Advanced Search

The story appears on

Page C1

September 16, 2013

GET this page in PDF

Free for subscribers

View shopping cart

Related News

Home » District » Songjiang

Public help sought in problem-solving

By Tan Weiyun | September 16, 2013, Monday | Print Edition

I have a question for Songjiang.” That’s the catchphrase for a district-wide campaign to solicit the opinions of more than 2 million residents and migrant workers on ways to improve life in Songjiang. District officials said about thousands of  people have responded since the effort began in March.

The public feedback is collated into 10 categories, ranging from future industrial development, tourism strategy, job opportunities, urban transport and environmental protection.

How come there aren’t enough job opportunities for young people in the district?

“Songjiang has all the hardware for a big, mature residential area for good living, but how do we attract young people to work here?” asks Pan Xiaolei, who lives in Songjiang New City but works in the Hongkou District in downtown Shanghai. “It is still a big challenge for the district.”

Every day, Pan, 28, gets up at 6am and takes the Metro, travelling from the city’s southwest to its northern tip. Twenty-three stations and about 90 minutes later, he arrives at work.

According to China’s latest national census, Songjiang New City has a population of almost 700,000, up 170 percent from 10 years ago. That compares with initial estimated urban capacity of 600,000 by 2020, when the project was started in 2001.

Every morning at the Songjiang New City Metro stop, more than 7,000 young white collars elbow their way onto trains to get to downtown work sites, and then fight their way back home every evening.

Bridging the gap

“It’s kind of a disconnect between industrialization and urbanization,” the Songjiang China Democratic National Construction Association says. “It splits working and living in Songjiang. The government should rethink its industrial policies to attract more high-tech, low-pollution enterprises and retain talented young people to both live and work in Songjiang.”

How can Songjiang cope with a population of 2 million people?

During the past 10 years, the district’s population has increased by 940,000, with a growth rate of 147 percent that ranks it highest among all the districts in Shanghai.

It is still growing by 100,000 people a year, with three migrants for every one local resident, according to the local commission of population and family planning.

The increasing population puts stress on the health system, social security, education and traffic.

“There is only one bus line near my neighborhood, and the interval between buses is so long that I frequently have to call taxis,” said Li Jun, who chose an apartment in Songjiang because of lower rents in the district. “It seems now that moving here wasn’t such a good bargain after all.”

Songjiang has been trying to address its transport bottlenecks. The bus line network now covers about 95 percent of the district, with 29 new routes and 311 kilometers added to the system last year.

“There are always some places that we cannot cover, but the government is working hard to extend more lines and rearrange the routes,” said Feng Shuihuo, the director of Songjiang’s traffic administrative department.

The rapidly rising population also poses a big threat to education and medical systems.

Xinqiao Primary School has expanded to 31 classrooms. Student numbers per class have swelled to more than 50 from 45.

“We’ve got no more space,” the school chief said. “We could build a new school, but where are the teachers?”

The medical system is equally stretched, with only two hospital beds available for every 1,000 people.

Songjiang has accelerated construction of community health centers to try to ease the pressure.

“However, residents still prefer to go to big hospitals because they think they get better treatment there,” said an official at the local health bureau. “That means a lot of resources are being wasted on community centers, with no relief for hospitals. These are all problems we need to solve, and the clock is ticking.”

 

Songjiang


 

Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.

沪公网安备 31010602000204号

Email this to your friend