Beijing’s heaviest rainstorm in 61 years killed 77 people and many are criticizing Beijing’s underdeveloped drainage network and its inability to deal with severe rainstorms.
Despite talk of over-investment in infrastructure and China’s propensity to build “bridges to nowhere” it is evident that Chinese aboveground infrastructure has benefited at the cost of underground infrastructure, namely drainage, subway and social housing, according to Bank of America’s Ting Lu.
Lu writes that there is a huge disparity between “profitable and visible infrastructures” (aboveground infrastructure) and infrastructure which is “good for social welfare and long-term economic health” but less profitable in the short-term (underground infrastructure).
Lu explains that part of the under-investment problem is because of the way the Chinese government and public finance is structured.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/beijing-floods-economics-of-drainage-2012-7#ixzz2272rQTDt
