world Changing Response 6 Pete

World Changing Response #6

Chinese Cities of the Future pg. 271

This was a very eye-opening article for me after a semester of evil, environmental China. It was interesting to see a China that knows that they have a problem and are actively moving to fix this problem. They have seen immense economic growth over the past 3 decades (the “Chinese Miracle”) and this rapid growth has come at a huge ecological cost. The Chinese have achieved their growth with outdated technologies, over consuming of materials and poor management of materials. This has lead to ecological issues that transcend simple quality-of-life issues; pollution kills people and slows the economic growth of Chinese cities. China has produced so much pollution that it has effectively called its economic vitality into question.

But China has seemed to recognize this and is actively moving to curb the flow of pollution. For example, on average Chinese buildings use 2 to 3 times as much energy per square foot as equivalent buildings in the Western world. But many Chinese ministers are trying to change this. Qiu Baoxing, China’s Construction Minister has proposed the worlds strictest green building standards. Buildings now being built are required to save 65% more energy than previous standards of building. China also is investing in model green cities with help from Western design firms which strive to build local for the area (using local renewable resources) and operate on a closed loop energy system.

All this growth is of course powered by largely economic concerns, James Carville’s adage “It’s the economy, stupid” certainly applies. China realizes that a nation that does not wisely control its resources can never succeed over a long period of time and that inefficiency is expensive. They are actively moving to repair their economy, even if the steps are small at first, and this was quite a change from the China that is ruining the world and does not care about it that we had learned from lecture. I believe that it is very beneficial to see two sides of an issue and I am glad that I read this article to get a glimpse of the side not offered in lecture.