Problem overview:

     Awareness and visions: The Shanghai case represents successful implementation of one of the major concepts that an extended urban region should have an environmental strategy embedded in physical and developmental planning processes.

     Framework for coordination: Transfer of environmental information or environmental management experiences from one Shanghai municipal to other jurisdictions and also the central government requires a proper framework for coordination.

     Meeting information requirements: There has been continuous monitoring and assessment of various indices of environment by Shanghai municipal in order to be used for policy making.

Background:

      Urban development within a regional and national framework

      As part of the modalities for the successful implementation of the environmental strategy, the Shanghai Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau (SEPB) was established in 1979 to undertake most of the priority activities related to such a strategy. It has powers to produce an urban environmental protection plan. But, more important, it appears to have powers to set acceptable pollution levels, and definitely has powers to monitor and enforce these standards. Its mandate laudably' includes licensing of pollution discharge, fee collection for pollution discharge, and EIA. It also has powers to assist in decision making in regard to identification and implementation of key subprojects in Shanghai related to the environment. Thus its mandate is one that closely connects the monitoring and assessment function.

      Within the SEPB, the Shanghai Environmental Monitoring Centre was operational in 1985. The Centre focuses on continuous or frequent monitoring of key emissions, plus data processing and analysis of raw data obtained from monitoring sites. The Centre has a key role in guiding other municipal departments, such as industry, agriculture, water conservancy, and hundreds of economic enterprises, in their monitoring activities. This is important in addressing potential problems of different sectoral agencies pursuing monitoring and assessment activities which are often peripheral to the overall environmental strategy (and related environmental priorities) for the spatial unit in question. It appears that the Shanghai Environmental Monitoring Centre enjoys a close relationship with the Institute of Pollution Discharge Fee Collection (also within the SEPB) which has a mandate for collecting pollution fees.

      Also of interest and merit, is the existence of the Shanghai Coordinating Meeting on Urban Comprehensive Environment (UECH) which addresses the need to co-ordinate environmental assessment and action in the core municipality with nearby suburban and exurbia jurisdictions. As noted above, coordination of environmental assessment among local governments in an extended urban area is essential if meaningful improvements are to be realized. In many countries the majority of urbanization is occurring outside the core municipality.

      Yet another important feature in the Shanghai case study is the link to the national government. Assessment information is forwarded to the central government through its National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA). In all, 37 cities in China do this providing the basis for learning and also healthy competition to improve urban environments in China. The NEPA appears to be playing a positive role in setting minimum national standards for many pollutants, while still providing cities, such as Shanghai, with the latitude to develop their own systems and promote higher standards. Shanghai appears to be a unique case in the ESCAP region (outside a few of the most economically developed nations) in that it seems to have the human, technical, and financial resources to undertake effective assessment and implementation to protect and improve its urban environment. In lesser-developed Chinese urban regions, it is highly probable that the NEPA has to play a much stronger role as facilitator and supporter in establishing and operating monitoring /assessment implementation systems.

      The Shanghai situation reflects the general situation in Asian and Pacific cities, with emphasis being placed on surface water, ambient air and noise. Soil, produce, and radioactivity are important areas for monitoring activity in Shanghai that are, unfortunately, overlooked in many Asian and Pacific cities. In cities that have a long history of heavy industry, such as Shanghai, monitoring of soil conditions, particularly when urban redevelopment occurs, is especially important. In addition, "irregular" monitoring occurs in response to specific situations or issues. In the contemporary context, characterised by rapid change, this ability' to rapidly establish new monitoring and assessment functions is particularly important. For such a complex environmental needs, of particular interest is the mix of instruments that are being deployed to achieve the desired end state, ranging from implementation of programmes, e.g. waste water systems, to improving the effectiveness of guidance mechanisms such as land use planning. Identification of these initiatives can be partially attributed to the monitoring of environmental conditions in Shanghai in the context of an urban environmental strategy. In this connection, the vast amount of data is being collected. For example, according to the case study, in 1995, 583,000 pieces of monitoring data were obtained related to air, water, noise, biological, and radioactive pollutants; 460,000 pieces of data were obtained related to pollution sources.

See also the development of Pudong

Lessons Learned

      The experiences of the extended Shanghai urban region provide several important lessons to the national and local levels such as the following:

      1.At the more macro assessment level, Shanghai has attempted to estimate the total costs of environmental degradation. Currently, approximately 2% of potential GDP is lost due to environmental degradation.

      2.The identification of 28 single indices and 13 sub-indices of urban conditions, which are then compared with other Chinese and international cities, are useful for bench marking, public education and awareness, and the setting of priorities. Such indices enable city authorities to ascertain what is possible based on the achievements of analogous urban regions.

      3.An important characteristic of the Shanghai case, is the linking of environmental pollutants to economic growth. These environment - economic indicators relate pollution (in the "three wastes" area: waste water, gas, and residue) to industrial output. To the extent that pollution can be reduced relative to industrial production, progress is being made. This is an more accurate indicator than ones which monitor increases in pollutants without taking into accounting increased industrial output; or, in other contexts, increases in population, automobiles, etc.

      4.Like many Asian and Pacific cities, "unnecessary transportation" is generated by inappropriate land uses. The fact that "irrational location of productivity" is included in environmental assessment is most interesting; it represents a link between the land use planning process and more traditional environmental assessment I monitoring which traditionally focuses on point source pollutants, etc., rather than flows. Similarly, the monitoring of investment in urban infrastructure creates a link between urban investment and the environment. In the future, if urban infrastructure investment were disaggregated into categories of environmental, transportation, and service infrastructure (other than environmental), this monitoring could be even more useful.

      5.Monitoring of microclimates in the urban areas is also a useful exercise. Often policy makers and citizens are unaware of the intensity of this effect, which, according to the case study, can reach 6 degrees in Shanghai. This appears high, but is "order of magnitude" comparable with other Asian and Pacific cities, for example, Bangkok appear to have a normal "heat island" effect in the order of 3 degrees. Heat island effects have considerable economic impact related to energy costs (primarily associated with air conditioning of building and automobiles) thus assessing such impacts and taking measures to control them can be important in Asian and Pacific urban areas.

      In summary, the Shanghai case study exhibits many of the best characteristics of urban region environmental monitoring and assessment and deserves careful attention from other extended urban regions in the ESCAP region.