U.N. 's Goals in China

Objective 7: "Enhance planning and management of the urbanisation process, taking into account environmental and human development considerations"

The UN will advocate for the need for multisectoral urban planning with due regard to newly emerging issues such as the deteriorating environment for human settlement and urban poverty.

From 1980 to 1996, the level of urbanisation in China increased from around 19 percent to 30 percent; the number of cities rose from 223 to 666, and the number of towns soared from 3,521 to 17,770 (to date, estimated at around 20,000). It is expected that urbanisation in China will reach 45 percent by 2010. With an estimated 200 million more people expected in the urban areas in the next ten years, the Government will need to invest considerable resources for urban public utilities, infrastructure and services including water supply, energy, housing, roads and bridges. This will be a huge challenge, since most cities already face difficulties in delivering adequate services. Around 400 among 600 cities nationwide are classified as water short, with 60 being critically so. Urban inhabitants are also seeing their environment deteriorate rapidly as traditional public health problems such as industrial and vehicle-generated pollution couple with new problems such as the depletion and contamination of precious water resources and the inadequate management of wastewater and solid waste. Furthermore, since 1990, complaints on housing facilities and infrastructure quality have been increasing at a considerable rate. Increasing casualties from collapses of housing, bridges and embankments have prompted the Government to pay heightened attention to quality issues.

An emerging problem is poverty. Although once entirely a rural issue, there has been a marked rise in urban poverty since the mid-1990s. Many urban areas and municipalities have yet to deal with a growing "underclass" and to provide services to meet the needs of the urban poor.

Multidisciplinary approach to urbanisation - The UN system will advocate for the need of multisectoral urban planning that will include social development departments, academia, businesses and communities. It will also support the Government’s strategy for Small Town Development and the Housing Reform. Assistance to develop new technologies for housing construction based on traditional practices and new concepts for improved management of sanitation are other areas of possible UN interventions.