Measured development

Akihisa Nonaka, Bangkok Bureau Chief of Nishinippon Newspaper, shared his thoughts on how to give a new lease on life to unoccupied, timeworn houses at risk of illegal settlement, fire or collapse. According to recent statistics, in Japan such houses number 8.2 million and are still growing. Many local governments have been trying, in vain, to identify their owners. Nonaka mentioned the implementation of a new law in May that makes it easier for local governments to knock down abandoned houses without owners’ consent. Still, in the absence of an owner, local governments risk bringing down heavy financial burdens on themselves from teardown cases.

There are other options.

Instead of destroying these buildings, some city authorities and communities turn them into useful public spaces: cafes, cram schools, facilities for the elderly, galleries, etc. They could even be converted into low-cost business offices to promote local employment.

In Jakarta, providing decent housing to its fast growing population is also a challenge. According to Evi Mariani Sofian, city news head editor at The Jakarta Post, the forcible eviction of residents in Kampung Pulo by city administration has created bitterness among those displaced.

Some residents defended their claims to their land, and whether they have legal documentation supporting their ownership rights or not, their claims are bound to have complex legal ramifications.

In terms of urbanization, China is confronting problems of its own.

Wan Lixin from Shanghai Daily elucidated the need for measured development in China after a decade of heady growth.

Although urbanization is increasingly seen as necessary to fuel sustained growth, more attention should be paid to the plight of migrants, social and cultural decay in certain villages and the long-term environmental consequence of urban growth. In their relentless pursuit of superlatives, many urban planners fail to realize that a good city should be moderate in scale and responsive to the needs of its residents — rather than a giant prestige project designed to impress tourists and visiting dignitaries.

In Shanghai’s long-term urban plan for 2015-2040, now being reviewed by the municipal people’s congress, there is a clear awareness of the limits to which a city can expand and the impact of urban growth on environment sustainability.