Global wisdom can craft solutions to urban woes

The theme to the World Expo in Shanghia, 2010,”Better City, Better Life”, which is in direct response to the growing urbanization trends in China and other developing countries. In China leaders and scholars are coming together to plan for this growing trend. Thus last week more than 200 scholars, officials, and urban planners from cities worldwide met and prepared for Shanghia. Although China was at the center of discussion, protected historical heritage, new technology, and balanced urbanization was also covered at the gathering. Some of the main considerations for China include. Because China adds nearly half the worlds total in square footage, which is 2 billion new square meters of floor area each year. According to the United Nations Development Program, 400 million new inhabitants will consume the city in the next 20 years.

By observing other nations problems and solutions to urbanization, China can help their case by learning from others. Since urbanization causes traffic congestion, air and water pollution, and consumes huge amounts of energy and raw materials, China must prepare itself. One solution China gained from observing Copenhagen, Denmark’s Capital is “ The "City Bikes" program in Copenhagen, Denmark's capital. People can ride 2,000 public "City Bikes" for free, easing the problem of vehicle pollution. Once you find a "City Bike" in 110 sheds and insert a coin equivalent to 25 Yuan (US$3.20) in the lock, you can take the bike. When you return it to a shed, you get your money back.” The collaboration also includes better designs for houses. Some of the designs incorporate just windows, but by doing just this it helps save energy. Other features include sustainable energy technology, things like solar and wind power. The article really concentrates on the solutions that China is gathering from their collaborations. It really takes into account the problems other developing nations have faced and why they have faced them. I really like this article because you can see that China is really making a solid attempt to make urbanization a good thing for there nation. All of the meetings they are having and all of the solutions they are coming up with, really make sense. I think that this will greatly help China because they are taking into account China’s pros and cons, so this system is being created by China for China.


http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/?id=332629&page=2&type=Opinion