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Urban planning myopic

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-04-09 08:22

It is a shame that buildings in China have a lifespan shorter than those in the US, says an article in Huashang Morning Post. Excerpts:

Buildings in China last 25 to 30 years before being replaced by new ones. In contrast, an average building's lifespan in the UK and the US is 132 and 74 years.

Fingers are pointed at the myopia of China's urban planners for the short lifespan of its buildings. The problem of shortsightedness, however, is widespread among government officials who are eager to make their administration the most efficient and magnificent in the shortest possible time.

What they do instead is waste huge amounts of resources and leave piles of construction waste.

Urban planning needs farsightedness. Planners should always ask themselves what a place would look like 50 or 100 years from now before making any decision.

Finnish urban planning expert Eliel Saarinen once said: "Let me take a look at your city, and I can see what people here are pursuing." If we follow this logic, we can make the goals pursued by cities into the goals of the country.

(China Daily 04/09/2010 page9)