Fostering an Eco-Partner

 

Greensburg photo courtesy of Mike Theiss at UltimateChase.com. Remnants of Han Wang, with earthquake-scarred mountains in the background.

As Greensburg gains notoriety both within and outside the U.S., a key question is whether its rebuilding experience can be exported to help other disaster-stricken communities around the world. As a Masters student at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, my thesis will try to answer this question. My colleague, Minghua Li, and I are working with Beijing Normal University to develop a strategic rebuilding plan for Han Wang, a town that was completely destroyed by a 7.9 earthquake in China last May. This town is located within the jurisdiction of Mianzhu, Greensburg’s eco-partner in China.

China has experienced explosive growth over the last 30 years at a tremendous cost to the environment. According to the World Bank, 16 of the 20 most polluted cities in the world are in China. Water pollution, air pollution, deforestation and desertification, and industrial accidents cost the Chinese economy between 8-13% of its GDP each year.

When we traveled to China, we saw the scars of rapid, poorly planned development. The roads in small towns resemble superhighways in waiting, although traffic remains light at all hours of the day. The sprawl of new apartment buildings has spread with little consideration for green space. Progress is measured by how closely each town can resemble the boom of Beijing or Shanghai, and not by how well the town’s layout fits its local economy, cultural history, and natural surroundings.

Like Greensburg, Han Wang’s devastation is an opportunity to redesign the community for the 21^st century and turn it into a model town that fits China’s context. The local government is working with a completely blank slate, moving the new town two kilometers away from the ruins of the original community. It is also scrambling to attract new investment. The town’s largest employer, a major electrical equipment manufacturer, decided its damaged factories were not worth salvaging. Most of Han Wang’s residents now live in refugee camps, waiting for someone to rebuild their apartments, and for jobs to return to their community. Several Chinese non-profits are already working on social services, community organizing, and rebuilding in the area, but they have not coordinated around a common strategy. A commitment to sustainability could galvanize the community, attract resources, and speed up recovery.

Minghua and I will be traveling to Greensburg to witness the progress the town has made, and find ideas that can be implemented to help rebuild Greensburg’s sister city in China.