Editorials

Sustainable development

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-06-05 07:12

China should follow the motto of "making the most use of everything" in its rapid urbanization drive. As an example, it can look to the Swedish city of Malmo.

Malmo is one of the 35 cities that are participating in the Urban Best Practice Area at the Shanghai World Expo to showcase examples of sustainable urban development. Malmo recycles about 96 percent of the waste generated by its residents to either generate power or turn it into fertilizer. Only about 4 percent of the city's trash goes into landfills. In contrast, most of the urban waste generated in China goes into landfills.

China's urbanization during the past three decades has been unprecedented. Urban residents made up just 17.9 percent of its population in 1979; today they comprise almost half. Urbanization not only facilitates economic development, but also creates problems such as water shortage and contamination, sewage treatment, traffic snarls and over-consumption of resources.

The key to the country's sustainable development lies in solving these problems timely and properly.

True, a lot of money is needed to reuse a high percentage of the urban waste and it would be very difficult for our cities to reach the level of Malmo. But reaching Malmo's level as early as possible should be our goal.

It is not just a problem of money. Our urban planners and decision-makers must know that sustainability levels in urban areas will have a bearing on the future of the country.

(China Daily 06/05/2010 page5)