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Kilamba (Nova Cidade de Kilamba), Angola, Africa |
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Kilamba's apartment
blocks are built for a
middle class which in
Angola does not yet exist
and are therefore largely
empty
source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news
/world-africa-18646243
Article in the Volkskrant
about the New Towns in
Angola.
source:
Article in the Volkskrant
about the New Towns in
Angola.
source:
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Perched in an isolated spot some 30km (18 miles) outside Angola's capital, Luanda, Nova Cidade de Kilamba is a brand-new mixed residential development of 750 eight-storey apartment buildings, a dozen schools and more than 100 retail units.
Designed to house up to half a million people when complete, Kilamba has been built by the state-owned China International Trust and Investment Corporation (CITIC) in under three years at a reported cost of $3.5bn (£2.2bn).
Spanning 5,000 hectares (12,355 acres), the development is the largest of several new "satellite cities" being constructed by Chinese firms around Angola, and it is believed to be one of the largest new-build projects on the continent.
The jewel in Angola's post-war reconstruction crown, Kilamba is the star of glossy government promotional videos which show smiling families enjoying a new style of living away from the dust and confusion of central Luanda where millions live in sprawling slums.
But the people in these films are only actors, and despite all the hype, nearly a year since the first batch of 2,800 apartments went on sale, only 220 have been sold.
Apartments at Kilamba are being advertised online costing between $120,000 and $200,000 - well out of reach of the estimated two-thirds of Angolans who live on less than $2 a day.
Kilamba was financed by a Chinese credit line - which Angola is repaying with oil - so it has technically been paid for. But if the houses go unsold, then the Angolan government will be left with stock on their hands and a potentially wasted investment.
source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-18646243 |
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2008 - 2025 disclaimer
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