The young and the aged must respect each other

SHI YU / CHINA DAILY

Editor's note: Some senior citizens were recently criticized for competing with youths for a basketball court where they wanted to practice square dancing, and some others were accused that their loud music disturbed students on the eve of the national college entrance exam. Following are the views of four experts on the issue, which they shared with China Daily's Wu Zheyu:

More facilities needed to meet residents' needs

Meng Yanchun, professor at the School of Public Policy &Management, Tsinghua University

If the government builds more public facilities for community residents, there will be no competition for playgrounds between senior citizens and youths.

Conflicts between the elderly and the youth have become common because of limited public infrastructure and amenities. As such, how to scientifically use the existing public facilities and build new ones to meet the rising demand are real challenges for local governments.

Open spaces in front of some supermarkets or parking lots can be used for people's recreational activities toward late evenings when the numbers of shoppers and vehicles drop drastically. Of course, those using the open spaces should promise not to cause any damage to the sites. Also, such an arrangement will shift the square dancers from residential communities, where the noise they generate can be nuisance for many.

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