China: The (lost) Kingdom Of Bicycles?

photo: Wang Wenlan

According to Wang Fuchang, the Chinese director of the Department of Equipment Industry under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, "it is estimated that automobile ownership in China will exceed 200 million in 2020, causing serious energy security and environmental issues." Currently, there is a year on year increase of approximately 30% in private car numbers.

Transport Innovations in China

Breaking High-Speed Train Speed records, Planning routes to Europe, and the development of radical new concepts for futuristic urban trains, China is trailblazing its way to the top of the race to build low carbon alternatives to air transport. Here are some recent developments on transport innovation in China.

The Cities of China

image: chinographics

It is often quite difficult to come to terms with the scale of China, it's continuing growth and the mass urbanization of it's population. The graph above, created by Chinographics, is a fantastic resource to come to grips with the country's  60 cities with a population of 1million or more. In comparison to this, Europe has just 35 cities with a population of 1 million or more.

And the numbers are only growing. According to the McKinsey Global Institute, Chinese cities are expected to add more than 350 million people by 2030 - that's the entire population of the United States today - which will bring their urban-dwelling population to more than a billion. By then, China will have more than 220 cities with populations of more than a million, and 24 megacities with more than five million inhabitants.

More at worldchanging

Harmony City

If only China was so perfect. Remind me how ARUP's Dongtan Eco-city went again? That's right, down the toilet. Maybe there should be more focus on preserving the existing cities and existing cycling culture and integrating them into future development as opposed to simply bulldozing centuries of culture and tradition and quality vernacular architecture and sustainable urban form. Not to mention the uprooting of many thousands of people from their family homes. Then they wouldn't have the problems creates by the many 'harmony' cities that are popping up everywhere. Then they wouldn't have to ban avatar from their movie theaters. China's interpretation of Harmony is very strange indeed.

Via IDEO's Living Climate Change