Breathing Not Allowed

My cousin Joanne is CEO of the Clean Air Network (CAN) in Hong Kong, an independent NGO that encourages the public to speak out about the health impacts of air pollution. She sent me CAN video above via Facebook the other day. It doesn’t pull its punches and made me feel asthmatic even just watching it!

I blogged last week about the idyllic fake English town, Thames Town, being built outside Shanghai to recreate for the aspiring Chinese middle classes the loveliness of an English market town. The purpose seems to be to escape from “loud and dirty Shanghai” to this fantasy of an English way of life. The clean air issues for the congested island of Hong Kong are no doubt repeated in the megacity that is Shanghai, with its population of over 8 million people. In fact, clean air is a vital issue for all cities around the world, not just in China. It seems to me that the answer to the hustle and bustle and dirt of Asian cities is not escape to an idealised suburban sprawl (which actually adds to the problem by adding more cars and concrete to the setting) but to address the noise, congestion and dirt by implementing sustainable policies.

Here in the UK, the hot topics of the century (pun intended!) are climate change and sustainable communities. There is a huge public drive towards clean energy, recycling, minimising our carbon footprint and livable neighbourhoods and cities. We aspire towards walkable environments, pavement cafes (weather permitting!), neighbourliness and community, safety and good health for all - places that people want to live in and can thrive in. Sure, there’s a long way to go in many parts of the country but the journey has started and even dirty old London has electric buses, electric cars and campaigns to encourage more bicycling and walking; recycling schemes; windmills on top of some buildings; green roofs and more.

So for Hong Kong, Shanghai and any other city in the world whether it’s London, New York or my hometown of Kuala Lumpur, I hope very much that sustainability is or will become part of the DNA of their evolution. With people like my cousin Joanne (whom I’m very proud of, by the way) taking a lead in one such factor for sustainability in a major Asian city - and I am sure there are many other passionate advocates for livable cities around the world - I am optimistic for the future.