My trip to HongKong

My trip to HongKong

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Reader Response draft 2



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 lead 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 Bhichit Rattakul (2007), he reports that many of the buses used in Bangkok are outdated, but were still driven by private operators.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

Can Jakarta Build Answers to Its Transportation Problems? (n.d), from http://jakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/can-jakarta-build-answers-to-its-transportation-problems/

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

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

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/

KHANNA, P. (2015, June 11). Population surges are causing cities to explode in size and density. Manila, for example, struggles to provide sufficient housing for the growing population. With long-term investments, South-east Asian cities are proving that their potential is greater than the challenges they face. Explosive growth in Asian cities: Bright ideas to 'seize the urban moment'. Retrieved from http://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/explosive-growth-in-asian-cities-bright-ideas-to-seize-the-urban-moment

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