Urban flood waters show underground infrastructure still a hostage to vanity

MANY INLAND CHINESE CITIES, including Beijing, have once again been plagued by floods this rainy season, presenting "sea views" even in downtown areas. Presiding over a State Council executive meeting on Tuesday, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang stressed the need to build or refurbish the urban underground pipeline gallery, a corridor-like underground infrastructure for the installation of power, water, heating, telecommunications, gas and other systems. Comments:

China is undergoing fast urbanization, yet the construction of storm drains in many areas has been inadequate. It is more than necessary to speed up the construction of storm drains so that our cities are not flooded. The new type of urbanization should pay the same attention to down-to-earth necessities as surface presentation.

Li Keqiang, premier of China's State Council, July 28