It was impossible to place all this weapons production in Mbeya alone. Otherwise, Mbeya would have far too much industry compared with East Africa's other cities. Industrial concentration would inevitably give rise to a major city.
As a transportation hub linking Lake Tanganyika and Lake Malawi, Tanganyika and Zambia, Mbeya already had a high ceiling for development. Its local resources were abundant, especially its mineral resources. Even assuming Mbeya itself possessed no resources to speak of, its convenient transportation could still integrate the resources of the Lake Malawi Region and Zambia. Combined with its pleasant climate, it was born with the foundations of a great city.
There was no denying that major cities had many advantages, particularly their outstanding advantages in industrial coordination. However, Ernst himself did not like large cities.
Cities with excessive populations were not truly livable, while cities with too few people could not make full use of resources or support the development of certain industries.
In Ernst's previous life, a world-class metropolis was defined as having an urban population exceeding five million. At present, the entire population of East Africa had not even reached five million, so this was somewhat like worrying that the sky might fall.
But East Africa's population was growing rapidly. Even calculated according to Africa's normal growth rate in Ernst's previous life, the eastern highlands alone could surpass one hundred million people by the twenty-first century. In the future, East Africa would be capable of producing cities with populations in the five-million range.
Therefore, Ernst's arrangement for Mbeya was to develop it in coordination with the surrounding regions. Mbeya should make full use of its function as a transportation hub, not only serving as a transportation hub for East Africa as a whole, but also extending the benefits of transportation to the