Henry Paulson: Urbanization key to China's economic development (2)

People's Daily: There is no rule to follow for China because of our huge population. How do you think China should balance the conflict between urbanization and food security; the harmonization between urbanization and environment; the coherence between urbanization and resource support? could you please give us a few example in U.S.?

Paulson: Cities are centers of consumption, and without the proper environmental management, bringing people together can create additional stress on our already scarce resources. With the right regulation and enforcement, dense, compact cities can actually reduce the demand for land, thereby containing urban encroachment into agricultural and open lands.

But one of the keys to getting urbanization right is less obvious: municipal financial reform. Local financing models have encouraged Mayors to use land sales as a means of raising much needed revenues for social services. Yet these practices, in fact, promote urban sprawl often into valuable farmland. This funding model is not sustainable.

Smart urban planning reduces the per-capita cost of infrastructure, enabling investment in high performance systems. This is particularly true when designing transportation, energy, and water systems. Well-designed cities also encourage energy efficiency and reduce the physical footprint of its citizens, in spatial and resource terms. An example of these dynamics can be seen in New York City, a large metropolitan city with an excellent transit system. As I experienced first-hand when I lived in New York City, blocks are manageable for pedestrians to walk, and traffic congestion is managed by a network of large and small streets that provide many options for drivers. Additionally, subways and bike lanes are plentiful. The result is that the residents of New York are responsible for per capita greenhouse gas emissions that are about 75 percent less than the US national average.

I believe China can replicate and develop best practices that bolster the sustainability of its growing cities. To be sure, the economic and environmental impacts for doing so are significant.