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Capital overcrowded: Locals

By Qian Yanfeng (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-09-18 08:44

Beijingers believe the capital is overcrowded and want population control to be one of the local government's top priorities next year.

Residents were asked by the municipal government to suggest ways for improving the city in 2010. More than 5,000 suggestions were received as of Thursday, the deadline. The results showed population control, healthcare, housing and education were among the top concerns.

Beijing's population has experienced an annual growth rate of 1.3 percent in recent years, meaning an additional 400,000 to 500,000 new residents each year. Official statistics show nearly 17 million people live in Beijing.

Demographers usually put the city's population capacity at 18 million, based on the land area that can be developed for human habitation.

"Beijing is obviously over-crowded," said Celia Li, a property saleswoman in the city. "I couldn't even enjoy shopping, with so many people rubbing your elbows and stepping on your heels."

Li was also concerned about the environment, which she said had been suffering from poor air quality and more cars on the roads.

"It also reduces our living standards and increases the risks of infectious diseases. It is high time that the government should get down to it and think really seriously about population control."

Senegalese woman Oumou Ndiaye said she never expected to see "such a swarm of people" when she arrived in the capital a week ago,.

"Before I came I had heard many reports about how populous China is, but still it was beyond my wildest imagination," said the University of International Business and Trade student. "I couldn't even breathe from seeing the crowds spewing out of the metro stations."

Wang Haiping, deputy director of the municipal development and reform commission, said earlier this year that Beijing would upgrade the city's industrial structure and that will restrict the inflow of low-end migrant workers.

One in four people in Beijing are migrant workers, many of whom say the city is too strict with the hukou system, or permanent residency permit, and that they would be subject to even greater discrimination if population control policies were tightened.

"I always feel insecure in Beijing as I don't have a hukou, nor any medical insurance," said Xia Qin, a 23-year-old girl from Liaoning province, who has worked at a shop in Chaoyang district for four years.

"I know it's impossible for me to get a hukou given my educational background, but I really look forward to fair play in the social welfare system, instead of imposing stricter separation between locals and migrants and making us leave."

Yang Tuan, a researcher at the Center of Social Policy of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the hukou system can serve the purpose in controlling the growth of population, but that does not mean people should be treated differently in basic healthcare and educational rights.

She also said the government should not simply control the inflow of migrant population and even drive them away, but rather teach them skills and encourage them to start their own businesses in the countryside.

"Only when the rural areas in China develop and prosper will the population burden of cities be relieved," she said.

(China Daily 09/18/2009 page26)