China's unhealthy and unhappy car culture

• Source: The Global Times
• [09:13 May 15 2009]
• Comments

By Lisa Fredsti

Illustration: Liu Rui

In February of this year, China became the global leader in private car purchases, yet another indication of its emergence as a world economic power. For many Chinese people, owning a car has become a symbol of success and of personal freedom. I would never argue that private cars don’t provide a measure of convenience and control over one’s daily life. But as a person born in the cradle of car culture, in Southern California, who has owned a car for most of her life, I’ve come to the conclusion that dependence on automobiles is nothing to celebrate – especially in our cities.

Let’s start with the basics: traffic. Take Beijing as an example. Much of Beijing was built before the massive explosion of private car ownership. The infrastructure is simply not designed to carry as many cars as are present today. Anyone who has spent any amount of time in Beijing – or in most major Chinese cities – can comment on the horrible traffic jams that have made getting around a stressful, time-wasting chore.

Certainly the pollution cars create is a serious issue – in Shanghai, for example, some 80% of urban air pollution comes from car exhaust. The impact this has on public health is severe and profound.

But I’d like to address a more fundamental truth: When cities are built to accommodate cars, they are no longer designed to accommodate people.

Coming to Beijing for the Olympics was a revelation. I went with a friend who had visited the city a few years before. We were both amazed by the difference the new subway lines made, and even more, by the impact of removing half of the city’s privately owned cars every day.