Shanghai's Most Serious Social Problems - Case Study Example

Overcrowding problems in Shanghai (Huizhen) According to Steve Schifferes (2007), “Shanghai has been transformed into a global - but its rapid growth has produced pollution, traffic jams and overcrowding”(Schifferes). Shanghai has grown faster than any other cities in the world because of the huge economic growth taking place in China at present. However, this growth brought many opportunities as well as threats to the public. During the last 15 years period Shanghai population has almost doubled. It should be noted that standard of living and per capita income of Shanghai people increased a lot during the past decade. However, environmental problems, pollution, transportation problems, lack of drinking water etc are causing big problems to the Shanghai people now. Because of huge economic growth and increase in per capita income, most of the people in Shanghai have at least one vehicle for their transportation needs. Some families possess more than one vehicle for their traveling needs. However, infrastructure facilities or road or rail facilities for transportation have not been developed in proportion with the incensement of vehicles. It should be noted that the available land area remains the same amidst the growth of number of vehicles in Shanghai. In other words, there is certain limit for the government to allocate land for the development of transportation since land is necessary for many other purposes. “The housing problem has been one of Shanghais most serious social problems. A survey in 1985 showed that nearly half of the citys 1.8 million households were in overcrowded conditions”(Housing Settlement Project in Shanghai China). Scarcity of land causes major obstacles in front of the authorities in building adequate housing facilities in Shanghai. In most of the Shanghai residential apartments, more than one family is staying. Moreover bachelors forced to share common rooms because of the shortage of apartments in Shanghai. Overcrowding of people in residential areas often bring many social problems in Shanghai. “Walking along any street in big cities like Shanghai, the average observer can smell car fumes in the air, and see the filth in the gutters. The potential for catching communicable diseases is severely heightened in concentrated populations”(Sheng). It is difficult to breathe fresh air or drink fresh water from Shanghai. Because of heavy industrialization and excess number of vehicles in roads, Shanghai air is getting polluted more and more day by day. The greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles and industrial units are contaminating the air more and more. Moreover, these vehicles and industrial units are causing noise pollution also. The engine sound, horn of vehicles, sounds from industrial units while heavy machineries operate etc are causing severe noise pollution in Shanghai. Noise pollution can cause physical as well as psychological problems to the people. The total length of rivers and canals in Shanghai is 32,000 km and 11% of the area of Shanghai Municipality is of water. With more than 10,000 industries locating in Shanghai, the total industrial waste water discharged in 1997 is 999 million tons, with 93.8% treated. Domestic waste water discharged in 1997 was 11.1 tons, and only 39.9% was treated. Total amount of COD(cr) in the waste water in 1997 was 380,550 tons, and of which 11.7 from industry and 26.9 from domestic waste (Huizhen). All water sources in Shanghai are contaminated heavily and the possibility of communicable diseases through this contaminated water cannot be ruled out. It should be noted that water is an essential commodity like air, for sustaining life in this world. Since majority of the communicable diseases are spreading through water, purity of water is important in sustaining the health of the people. However, it is difficult for the people in Shanghai to get pure water at least for drinking purposes. Since majority of the industrial units in Shanghai are disposing huge volumes of industrial wastes into water sources, all water sources like rivers and streams in Shanghai are contaminated heavily. While taking bath in these rivers and streams, or while drinking water taken from these sources, Shanghai people are increasing the possibilities of communicable diseases. Plastic is another villain which is causing huge environmental problems in Shanghai. Because of overcrowding, usages of plastic materials are huge in Shanghai and the environmental problems generated by the plastic accumulation are immense. For example, while purchasing something from supermarkets, each purchaser is getting plastic carry bags. He/she will dispose these plastic carry bags injudiciously at various places in Shanghai. It should be noted that plastic is not a biodegradable substance and therefore it may not disintegrate naturally. It is dangerous to burn plastic materials since the gases coming out while burning the plastic can cause health problems. The technology for plastic waste disposal mechanisms is not yet developed properly. Under such circumstances, it is difficult for the authorities to manage plastic accumulation beyond certain limits. Shanghai authorities are currently trying to increase metro rail facilities to get reduce road traffic. Moreover, underground transportation facilities are also developing rapidly in Shanghai to cater the needs of future. Incensement of road density levels, mainly by constructing elevated highway and improvement of the capacity of the existing network, mainly by separating different transport modes are other strategies used to avoid traffic problems in Shanghai (Shanghai: Mobility and Transport). Pollution prevention and control measures are implemented to prevent water pollution in Shanghai. Huangpu River is the major river flowing through the heart of Shanghai city. This river caters the needs of Shanghai people as far their drinking water is concerned. Shanghai authorities are currently trying to make this river clean as much as possible. “Shanghai Environmental Protection Bureau (SEPB) manages all the pollution sources in Shanghai by means of total pollution load control and concentration control”(Huizhen). SEPB is currently taking strict actions against the people and entrepreneurs who are polluting air, river and land in Shanghai. Various measures and guidelines are given to the public and entrepreneurs to get reduce pollution as much as possible in Shanghai. “Since 1980, more than 2 billion Yuan RMB has been invested, and thousands of factories has established their waste treatment facilities. In addition, night soils of nearly 100 livestock farms can be treated using their own facilities” (Huizhen). Overcrowding problems in Mumbai (Pravin) Mumbai is another city which is facing overcrowding related problems. According to latest senses in 1991, Mumbai had a population of 9.92 million. However, it is expected that Mumbai may become the second heavily populated city in the world by 2015 (Juneja, p.20-21). “Residents of Mumbai face many problems on a daily basis such as housing, costly health facilities, scarcity of open space, water supply, crowded public transport and heavy traffic on roads especially during rush hours” (Pravin). It is difficult for the families or bachelors to find accommodation in Mumbai city. Even in single rooms, around 8 to 10 people are staying because of the lack of accommodation facilities in Mumbai. Many of the Mumbai families forced to take shelter in slums because of the huge accommodation costs in Mumbai. “The only highway that exist in Mumbai are the East and West Highways that run north/south along the eastern and western coasts of the island” (Transportation). Transportation facilities in Mumbai are inadequate when we compare the population size. During office hours, the rush in trains and line buses are a treat to watch. It is often said that the only thing you have to do to get in a train during office hours is to secure a place in queues. The rest will be done by the passengers in the queue. In other words, the pressure from people behind will help a person to get into the train quiet easily without much effort. At the same time, many accidents are also taking place because of overcrowding of passengers in trains and buses during office hours. Environmental problems are another matter of worry for the Mumbai people. “Leopard attacks, landslides, abnormally high temperatures in summers, erratic rainfall etc are some of the major environmental problems in Mumbai”(Kale, p.25). Deforestation destroyed the natural habitat of wild animals and as a result of that wild animals are currently coming out from forests to heavily populated places. Mumbai soil is not strong enough so that landslide problems are frequent. Road and rail transportation are often affected because of huge landslides in Mumbai, especially during rainy season. Unexpected weather calamities like erratic rain falls, abnormal temperature rise, floods etc are causing big worries to Mumbai public. Even though Mumbai is one of the most developed cities in India, still many people in Mumbai are living in slums. Mumbai is one of the most expensive cities in the world as far as housing facilities are concerned. “Apartments in South Mumbai cost around US$9,000 to US$10,200 per square metre. "Such stellar prices can only be found in the worlds leading cities," says Yasmin Rahman, yields and valuation analyst at the Global Property Guide”(Cruz). (Cruz) The above illustration clearly indicates expensive nature of Mumbai’s housing sector. Even though there are few other cities in which housing is expenditure is more than that in Mumbai, it should be noted that none of those cities are heavily populated like Mumbai. Moreover, per capita income of people in those cities is comparatively higher than that of the Mumbai people. In other words, low income coupled with overcrowding problems causing huge social and environmental problems in Mumbai. Mumbai is a city infamous for the development of underworld. Criminal activities are growing day by day in Mumbai. Unlike, China or Shanghai, religion is a prominent in entity in Indian social life. Even though India is a secular democratic country, conflicts between dominant Hindus and minorities Muslims in Mumbai are engaged in occasional violent encounters. It should be noted that the recent Mumbai attack by Pak sponsored terrorists have increased the gap between Muslims and Hindus staying in Mumbai. Moreover, the massacres committed against Muslims in Mumbai’s near state Gujarat have raised concerns in the minds of Muslim people in Mumbai. It should be noted that Mumbai public is too much sensitive and they react aggressively to any of the social problems generated inside India. Overcrowding of people prevent the authorities from controlling the social conflcits effectively. "Slumdog Millionaire" is one of the recent Oscar winning films which portray the life of people in slums in Mumbai. “Aside from slum dwellers offended by the title, some critics lambasted its portrait of life in Dharavi, the biggest slum in Mumbai, as exploitative” (Tuhus-Dubrow). In any case, it is a fact that life of people in Mumbai slums is pathetic. Lack of drinking water, inadequate drainage facilities and accumulation of waste are common problems in Mumbai because of over population. During rainy season, life in Mumbai is horrible because of inadequate drainage systems. Waste accumulated in the slums is usually spreading all over in Mumbai city during rainy season through flowing water. The 30,000 families who live on Mumbai’s pavements are worst off of all. They do not have access to either water or lavatories because in the eyes of the law they are ‘illegal’ and should not be living there. In fact, generations have grown up often on the same pavement since the city government turns a blind eye to their existence and does not plan for an alternative (Sharma). Even though, authorities have some control over city life, it is not so in slums and pavements. People living in Mumbai slums and pavements are disposing the wastes injudiciously at various places. It is difficult for the authorities to put any control on such activities. People in slums and pavements are better organized and they will resist the efforts of authorities make any restrictions upon their free social life. In other words, waste management or control in Mumbai slums and pavements are not effective as in the case of other cities. “Indias financial capital, Mumbai, is considering a £3.75bn futuristic magnetic levitation high-speed train network as a part of a radical overhaul of the infrastructure of the city whose transport system is bursting at the seams”(Ramesh). Moreover, many housing projects are currently developing around Mumbai city in order to reduce accommodation problems at the heart of the city. Moreover, the authorities are trying to develop or convert many of the small cities nearer to Mumbai, to big cities in order to reduce overcrowding problems in Mumbai. Works Cited Cruz, Prince Christian. “Mumbai Housing Is The Priciest In The Developing World”. Web. 05 March 2012. “Housing Settlement Project in Shanghai China”. Web. 05 March 2012. Huizhen G.E. “Surface Water Pollution and Control in Shanghai”. Web. 05 March 2012. Juneja, Nalini. “Primary Education for All in the City of Mumbai, India”. Web. 05 March 2012. Kale, Ovi. “Environmental Problems of Mumbai”. Web. 05 March 2012. Pravin KRD. “Improving Travel Infrastructure in Mumbai”. Web. 05 March 2012. Ramesh, Randeep. Mumbai Plans Prestige Maglev Train to Combat Overcrowding. The Guardian. Wednesday 19 December 2007 Sharma, Kalpana. “In a City Like Mumbai”. Web. 05 March 2012. “Shanghai: Mobility and Transport”. Web. 05 March 2012. Schifferes, Steve. “Can Shanghai Turn Green and Grow?”.2007. BBC News. Sunday, 27 May 2007. Web. 05 March 2012. Sheng, Jim. “Top 5 Reasons Of Getting Away From Big Cities”. Web. 05 March 2012. “Transportation”. Web. 05 March 2012. Tuhus-Dubrow, Rebecca. “Learning from Slums”. 2012. Web. 05 March 2012. Read More