{"id":132590,"date":"2019-03-22T09:57:00","date_gmt":"2019-03-22T02:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/smog-city-beijings-battle-for-clean-air\/"},"modified":"2022-12-11T02:54:40","modified_gmt":"2022-12-10T19:54:40","slug":"smog-city-beijings-battle-for-clean-air","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/smog-city-beijings-battle-for-clean-air\/","title":{"rendered":"Smog city: Beijing\u2019s battle for clean air"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n Beijing smog is the poster child for urbanisation gone wrong: an acrid yellow fog invading its streets, shutting down schools, robbing days of light. But it doesn\u2019t just look bad: China\u2019s polluted air is so toxic, it kills 4,400 people a day, according to Berkeley Earth, a California-based climate science analyst. And though there have been a handful of inventive responses to the problem \u2014 see Chinese fashion designer Masha Ma\u2019s Swarovski-studded pollution masks, as modelled at Paris Fashion Week \u2014 suffering in style isn\u2019t quite the proactive solution an economic powerhouse like Beijing so desperately needs. Enter Daan Roosegaarde\u2019s \u201cSmog-Free Project\u201d. Along with his design lab, Studio Roosegaarde, the self-styled visionary is rolling out a series of \u201curban innovations\u201d in the Chinese capital to tackle its poisonous atmosphere on various, localised scales.In the photograph: the \u201csmog-free tower\u201d. Intended for placement in the city\u2019s parks, the tower sucks in pollution particles by sending out positive ions; these particles are then grounded to a negatively charged surface, and clean air is expelled back outside through vents. Critics have been quick, though, to laser in on its limitations: that it runs on electricity; that the air it expels is only 75 percent cleaner; and that the tower can only create a bubble of smog-free air around it.\u00a0 \u201cOf course one small tower won\u2019t solve the problem of a whole city,\u201d Roosegaarde says now. \u201cBut showing that you can make a place 75 percent cleaner \u2014 it\u2019s like a rock in a river that creates ripples. If it can be done locally, then what can be done to make a whole city smog-free?\u201d More:\u00a0This Chinese city is relaxing tax rules on home sales His studio is also proposing a \u201csmog-free bicycle\u201d that sucks in polluted air as it\u2019s pedalled, cleans it, and then blows out better air for the cyclist to breathe as they continue to ride. Roosegaarde is working with Ofo, the Beijing-based, dock-free bicycle sharing company, to distribute these smog-free wheels all over town. \u201cFive years ago, when I would cycle, my Chinese friends would say, \u2018Are you poor? Can you not pay for a taxi?\u2019,\u201d the Dutchman laughs. \u201cNow, within the last year, these Ofo bikes are everywhere. A change in values can happen fast \u2014 and that\u2019s incredibly hopeful. Look at China taking the lead in sustainable investment now. Once, that would have been unimaginable,\u201d he points out. “Of course one small tower won\u2019t solve the problem of a whole city. But showing that you can make a place 75 percent cleaner \u2014 it\u2019s like a rock in a river that creates ripples. If it can be done locally, then what can be done to make a whole city smog-free\u201d Certainly, the Chinese government is starting to take the predicament seriously. The country\u2019s noxious air is broadly the fault of large-scale coal burning in industrial zones; ergo, what Roosegaarde says is true: China is now rolling out the world\u2019s biggest investment in wind and solar. It\u2019s also introducing new car emissions standards and closing coal-fired power plants. But when it comes to so vast a problem, every little helps. Which is why Roosegaarde is still tinkering. The latest iteration of his smog-free tower has evolved to run on solar power, and he insists the tech is scalable, to the size of a building. Perhaps someday, it will be intended for more than a park. \u201cBut I\u2019m not saying I have all the answers,\u201d Roosegaarde says. \u201cThese are small-scale solutions to step by step improve the world today. They\u2019re prototypes of the city of tomorrow.\u201d This article originally appeared as one in a four-part series in Issue No. 149\u00a0of\u00a0PropertyGuru Property Report Magazine
\n
\nSource : property-report.com
\nRead more…Smog city: Beijing\u2019s battle for clean air<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Beijing smog is the poster child for urbanisation gone wrong: an acrid yellow fog invading...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-132590","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-property-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p75ss1-yuy","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":41064,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/smog-be-damned-people-are-still-buying-homes-in-beijing\/","url_meta":{"origin":132590,"position":0},"title":"Smog be damned, people are still buying homes in Beijing","date":"January 18, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\r The post-apocalyptic air quality surely has not suffocated enthusiasm Levels of particulate matter (PM) have exceeded 500 in Beijing. Timski\/Shutterstock Around 8,050 villas were sold in Beijing last year, a sign of confidence in a city whose air quality has literally gone up in smoke. Weeks of pent-up winter\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":41985,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/xishuangbanna-in-a-property-boom-as-beijing-chokes-on-smog\/","url_meta":{"origin":132590,"position":1},"title":"Xishuangbanna in a property boom as Beijing chokes on smog","date":"January 26, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\r Sun Wei, a sale manager with Ping An Real Estate Co., travels frequently between Beijing and Xishuangbanna(\u897f\u96d9\u7248\u7d0d) in southwestern China\u2019s Yunnan province. Her company sells luxury villas, mostly to buyers who hail from China\u2019s northern provinces. Home to southern China\u2019s dai (\u50a3) tribe, Xishuangbanna\u2019s lush tropical forests, palm-lined streets\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":40926,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/beijing-smog-fails-to-dampen-ongoing-appetite-for-luxury-villas-as-record-8050-sold-in-2016\/","url_meta":{"origin":132590,"position":2},"title":"Beijing smog fails to dampen ongoing appetite for luxury villas as record 8,050 sold in 2016","date":"January 17, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\r Beijing\u2019s ongoing serious air problems have failed to dampen its residents ongoing appetite for buying luxury houses in the city, as latest research shows a record 8,050 villas were sold in the capital city last year \u2013 a 119 per cent year on year jump. That amounted to 2.41\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16474,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/chinese-developer-modern-land-finds-green-buildings-more-competitive-in-slow-market\/","url_meta":{"origin":132590,"position":3},"title":"Chinese developer Modern Land finds green buildings more competitive in slow market","date":"June 14, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"\r Founded in 2000, Beijing-based Modern Land is known for installing green technologies in its buildings, such as smog purifiers and noise reduction systems.\r \r Source : South China Morning Post\r Read more...Chinese developer Modern Land finds green buildings more competitive in slow market","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":39783,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/a-sustainable-chinese-city-theres-no-such-thing\/","url_meta":{"origin":132590,"position":4},"title":"A sustainable Chinese city? There\u2019s no such thing","date":"January 6, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\r Mark L. Clifford weighs in on China\u2019s leadership in green building and energy efficiency Shanghai. Image: Patrick Foto\/Shutterstock Last month, Shenzhen beat 80 cities in China and Europe to claim the top prize at The Euro-China Green & Smart City Awards. It\u2019s another proverbial feather on the cap for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":41999,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/no-chinese-capital-outflows-no-problem-just-go-to-cambodia\/","url_meta":{"origin":132590,"position":5},"title":"No Chinese capital outflows? No problem \u2014 just go to Cambodia","date":"January 26, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\r Mainland investors dodge onerous curbs on capital flight The growing Phnom Penh skyline backlit at sunrise. khlungcenter\/Shutterstock Chinese property investors are still finding loopholes to take advantage of the US dollar\u2019s appreciation to the yuan despite Beijing\u2019s clampdown on capital outflows. Yet they don\u2019t even need to go to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132590"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132590"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132590\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}