A few years ago, after a major round of urban renewal, I noticed some sidewalks in the city had been reduced to the point where they were barely wide enough for foot traffic. Pedestrians had to be tightrope walkers or at least tiptoe to make their way.
The places where we used to stroll have given way to bike lanes or thoroughfares, or have been carved into parking spots for the cars that are increasing at an exponential rate in the city.
The streets are so wide in Beijing and many other cities that pedestrians have to struggle to get across them. They either race against time to beat the traffic lights or negotiate the nearest bridges or tunnels to get to where they need to go - which means walking until one finds the necessary facilities.
Though many of us might not be aware of it, the vanishing sidewalks and excessively wide streets represent an encroachment on our rights - our right to space and to public facilities.
If these seem trivial in the hierarchy of rights, then there have been others in which people's lives have been jeopardized. Urban renewal projects, such as shopping malls, new high-grade residential towers and other profitable real estate projects, have forced many people to move out of their houses in the inner city. Many uprooted residents do not receive enough compensation to remain in the city, which means they might have to abandon the convenience of being close to their work to move to the "sleeping towns" in the suburbs. And to secure new housing, they might have to dip into their savings to offset the small compensation they receive. Because many of the uprooted residents are low-income earners, the added costs will only make things harder on their families and marginalize them.
If we look into the miscalculated city renewal projects and other developments that are making people suffer, we will see they have one thing in common: Public participation was missing from the decision-making process.
In the absence of public participation, decision-makers who are preoccupied with solving specific problems are likely to neglect some people's long-term interests. The results could benefit some people at the expense of others, such as cutting into sidewalks to make room for automobiles.
Suppose the decision-makers are influenced by selfish advisors who have personal interests at stake in such projects. The results could be even worse.
Hence the necessity of public participation. The public should have a say when it comes to projects that affect their lives. Despite the progress China has made in this regard in recent years, there remain obstacles to increasing public participation.