Lanzhou in China is the most polluted city in the world, the average level of particulate pollution in the air was 10 times the limit set by the World Health Organisation. Lanzhou is rapidly growing and the road traffic is increasing at an alarming rate. This wouldn't be a problem if the strict emission limits in the EU were in force in China, however they are not and most of Lanzhou's public transport system is provided with a poor quality diesel bus fleet. On top of this Lanzhou has a major oil refining centre, numerous textile mills, petrochemical rubber and fertiliser plants that places this city at the front of China's nuclear energy industry. During the day air in the city is warmed and this leads to an effect called urban heat island circulation, which traps the pollutants from the city in a dust dome above the city. The Chinese government haven't decided on solutions to solve the problems caused by the air pollution, unlike Los Angeles which has air pollution problems and is tackling them in many different ways.
Los Angeles has had a long and significant air pollution problem, brought about mainly from industrial emissions. Air pollution is the main factor to the another major concern in LA ... the smog. When the cool sea air meets the warm air from the city it can cause a temperature inversion which means the heavier cold air sinks into the city's basin shaped location. The cold air mingles with the warmer polluted air and forms fog, the high levels of air pollution and the UV radiation from the sun turn the fog into a photochemical smog. This smog does as much lung damage as someone who smokes 12 cigarettes a day. The Los Angeles officials are tackling the pollution problems in several ways, their improving the public transport and giving some of the profits to develop a new "cleaner" rail network. They are also giving Financial incentives, for example to employers who organise "car pooling" (where workers share lifts) and thus reduce number of cars on roads. They are also promoting the use of alternative fuels that are a lot cleaner, and special lanes on freeways for cars with one passenger.
Due to Rapid Urbanisation Los Angeles has a diverse ethnic population, and within the city there are certain "ghetto" areas with large concentrations of Hispanic and black people. These areas are often associated with violence and Riots. In 1965 the residents of one of these "ghetto" areas rioted for 5 days, killing 35 people and causing $40 million of property damage. Again In 1992 a further build up of tension followed accusations of racial harassment and police brutality, which resulted in more Ethnic riots causing 53 deaths and $1 billion worth of damage. In present day LA, there are major concerns about Ethnic riots. There are not many solutions, other than the authorities stamping down hard on rioters, to try and improve the situation.
In all cities experiencing Rapid urbanisation, there will be a sharp increase in the proportion of people living in cities, nearly all MIC cities can cope with this increased Rural- Urban migration however some LIC's urbanise without Industrialising . This produces spontaneous, or shanty, housing which is the most visible and characteristic feature in all LIC environments. These are illegal residential areas that lack adequate access to water and sanitation, have no security of tenure, and suffer poor structural quality of housing and insufficient living area. The government have solutions to provide better living conditions for the urban poor, and remove the eye sore that is the slums. They can provide government housing, built especially to provide affordable housing for the urban poor. They can also use the PPP platform which compensates for both the need of the slum dwellers and the private sectors in a new and unique way. The PPP platform was first implemented in Mumbai in 2004 and provided new housing for Dharavi's 600'000 residents.
In conclusion therefore we can see that quite a few problems exist for rapidly urbanising cities, but with the right solutions they can be controlled and put right.
