美《赫芬顿邮报》：发展过快的中国成强震受害者

美《赫芬顿邮报》：发展过快的中国成强震受害者

　　对于曾经经历过强烈地震的人，例如经历过加州地震的我，对中国四川的第一想法是同情和沉痛。你的世界本来是完整的，突然间，晴天霹雳，全碎了。经过几分钟完全的存在恐惧（existential terror），所有的安全感和稳定感都消失了。没有文明的正常缓冲，你与残酷的现实面对面。

　　在1994年加州北岭（Northridge）6.7级的地震中，大约70人死亡，当中很可能有一半是死于心脏病发。四川7.8级的地震要严重得多，已经确认1.5万人死亡；仍然有2.5万人在瓦砾中下落不明。

　　到目前为止，加州地震的损失要小得多，从大体上来讲，是因为越来越严格的建筑条例已经得到遵守，而且已经执行多年了。在四川省，广泛的损害无疑不仅仅是因为地震以及砖楼的楼龄，还因为新建筑质量低劣。这些新建筑是在中国过去二十年快速发展时期建立起来的。学校的情况似乎尤其如此。

　　在处理四川地震时，中国当局比以往处理自然或人为灾害时要开放得多。因此我们可能逐渐了解实情。但常去中国的人不禁思考，史上增长最快的经济步伐和建造得太快以致于无法经受时间和自然考验的建筑之间是否有很强的联系。

　　现代中国教父邓小平曾经在深圳称赞那里的精神为其他地区树立榜样。他热情地称赞：他们的口号是“时间就是金钱，效率就是生命”，一天建一层楼，两周左右就建成一栋楼。

　　过去那些年，深圳建设的速度十分快，2001年哈佛设计学院城市项目用“深圳速度”这个短语来表达这种惊人的速度。他们罗列的创纪录设计速度包括：5 个设计师×1晚＋2台电脑＝300套单身公寓的开发；1个建筑师×3晚＝7层无电梯公寓；1个建筑师×7日＝30层混凝土住宅楼。

　　我们都知道中国奇迹的反面是污染和不平等。如今，似乎还得加上一点：快速建造的、有缺陷的建筑无法承受地质摇晃。中国的地震条例从字面上来讲可达加州标准，但和制造玩具、宠物食品和药品一样，常常有人抄近路。希望这次地震可以带来一些反思，发展的速度是不是应该考虑慢下来以保证足够的安全。（作者 Nathan Gardels）（作者 中国地震：发展过快的受害者？）

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China's Earthquake Casualties: Victims of Too-Rapid Growth?

Nathan Gardels Thu May 15, 12:51 PM ET

http://news.yahoo.com/s/huffpost/20080515/cm_huffpost/101800;_ylt=AurjIpS6uJeen.nWpniN9vv9wxIF

To anyone who has lived through a strong earthquake, as I have here in California, the first thought that goes out to the Chinese in Sichuan province is one of great sympathy and sorrow. One moment your world is intact, and then, out of the blue, everything is in pieces. After a few minutes of complete existential terror all sense of security and stability evaporates. Without any of the normal buffers of civilization, you are face to face with brutal nature.

For at least a year after the 6.7 Northridge quake in 1994 -- lasting only a few seconds, it sounded and felt like a 747 landed in our hallway -- my wife and I made our two young children sleep in our room instead of in their own rooms at the other end of the house. For long after, a truck rumbling by on the street, or a rattling window, was enough to stir fear down to our bones.

In the 1994 California quake -- of far lesser magnitude than the 7.8 Chinese quake but still quite serious -- about 70 people died, probably half from heart attacks. In Sichuan province, 15,000 have so far been confirmed dead; 25,000 are still missing in the rubble.

California's quakes have caused less damage -- so far -- because, by and large, increasingly strict building codes have been adhered too and enforced over the years. In the case of Sichuan province, the extensive damage is no doubt due not only to the magnitude of the quake and the age of many buildings built of brick, but to the shoddy quality of the newer structures built during the rapid development China has experienced over the last 20 years. This seems to have particularly been the case with the schools.

Since the Chinese authorities seems to be practicing more glasnost with respect to the Sichuan quake than any previous natural or manmade disaster, we'll probably know the facts down the road a bit. But anyone who goes regularly to China can't but wonder whether there is a very strong link between the quickest pace of economic growth in history and buildings which go up too fast to stand the test of time and nature.

The New York Times reports this morning (May 15) that local residents of Dujiangyan, in the heart of the quake zone, are angrily calling for an investigation into why government buildings
remained standing while schools didn't. One man told the NYTs that two additional stories had been added to the Xinjian school even though it had failed a safety inspection two years ago.

Speaking about the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone near Hong Kong, which went in one decade from a fishing village of 30,000 people to a metropolis of 3.5 million, Deng Xiaoping, godfather of modern China, once praised the spirit of the place as an example for others: "Their slogan," he enthused, " is 'time is money, efficiency is livelihood.' In buildings undergoing construction, one floor is finished every day and the entire building is completed within a couple of weeks or so."

The pace of building has been so rapid over the years in Shenzhen that the Harvard Design School Project on the city in 2001 coined the phrase "Shenzhen Speed(c)" to signify the stunning pace of throwing up structures. The record design speeds they listed include: 5 designers x 1 night + 2 computers=300 unit single-family housing development; 1 architect x 3 nights = 7 story walk-up apartment; 1 architect x 7 days = 30 story concrete residential high rise.

Of course, Shenzen is a long way from Sichuan provine where the earthquake is.

We all know that pollution and inequality are downsides to the truly remarkable Chinese miracle. To them we must now add, it appears, faulty structures that, for all the speed in which they are constructed, are no match for nature's jolts when geologic time strikes. China's earthquake codes -- on the books -- are said to be up to California standards but are often circumvented in the same way corners are cut making toys, pet food and drugs. Hopefully, this quake will induce some reflections about whether the race to development ought to slow down enough to be safe.