Head For The Hills! Shanghai Is Sinking!
The reports are in: Shanghai residents should roll up their pant legs and grab a pair of stilts while they still can. Shanghai is (ironically) on the way down while the financial capital of China is eyeing its greatest rise in more than half a century.
Due to the topography of Shanghai’s marshy base, the dense metropolis is having a harder time than ever to manage the perilous situation on the ground—or rather, underground.
Groundwater wells are commonly used in Shanghai and dozens of other cities across China as a resource for potable water. With chronic bouts of dryness and a rapidly spreading arid zone, ground water seemed the only dependable short-term fix for water shortages. Now the ill-advised practice is taking noticeable tolls.
The effects of drainage are perhaps most evident in Shanghai, one of the most prolific cities in China. And while developers have been eager to build with an almost reckless zeal, the more historic sites that form the cultural core of old Shanghai are most at risk. The land around the HuangPu River, known commonly as The Bund, stands even with the river even before peak water levels of the summertime.
Little do tourists and residents realize, but when they stroll along the sight-seeing promenade erected during the 1990s, they’re actually standing on the city’s best flood defense strategy! The promenade serves two purposes: to allow visitors a chance to snap the perfect shot of Shanghai’s ever-changing skyline, but more importantly it keeps the water of the HaungPu River at bay and off the 8-lane road that lies just a few meters away.
Nobody is recommending a resurgence of the ill-fated aquacar fad of the 1950s; but sooner than we know, the use of amphibious vehicles could be common practice in Shanghai. It’s difficult to determine just how much the city has sunk in the last 100 years or so; official measurements weren’t taken until the 1920s when sinking first became noticeable. All the same, we can take a guess as to what the future holds in store. According to official projections, the water levels of the HuangPu could rise up to 27 inches by 2050.
“What can we do to stop it?” one resident wonders. For starters, the city has made the switch to river water to meet its clean water needs. This should relieve the strain put on the empty wells underneath China’s financial capital. In addition, engineers have been working to replenish the ground wells. They aim to pump in 5.2 billion gallons per year in an effort to slow the sinking and save vulnerable riverfront establishments.
Even with the impressive catalog of engineering marvels Shanghai has unveiled in recent years, this problem may prove too daunting. With an urban population of more than 13 million people, Shanghai is one of the world’s most densely populated cities. And after decades of overworking the instable ground below, who knows how much longer Shanghai can stay afloat?
It’s a problem that demands our attention. So next time you stroll down the street, keeping your head held high in typical Shanghai fashion, it may be more out of necessity than that classic sense of Shanghai pride.
Rory Keane is an American-born teacher and writer who has logged nearly two years in China, and is working on another year-long stint in the Middle Kingdom. He writes about travel, sociopolitical issues, health, entertainment, and culture, among other topics.
