Errors in urbanization must be avoided
Updated: 2013-04-09 01:18
By Zheng Yangpeng in Boao, Hainan (China Daily)
|
|||||||||
China should learn from the negative urbanization experiences in foreign countries and set out a clear plan from the start, economists and entrepreneurs said at the Boao Forum for Asia.
Neville Power, chief executive at Australian iron ore company Fortescue Metals Group, said urbanization should go hand in hand with industrialization. If this happens China will avoid the negative experiences of Latin America, where large numbers of migrants flocked into big cities before industrialization and inadequate job opportunities led to slums within cities.
"Cities should provide a variety of residential conditions for city dwellers, where high density areas coexist with low density suburban areas," Power said.
Laurent Malet, a board member at French engineering group EGIS, said experience in the West demonstrates that it is very important to build hybrid urban communities in which poor and rich, young and old can live together, and each community should integrate commercial, residential and industrial zones.
Zhang Yue, president of Broad Group, a Chinese air conditioner manufacturer, who has intensive international travel experience, agreed it is important to build hybrid and concentrated urban communities.
"In China's urban planning, for the sake of city outlook, commercial, residential and industrial zones are built separately," said Zhang. "If built separately, considerable time will be spent on roads linking each other. Enormous energy will be wasted and air will be polluted."
He said local governments in Germany encourage offices to be built in residential areas by giving incentives to builders and encouraging apartment rental or community redevelopment in commercial centers. These efforts are all aimed at building hybrid communities.
"It is imperative to have scientific urban planning from the very beginning, because in a large country such as China, there is no room for trial and error," Zhang said.
Fred Hu, chairman of Primavera Capital Group and former Greater China chairman for Goldman Sachs Group, said urbanization is a complicated process that does not only involve the concentration of people but also the concentration of industries and service sectors.
"Without concentration of industries and available job opportunities, transferring rural residents to become urban dwellers is meaningless. It would merely be a change from rural poor to urban poor," said Hu.
Hu also suggested abandoning the hukou (household registration) system, which excludes urban migrants from equal access to healthcare, education and housing services.
- Li Na on Time cover, makes influential 100 list
- FBI releases photos of 2 Boston bombings suspects
- World's wackiest hairstyles
- Sandstorms strike Northwest China
- Never-seen photos of Madonna on display
- H7N9 outbreak linked to waterfowl migration
- Dozens feared dead in Texas plant blast
- Venezuelan court rules out manual votes counting
Most Viewed
Editor's Picks
American abroad |
Industry savior: Big boys' toys |
New commissioner
|
Liaoning: China's oceangoing giant |
TCM - Keeping healthy in Chinese way |
Poultry industry under pressure |
Today's Top News
Boston bombing suspect reported cornered on boat
7.0-magnitude quake hits Sichuan
Cross-talk artist helps to spread the word
'Green' awareness levels drop in Beijing
Palace Museum spruces up
First couple on Time's list of most influential
H7N9 flu transmission studied
Trading channels 'need to broaden'
US Weekly
Beyond Yao
|
Money power |