Editorials

Doubtful demolitions

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-08-07 07:25

When Deng Xiaoping said development was vital to China's prosperity, he definitely did not mean unsustainable or wasteful development.

Yet, in many cases, economic growth has become so important that it is being pursued at the cost of everything. And many of the demolition projects are nothing but waste of resources.

For instance, local authorities have decided to raze a newly built residential block in suburban Kunming, capital of Yunnan province. Villagers from a nearby village, who lost their arable land to non-agricultural projects, spent five years and about 30 million yuan in building the 502 houses in the block.

Let's take another case. Local authorities in Fuzhou, capital of Fujian province, have earmarked several residential blocks, built less than a decade ago, for demolition. The reason: urban development of an entire district.

Perhaps, the local authorities didn't listen to Premier Wen Jiabao saying recently that thrift is crucial for the country's development. And the demolition of new buildings in the name of urban development is anything but thrift.

Local governments should aim to achieve sustainable development which, among other things, means studying the pros and cons of a plan thoroughly before putting it into action. They should have provisions to revise a plan even after its implementation if it threatens to become wasteful, which demolishing of relatively new buildings is.

China's per capita resources are lower than the world average. Hence, we cannot afford to demolish buildings built just 10 years ago if their lifespan is 60-70 years, because that is anything but development.

Chairman Mao once said waste is a crime. It's high time local governments stopped committing crimes by demolishing houses and buildings in the name of urban development.

(China Daily 08/07/2010 page5)