From Chinese Press

City plans a waste of money

(China Daily)
Updated: 2011-02-17 09:39

An article in People's Daily reveals that among about 200 prefecture-level cities there are 183 that are aiming to become a world city. Perhaps these local policymakers have not thoroughly reviewed the development course and experience before making such plans, says an article in the Southern Metropolis Daily. Excerpts:

Statistics show that China's urbanization rate has risen from 17.92 percent in 1978 to 46.59 percent in 2009, which means that in only 30 years China has caught up with and achieved the urbanization the western world finished in 200 years. However, we should note that China's urbanization has overly depended on, and been largely decided by, the plans of policymakers.

History tells us that people rush into cities in search of jobs and a better life. However, this natural process has resulted in the embarrassment of China's rural urban development, where attention is focused on building skyscrapers and wide roads without the strong support of industrial strength.

This craze to build a Chinese-style cosmopolitan city should draw to an end now. The course of urbanization should be finished step by step at its own pace following economic and social development. Otherwise, it will only waste the social wealth we have accumulated in the past decades.