-Fi.
The only thing Naypyidaw doesn’t have, it seems, is people. The vast highways are completely empty and there is a stillness to the air. Nothing moves. Officially, the city’s population is 1 million, but many doubt this is anywhere close to the true figure. On a bright Sunday afternoon, the streets are silent, restaurants and hotel lobbies empty. It looks like an eerie picture of post-apocalypse suburban America; like a David Lynch film on location in North Korea.
Welcome to one of the world’s most peculiar capital cities. Built from scratch in the middle of rice paddies and sugar-cane fields, Naypyidaw (often translated as “Seat of the King”) was unveiled as Burma’s new capital in November 2005, by the then military regime. It is rumoured to have cost up to $4bn to construct, in a country that spends just 0.4% of its GDP on healthcare for its people – by far the lowest in the world.
- StroppyChops
- The Missionary Man
- Posts: 10598
- Joined: Tue May 06, 2014 11:24 am
- Reputation: 1032
Re: Naypyidaw - Burma's super-size post-apolyptic capital ci
Interesting article. Sounds like Canberra.
Bodge: This ain't Kansas, and the neighbours ate Toto!
-
- Expatriate
- Posts: 13458
- Joined: Wed May 28, 2014 11:37 pm
- Reputation: 3974
Re: Naypyidaw - Burma's super-size post-apolyptic capital ci
Apocalyptic not apolyptic - sorry - can't edit.
-
- Expatriate
- Posts: 13458
- Joined: Wed May 28, 2014 11:37 pm
- Reputation: 3974
Re: Naypyidaw - Burma's super-size post-apolyptic capital ci
There could be a challenge from Egypt. They are also planning a new capital city built from scratch:
http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/ ... ity-desert
The scale of the plans certainly defy historical norms. If completed, the currently nameless city would span 700 sq km (a space almost as big as Singapore), house a park double the size of New York’s Central Park, and a theme park four times as big as Disneyland – all to be completed within five to seven years.
According to the brochure, there will be exactly 21 residential districts, 25 “dedicated districts”, 663 hospitals and clinics, 1,250 mosques and churches, and 1.1m homes housing at least five million residents.
In terms of population, that would make it the biggest purpose-built capital in human history – nearly as large as Islamabad (population: an estimated 1.8 million), Brasilia (2.8 million), and Canberra (380,000) put together.
http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/ ... ity-desert
Re: Naypyidaw - Burma's super-size post-apolyptic capital ci
Naypyidaw doesn't look so grim from the Google Earth image. They left a lot of green space.
Re: Naypyidaw - Burma's super-size post-apolyptic capital ci
Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast is pretty weird. Also a capital built from scratch, near where the president's village was I think.
The Basilica is well worth seeing.
https://www.google.gy/search?q=yamousso ... UoAQ&dpr=2
The Basilica is well worth seeing.
https://www.google.gy/search?q=yamousso ... UoAQ&dpr=2
Re: Naypyidaw - Burma's super-size post-apolyptic capital ci
I think you meant apocalyptic?Naypyidaw - Burma's super-size post-apolyptic capital city
Re: Naypyidaw - Burma's super-size post-apolyptic capital ci
Sorry for my ignorant about Burma. I have never read about this Southeast Asia country.
I just wonder that why Naypidaw seems to be really quite? Furthermore, what was the point of creating a new capital city instead of improving the existing one?
I just wonder that why Naypidaw seems to be really quite? Furthermore, what was the point of creating a new capital city instead of improving the existing one?
បើសិនធ្វើចេះ ចេះឲ្យគេកោត បើសិនធ្វើឆោត ឆោតឲ្យគេអាណិត។
If you know a lot, know enough to make them respect you, if you are stupid, be stupid enough so they can pity you.
If you know a lot, know enough to make them respect you, if you are stupid, be stupid enough so they can pity you.
Re: Naypyidaw - Burma's super-size post-apolyptic capital ci
Some ancient big capital cities grew so fast and without any hint of urban planning...meaning existing roads, power/water supplies and other important infrastructure are woefully insufficient. Once a place gets so over-crowded, making sufficient infrastructure improvements becomes extremely difficult without forced evictions and private property confiscations needed to widen roads, create parks, build mass-transit, etc.Samouth wrote:Sorry for my ignorant about Burma. I have never read about this Southeast Asia country.
I just wonder that why Naypidaw seems to be really quite? Furthermore, what was the point of creating a new capital city instead of improving the existing one?
So when things like traffic, transport of goods and pollution get so bad that doing business and running the government in the old capital city are next to impossible, sometimes countries try to create a new capital from scratch. Places like Canberra and Brasilia come to mind. Neither one are great examples of success, though. It doesn't sound like Naypyidaw is very successful either, so far. When cites are located and built for strictly political reasons, as opposed to natural human interactions and economic viability, it sounds like a recipe for failure.
China has built literally hundreds of brand new, mega-sized ghost cities. Seems like an economic disaster in the making, to me.
- phuketrichard
- Expatriate
- Posts: 16880
- Joined: Wed May 14, 2014 5:17 pm
- Reputation: 5782
- Location: Atlantis
Re: Naypyidaw - Burma's super-size post-apolyptic capital ci
Samouth wrote:Sorry for my ignorant about Burma. I have never read about this Southeast Asia country.
I just wonder that why Naypidaw seems to be really quite? Furthermore, what was the point of creating a new capital city instead of improving the existing one?
Cambodia moved its capital
Thailand moved its capital
not unusual
ITs easier to build than to rebuild
In a nation run by swine, all pigs are upward-mobile and the rest of us are fucked until we can put our acts together: not necessarily to win, but mainly to keep from losing completely. HST
-
- Similar Topics
- Replies
- Views
- Last post
-
- 94 Replies
- 13544 Views
-
Last post by Pseudonomdeplume
-
- 351 Replies
- 106336 Views
-
Last post by phuketrichard
-
- 3 Replies
- 2340 Views
-
Last post by Phnom Poon
-
- 8 Replies
- 1796 Views
-
Last post by Bitte_Kein_Lexus
-
- 14 Replies
- 4384 Views
-
Last post by orichá
-
- 0 Replies
- 2970 Views
-
Last post by phuketrichard
-
- 1 Replies
- 2634 Views
-
Last post by Kumquat
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: Freightdog, IraHayes, Old8404 and 605 guests