# A Disturbing Trend in Urban Development



## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

Terraforming was done in the US cities when they started out too, such as NY and Boston. This is Seattle:


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## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

Maximalist said:


> I find almost everything China does to be disturbing: creating an atmosphere so polluted that you can barely see the skyscrapers; damming up rivers and relocating/destroying villages in the process; wiping out rain forests in Southeast Asia; endangering so many species because of their stupid superstitious beliefs; violating human rights; executing more people than the rest of the world combined...
> 
> I can't imagine a more vile country!


Just remember the pollution in China is largely from the industry that's providing the Western consumer market, and all those logging trails to reach the mahogany, ebony and teak is overwhelmingly for Western demand (although the much rarer Rosewood is for Asian), just as it is the logging in South America and Africa. The average carbon footprint of a Chinese - even *with* the carbon export taken into account (where one country commissions its products in another, thereby exporting its pollution) is still far lower than in the EU, and a third to one fifth on North America's. In short the West is already well past worst case scenario, which was reached back in the 60s and has gone multiple times over by now (5% of the world's population but using up 50% of it's resources). If China wanted to reach the level of demand and consumption of the US for example, we'd need another planet - which it knows is impossible, what with the majority of Earth's resources now used up, but with no let up in sight. 

In other word's one can't have a go at the country giving us our commissioned exports, and pointing the finger at them taking the remaining resources while continuing to do so ourselves.

As for the wildlife trade China is definitely caught guilty here with whatever trend is becoming popular - as products eg rhino horn (used as a superstitious aphrodisiac but also for medical liver problems) becomes increasingly rare, the demand shoots up as people think the price reflects the quality, whilst the demand for tiger parts is now actually lower due to tiger farming.











Rhino horn is now worth it's weight in gold, with natural history museums now being burgled. This happens with every country as it rises - witness the rapacious demand for 'bushmeat' as a nostalgic African middle class rises. But once again, do remember we in the West are the worst offendors, with the pet trade now the third largest illegal trade having overtaken weapons a few years ago (but just behind people smuggling and narcotics), and throw in the bespoke hunting on top of that. For example, for all the bad press shark finning gets - 40 million killed every year for Asian demand, 160 million more get killed as bycatch, food products, pharmaceuticals, leather, cosmetics, jewellery and hunting by the West, so things from pet chew toys, lipstick, acne cream, vitamins, shoes, handbags and energy drinks. The sport hunting is especially damaging as it kills the oldest and most reproductive sharks - 4 million kills p/a returned to US ports alone, but with an estimated 10 million more dumped back or unannounced.

What China - and mostly China - needs to stop is it's Rosewood (especially Madagascar) and Rhino horn trade, and it's own endangered wildlife that ends up in the wetmarkets and plates of of the south, like Guangdong. Bear bile farming is another, not so much for endangering wild animals, but the cruel conditions of most of the farmed ones. Also charcoal coming from the South American rainforest - although nothing on the vast cattle farms (beef), soya (livestock feed), palm oil (in just about every packaged food or pharmaceutical), rubber or illegal coca (drugs) plantations that feeds the West, it's the fastest growing new logger. Also, IVORY.

bile farming, raid on a wetmarket:


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## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

actually forget Rosewood, sorry - just looked it up. The majority is processed in China but shipped to the West for furniture. Edit* and charcoal production - the majority stays in Brazil to make pig iron.


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## chornedsnorkack (Mar 13, 2009)

BarbaricManchurian said:


> For some cities, it's just a small expansion on the edge of town, but for cities like Yan'an, which is 3 blocks wide crowded by the river and many kilometers long, this can seriously transform the city and create a true center and downtown. Right now the city is really just a poor, remote settlement with a few commieblocks. Let's see what the results are in a few years.


Is Hong Kong razing Victoria Peak? Because it is crowded in a narrow strip between harbour and peak.

Hong Kong has Peak Tramway, and Mid-Level Escalators.

How many second tier cities in western China have opened new rack railways recently, and have people in big housing estates relying on rack railway network for daily commute?


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## null (Dec 11, 2002)

> China's urban planners need to be innovative and find ways to make denser cities.(Perhaps take a few lessons from Hong Kong's urban planning instead of the big spacey layout style).


_*Spacey*_ is the last word i would associate with Chongqing, as the city couldn't be any denser.


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## Airman Kris™ (Feb 22, 2014)

Terraforming in the core, central part of a city is one thing, on the outskirts to _expand_ the city is another.


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## Bronxwood (Feb 7, 2010)

Manhattan was once a hilly island with rolling hills. It has all been mostly flattened out to accommodate growth in what was then the outskirts of the city (lower manhattan was the core). Only the far north of the island maintains the original hilly terrain once common throughout most of manhattan.


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## zaphod (Dec 8, 2005)

> Terraforming was done in the US cities when they started out too, such as NY and Boston. This is Seattle:


LA did this too. The modern skyscraper district in downtown used to be a hill. Now it's a gentle slope cut with plazas and building lobbies in such a way that you can't tell what the ground level really is.


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## Rofnald (Jun 25, 2014)

drastically change the landscape.


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## Keystone Properties (Jul 21, 2014)

Technology helps us understand our connection to nature. 100 years ago we didn't think we were animals, now we know we are and are intimately connected to the natural world.


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## ssiguy2 (Feb 19, 2005)

Maximalist said:


> I find almost everything China does to be disturbing: creating an atmosphere so polluted that you can barely see the skyscrapers; damming up rivers and relocating/destroying villages in the process; wiping out rain forests in Southeast Asia; endangering so many species because of their stupid superstitious beliefs; violating human rights; executing more people than the rest of the world combined...
> 
> I can't imagine a more vile country!


What you said it sickening but alas every word of it is true. 

As an ESL teacher, I know there is a critical lack of ESL teachers in China. They even offer incentives with long vacations, free return airfare, free accommodation but still can't get the positions filled. Much of this is due to China's human rights record, the incredibly polluted air, and people repulsed by seeing dogs in carts being carried off to a slaughterhouse for tonight's dinner.


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