12 astonishing photos that show how Chongqing became the biggest megacity in China in 25 years（1997-2022）

12张照片展示重庆25年发展成中国最大城市的历程（1997-2022）

Feb 28 2022

（This picture taken on March 22, 2019 shows a skyline of Chongqing重庆天际线，摄于2019年3月22日）

Chongqing is China's biggest city in terms of total population and land area, but it was only developed in 1997.

重庆是中国在总人口和土地面积上最大的城市，但直到1997年才开始发展。

The biggest misconception about Chongqing is that it is the biggest city in the world, associate professor Kyle Jaros told Insider.

副教授凯尔·贾罗斯（Kyle Jaros）在接受《商业内幕》采访时表示，关于重庆最大的误解是，认为它是世界上最大的城市。

China defines cities not just by their physical boundaries but also by administration, so Chongqing's size comes from the melding of rural and urban areas.

中国定义城市的方式不仅限于其实际界线划分，还包括行政区域的划分，因此重庆的规模来源于城乡一体化的进展。

Chongqing is the biggest city in China. With a population of over 30 million people, the city covers roughly the same land area as South Carolina.

重庆是中国最大的城市，拥有超过3000万的人口，城市面积大致相当于美国南卡罗来纳州的面积。

（Navigation on the Yangzi Jiang in Chongqing, China, December 1980.1980年12月，在中国重庆长江航行。）

For most of its history, Chongqing was part of Sichuan province. Despite close cultural ties, tension built between the two places over the years.

重庆在历史上的大部分时间里，都属于四川省管辖。川渝两地有着紧密的文化联系，但多年来也积累了一些矛盾。

"Chongqing always had a complicated relationship with Sichuan because it had a different provincial capital — Chengdu," Kyle Jaros, an expert in China's urban and regional development and an associate professor at the University of Notre Dame, told Insider on a video call.

“重庆与四川之间的关系一直很复杂，因为四川有另外一个省会——成都。”中国城市与区域发展研究的专家、圣母大学副教授凯尔·贾罗斯在与《商业内幕》的一次视频通话中表示。

"There was a sense that Sichuan province had favoritism towards Chengdu, and that Chongqing, while important, didn't get the support it needed," he added.

“人们觉得四川省对成都有所偏爱，而重庆虽然很重要，却没有得到它所需的支持。”他补充道。

Chongqing separated from Sichuan in 1997.

1997年，重庆于从四川省分离，成为直辖市。

The biggest misconception about Chongqing is that it is the biggest city in the world, Jaros said. That title, when measured by population, belongs to Tokyo, population 39 million, as estimated by Demographia.

贾罗斯指出，关于重庆最大的误解是，认为它是世界上最大的城市。按照人口计算，这一头衔实际上属于东京。据Demographia估算，东京的人口为3900万。

（The reconstructed Wushan on the Yangtze (Yangzi) River, Chongqing Municipality, in 2006.2006年，重庆市重建长江边的巫山县。）

In China, cities are not just defined by physical boundaries, but by jurisdiction. When Chongqing separated from Sichuan, urban and rural areas merged under the same administration, giving rise to what is today known as the megacity of Chongqing.

在中国，城市不仅仅是根据实际界线来定义的，还包括行政管辖范围。重庆从四川分离后，城乡地区被纳入同一行政区划，形成了今天被称为“超级城市”的重庆。

"I would encourage you to think about Chongqing as a sort of province that's called a city," Jaros said. "In China, there are four so-called 'province-level' cities: Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, and Chongqing," he added.

“我建议你把重庆看作是一个被称为‘城市’的省级单位，”凯尔·贾罗斯说道。“在中国，有四个所谓的‘省级’城市：北京、上海、天津和重庆。”他补充道。

This fact is well illustrated by comparing Chongqing's urban and rural populations. As of 2019, Chongqing had more than 15 million urban residents — a mere fraction of the megacity's total 32 million population.

通过对比重庆的城市和农村人口就可以很好地体现出这一点。截至2019年，重庆拥有超过1500万的城市居民，但这仅占其总人口3200万的一小部分。

Chongqing has historically been an industrial city; a photo from 1997 (below) shows densely packed buildings and a bustling port.

重庆历来是一座工业城市；一张1997年的照片（如下）展示了当时密集的建筑和繁忙的港口景象。

（Chongqing, the largest Chinese city located on the upper Yangtze, in October 1997.位于长江上游的重庆是中国最大的城市。摄于1997年10月。）

Most of China's major cities — like Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou — are coastal cities in the eastern half of the country, Jaros said.

贾罗斯表示，中国的大多数主要城市——如北京、上海和广州——都是位于国家东部沿海的城市。

That's why Chongqing was integral to China's "Open Up the West" campaign, also known as China Western Development, the country's plan to develop its inland cities.

这也是为什么重庆在中国“西部大开发”战略中具有重要地位的原因。西部大开发是中国发展内陆城市的计划。

Before China's national-level development of inland cities in the late 1990s, there was "extreme urban poverty" in many parts of Sichuan province, Jaros said.

贾罗斯提到，在1990年代后期，中国开始国家层面的内陆城市开发之前，四川省的许多地区都存在“极端的城市贫困”现象。

（New buildings are under construction in Chongqing, China, in February 1995.1995年2月，中国重庆，正在建设新建筑。）

Chongqing went through a difficult economic transition, said Jaros.

贾罗斯表示，重庆经历了一次艰难的经济转型。

"You could say that it was part of China's 'Rust Belt,'" Jaros added. "It's sort of like in the US, we have the Rust Belt of older industrial cities like Detroit and Chicago."

“可以说重庆曾是中国‘工业锈带’的一部分。”他补充道：“类似于美国的锈带，如底特律和芝加哥等老工业城市。”

One defining moment in Chongqing's evolution as a city came in 1994, when construction started on the Three Gorges Dam. The dam was completed in 2003.

1994年，三峡大坝的建设开始，重庆城市发展迎来了一个具有决定意义的时刻。三峡大坝于2003年完工。

（Ferry passengers walk past the remains of apartment buildings at a demolition site in the Yangtze River town of Wanzhou, near Chongqing in the southwest of China in November 2002.2002年11月，在中国西南部重庆市的长江畔的万州，渡轮乘客行走在爆破拆迁楼房的碎渣上。）

At the time of its construction, the Three Gorges Dam was the world's largest hydro-electric project, according to industry site Water Technology. Upstream of the dam is the Yangtze River, which flows through Chongqing.

根据行业网站Water Technology的介绍，三峡大坝建成时，是全球最大的水力发电项目。重庆在大坝上游，长江穿城而过。

Jaros said that it was "easier" to govern and develop Chongqing as a separate entity from Sichuan province because of the construction of the dam.

贾罗斯表示，由于三峡大坝的建设，将重庆从四川省分离出来，作为独立的行政单位治理和发展就变得“更容易”。

"By moving a lot of people whose houses and villages would be flooded by the reservoir to one new administrative area, [the administration] could focus on handling those challenges," said Jaros. "That's why Chongqing looks kind of odd on the map," he added, with the city bordering five provinces: Sichuan, Hubei, Shaanxi, Hunan, and Guizhou.

“通过将房屋和村庄被水库淹没而迁移的大量居民集中到一个新的行政区域里，能够更专注地处理这些挑战。”贾罗斯说道。他补充说，这也是为什么重庆在地图上看起来有些奇特，因为它与四川、湖北、陕西、湖南和贵州五个省份接壤。

As many as 1.5 million people were displaced, and 115 towns were submerged during the course of building the dam, per Water Technology.

根据Water Technology的数据显示，修建三峡大坝期间，多达150万人需要迁移，115个城镇被淹没。

Historically, most people in Chongqing lived in rural areas.

历史上，重庆的大多数居民都生活在农村地区。

（Like the rest of southwestern China, Chongqing's topography is mountainous.与中国西南部其他地区一样，重庆的地形以山地为主。）

"Most of the area is quite remote and rugged," said Jaros. "So a lot of people did not historically live in cities until urbanization began to move rapidly," he added.

“重庆的大部分地区都相当偏远且地势崎岖。”贾罗斯说道：“因此，在城市化快速推进之前，历史上，许多人并不居住在城市中。”他补充道。

In the mid-2000s, people from the countryside began moving into high-rise apartments in the Chongqing city center, according to a paper by Georgetown University professor Kristen Looney.

根据乔治城大学教授克里斯汀·卢妮（Kristen Looney）的一篇论文，2000年代中期，来自乡村的居民开始搬入重庆市中心的高层公寓居住。

（A view of Chongqing's skyline in March 2010 with new high-rise buildings under construction. Chongqing is one of China's five "city states" and Chongqing city is the most densely populated urban region in China.2010年3月，重庆天际线的景象，新建的高层建筑正在施工中。重庆是中国的五个“直辖市”之一，同时重庆市也是中国人口密度最高的城市区域。）

As peasants began to leave their village houses, the municipal administration began constructing homes in urban centers.

随着农民离开乡村住宅，市政部门开始在城市中心建设住房。

The movement from rural to urban areas has had social and economic effects on the city. "Society has become more individualistic, more of a shift to a marketing economy," said Jaros.

这种从农村到城市的迁移对重庆产生了社会和经济影响。“社会变得更加个性主义，同时也更加向市场经济转变。”贾罗斯说道。

To accommodate the rapidly urbanizing city, Chongqing created a vast infrastructure network.

为了适应快速城市化的进程，重庆建立了一个庞大的基础设施网络。

（A view of the Yanggongqiao Overpass, the biggest of its kind in southwest China is seen March 21, 2006 in Chongqing Municipality, China.2006年3月21日，中国西南地区最大的立交桥重庆市的杨公桥立交桥的景象。）

Chongqing's Huangjuewan interchange, which began construction in 2009, is one of the most complex in the region, with five levels and 15 ramps, according to SCMP. Cars drive in eight different directions, according to the newspaper.

据《南华早报》报道，重庆的黄桷湾立交桥自2009年开始建设，是该地区最复杂的立交桥之一。该立交桥拥有五层结构和15条匝道，车辆可以朝八个不同的方向行驶。

Foreign investment helped grow the city's economy in the late 2000s.

外资在2000年代后期推动了重庆经济的发展。

（Aerial view of new vehicles sitting parked at the 2nd factory of Chang'an Ford Automobile Co., Ltd on November 30, 2021 in Chongqing, China.2021年11月30日，中国重庆，停放在长安福特汽车有限公司第二工厂的新车俯瞰图。）

"It was between 2010 and 2020 that was the boom period for Chongqing's development," said Jaros. "There was also a growing amount of foreign investment," he added.

贾若斯表示：“2010年至2020年是重庆发展的繁荣时期，同时外资也不断增加。”

Many multinational corporations, including HP and IBM, have offices in Chongqing. US car manufacturer Ford also has factories (pictured above) in the city. Ford's manufacturing plant in Chongqing is its largest outside of Detroit, according to the company's website.

包括惠普（HP）和IBM在内的许多跨国公司在重庆设有办公室。美国汽车制造商福特公司也在重庆设有工厂（如上图所示）。根据福特公司官网，重庆的制造工厂是其在底特律之外最大的生产基地。

More than half of the world's top 500 companies conduct operations in the city, per Singapore government microsite Eye on Asia.

根据新加坡政府微型网站“Eye on Asia”的数据，全球500强企业中超过一半在重庆开展业务。

Chongqing's total imports and exports topped $83.95 billion in 2019, according to the microsite. The US was its biggest export partner, and accounted for almost 30% of the city's total exports.

2019年，重庆的进出口总额达到839.5亿美元，其中美国是重庆最大的出口伙伴，占该市总出口额的近30%。

Today, Chongqing is a modern city with a sprawling skyline.

如今，重庆是一座现代化城市，拥有广阔的天际线。

（People enjoy the night view at a bar in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, Dec. 8, 2021. Chongqing has adopted various activities to promote night economy.2021年12月8日，中国重庆市，市民在酒吧中欣赏夜景。重庆通过多种活动推动夜间经济发展。）

"There has been a huge amount of investment to make the city look modern, impressive, and wealthy," said Jaros.

贾若斯表示：“重庆进行了大量投资，让这座城市看起来很现代化、令人印象深刻且很富有。”

The city is home to has some of China's most prominent futuristic structures. The Raffles City building (pictured above) is the world's highest skybridge linking the most towers, per The Guardian.

这座城市拥有中国一些最著名的未来派建筑。据《卫报》报道，来福士大厦（如上图所示）是全球最高的空中连廊建筑，连接了最多的塔楼。

"There are lots of luxury apartments, new development zones, industrial areas, and of course the magnificent skyline of Chongqing," said Jaros.

贾若斯称：“重庆有许多豪华公寓、新开发区、工业区域，以及当然还有壮观的城市天际线。”

But Chongqing's ever-expanding housing sprawl is also a cause for concern, Jaros said.

然而，贾若斯也表示，重庆不断扩大的住宅开发规模令人担忧。

（This picture taken on March 22, 2019 shows buildings from the top of Raffles City Chongqing under construction in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality.这张照片拍摄于2019年3月22日，展示了位于中国重庆市的来福士大厦的建设情况。）

"A lot of cities in China are building these sort of 'mega blocks,'" said Jaros. "From an aerial view, if you're looking at them from far away, they look like cities. But at the ground level they don't really have the benefits of cities," he added, referring to the lack of urban infrastructure like transportation and commercial businesses.

贾若斯表示：“中国许多城市正在建设这种‘超级大楼’。”他说：“从空中看，如果你从远处看，它们看起来像城市。但在地面上，它们并没有真正具备城市的优点。”他指的是缺乏城市基础设施，比如交通和商业设施。

Jaros said the problem with these areas is that they are not "inherently urban or resilient" and do not allow for changing uses.

贾若斯说，这些区域的问题在于它们“本身不是城市的或有韧性的”，并且不允许用途的变化。

"If people don't want to live in these places, it's not easy to turn them into an industrial park," said Jaros. "That's what I'm concerned about the expansive, outward growth in the suburbs"

他还表示：“如果人们不想住在这些地方，就很难将其转变为工业园区。”贾若斯补充道：“这就是我对郊区的扩张性外延发展感到担忧。”

这篇文章仅用作英语学习。原文发布于2022年2月，由于时间的变化，文中提及的内容可能过时或失效。

This article is for English learning purposes only. It was originally published in February 2022, and the content mentioned in the article may be outdated or invalid due to the passage of time.