China rising -- A Canadian Perspective
The CanWest News Service just did an interesting story on China, mostly on Shanghai, entitled, "China Rising: Emerging powerhouse deals with issues of health, wealth, and westernization." Makes for a particularly nice background and overview for those just starting to learn about China. It also includes a survey on Canadians' views of China.
It surprised me to learn that Shanghai has gone from being five percent green to 1/3 green:
"We have worked hard on environmental protection in Shanghai for the last decade," Zhang said. "First, we have extended the portion of 'green' land in Shanghai from less than five per cent of the city area to now more than one-third.
More than a third of the land is covered by trees. There are many green parks all over the city. We have the title of the State Garden City already. Our aim to be an eco-city. We always remind the government to put more investment into not just big buildings, but the ecology."
Enjoy.
Comments (6)
Read through and enter the discussion by using the form at the endHubert Shea - July 23, 2006 3:57 AM
Basically the green area in Pudong (east side of the city) should be larger than Puxi (west side where land price is higher and the area is very densely populated). The largest public park in Shanghai is also located in Pudong.
China Law Blog - July 23, 2006 9:00 AM
That would explain quite a bit because I certainly do not see much green in downtown Shanghai and the areas just beyond that.
Muskie - July 23, 2006 12:59 PM
When I and other Tsinghua MBA exchange student went to Shanghai that was one of our immediate comments was home much greener Shanghai was than Beijing where we had been living for months.
I don't think it is as green as say Vancouver but just has Vancouver has been influenced by the influx of Hong Kong and mainland Chinese I think some of its sensibilities have been exported abroad as well. Another major conference on urban living was in Vancouver and it continues to be named among the top places to live by entities such as the UN and the Economist.
We did however find the people friendlier in Beijing and I believe we both liked it better despite the weather, but then again we were a Canadian and a Russian...
China Law Blog - July 24, 2006 12:24 AM
Muskie --
Thanks for checking in. Vancouver is one of my favorite cities. Am I the only one who thinks it is just like Sydney, Australia?
I will be in both Shanghai and Beijing next week and I am sure they are both lovely this time of year.
elaine - July 31, 2006 11:50 PM
Wow! China is green.. I haven't really though of it that way. I guess that's a good sign that China is now taking the steps to protect their environmen alonsgide with the growth of their economy.
China Law Blog - August 2, 2006 3:04 AM
I just left Shanghai a few days ago and I did notice a number of new parks. Earlier today I went for a walk near the Forbidden City in Beijing and came across a beautiful new park, so yes, the government does seem to be making efforts in this direction.