#精品长文创作季#
In recent years, there have been more and more friends going abroad, and some Chinese and Western development choices have attracted the attention of many netizens, such as the green belt seems to be China's unique greening method. As we all know, Europe has always been known worldwide for its emphasis on greenery. And European countries like Ireland and the United Kingdom have the highest greening rates in the world.
Since European countries are paying so much attention to greening efforts, why don't they develop green belts. Does the green belt have any special role in China?
1. China's green belt, which plays a huge role
Historical records record that the mainland had the habit of planting trees on both sides of the road as early as the Qin Shi Huang period. For example, the famous "Qin Dynasty Expressway" Qin Straight Road has a rule of planting a tree every seven meters. However, compared with today's green belt, the ancients' "interval planting method" is not worth mentioning.
According to the "Urban Road Greening Design Standards" promulgated by the state, whether it is a highway far away from the city, or a traffic island in the urban area, parking lots and other transportation facilities, greening projects must be set up in accordance with laws and regulations.
For example, in the regulations on the greening of sidewalks and non-motorized lanes, the state clearly stipulates that the vertical projection area of green space must account for more than 80% of the road area.
It is important to know that the vast majority of road projects involve land acquisition, and if the expropriation is residential land, then the cost of land acquisition is likely to exceed 10,000 yuan. In that case, why do we have to spend so much land to build a green belt?
First, beautify the environment. Unlike the ancient way of greening roads based on tree planting, the green belt of many cities today has become a "large horticultural display area". From a variety of ornamental flowers to a peculiar garden landscape, they are all "frequent visitors" of green belts all over the country.
These eye-catching green belts can not only bring sensory enjoyment to urban residents, but also provide "plus points" for the urban real estate economy. You find that no, the higher the housing prices, the more beautiful the design of the green belt, which is the result of the intentional action of the city managers.
Second, stimulate investment. For friends who are not in the garden industry, it seems that the green belt with only some "broken plants" is difficult to compare with infrastructure projects such as building bridges and roads. However, if you are "lucky" to hit the green belt, you will find a small sapling with a diameter of only a few centimeters, which will make your traffic insurance "off the table".
The price of saplings on the Internet is not expensive, why does the municipal department want the owner to lose so much money? This is not an official slander, the price of the saplings you see only accounts for a small part of the investment in the green belt, and the labor cost, material cost and maintenance cost are the reasons why the green belt is valuable. After the state suspended infrastructure investment in 12 provinces and cities, the investment role of green belts has become more prominent.
As for the role of separating traffic and relieving the visual fatigue of car owners, they are all inconsequential "side effects" of the green belt.
2. Special "European Green Belt"
As we all know, European countries are a very big geographical concept. Economically backward Russia, Ukraine and other countries also belong to European countries, but they obviously cannot reflect the development level of developed regions in Europe.
According to public information, the urbanization rate in Britain was already over 50% as early as 1851, and it is clear that Britain had enough time to build greenery around road projects, but they did not do so.
Friends who have watched the street videos of British netizens can easily find that not only does Britain not build green belts in urban roads, but even empty highways rarely have the same green belts as the mainland.
According to statistics, the greening rate in London, the capital of the United Kingdom, is more than 60 percent. And even the most prosperous neighborhood in the area of Oxford has a greening rate of no less than 50%. The reason why the British can achieve such a high greening rate without building a green belt is mainly due to two greening projects: "green parks" and "green buildings".
First of all, the concentration of green parks provides a significant contribution to London's greenery. Although the eight city parks, represented by Hyde Park and Regent's Park, are nominally the private property of the British royal family, in fact all British residents and foreign tourists can enter and exit at will.
Take Hyde Park, for example, a green park covering more than 2,100 acres and is open to visitors from 5 a.m. to 24 p.m. every day.
In addition to the large royal parks, there are hundreds of community gardens in London. For example, the "Postman's Park" in London's financial district is an Internet celebrity tourist check-in point.
In particular, there is a memorial pavilion made of hand-painted tiles in the Postman's Park, where the heroes of firefighters, police officers, truck drivers and other heroes who "moved London" can be honored by the public.
In addition, the emergence of "green buildings" in the 21st century has also provided a lot of greening projects for London.
In the movies of some European and American countries, we can often see buildings with green plants on the exteriors. Some friends can't figure out why foreigners don't shovel these plants that destroy the walls, and foreign owners who have private property rights should be able to dispose of these exterior wall plants.
However, it is surprising that not only does the UK strictly prohibit owners from removing plants that cling to the walls, but they also require "vertical greening" for new developments.
For example, in many British buildings built in the 21st century, we can see the strange phenomenon of "planting trees on the roof".
3. The difficulties of Europeans
Since even the roofs of buildings can be greened, why don't Europeans simply arrange "Chinese-style green belts"? For the extreme environmentalists in European countries, they are eager to turn all places into "environmentally friendly pure land" with a green space rate of nearly 100 percent. However, the "Chinese-style green belt" is indeed not suitable for the actual situation of European countries.
If the British decide to build a "Chinese-style green belt", they will encounter three insurmountable difficulties.
First, the huge cost of land acquisition. Like most European countries, Britain has a private ownership of land. The reason why the British in the 18th century did not create green belts when building roads was because of the cost of land.
The "British landlords" did not have the legal obligation to cooperate with the state in building roads, and it was not easy to build roads with careful calculations. If green belts are built on both sides or in between, the UK is likely to run into bankruptcy.
Second, there are many obstacles to public spending. Unlike on the mainland, Britain is very resistant to local fiscal incentives for investment, and their parliamentary system places a high emphasis on restricting inconsequential public spending.
As mentioned earlier, the labor cost, material cost and maintenance cost of the "Chinese-style green belt" are very high, and this expenditure needs to be borne by the local government for many years. How could the British Parliament, which has repeatedly discussed the salaries of civil servants, approve such a project?
Third, there are troublesome tort disputes. With the arrival of spring, many cities in the north have suffered from the "willow catkins".
This kind of environmental problem caused by trees in the green belt not only poses a serious fire hazard, but also makes "allergic people" very uncomfortable. Unlike the flower growers who "endure and be fine", the British, who even have to go to court for shading trees, will definitely sue the municipal department for bankruptcy if they encounter this kind of problem.
Although planting trees on the roof of a building seems outrageous, the UK is still more willing to choose this "outrageous greening" than the three major problems caused by the "Chinese-style green belt".
Fourth, the gray interests of the green belt
Today, when the state vigorously advocates living a "tight life", we must pay close attention to the gray interests hidden in the green belt. For example, sponge city projects in some areas have become large-scale greening projects.
The financial investment that should have been used for the drainage system was inexplicably spent on projects such as green belts and flower beds.
Beautifying the environment is, of course, the key task of urban construction, but the practice of emphasizing face and ignoring the inside does not do any good. For the general public, they prefer to see the practice of spending money where it is where it is needed.
However, there are signs that the green belt has become a breeding ground for gray interests. Today, when local finances are stretched, two requirements must be put forward for the green belt project.
First, the investment standards for green belts should be strictly restricted. In any case, the green belt should not become a "botanical garden" for competition, and those strange and precious plants must not be included in the procurement scope of the green belt project. Otherwise, the greening project will not only fail to beautify the environment, but will also put huge pressure on the finances.
In recent years, the "moon lollipop" that has appeared in the green belt across the country has a comprehensive cost of more than 2,000 yuan per grafted special horticultural plant, and the survival rate is not high.
Choosing cheap greenbelt plants according to local conditions can not only reduce the initial investment of the project, but also control the cost of future maintenance.
Second, strictly review the bidding work of green belt projects. The reason why so many cities are tired of the "luxury green belt" is that some related households can easily undertake these municipal projects with high profit margins.
Compared with large-scale infrastructure projects such as building bridges and roads, the supervision of greening projects is still very insufficient. Some saplings that cost only a few dozen yuan online can double their value when it comes to municipal procurement. Among those "county Brahmins", there are many lucky people who have made a fortune by relying on green belt projects.
epilogue
It is true that the green belt has made outstanding contributions to the construction of lucid waters and lush mountains on the mainland, but this is by no means to say that the green belt project is suitable for all countries in the world, and there are many development problems on the mainland. The green belt project should not become a "wild horse that has escaped", and only by developing it in accordance with laws and regulations can it conform to the fundamental interests of the broad masses of the people.
So, how do you think the green belt should be repaired? Welcome to leave a message in the comment area to discuss.