China: more than 300 million new migrants within next 20 years
The prediction was made by a study conducted by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and funded by the UN Development Programme. The report is calling for new resource management policies. Within the coming five years, more than 125 cities will have more than one million residents.
Beijing (AsiaNews/SCMP) Around 300 million people, a quarter of China's population, will leave rural areas to work in cities over the coming 20 years, becoming the country's new migrants.
This was revealed in a report on China's development situation commissioned by the United Nations, which has suggested that the government develop new policies, crucial to sustain the rapid urbanization growth. According to the report, in fact, many cities may soon have to face crises arising from limited natural resources like available land and water.
The study was conducted by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences but funded by the UN Development Programme. According to its findings, Chinese cities contribute less to the national economy than their equivalent in other developed countries. It also found low productivity rates and high densities that made them unable to support future growth.
The report was prepared in response to an appeal by a famous geographic economist of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lu Dadao, who had called on the government to slow the frenzied pace of national urbanisation. Lu said the existing policy focused on massive construction projects, which were often "under-utilised" and "deprived farmers of arable land".
The UN report predicted that in four years about 125 Chinese cities would have a population of more than 1 million and, about 50 of these would have more than 2 million people. However, the authors added, "limited natural resources would create a bottleneck in this growth".
The government "should strengthen city planning and find innovative ways to save resources, such as power and fuel by providing better public transport and encouraging the use of smaller vehicles."
The authors of the report are all university professors who have monitored five Chinese cities for more than five years, measuring the level of natural resources, public safety and public finances.
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