By Xie Liangbing (谢良兵)
Issue 641, Oct 7, 2013  
Nation, page 15
Translated by Laura Lin
Original article: [Chinese]

"Better City, Better Life," was the motto of the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, a nod to the ancient Greek scholar Aristotle who understood what people expect from urban life: to make their living a better living.

But what is the reality in Chinese cities right now? During China's golden week — in which people celebrate China's National Day — Typhoon Fitow made landfall on the southeast coast and Shanghai was instantly turned into a lake. Buses became submarines. The nearby city of Yuyao (余姚) in Zhejiang province was almost completely underwater. And even the north wasn't spared, as a haze lingered for days, causing serious air pollution in numerous cities including Beijing.

Cities that are supposed to bring convenience and comfort seem to offer just the opposite — overcrowding, stifling air, unbearable traffic jams, increasingly scarce water, madly rising house prices, frequent land subsidence, threats and frequent casual attacks by unstable people on the margins of society ... The list goes on, as life in Chinese cities gets worse instead of better.

The worst of all is that when we inspect carefully all the "component parts" of our cities we discover that they function like a sieve: full of cracks and loopholes that leave the structure incredibly vulnerable.

Even a tiny weather-related event is enough to paralyze a city. In Beijing, a mild snow fall can bring traffic to a halt. A typhoon that was blowing towards Fujian flooded Yuyao, a city that is miles away to the north.

In fact, this growing vulnerability is becoming the common characteristic of cities globally. A recent report, published by the Swiss Reinsurance Company, about the world's most vulnerable cities and urban areas shows that Tokyo-Yokohama tops the list, while the Pearl River Delta and Shanghai came in as the 3rd and the 8th riskiest places in the event of natural disasters.

Deep Systems, not Pretty Facades

So why are cities, which continue to attract newcomers so vulnerable in the face of natural disasters? One can't stop acts of God, but are human factors also contributing to the rising risks?

Following Yuyao's flooding, there was no running water, no electricity, no food for days. The shortage of relief supplies even led to brawls between the victims of the disaster and the volunteer workers — and to the public looting of relief materials.

When questioned about its risk management ability, the Yuyao Municipal Party Committee Secretary said that this typhoon was particularly strong and is a "once in a century" (百年一遇) kind of event.

"Once in a century" has become the magic phrase for every Chinese official in front of any disaster, whether it's in the northeast, Shanghai or Zhejiang. Chinese city managers have always attributed a city's vulnerability to force majeure or acts of the public.

For instance, one Beijing official blamed "drivers micro-blogging or sending text messages" as the cause of the city's traffic jams, or smoke from cooking as one of the factor contributing to the capital's air pollution.

Instead, we discover that urban leaders attach greater importance to short-term construction projects than to deep thinking and strategic planning about a city's future. Short-sighted behavior has become commonplace, with officials "paying attention to what's above ground while ignoring what's underground" and "worrying about construction while neglecting maintenance.”

Urbanization is expanding in every corner of the world, though the pace varies. According to a United Nations study, by 2050 urban inhabitants will reach 6.3 billion, totaling 68 percent of the world's population.

Meanwhile in China, cities are springing up in an uncontrolled way. The official urbanization rate has exceeded 50 percent — which means that most Chinese people will live in cities in the future.

Urbanization makes us accustomed to the convenience of various transportation services, the ease of use of electricity and tap water, the practice of shopping at a nearby convenience store.

Where can we go if they suddenly disappear because things our cities are so vulnerable?

A city should be a place where we live with dignity, security, satidfaction and hope. This requires our government leaders to think about building strong urban systems rather than just glamorous construction projects that are merely a facade that can't even withstand a bit of weather.  

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