The pace of urbanization will accelerate further, as the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-10) aims to raise the country's urbanization rate from the present 37 percent to 45 percent by the year 2010.

A report released on Tuesday that focuses on urban development in 2005 tolls an alarm bell for urban natural disaster reduction capabilities in such natural calamities as flood, fire or earthquakes.

The accidental water contamination in Harbin, the urban traffic paralysis caused by snowstorms in the coastal cities of Yantai and Weihai, the most severe drought in 100 years that struck the city of Chongqing and its surrounding areas and the severe shortage of water in more than 100 cities all these are sending us an explicit message that urbanization is not a byword for the construction of buildings and streets.

When millions of residents have difficulty getting enough drinking water in drought-stricken Chongqing, we cannot help but feel sorry as the city, which usually receives a good deal of precipitation, could have built enough rainwater storage containers to largely quench its current thirst.

Water shortages have upset more than 100 cities, but do we have detailed plans to build rainwater storage or other such facilities for the use of treated water by families in the construction of new cities or of new buildings in old cities?

Repeatedly cutting open the road surface to repair various types of underground pipes has been compared to a chronic disease tormenting many big cities. Have we ever worked out a solution to prevent new cities from suffering the same disease once and for all?

We have been complaining about the bad air quality in cities for years, and we all know that enough forested space will help clean up the air and preserve underground water, but space for trees has gradually been eaten away by the greedy appetites of real estate developers. Do our city planners have any plan to take back the green space or keep more such space in the planning of new residential areas?

Planning for cities can never be too meticulous. The more detailed a plan is, the more convenience residents will enjoy and the more capable a city will be in defending its residents from any contingency.

City planners and administrators need to learn to pay attention to the details that directly affect residents' quality of life. How wide should a pavement be, how large an open space should a residential area with a hundred families enjoy for their exercises, and such considerations must be matters of concern.

It takes a lot of time to build a safe and comfortable city. Examples of hasty decisions, hasty expansion, even hasty demolition or renovation can be found everywhere. Haste makes not only waste but also hidden disasters.

We need some very detailed criteria to gauge the quality of urban development in the areas of water saving, environmental protection, space for trees, recreational facilities for residents, and natural disaster prevention and relief.

Better planning will leave us with fewer regrets in the future.

(China Daily August 24, 2006)