Urban Problems and Solutions
Reclaiming the Ocean
Problem #1: In Shenzhen, the population is growing bigger and bigger every year. With this over population, lots of the land is being developed but still, they are slowly running out of land. They have built many skyscrapers, but they have done something that is thought to become increasingly popular over the generations. Solution #1: Between Shenzhen and Hong Kong there is a body of water. It is either known as the Deep Bay or Shenzhen Bay depending on which city you are in. Due to population increase and the need for land, Shenzhen and Hong Kong's council have done something called Land Reclamation or Land Fill (no, not Landfill as in the rubbish dumps but something else). It is thought to be something that will become increasingly popular in further generations and the most common method is by filling in a certain body of water with dirt, heavy and big rocks, cement and more things until the once ocean, river or lake bed becomes land that the city can use. A lot of Shenzhen Bay has been reclaimed for there is an ongoing demand for land. Around the bay there are mangroves and though on Hong Kong's side of the border these mangroves are protected in a national park, Shenzhen has no restriction on preserving the land. Since the mangroves grow on the beach front, most of the mangroves have been demolished so more buildings can be built on the reclaimed land around them. In fact, over the last 30 years, over 147 hectares of the mangroves have been demolished, that's more than 50%. This is a very smart way of getting much needed land, though it does have many problems like pollution and a lack of biodiversity in the sea. So though this solution solves problems related to lack of land, there are problems within it as the solution is not very sustainable. With many acres of mangroves and ocean being changed into cemented ground for building on, this solution is one of the reasons why this solution isn't all good. |
|
|
Building UpProblem #2: There any millions of people inhabiting the city meaning that to house everyone, many hotels have to be made. In the 1980's, many people lived on the streets as to many people were coming into the city (legally and illegally) and not enough housing was being built. Solution #2: To fix this problem, not only were fences set up to regulate the amounts of people coming into Shenzhen, but many high rise buildings were built to provide the maximum amount of housing with the land that they had. There are also many residentail buildings that take the form of tall and skinny hotels, motels, apartments and more. In fact, there are a total of 739 hotels, 43 apartments and 4 villas. Though most the villas are in places like their forest-covered mountains and further away from the city, these various hotels and apartments provide the ever growing population with loads of accommodation. |