Taming Shanghai's Sprawl

Visiting Shanghai in the summer of 2009, I saw many advertisements for the World Expo that was to be held in the city the following summer (2010). "Better City, Better Life" was the slogan that was plastered everywhere, now that the World Expo has ended the city of Shanghai has pledged to transform its chaotic sprawl into something more livable for its 19 million or so inhabitants within 10 years. For at least the past five years, China's central government has tried to impress upon the country's major cities that the "growth-at-all-costs" economic model had to change. Fortunately, Shanghai, one of the biggest promoters of this model had embraced sustainability as the core of it next stage of development. China is struggling to cope with the intensifying urbanization of the country and the shift in Shanghai could be the first step to address this issue. As well, a study found that Chinese cities that embraced sustainable growth actually grew their economies more quickly than those that ignored environmental issues. This could be a very positive sign for China, as well as the rest of the world.