Overpopulation vexes city planners
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China.org.cn, July 19, 2011
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Visitors swarm to the Tian'anmen Square in Beijing on May 1. |
Population pressures in Beijing are likely to worsen in the next 20 years, according to a report released on July 18, 2011.
According to the Annual Report on Analysis of Beijing Society-Building published by the Social Sciences Academic Press, population growth will be the biggest worry for Beijing during its 12th Five-Year Plan period (2011-2015).
Think tanks are calling the government to take stricter steps to control the capital's fast-growing population. Since 2000, Beijing's population has increased by 700,000 a year on average, putting strains on the city's economic, social and environmental resources.
By 2011, 40 percent of the Beijing population were migrant workers who had been officially registered with the municipal government.
To reduce the population pressure, a series of strict limits are expected to be placed on new residents who are considered to be part of the "floating", or migrant, population.
For example, in 2011, the city plans to give Beijing hukou, an official residence permit, only to university graduates who have diplomas in fields deemed important to economic development.
About 61.5 percent of Beijing residents live in six districts in the city's center, where the population density is at 7,837 persons for each square kilometer, according to the report. This has surpassed London's population density - at 5,437 persons for each sq km - and Tokyo's - at 5,984 persons for each sq km.
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