As a long-time Beijing resident, I agree "something has got to be done", but doubt a 'heart transplant' is the answer. Certainly, with growing urbanization and a huge movement of rural migrants in search of a better life, major cities have become an irresistible magnet for rapid and uncontrolled growth.

In the 1990's, I used to cycle into the "countryside" on the western side of the Third Ring Road. The fields and country lanes, however, have now disappeared under endless housing developments and new roads. Indeed, I live in what was a particularly charming rural area less than 15 years ago but is now just another part of the smoggy urban sprawl. Beijing's tentacles extend beyond the fourth, fifth and even sixth ring roads. On the southeast side, an eventual merger with the port city of Tianjin to form a true 'megalopolis' seems inevitable!

Beijing residents once lived close to their work, many in employer-supplied apartments. The jobs remain in the city; but, searching for affordable housing in a market economy, families have decamped to outer suburbs from where they commute back each day. Many have bought a car and the resultant strain on traffic links - despite a massive road building program - is obvious.

So, what to do? Here are some possibilities, based on foreign experiences, although none will probably work in China.

•  Move more jobs out of the city; consider relocating some government departments to other cities. With London housing no longer affordable for many, the British Government did this on a huge scale; but Britain is small and China large. One would have to consider the possible dysfunction of the governmental system and coordination barriers among departments (although technology overcomes some of this).

•  Develop self-contained satellite cities with a true separate identity, economic sustainability and comfortable living. Tongzhou, a satellite city in southeastern Beijing founded in the 1990s (current population over one million) was just such a project; but many residents reportedly are deeply unhappy with their quality of life.

•  The alternative is to make driving into the city prohibitively expensive through tolls and ban parking, promoting "park 'n ride" schemes - giant car parks in the outer suburbs where drivers transfer to fast, cheap public transport (rail, including subway, tram and monorail or road). That will be bitterly resisted by the millions of new car owners.

•  Discourage further inward migration and encourage a reverse flow by making life elsewhere more attractive. But this encounters a psychological issue in that people outside Beijing try their best to move in and kick away the ladder. The dream is a local Hukou (residence permit) and the chance for their children to get into a good school as the key to a "good job" and secure future.

All this suggests that moving or staying are equally daunting challenges. It seems I will just have to buy a facemask like many other commuters.

The author is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit: http://www.ccgp-fushun.com/opinion/geoffreymurray.htm

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