Construction began on a high speed rail system earlier this year in China’s Guangdong Province, marking the initial efforts to unite nine cities surrounding China’s Pearl River Delta and produce a metropolis unlike anything the world has ever seen. When the project–named “Turn the Pearl River Delta into One”–is completed some six years from now, the resulting megacity will cover 40,000 square kilometers (16,000 square miles) and, by today’s numbers, reach a population of at least 42 million. The metropolitan monstrosity will dwarf New York City, which spans 790 square kilometers (305 square miles) and has just over eight million people. Read More
