Water Utilization and Land Use in the Process of Urbanization & Industrialization: the Case of Guangzhou

Transcription

1 Water Utilization and Land Use in the Process of Urbanization & Industrialization: the Case of Guangzhou Mu Rongping, Chen Rui and Ren Jingluan Institute of Policy and Management, Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing , China, Abstract In order to know the real situation regarding water utilization and land use in the process of urbanization & industrialization in China, the authors first investigated rural-urban interaction in Guangzhou, especially water utilization, land use and environmental protection. Based on field visits to related plant and the departments of the Guangzhou municipal government, and observations concerning water utilization and land use in the process of urbanization and industrialization of Guangzhou, the authors analyse the problems and policy issues related to water utilization, land use and environmental protection, and evaluate the implementation of policies issued by both central government and local government, and try to give some recommendations for resolving the conflicts between economic requirements, the limited resources, and environmental protection. Key words: water utilization, land use, urbanization, industrialization, Guangzhou 261 MTT Agrifood Research Finland

2 Introduction A new development philosophy for China was proposed in the Third Plenary Session of the 16th assembly of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in October 2003 which emphasizes comprehensive, coordinated and sustainable development, promoting the overall development of the economy, society and human beings, advancing reform and opening up society according to the principle of balanced urban and rural development, balanced development among regions, balanced economic and social development, balanced development of man and nature and balanced domestic development and contacts with the outside world. The new development philosophy offered guidance for our research. Guangdong province is one of the most important driving forces of economic growth in China. Guangzhou, the capital city of Guangdong province and the largest city in Southern China, has experienced rapid economic growth, industrialization and urbanization since In the process of urbanization & industrialization, an increasingly serious conflict has emerged between the supply and demand for water and land resources in Guangzhou. Meanwhile, China has accumulated a great deal of experience in solving such kinds of problems. The purpose of this paper is to identify the issues involved in the conflicts mentioned above and to document related experiences. In order to identify the key issues concerning the utilization of water and land resources, some departments of Guangzhou municipality such as the Bureau for Environmental Protection, the Bureau for Water Conservation, the Bureau for Management of Land Resources and Housing, and the Bureau for Urban Planning have been surveyed. Besides, the related departments in the Panyu district of Guangzhou have also been investigated. According to the surveys, the total area of Guangzhou is km 2, including 134,900 hectares of farmland and 74,400 hectares of water area, so that water accounts for 10% of the total area. The main rivers include the Xijiang, Dongjiang, Zengjiang and Liuxi Rivers. In 2003, the total population was about 10 million, including million permanent residents and about 3 million floating population. The GDP of Guangzhou is billion yuan RMB, with a growth rate of 16.51%. The GDP per capita was as high as 48,400 yuan RMB in 2003, about 5.3 times the national average. The proportions of the primary, secondary and tertiary industrial sectors are 3.02%, 43.13% and 53.85%, respectively. The GDP can also be expressed in terms of the value of production per unit of land or per unit of water resources, the figures for Guangzhou being million yuan/km 2 (Land) and yuan/m 3 (Water). The water resource/capita is 19,988 m 3, or 9.6 times the national average. In short, water resources are relatively abundant in Guangzhou, although there is still a shortage of good quality water. The main issues 262

3 emerging from the survey of water utilization and land use in Guangzhou are summarized in Figure 1. The management of water resources as a whole may be divided into four aspects, water source management, water supplies, water consumption, and waste water & sewage treatment. The issues concerning land use could also be classified into four parts. All aspects of both water resources and land use are related to environmental protection. Development and Utilization of Water Resources In order to develop and utilize water resources effectively, China has issued a series of laws and regulations, including the Water Law and the Law for Prevention and Cure of Water Pollution at both the central government and local government level, through either the NPC or its standing committee. The State Council and the Ministries have issued 56 documents related to water management, 29 of which are regulations and 27 policy documents which function in a similar manner to regulations. There are also 18 regulations (administration laws) applying to urban areas and many local statutes. Fig. 1. Key Issues in Water Utilization and Land Use in Guangzhou 263

4 According to the investigation, there are five key issues in the utilization of water resources, namely: Shortage of High Quality Water Although water resources are relatively abundant in Guangzhou, there is still a shortage of water with high quality, mainly on account of rapid industrialization in the city and its surrounding areas and the problem of industrial pollution, especially in the area upstream. The whole Guangzhou drainage basin is to some extent polluted, and the situation is aggravated by breeding of poultry and livestock, industry, shipping, etc. In particular, there is no effective control or treatment of industrial waste water. Besides, the water pollution situation tends to be deteriorated if the size of the urban water bodies continues to decrease. For example, urban creeks are easy to be filled for urban reconstruction, which may result in some serious sewage problems. No Quota for Water Consumption There is no quota for water consumption in Guangzhou so far, and the price of water is lower than that in many other cities. The capacity of the water supply reached 5.52 million m 3 /day in 2003, with household water consumption amounting to 503 litres /per person per day and accounting for 55%-60% of total water use. The water supply can basically meet the current domestic and industrial requirements of living and production. As far as price is concerned, household water costs only 0.9 yuan/ton, that for industry use 1.2 yuan/ton, that for business use 1.85 yuan/ton and that for special industrial use 2.2 yuan/ton in Guangzhou, while household water in Beijing costs 2.8 yuan/ton, plus 0.9 yuan/ton for sewage treatment. Inadequate Water Conservation Infrastructure The waste water and sewage treatment capacity is inadequate at present, so that only 49% can be treated. Inadequate drainage makes the prevention of water logging of the land an arduous task, while most of the infrastructure of drains in the old urban district needs renovation. Furthermore, more money is needed for the construction, maintenance and operation of the water conservation system, but there is no convenient investment channel available to raise enough money to support the construction of this water infrastructure. No integrated Management of Water Resources The segmentation of the management system for water supplies, water use and waste-water treatment has resulted in some problems in managing water resources, while conflicts between the laws and regulations concerning land use and water utilization have also caused some trouble. The Water Conservation Bureau, for example, is usually not responsible for environmental 264

5 protection, while the Bureau for Environmental Protection does not care about water conservation. Regional Government Protectionism Environmental protection needs cooperation and coordination among departments, especially support from different governmental sectors. The regional government, however, often prefers to pursue economic profit by abandoning environmental interests. The Bureau for Environmental Protection then has to compromise in matters of principle and to implement the decision of the regional governor, even if the decision is fundamentally wrong from the point of view of environmental protection. Regional government protectionism may condone pollution, for example, and problems have arisen with the system for charging for waste-water treatment and sewage, in that some enterprises prefer to hand over money in order to be allowed to discharge waste water instead of reducing or stopping these discharges. The Development and Utilization of Land Resources China has issued a number of laws and regulations about land use during the past two decades, at the levels of both central government and local government, such as the Law for Land Management issued by the Standing Committee of the National People s Congress in 1999, Measures for Implementing the Law for Land Management issued by the Province of Guangdong in 2000, the Message on Standards and Policy Limit for Reauthorizing all kinds of Development Zones issued by the State Commission for Development and Reform, the Ministry of Land and Resources, the Ministry of Reconstruction and the Ministry of Commerce on Dec. 30, 2003, and the Statute for Basic Farmland Protection issued by the State Council on Dec. 27, There are five key issues that have profound impact on the utilization of land resources. Lack of Long-term Planning for Land-use First, there is less long-term planning for land use. Because of differences in compliance with planning times, compiling methods, technical criteria and control targets, there are many conflicts between the land-use planning and the planning of urban reconstruction, traffic, town centres and industrial estates. Further more, the tempo of urbanization is faster than that of land-use planning, which results in a severe conflict between supply and demand with regard to land. 265

6 Conflicts in Land Use Secondly, there are direct conflicts in land use at present. On the one hand, there is a contradiction between increasingly high demands for land resources and strict control over land for construction, and on the other hand, the structure of land use in urban areas is not rational, for a large proportion of the urban land is assigned to industry. These conflicts have attracted increasingly more attention from governments during the process of urbanization. The contradiction between the increasing demand for land and strict control over land for construction has become more serious especially since the Message on Standards and Policy Limitation for Reauthorizing all kinds of Development Zones 2 was issued. Decreasing Farmland Thirdly, farmland has decreased remarkably because of the development of hi-tech & economic development zones, and the reconstruction of farmers housing and highways since the 1980s. Although the central government has taken measures to prevent farmland from any further decrease, the farmland is still decreasing. Meanwhile, there emerges many Urban Villages in the process of urbanization that has not only damaged the general urban planning but has also become an obstacle to the development of future urban planning. The Urban Village phenomenon could result in serious social problems and has attracted lots of attention from decision-makers of Guanzhou. Environmental Pollution Fourthly, the increase in urban household garbage, industrial solid waste and other sources of pollution has resulted in large-scale environmental pollution and make the conflicts between economic development and environmental pollution be increasingly prominent. As a relatively advanced city in China, Guangzhou has a responsibility to explore new road for sustainable development. Mismatching of Water and Land Use Many case studies have shown that the mismatching of water and land use has resulted in very serious problems. For example, a regional government may develop an industry with high water consumption without any consid- 2 On 30 Dec (Fagaiwaizi [2003] No. 2343), the State Commission for Development and Reform, the Ministry of Construction, the Ministry of Land and Resources and Ministry of Commerce issued the Message on Standards and Policy Limitation for Reauthorizing all kinds of Development Zones (Guanyu Qingli Zhengdun Xianyou Gelei Kaifaqu de Juti Biaozhun he Zhengce Jiexian de Tongzhi); earlier in 2003, the Office for General affairs of the State Council issued the Message on Reauthorizing all kinds of Development Zones so as to reinforce the Management of Land for Construction (Guanyu Qingli Zhengdun Gelei Kaifaqu Jianshe Yongdi Guanli de Tongzhi) (Guobanfa [2003]No.70 ). 266

7 eration for the capacity of the water supply. Similarly, the pollution characteristics of an industry may not be considered at all when determining its location. The mismatch between land-use planning and the law on water has to a certain extent caused conflicts between urban construction and water conservation. Policy Implications Based on the above investigation and analysis, we recommend the following policy measures to solve problems caused in water utilization and land use. Firstly, it is necessary to set up a comprehensive management department in government such as a management committee for water affairs so as to effectively integrate the regional water management with drainage basin management, and the management ranging from water source management, water supplies, water consumption, and waste water & sewage treatment. Secondly, to transform management system of the environmental protection from horizontal management into vertical management 3 so as to overcome regional protectionism to a certain extent, and to implement the new development philosophy in the process of utilization of water & land resources. Thirdly, it is necessary to establish a national, cross-regional network for monitoring the pollution of rivers and lakes so as to evaluate the pollution situation in time and continuously and to provide necessary information for decision-making. Therefore, it is necessary to define regional responsibilities for environmental protection explicitly. Fourthly, it is necessary to establish a national, cross-regional network for real-time monitoring the land-use situation and the state of land pollution so as to provide necessary information for decision-making and for adjusting policies based on objective facts in time. Fifthly, it is also necessary to improve the enacting and implementation of laws and regulations concerning water management, land use and environmental protection so as to solve problems such as the currently mismatched functions of water utilization and land use, and to eliminate conflicts between various stakeholders including different regions and departments of regional governments as well persons from all kind of works, and to keep balance between economic development and environmental protection and thus ensuring sustainable development in China. 3 The local governors have no right to appoint the director of the department of environmental protection with a vertical management system of environmental protection. 267

8 Sixthly, it is necessary to introduce the market mechanism in management of water resources so as to adjust the demand and supply with respect to water. For example, the measures such as to provide quotas for water supplies and to price water according to its quality and quotas etc. Meanwhile, it is highly encouraged that various social investments join in the construction of water conservation infrastructure, including water supply and disposal system and sewage treatment system, so as to increase the efficiency of management of water resources. Seventhly, it is necessary to promote the construction of central towns and encourage farmers to reside in these towns so as to save the cost for urbanization and increase the living standards of farmers. It is also necessary to promote and encourage the industrial cluster by establishing industry development parks so as to save the cost for industrialization. The concentration of both population and industries could save the cost for sewage treatment to a certain extent. Acknowledgements This study is funded by the SUSDEV-CHINA project of the EU INCO-DEV programme ((ICA4-CT ). The authors also acknowledge Leif Söderlund from MTT, who provides valuable comments and suggestions for revising this paper. Besides, the authors want to give thank to participants at the SUSDEV-CHINA Symposium in Xi an in August 2004, especially their stimulating comments. 268

9 References Guangzhou Municipal Statistics Bureau Guangzhou Statistical Yearbook (Guangzhou tongji Nianjian), China Statistics Press (zhongguo tongji chubanshe), Beijing, China. Publication Committee for Guangzhou Yearbook Guangzhou Yearbook (Guangzhou Nianjian), Guangzhou Yearbook Press (Guangzhou nianjianshe), Guangzhou, China Publication Committee for Guangzhou Yearbook Guangzhou Yearbook (Guangzhou Nianjian), Guangzhou Yearbook Press (Guangzhou nianjianshe), Guangzhou, China The State Commission for Development and Reform, the Ministry of Construction, the Ministry of Land and Resources and Ministry of Commerce: Message on Standards and Policy Limitation for Reauthorizing all kinds of Development Zones (Guanyu Qingli Zhengdun Xianyou Gelei Kaifaqu de Juti Biaozhun he Zhengce Jiexian de Tongzhi) on 30 Dec Fagaiwaizi [2003] No The Office for General affairs of the State Council: The Message on Reauthorizing all kinds of Development Zones so as to reinforce the Management of Land for Construction (Guanyu Qingli Zhengdun Gelei Kaifaqu Jianshe Yongdi Guanli de Tongzhi), Guobanfa [2003] No