India's two leading cities are at the bottom of an environmental ranking due out on Thursday that suggests water and air quality will increasingly become a challenge for the development of Mumbai and New Delhi.
The report – undertaken by MasterCard but based on a compilation of scientific data – puts China's leading cities above their Indian counterparts, even though Hong Kong and Beijing in particular have come under intense criticism over air quality in the run-up to this year's Olympic Games.
"The fact that China is now under a constant magnifying glass does not mean we should ignore other places and some objective facts," said Yuwa Hedrick-Wong, economic adviser to MasterCard and author of the report. "India really has to move fast to prevent slipping down any further."
Over the past five years, China has invested about 15 times more than India in transport, sewage and other infrastructure that contribute to improving living standards in urban centres, according to Mr Yuwa.
Additionally, India's democratic system and policy-making process make it harder to implement reform, while "China can clearly mobilise".
The study ranked 21 leading cities in Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa. Melbourne led the ranking ahead of Johannesburg and Singapore. Among Chinese cities, the worst performer was Shenzhen, the industrial hub next to Hong Kong, which itself was the best-ranked Chinese city. ©ft
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
0 comments:
Post a Comment