Chapter 348: Urbanization Rate
"Beeep… beeep… beeep…"
A sharp whistle shattered the morning calm, echoing through the immigrant transition point, waking up the sleeping residents.
Sector 23, Room 013
Yuan Ye shot up from bed. "What's going on?"
Li Ji rubbed his drowsy eyes. "So early in the morning… disturbing people's sleep! That's a whistle, isn't it? But it sounds awful."
As everyone grumbled, the whistle finally ceased—only to be replaced by the distant chime of a bell:
"Dong… dong… dong…"
That was the Dar es Salaam clock tower. When it rang, it meant it was exactly 6:00 a.m. in East Africa.
But you could only hear the clock from the transition point if you were already awake. That's why the Immigration Service relied on whistles to wake the new arrivals.
In the immigrant quarters, East African immigration staff were busy conducting wake-up calls.
Walking along the corridors, they knocked on doors with batons—"Bang bang bang…"—as if the wooden doors might shatter at any moment.
"Wake up! Don't keep sleeping! Wash up quickly or you'll miss breakfast!"
They shouted once in German, then again in Chinese. Once the sleepy immigrants heard "breakfast," they immediately scrambled out of bed. Nothing could stand in the way of a meal.
For common people in this era, sleeping in wasn't rare. Most East African immigrants came from rural backgrounds, still following the sunrise-to-sunset rhythm of life, and they generally got good sleep.
The real difficulty was getting enough to eat. Once you planted the seeds, your fate was left to the heavens—if the weather behaved, you could scrape by; if not, famine was a real threat.
Europe was slightly better. In tough years, you could still avoid starvation by working in factories. But in the Far East, most people could only flee their homes during hard times.
Even so, Europe wasn't that much better off. In 1871, Germany's urbanization rate was only about 30.6%, France's about 31%, Austria-Hungary's just 25%—and that's only urbanization rate, not full industrialization.
Most towns were still agriculture-based, and many town-dwellers still worked in primary industries. They simply lived in town but farmed like villagers. Hechingen town was like this: during poor harvest years, many people still risked bankruptcy.
The most comfortable people of the time were the British. Over 60% of their population was urbanized, and industry had become the core of their economy. Thanks to recent surpluses in East Africa, North America, and Russia, international grain prices were falling. In industrial countries, food prices had remained stable—or even declined.
In 1871, East Africa's urbanization rate stood at 17.3%, above the global average (12%). That's high for an agricultural nation. By comparison, the United States was around 25%—higher than East Africa. Russia was at about 11%, lower. And the world's most populous country, the Far East, had a mere 4% urbanization rate.
Why was East Africa's rate so high?
First, the population was relatively small, and many were immigrants. To speed up ethnic integration, the government encouraged people to live closer together, minimizing ethnic enclaves. That was a policy decision.
Second, East Africa emphasized cooperative farming. Populations needed to be concentrated. Before colonization, East Africa had been a true wilderness—there were more wild animals than people. Without a solid population base, any cleared land would be reclaimed by nature within months.
So farming in East Africa had a "whole-nation" flavor. Resources were centrally managed. Clearing wild animals sometimes required militias or even the army—especially since some indigenous regimes still existed.
Third, in recent years, the Hechingen Consortium had launched multiple businesses. For example, the newly completed Bagamoyo Shipyard employed over 2,000 people. The sisal industry had created more than 5,000 jobs.
Still, these factors weren't the biggest reason. The main reason for East Africa's high urbanization rate was that the vast Black African population wasn't included in official counts.
Blacks outnumbered immigrant settlers by more than 4 to 1—even after many were expelled.
This discrepancy made East African life seem plain, but not poor. With resources, land, and a labor force (i.e. Blacks), plus a corporate-style government avoiding smallholder bankruptcy, the economy stayed stable. Even if one area had a crop failure, other regions could balance it out via redistribution.
Moreover, East Africa typically harvested grain two or more times a year, a key factor.
It mirrored the Far East after the Song dynasty, when population and industry shifted south. Southern fields could be replanted quickly after disasters and didn't suffer northern-style total loss. Winters weren't deadly.
East Africa went a step further: climate variation was small. Although rainfall had seasonal shifts, it was abundant. Extreme weather like the Far East was rare, so crop yields stayed steady (excluding the impact of new land being reclaimed).
In the previous world, the Far East classified farmland into 15 tiers. The top grades were concentrated in the south—Yangtze River Basin, South China, and Jiangnan. The biggest factor was heat. Southern fields could yield three harvests a year.
The middle grades were in places like Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Sichuan, and Shanxi. Although Northeast China had rich black soil, it lacked enough warmth. You'd only get one harvest per year—so despite top-quality per-acre yield, its annual output lagged behind.
As one agricultural expert put it:
"Northeast black soil—you can squeeze oil from it. But with limited sun and rain, you only get one harvest per year. No matter the technique, you top out at one ton per mu (about 15 tons per hectare). That's fine for single-harvest champions. But overall productivity? South China wins, hands down."
By that logic, most of East Africa's farmland ranked mid-to-upper class. The Great Lakes region was top-tier. That made East Africa a natural agricultural powerhouse.
Still, just because the immigrants were eager to eat didn't mean the Immigration Service would make life easy for them. Order and hygiene were paramount.
"Make your beds! Don't leave stuff scattered! Someone's coming to check. If your place is messy, don't say we didn't warn you—deal with the consequences!"
"Room 041, what's with all this dust? Clean it up now, or forget about dinner!"
"Whose clothes are these? Number 8856! These were just issued—smell them! Disgusting! Go wash them right now!"
…
The loud voices from the hygiene checks quickly caught the aid team's attention. The residential sector echoed with scolding in both German and Chinese, and the sounds of people washing up.
Ande said, "Brother Shiyan! It's so noisy on the east side! Sounds like someone's being disciplined. German and Chinese both—what's going on? Could East Africa be mistreating immigrants?"
Li Ge replied, "Let me ask and find out!"
He went to the guide's dormitory.
Knock, knock, knock…
"Who is it? So early?"
Li Ge was momentarily stunned—the voice came in German. After a while, the door opened. Seeing Li Ge, the guide remembered, "Oh, right—they don't speak German."
"Mr. Li Ge! What do you need?"
"Oh, it's just… why is it so noisy over in the east side dorms?"
"That's all? It doesn't concern you. Those are newly arrived immigrants, being 'educated' to adapt to East African living standards. You don't need to worry—go back to sleep."
"Well, we were just curious. Can we go take a look?"
"There's not much to see. Just regular people like us. But sure, go if you want—just don't forget breakfast."
"No problem. Sorry for bothering you."
"Not at all. I'm here to help you guys. Ahh…" the guide yawned. "I'll go wash up now. If you need anything, feel free to decide for yourselves—just don't leave the transition center."
Li Ge returned: "Brother Houdun, let's go check it out!"
"Are we allowed?"
"Yes, as long as we don't leave the transition area."
"Let's go, then!"
This was their first time seeing actual East African immigrants. The residents of Dar es Salaam were settled long ago—nothing special to observe.
The immigrant housing was on the eastern side—crowded but organized. People were busy washing and tidying up. Towels hung from their necks, toothbrushes in hand. Some made beds; others swept floors.
Li Ge and Ande noted how tight the space was, yet it remained orderly. Eight people to a room, but nothing messy—probably because the immigrants had little luggage.
"This place feels less like an immigrant camp," Li Ge murmured, "and more like a military barracks."
"True," Ande nodded. "Their uniforms—aren't they just like East Africa's military and police? Only the color differs slightly."
"And did you notice? These immigrants look thinner than Dar es Salaam residents."
That was expected. Especially Far Eastern immigrants—they often arrived on their last breath. Even those at the center had only just begun to recover. Their current state was already a big improvement.
Thank you for the support, friends. If you want to read more chapters in advance, go to my Patreon.
Read 40 Chapters In Advance: patreon.com/Canserbero10