The invitation to attend a TM Forum Conference on Smart Cities in Yinchuan in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region of China was not something I was going to skip. As an enthusiast and evangelist of Smart Cities across the world, I had heard about the $300 Billion that China had already spent on building these cities and putting all the infrastructure and technology. I was also told that these were ghost cities with hardly any people. I had read that the Chinese Government had invested all the money to keep people busy but most houses were empty and infrastructure was already showing signs of delay due to disuse. This was my chance to see this for real. It was also my chance to see a Smart City in action.

Yinchuan was one of these cities, redeveloped some 15-20 years back. With a population between 2 Million, this was one of the remote small cities to be redeveloped. It was the former capital of the Western Xia Empire of the Tanguts. Google maps showed the city below Mongolia – the wild-west frontiers of China – dominated by Muslim and Arab population. It was the beginning of the New Silk Route from China to the Arab world.

Through this BLOG, I will articulate my two days of extreme observation and contemplation about the situation there. I am an eternal optimist so please take my musings as a one sided observation. Yes – there is likely to be a sad, sorry, sordid, solemn side to this story as well. We will keep that for a different time. This is also not an article where I compare China to India. These are totally different places that do not even warrant a comparison – good or bad.

Coming into the City: The Airport

Integrating the City: Roads, Public Transport and Parking

The concept of road planning and future proofing became evident, every minute. All roads were straight and cut each other at right angles; North to South, and East to West. Each major city road was 8 lane in the center, with a green divider and then a side road for two-wheelers and cycles and then a pavement for pedestrians – on each side. We were staying at the International Convention Center Hotel that was in the new part of Yinchuan. This area was all new construction buildings and with hardly any residents.
Beyond the pavement were lots of trees and extreme greenery. These carefully planted trees, shrubs, out-door sculptures, decorative lamps, lawns, walkways leading to narrow canals, that were not dirty and polluted with urban refuse, created a perfect camouflage to the tall apartment complexes and office complexes behind them or still being constructed. A lot of cohesive thought had gone into this and the execution was meticulous till the last finishing touch. There was no construction debris along any road.

On reaching the old town or the City Center as it was called, I saw the familiar China that I had seen in other small historic towns last year that had not been redeveloped. This part of town had narrower streets but still with a central road for cars and side roads for scooters and cycles. This was where you started seeing modern mixed-land-use concepts of pedestrian only streets like Europe with Shops on the side, road, cars and pedestrians sharing the flat surface without honking and pushing – each one was giving space to the other. This is the part of town that reflected the population of 2 Million that Yinchuan is supposed to have. It was busy but now crowded. Small local businesses thrived with street vendors and small eateries along the streets.

Integrating the Daily Life: Houses, Offices, Shopping, Schools, and Mosques