Chapter 652 Economic Income
Assold then said to Val: "And you Swakopmund also have the Swakop River as a water source, which is much better than our Walvis Bay Port. "
Speaking of the Swakop River, Val is indeed a little proud, because the existence of the Swakop River has created Swakopmund. Although the river flow is not very stable, it is still the center of the entire southwest Africa. A rare good place.
“And the Whale Highway is also of great significance to you Swakopmund. After all, the distance between our two cities is less than 30 kilometers. You only need to build a short-distance road to connect with the Whale Highway. The connection is a short distance, or directly use the highway between our two cities," Yasold suggested.
There is a municipal road between Walvis Bay and Swakopmund, which is built close to the coastline, and Yasold’s suggestion is to have Swakopmund build a direct connection to the Walvis Bay Highway. Road, because the Whale Highway runs from northeast to southwest, so Swakopmund builds a straight line connecting the Whale Highway on the east side, which can directly save the transfer process from Walvis Bay Port.
"The road must be repaired. This is not difficult for us. I just don't like why the road is not built directly to Swakopmund. In this way, we can reach Walvis Bay directly from Swakopmund. Save a lot of engineering and materials, avoid repeated construction problems, and improve the efficiency of road use. "
Yasold said: "This shows that the higher-level government attaches more importance to Walvis Bay than Swakopmund. Yes, the only advantage our Walvis Bay has over our Swakopmund is probably this deep-water port. However, your Swakopmund cannot go further because of the problem of the Swakop River.”
The influence of the Swakop River on Swakopmund is two-way. The relatively abundant water source has indeed provided impetus for the development of Swakopmund.
But the Swakop River is also a river that passes through an arid area. There is sparse vegetation in the upper reaches, resulting in a large amount of river sand being deposited at the outlet every year.
This is also the main reason why Swakopmund was first colonized in the previous life and was later replaced by Walvis Bay next door.
After hearing Yasold's words, Val felt helpless. He said: "So it is very likely that the two cities will merge and develop together in the future. Our city has water resources and you have the port advantage. If the two cities can merge, then A big city with a population of more than 100,000 people will be formed in Southwest Africa in the future.”
“Haha!” Solder smiled and said: "You really dare to think that in a big city with more than 100,000 people, the whole of Southwest Africa may only have about 10,000 people now. Our two cities have a combined population of just over 6,000."
< br>"What do you mean by really daring to think? I am telling the truth. If two cities expand quickly, it will be a matter of time before they are connected."
Yasold retorted: "You also said that the two cities will expand. The problem is that the distance between our two cities is almost 30 kilometers. So how big do the urban areas need to be to meet each other? Dar es Salam City and First Town City are also very close. The two cities are developing very fast!"
"Oh, you are so stupid. Why can’t I think about it! Urban integration requires urban areas to be integrated! Wouldn’t you achieve this by building more roads? And it’s only 30 kilometers long. If we build a railway between the two cities, , it’s only half an hour away, and you can commute to and from work. Do you dare to say that this distance is far?”
With Val's reminder, Yasolde realized that he had entered into a misunderstanding. Transportation is developing day by day. Now the speed of trains on the railway is getting faster and faster. No one can say how it will develop in the future.
Thinking of this, he said: "Doesn't that mean that as the traffic speed becomes faster and faster in the future, the sense of edges between cities will become weaker, such as Vienna and Dar es Salaam. The distance will also become limitless due to the development of transportation." Val didn't think so and interrupted: "You are a bit too optimistic. The speed of the steam engine is already amazing now, and I also believe that there will be more in the future. Power is faster than steam power, but the speed of technological development is not as fast as we think, at least not for our generation.”
Europeans during the Industrial Revolution era were indeed a bit bloated. However, it is unlikely at this time. Social confidence is directly proportional to economic development. The better the economic situation, the stronger social confidence. The worse the economic situation, the worse social confidence.
It is still in the stage of economic depression. Although the crisis has passed, anxiety still exists in the heart. This is also the reason why the great powers were racing to enclose land around the world in the 1980s.
The main reason is the psychological crisis that the last economic crisis brought to many countries, so more colonies are needed to share risks, or to maintain a sense of security.
“Of course, cities also need to develop. The main urban areas of the two cities will definitely expand in the future. This means that the distance between our two cities is about 30 kilometers now. In five years, it may only be 2 kilometers. Nineteen kilometers, in ten years it will be 28 kilometers. If the city develops well, it may be less than 20 kilometers. With the development of transportation, the distance between the two cities will be even closer. "< br>
Val continued: "Of course, this mainly depends on the development of your Walvis Bay City. Now that the higher-level government has placed a bet on your Walvis Bay City, in the future, the entire Southwest Africa, your Walvis Bay Port The city is in the top three, and it has also been the economic engine of Southwest Africa in the past ten years."
Assold suspected that Val was trying to kill Walvis Bay City. He said: "You are right about Walvis Bay City. The city's development is too optimistic. The higher-level government has not said that it will focus on the development of our city, and economic development requires physical support. Apart from some misguided ships, there are really no economic growth points worth paying attention to here. We even need The higher-level government allocates food from the inland. "
There is no problem with Yasold's words. Except for Cape Town, the only ships currently passing through the Cape Strait are South American ships. .
After all, most European merchant ships will choose the Suez Canal. Its safety alone is better than the Cape of Good Hope, known as the "Cape of Storms", and the coastal waterways of Southwest Africa are not good either. To the north of Swakopmund is the "Skeleton Coast". Many European merchant ships sank there in the past.
The east coast of East Africa can rely on the huge resources of the inland to make the entire western Indian Ocean route prosperous again. However, the desert area of Southwest Africa on the west coast is close to one million square kilometers, with little population and products, so in shipping As it is difficult to rise, Atsold is not optimistic about the future of Walvis Bay.
This is also true. The pillar industry of Walvis Bay Port in recent years has been fishing, and the same is true for Swakopmund. The shipping industry and service industry have basically stagnated, because after being taught by the storm at the Cape of Good Hope , more and more ships choose to pass through the Suez Canal, unless they are not in a hurry, or ships from the Cape Colony. Now even French ships heading to Madagascar also pass through the Suez Canal.
So in 1882, the largest customer of Walvis Bay's service industry was the potential enemy of East Africa - British merchant ships. This was one of the main economic sources of Walvis Bay, second only to fishery. , but the fishery resources in Southwest Africa are mostly self-produced and sold, unlike Somalia, which is not close to the market.
(End of this chapter)