No Administrative Solution in Sight for Urban “Air-pocalypse”

Abstract

(ProQuest: ... denotes non-US-ASCII text omitted.)- Yi Peng,(1) ... (The influence of haze on urban development), Caixin, 19 February 2013.- He Chunlu,(2) ... ('Poisoned air' underlines difficulties in Chinese approach to low carbon man- agement), Zhongguo kexue bao, 16 January 2013.Urbanisation and pollutionHaze has recently become one of most popular words in China. What immediately springs to mind is exceptionally high levels of pollution recorded in Beijing, which, at height of phenomenon (at time of articles cited), was an unprecedented 886 micrograms per cubic meter,(3)according to US Embassy's obser- vation stations for air quality.Yi Peng sees several causes for recent blanket haze over Bei- jing-Tianjin-Hebei region. First, in worst days of this air-pocalypse (kongqi mori ..., to quote expression used by press), an absence of cold air currents and wind was a very important factor. The lack of natural ventilation caused a strong concentration of pollutants in atmosphere, at a relatively stable level, and did not allow for their dispersal. He also points to other factors, particularly pollution from motor vehicles, industrial output, and high-density population, as well as energy needs of buildings. These ancillary factors, which are also of major importance, are all more or less connected to urbanisation. This leads our writers to rethink China's current urban planning models. For Yi Peng, Beijing has to become symbol of a new way of thinking about urban development.What solutions?The Chinese capital has, according to Yi Peng, highest level of public services in country. Due to this abundance of administrative resources, city is host to a population approaching 20 million and, according to writer, could one day be home to nearly 50 million residents. Although Beijing is probably in a position to accommodate a population of that size in terms of services, financial means, or on account of its size, appear- ance of intense haze over past few months is an important signal that raises question of whether Beijing can really sustain such a level of ur- banisation and whether city can really continue to grow.These questions concern all major Chinese cities and make us wonder about their potential for future growth and whether they will be capable of resisting enormous environmental pressures related to urbanisation.In words of Yi Peng, in order to avoid having mega-cities like Shanghai or Beijing hit wall (qu chu bi ...), a planned approach will be re- quired, involving both economic and institutional reform, that aims to lighten burden that these cities have to bear. For Yi Peng, that could mean a slow-down in registering of permanent residents in these cities, or a partial administrative withdrawal, so that market can play a basic role in allocation of resources for urban development.Yi Peng also advocates encouraging a balanced development of agglom- erations in process of urbanisation, which requires taking a broader view of phenomenon. As writer points out, haze is not confined to one city. On contrary, it has a regional impact. That is why it is not only main cities that must adopt good environmental practices, but also neighbouring regions that will have to limit their emissions as far as possible, particularly in industrial sector. In this context, Yi Peng wishes to see greater emphasis on the concept of urban agglomeration (chengshi qun guannian ...), which goes beyond present administrative divi- sions. That would enable a more reasonable redistribution of industry and population by taking account of satellite cities around major urban centres. This would encourage better coordination and a higher quality of urban planning.The concepts of smart (zhihui ...), green (luse . …