Finding out the root cause of poor urban management

If the New Year's Eve stampede in Shanghai's Bund with a death toll of 36 and the fire that killed five firefighters in the Northeast city of Harbin on Friday have taken some of the joy out of the festive spirit, the mismanagement that has been exposed as being the major culprit behind these tragedies should make Chinese authorities, city leaders in particular, aware that the country's urban management leaves much to be desired.

Although the New Year light show on the Bund had been canceled, the municipal government failed to fully publicize the information, so a large crowd of spectators still gathered on the Bund.

At the same time, measures should have already been in place to respond to any emergency situations. For example, police should have made sure that there would be places where people could enter and leave the gathering in an orderly manner.