Population concerns
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According to the blueprint approved by the State Council, the population of Beijing should not exceed 18 million by 2020. But latest local statistics show the city's resident population has already reached 19.72 million. And there is no sign of a slowdown.
The city of Beijing cannot afford unlimited expansion. Water shortage alone, even after water is diverted from the remote south, may render it unlivable at some point.
So, again, we hear hilarious discussions on how to control the population. Though, instead of outright control of access to the city, people are now talking about employing more locals.
Given the obvious ineffectiveness of similar, and even harsher, attempts of administrative control, this one is unlikely to be more efficient.
That Beijing and some other metropolises have been drawing people like magnets has little to do with whether control is strict or loose. It is the inevitable consequence of the imbalance, and inequity, in the way public resources are distributed.
People across the country covet to live in Beijing and the few other major cities because they have the country's best schools, hospitals and other facilities.
The ultimate solution, therefore, is to narrow the regional development gap. To achieve that, however, the current pattern of distribution has to be changed.
Since the long era of shortage, the central authorities have been concentrating our entire national wealth on "key" projects and areas. Beijing and the other municipalities under direct jurisdiction of the State Council have benefited tremendously from such special favors. But that is unfair to the rest of the country. Now is the time to tilt the balance toward the underdeveloped central and western regions.
Unless the promises of support for the central and western regions are matched with genuine action of substantial allocations from the central funds, unless people can find quality supplies and services that are now available only in places like Beijing, there is no way people can be stopped from flocking to the mega-cities. And there is no moral ground to do that.
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