In the article “Explosive
growth in Asian cities: Bright ideas to Seize the Urban Moment”, Khanna (2015)
believes that South-east Asian metropolises are the next reference model of
“urban development” in the current era. She states that metropolises are going
through an increase of population due to large amount of movement from the
counties’ rural area to its cities; this influx is pushing metropolises to
expand in magnitude and in turn, could leads to “urban sprawl”. The writer
reports that when providing basic necessities such as water, housing and
reliable transport; the magnitude of these metropolises are posing complicated
problems for their local governments. Khanna argues that South-east Asian
capitals are taking on the issues posed with "flexible
governments, resourceful citizens and local infrastructure innovation." I
agree with Khanna’s statement; the huge increase of population in the
metropolises has indeed caused issues. However, in Khanna’s article these issues
are briefly mentioned about, and I would like to elaborate more about the
issues and what are the measures these cities are implementing.
First, I would like to talk about an issue in Bangkok, which is the air pollution
the city is facing. Bangkok has long faced the issue of air pollution, dated as
far back as 1970s.
Transportation contributes the most to the pollution issue in Bangkok. According
to Dr. Bhichit Rattakul (2007), he reports that many of the buses used in
Bangkok are outdated, but were still driven by private operators. Bhichit also
states that about half of the 14,000 buses in Bangkok do not fulfill air quality
control standard. According to worldbank (2015), the government of Thailand has
implemented measures to combat the issue of air pollution; such as adopting
emission standards, phasing out lead in gasoline and reducing polluting
rickshaws in the streets. Bangkok also encouraged a conversion from the old
two-stroke engines to the cleaner four-stroke engines for the city’s
motorbikes. Thailand Energy Minister Piyasvasti Amranand states that “the air
has improved a lot over the past 15 years.”
Next, I would like to talk about the transportation issue in Jakarta.
Jakarta currently has one of the most congested traffic in the world. According
to Hamer (2014), he reports that during peak hour, five-kilometer journeys by
car can take up to an hour or more. This congestion is caused by the large
amount of car ownership and the unreliable public transportation system. Businesses
in Jakarta are heavily limited by the lack of mobility. To combat this issue, the
public works office plans to build 10 elevated roadways, and some have already
been completed. According to Prabandari, the new elevated roadway that she uses
to travel between her house to work now takes only “matter of few minutes”, as
compared to previously, would have taken her about an hour. However, during
peak hour the traffic condition is still congested as the road converges with
other streets. Jakarta is currently reviving plans to construct a monorail
system.
In conclusion, it is no doubt that with a huge population, there will be
issues that comes with it. The important thing for these metropolises is to
plan ahead and improve their infrastructures such that it will be able
withstand the growing demand of its population.
(534 words)
References
Hamer, A. (2014, January 30). Outdated
infrastructure and constant gridlock are worsening with rapid growth in car
ownership. Jakarta’s Troubled
Infrastructure. Retrieved from http://thediplomat.com/2014/01/jakartas-troubled-infrastructure/
Gluckman, R. (2007, May). Once blighted by belching buses and thick smog, Bangkok cleaned up its
act and air over recent decades. Cutting motorcycle emissions and adding an
overhead subway helped, but most measures were easy, efficient and paid quick
results. As Bangkok has grown greener, much of Asia, suffocating in thick
layers of smog, should pay attention. Bangkok
breathes easier. Retrieved from http://www.gluckman.com/BangkokPollution.html
From Santiago to Bangkok, Cleaner Air Brings Healthier Lives. (2015). Retrieved April 13, 2015, from http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2015/04/13/from-santiago-to-bangkok-cleaner-air-brings-healthier-lives
Can
Jakarta Build Answers to Its Transportation Problems? (n.d), from http://jakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/can-jakarta-build-answers-to-its-transportation-problems/
Hi Marcus,
ReplyDeleteYour essay is nicely phrased. There are evidences to back up the factors and I can understand your points easily. Do that take note for paragraph one, second sentence - "in turn, could leads to “urban sprawl” - it should be 'lead'.
Probably you can add in your own opinion/thoughts about the issue in each paragraph to support the evidences you have put up. It was a good read.
Keep up the effort!
Yanyan.
Hi Marcus,
ReplyDeleteI can see that you felt that the author did not have substantial explanation for the issues due to population growth in metropolises. You gave 1 case study about the air pollution in Bangkok and how the government tried to reduce air pollution.
Your second case study is about transportation congestion in Jarkarta and you ended off with plans for monorail. Perhaps you could explain a little more in detail about the plans for the monorail system.
In regard to your conclusion, I feel that it could encompass more of what you have stated above.
Finally, i see a few grammar errors and certain sentences could be improved to 'sound nicer/better'.
e.g. "However, during peak hour the traffic condition is still congested as the road converges with other streets."
Hurrah!