ABSTRACT
As the relations between China and the Soviet Union deteriorated in the 1960s, the possibility of nuclear attacks from the Soviet Union and the United States loomed ever larger in the minds of Chinese Communist leaders. Facing such existential threats, the government devised a plan to relocate or duplicate the country’s vital industries, putting them far away from the vulnerable coast area. This secretive geo-military project, officially known as the Third Front Construction, involved heavy investment in basic industries, national defence, and other infrastructures in southwestern China’s remote and mountainous region. In the decade immediately after 1964, thousands of factories were strategically built ‘in mountains, in dispersion, and in caves.’ As well, hundreds of new towns and cities were constructed in order to accommodate the influx of workers, engineers, and other supporting personnel. Using photographs (eight colour plates) and text, this photo-essay examines two of the most important Third Front cities – Liupanshui and Panzhihua – in the global Cold War context. This study also illustrates the enduring consequences of Third Front urbanism as socialist production has given way to the neoliberal logic of privatization, consumption, and real estate speculation.
