African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 1220: Chapter 229: Falta New District

Mars also spoke nostalgically: ”The reality and our imagination had a huge gap we realized not even a day after our excitement; although we were assigned to Benguela City, it wasn’t the already developed downtown area of Benguela City at the time.”

”It was actually a new district under construction in Benguela City, the Falta New District. When we arrived at Falta New District, we were dumbfounded. Besides sand and dirt, and a pile of building materials brought from the old city of Benguela, Falta New District had nothing else.”

”Back then, our hearts sank halfway, and anyone unaware would have thought we were exiled!”

In fact, when Anton and Mars first arrived at Falta New District, it was indeed no different from being exiled. Although they hailed from rural central East Africa, Salzburg Province was a well-known fertile area in East Africa.

Even the rural areas there could be absolutely considered beautifully scenic and abundantly fertile. At that time, Falta New District was just being initiated, and conditions could be described as extremely harsh.

Anton said: ”But who would have thought that in just a few years, Falta New District would develop to its current level? Maybe Benguela City could regain its status as the second city on the West Coast thanks to Falta New District!”

Benguela was once the second-largest port city on East Africa’s west coast, but with the rise of Cabinda and Lobito, it has dropped to fourth place, behind Luanda, Cabinda, and Lobito, with Alexandria Port ranking fifth.

The relationship between Lobito City and Benguela City is similar to that of Cabinda and Luanda, with Lobito and Cabinda focusing more on economics, while Benguela and Luanda emphasize politics and military.

East Africa favors this kind of layout, as can be seen from the capital Rhein City and the central economic hub New Frankfurt City, as well as the earlier Dar es Salaam City and First Town City.

Of course, this layout is actually related to East Africa’s history. Benguela was one of the first areas developed by the Portuguese, and East Africa later inherited Benguela City, selecting it as a regional center, while Lobito was a new city developed by East Africa.

The relationship between Luanda and Cabinda is similar. Although in previous generations Cabinda and Lobito were major cities in Angola, when East Africa annexed these regions, the Portuguese had not yet had the chance to develop them.

Take Lobito as an example; in previous generations, the Portuguese began developing Lobito in the early 20th century, after the Benguela railway was completed. East Africa’s emergence significantly compressed this timeline, bringing cities like Lobito, Cabinda, and Alexandria Port into early existence during the late 19th century.

East Africa and the Portuguese government obviously held different attitudes toward Angola, for the moment Angola was included in East Africa’s territory, it was designed and constructed as a homeland.

At that time, the East Coast’s economy in East Africa already had considerable scale, so from the perspective of balanced and coordinated economic development across the country and the development of Atlantic trade, it was imperative to make the West Coast a new pillar of East Africa’s economic development.

Otherwise, the already lagging West Coast would find it even harder to catch up with the East Coast in the future, so in the last decade of the 19th century, a batch of emerging towns sprang up on the West Coast.

These towns were planned and constructed by the East African government, most with advanced design and planning, reflecting the confidence the East African government had in the national economy at the time.

And indeed, by the outbreak of World War I, barely over twenty years had passed, and the economy of East Africa’s West Coast had risen swiftly.

Benguela, an old city established by the Portuguese, also successfully transformed under the pull of East Africa’s economy. Today, Benguela City is divided into two parts: besides the old city, a new district was constructed in the southwest.

The New District, built around Falta Bay, was named Falta New District, becoming the fastest-growing economic area in Benguela City in recent years.

This is relatively rare in East Africa’s urban planning because Falta New District and the old city of Benguela are not contiguous, somewhat similar to past scenarios in the Far East Empire with Lanzhou’s urban district and new district relationship.

The reason for such an urban development pattern is also limited by natural conditions. Benguela City’s environmental carrying capacity has an upper limit, its climate is relatively dry, the ecological environment fragile, so it is not suitable for overdevelopment.

Thus, the separation of Falta New District from Benguela City involves some ecological considerations. More importantly, East Africa has limited port resources, so to fully utilize and develop these ports, there is little resistance to the construction of Falta New District.

After all, a natural harbor as a kind of natural resource is fixed wherever it is, even if Falta New District was not set up; East Africa might have created another town here.

The reason it is a new district of Benguela City rather than developed separately is because Falta New District’s natural environment is far worse than Benguela’s.

Although the climate is relatively arid, Benguela still has large green spaces, forests, rivers, etc., while Falta New District and its surroundings are entirely large tracts of desert and sparse grassland—to call it grassland is flattering the natural conditions of Falta New District. The real situation is just slightly better than a desert, similar to East Africa’s inland Kalahari Desert.

Falta New District is not completely barren, but its extremely limited vegetation barely exists, at least all the vegetation in sight can be counted on one’s fingers. Falta New District, scattered like stars, relies entirely on the occasional rainfall and fog from the Atlantic Ocean and the tenacious vitality of drought-resistant plants.

So one can imagine the harsh conditions at the beginning of Falta New District’s construction, and back then, being assigned to Falta New District, Anton and Mars, these two young men naturally felt quite bitter, as the natural conditions here were not even as good as farming back home!

Of course, Anton and Mars surely wouldn’t think this way now, because Falta New District is already worlds apart from before.

Anton said: ”Falta’s port conditions are a huge advantage, so the state definitely saw this point, which is why the construction of Falta New District was a provincial key engineering project from the start.”

”Moreover, it’s only twelve kilometers from here to the old city of Benguela, so drinking water, daily living supplies, etc., rely quite a bit on the old city, which is probably also the reason why Falta New District wasn’t set up as a separate city but developed as part of Benguela City.”

Although Falta New District has underground water resources that can be tapped, with population growth, it can only solve early water problems; now the main water source is transported via pipelines from the old city and other water sources.

Other resources are also supported by Benguela City; this was especially important for the early development of Falta New District, so it was impossible for Falta New District to be set up as an independent city, as doing so would require more construction costs.

And Benguela City also requires Falta New District’s land and port resources to seek further economic development. As an important node where the East African railway connects to Atlantic trade, though Falta Port’s natural environment is relatively poor, it is worth East Africa’s governmental investment.

Falta New District is a new city that rose under the witness of Anton and Mars, and as the first generation of residents, they naturally have unique feelings for it.

Anton said: ”I estimate that by the time the European war is over, Falta New District and the old city will be closer, with buildings increasingly lining the highway, and the pace of Falta New District’s northward development getting faster. Maybe by the time we are old, we could see Falta New District merge with the old city!”

This isn’t without precedent; for example, East Africa’s former science city, Soga City, merged completely with Dar es Salaam City within just a few years after East Africa moved its capital to Rhein City.

Of course, the gap between Benguela City and Dar es Salaam City is still huge. The latter has long held the status of East Africa’s largest city, managing to maintain this status even as so many cities in East Africa are rapidly developing. Clearly, Dar es Salaam City has very deep foundations, and this is exactly what Benguela City lacks, so Anton didn’t overstate things.