Suresh 1

Jaimin Suresh
Vic Ricchezza
EVR 2001-002
11/26/2019 City Environmental Impact-Shanghai

The city that I am going to be talking about is Shanghai. Over recent years the economic

activity in Shanghai has risen at a commensurate rate meaning due to this more pollution is

being given off as a by-product of this increase in production, however members of the

Shanghai government have noticed this and have started to take steps in order to reduce the

effects whilst still keeping economic activity high.

Shanghai is the most populated city in the world with a population of around 26,317,000

million people. Shanghai means “on the sea”, Shanghai has a humid sub-tropical climate and

is a coastal city located on the east coast of China just south of the Yangtze river in the

Yangtze River Delta of East China and it has Hangzhou Bay just south of Shanghai. Shanghai

population is roughly 2,000 people per square kilometre but in urban areas this number will

increase to roughly 3,000 people per square kilometre. Shanghai has a total area of 2,448

square miles. The landscape is mainly flat throughout the City, however, there are a few hills

in the southwest region and the average elevation is just a mere 4 meters.

As Shanghai is located near a river, Shanghai has a vast network of rivers, lakes, streams and

canals that run through the city, this is one the reasons why they have been able to maintain

such a high population. According to the 2010 Census 89.3% of Shanghai’s population was

urban meaning that the remaining 10.7% were rural. More than 40% of the residents living in

Shanghai are long term migrants. Migrants come from the neighbouring cities such as Anhui,

Jiangsu, Henan, and Sichuan. Migrants come to Shanghai looking for work opportunities and

then they end up staying as the quality of life in Shanghai is greater due to its Economic

prosperity.
 Suresh 2
Jaimin Suresh
Vic Ricchezza
EVR 2001-002
11/26/2019 City Environmental Impact-Shanghai
Shanghai relies on power generated by coal- fired plants. 82% of Shanghai’s locally produced

power comes from burning coal in a plant in order to generate electricity. What we can gather

from this information is that not only Shanghai, but China as a country still relies on the

burning of coal as its main source for generating electricity. Coal gets imported to Shanghai

that comes from inner inland regions such as Mongolia. Due to the waterways that Shanghai

has access to, they are able to import some of the coal that it needs through the Huangpu and

Yangzhe river waterways. This is unique to Shanghai as cities without developed waterways

have had to rely on rail in order to get their coal. Due to amount of coal required to produce

enough electricity to power a city, this would make it even more unfriendly to the

environment.

Since 2010 Shanghai gets its water from the Qingcaosha which happens to be the largest

reservoir in China. The Qingcaosha is located in the Yangtze river. Previously Shanghai’s

water used to come from the Huangpu River until the Qingcaosha became operational in

2010. This couldn’t have come at a better time for Shanghai to change as in 2013 there was

an incident were dead pig bodies were found floating in the Huangpu River leading to many

questions about how safe is the water really in Shanghai? Luckily, they had switched supply,

so the government then had to reassure residents and people that the water was no longer

coming from the Huangpu River but instead of the Qingcaosha reservoir. Due to its location

Shanghai has more than favourable conditions for agricultural development. Shanghai

produce meat, grain, eggs, milk, vegetable and fruit. They produce enough for the residents in

the city and suburbs. If there is excess supply, then the government will buy this stock of the

suppliers and sell it to neighbouring areas, or they will even export it to foreign countries.

This has led to farmers in the area having a high income.

 Suresh 3
Jaimin Suresh
Vic Ricchezza
EVR 2001-002
11/26/2019 City Environmental Impact-Shanghai
The utilities that are in China include Electricity, Gas, Water and Heat. Over the years

Shanghai has heavily invested in Public Transportation. The main modes of transportation

that is used are public buses, taxis, bicycles, and the metro. Shanghai have invested heavily in

high speed trains that are capable of reaching speeds up 217mph. Shanghai’s population is

growing rapidly due to fast-paced urbanization in the region and strong economic growth. It

is estimated that Shanghai will have a population of more that 50 million by 2020 which

would be double the current population. Trash & recycling is managed in a manner where

previously Shanghai had only two categories which was recycling and other waste, however,

now they are adopting a more in-depth system consisting of a four- section classification

system: recyclable waste, hazardous waste, residual waste, and kitchen waste. In an effort to

reduce waste Shanghai has started to offer composting workshops for families and small

groups who want to learn to compost, as this is better than just throwing away wasted food.

The main industries in Shanghai are financial services, wholesale and retail, real estate,

transportation, construction, and manufacturing.

Shanghai has a serious problem when it comes to pollution as the cold wind from China’s

industrial cities are bringing polluted air down to Shanghai, whilst a high-pressure cyclone

just south of Shanghai is preventing the polluted air being blown further south leaving most

of the polluted air in Shanghai. Due to this the air pollution in Shanghai is currently worse

than it is in Beijing; China’s capital. What causes the air pollution in Shanghai? “50% of air

pollution is due vehicle and factory emissions, 10.5% comes from the dust left at construction

sites, power stations contribute to 7.3%, and the burning of straw account for 10%, this

means that 22.2% is pollution from other provinces outside. The U.S Embassy’s air quality

measuring station could only describe it as “beyond index.” The estimated annual mean

concentration of sulphur dioxide in Shanghai was around 70 micrograms per cubic metre.
 Suresh 4
Jaimin Suresh
Vic Ricchezza
EVR 2001-002
11/26/2019 City Environmental Impact-Shanghai
The World Health Organisation set a standard of 40-60. This means that the pollution has

caused a serious health risk to the citizens living in Shanghai. High pollution levels have led

to an increase in respiratory diseases such as bronchitis. This has led to the government

having to increase spending to the hospitals so that they can cater for the sick. This has led to

a higher death rate and a lot of premature births. Citizens of Shanghai now have to walk

around with masks on in order to avoid the toxic fumes that are present.

The government intends to invest 100 billion yuan ($16.1 billion) or more that 200 projects in

an effort to reduce pollution, as they have realised that they need to make a change and that

pollution is driving tourism away from China as no tourist wants to visit a place covered in

polluted air. One method that China is doing that they have planted around 66 billion trees in

an effort to reduce the air pollution, as trees are able to clean the air and absorb carbon

dioxide from the environment through photosynthesis. Also, the government is giving out

pollution caps to producers so that they are allowed to produce a certain amount of fumes a

year but after they exceed that limit then they need to stop producing or the government will

heavily fine them. The firms have accepted this and have reduced the amount of pollution

drastically so that they can then sell the excess on the pollution permits to other firms who

may need it as they are at risk of going over their limit. The citizens of Shanghai have also

become more minded when it comes to emissions and have decided to purchase hybrid cars

or even electrical cars. Or they have decided to sell their car and then either get the public

transport to get to places or by walking or cycling. Shanghai is bringing anti-pollution

measures into action faster as the city has adjusted its four-tier pollution alarm systems by

lowering the criteria for alarm activation. What this means is that they’ll be stricter regulation

when it comes to pollution in the city.

 Suresh 5
Jaimin Suresh
Vic Ricchezza
EVR 2001-002
11/26/2019 City Environmental Impact-Shanghai
Even though they are planting a lot of trees in order to reduce air pollution, deforestation is

still prevalent in China as they are cutting the wood down to use as fuels in order to power

their factories, so whilst they are reducing pollution they are also contributing to it as they

have become such an economically strong city that in order to keep up with demand they

need to keep their production and output high.

 Suresh 6
Jaimin Suresh
Vic Ricchezza
EVR 2001-002
11/26/2019 City Environmental Impact-Shanghai

References

http://worldpopulationreview.com/world-cities/shanghai-population/

http://www.stats.gov.cn/english/

https://theculturetrip.com/asia/china/articles/how-shanghai-became-chinas-economic-
powerhouse/

https://www.sinoptic.ch/shanghaiflash/texts/pdf/2008/200801_Shanghai.Flash.pdf

https://www.travelchinaguide.com/cityguides/shanghai/economy.htm

https://www.china-briefing.com/news/shanghai-industry-economics-policy/

https://www.healthandsafetyinshanghai.com/shanghai-air-pollution.html

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-pollution/major-china-regions-see-smog-worsen-adding-
to-fears-polluters-are-moving-south-idUSKBN1FW0H3

http://www.shanghai.gov.cn/shanghai/node27118/