This is a rather good explainer about China鈥檚 manufacturing layout, and why certain industries seem to cluster around specific cities.
I think many US cities were shaped like this: Detroit, Pittsburgh, Seattle etc. and largely for the same reason, and I think a lot of them still are. But none of them are at the widespread scale that we find in China any more. And this is yet another reason why it鈥檚 exceedingly difficult to replicate China鈥檚 manufacturing capacity in the US today. It鈥檚 not just money; it鈥檚 millions of people arranging their lives around manufacturing.
