THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENT FOR BAKERSFIELDS FUTURE

For a place like Bakersfield to be transformed, one has to be sure that we as citizens know that our cities plan is “on track.” This implies that the single common thing we all share is our mobility together. It would include the future building and maintenance of pedestrian and bikeways, roadways, railways and airways.

When a chance arrives to seriously consider the future expansion of any one of these ways of getting around, we must take full advantage of the opportunity. This opportunity arrives for consideration on the 14th November 2001. The California High Speed Rail Authority’s Public Board Meeting will be held at the Kern County Superintendent of Schools Board Room, 1300 17th Street, Room 1A

One hopes that true citizen interest in this event will reveal who in the community is producing this opportunity. Our city doesn’t come with operating instructions. It is always in process of enhancing our mobility. Thus this High Speed Ground Transportation (HSGT) proposed future is as important as the recent east west freeway considerations through our community.

This opportunity to get rapidly up and down California via HSGT is probably the single most important decision to be made for the next hundred years. It’s a whole new game – everything is in play. Who is going to be on the team?

BY Graham Kaye-Eddie – Master Urban Designer.

Makabusi Inc. – Bakersfield – California

Email – makabusi@pacbell.net

Hot plans for Beijing megalopolis

Author: (LIU JIE)     The initiative of constructing China's first "world city" centred on Beijing has generated heated discussion among experts and officials.

Wu Liangyong, the key sponsor of the Large Beijing Region scheme, said the initiative was to remove the administrative divisions in the region and enhance overall strength.

According to the general plan for the Large Beijing Region, recently approved by the Ministry of Construction, the region will cover the cities of Beijing, Tianjin, Tangshan and Baoding, as well as surrounding areas.

The total area of the zone will be 70,000 square kilometres and include 40 million people.

The region, also called the Bohai Bay Area, will also include a group of small and medium-sized cities in North China's Hebei Province, such as Shijiazhuang, Chengde, Zhangjiakou, Qinhuangdao and Cangzhou.

"Each boasts its own geographic, environmental, natural, economic and cultural advantages," Wu said.

Sources from the design group said Beijing was selected to be the base of the intellectual economy, as well as for management and international exchanges.

Tianjin will be the base of the manufacturing, oil and chemical industries, and be a key logistics centre.

In accordance with the varying natural conditions, the northern part of the Large Beijing Region will be used for agriculture and animal husbandry, while the southern part will be used for industry.

To resolve communication problems, experts proposed building a 50-kilometre-long magnetic levitation rail circle line to link Beijing, Tianjin and Tangshan, which will reduce travelling time between the three cities to about 30 minutes.

The construction of roads, expressways and short-distance railways will be development priorities.

Wu said Beijing's limited resources will be unable to meet the increasing demands of development by itself.

"Closed development will further widen the social and economic gaps between Beijing and its neighbouring small and medium-sized cities," Wu said.

He listed a series of benefits by developing the region together, including better residential conditions for urban residents, joint environmental protection and land development, and greater capital support and employment opportunities.

However, some experts queried the feasibility of the ambitious plan.

An official from the Ministry of Construction, who refused to be identified, told Business Weekly, a prerequisite for the scheme should be the removal of the administrative divisions in the area, considering the current residential registration system (or "hukou" system).

Removing administrative division would result in lifting restrictions on residential registration.

According to the current hukou system, Chinese residents are not allowed to migrate freely within China.

After the administrative divisions are broken, a person, for instance, living in Hebei could move to Beijing for employment.

"If the residential restrictions are broken, more people are likely to swarm into Beijing," he said. "There is a lack of related laws and rules to prevent population imbalances."

The general scheme requires the co-operation of governments at all levels in the region, which should be supported by policies or regulations from the central government.

A researcher from the Macroeconomy Research Institute affiliated to the State Development Planning Commission said due to the industrial changes highly-trained professionals are likely to flow into large cities such as Beijing and Tianjin, and surplus labour will migrate to other areas.

This might further widen the socio-economic gap between cities.

The designers are seeking to redistribute resources in the region to enhance the competitiveness of the entire area.

(extract) ".. experts proposed building a 50-kilometre-long magnetic levitation rail circle line to link Beijing, Tianjin and Tangshan, which will reduce travelling time between the three cities to about 30 minutes."

http://www1.chinadaily.com.cn/bw/2001-11-06/42320.html

A Tale of 2 Engines: How Hybrid Cars Tame Emissions

Hybrid electric vehicles are gasoline-burning cars that also use electric motors to move the wheels.

The Janus face of architectural terrorism: Minoru Yamasaki,

Eric Darton, author of a book on the World Trade Center, compares the architect who built it and the terrorist who destroyed it, and finds a chilling affinity between them.

Think out-of-the-box

JWR contributor Lawrence Kudlow is chief economist for CNBC. He is the author of American Abundance: The New Economic & Moral Prosperity. Send your comments about his column by clicking here.

T O D A Y I N H I S T O R Y

* On this day in 1731, Benjamin Franklin opens the first American library

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