Regarding the auto industry, one of the topics that China has always discussed is whether China needs so many cars. Today, this issue seems to have been resolved. Last year, the production of Chinese automobiles exceeded 4 million units, while the number of privately-owned cars nationwide exceeded 10 million. Obviously, cars have entered middle-class families and become indispensable vehicles for many families. However, have we really been ready to welcome the arrival of the automobile society? Zhou Muzhi gave his answer in his new book, "Raise the Big City in China" (World Knowledge Press, 2004).
The author points out that the huge cost of the car society is covered by its convenience. Although the car brings great convenience, it is unbearable to the city, nature and people. In 2002 alone, although China had just entered the automobile society, it paid 100,000 people for the car. And from the point of view of social convenience and cost burden, the automobile society is also extremely "overbearing." Those who do not have cars also have to bear the environmental pollution caused by cars, traffic jams and the separation of roads from urban space.
The theme of this book is the city economy, but I think that the opinions on the car society are also worth listening to. In this book, the author puts forward the question of choosing a wealthy social model, that is, whether China should pursue the same modern lifestyle as Europe and the United States. This model has resulted in low density of residential areas in the city, low development in the suburbs and disorderly development, urban traffic paralysis, prolonged commuting time, and pollution of the environment. Obviously, the author does not agree that China imitates the American lifestyle because the cost of this model is too great.
Zhou Muzhi believes that Japan’s relatively successful establishment of a large-scale, high-density urbanization society, one of the important reasons is that Japan’s “private position of private cars†is very low. This is a model that distinguishes it from the wealthy society in the United States. This value promotes the formation of urban transport systems based on rail transit in large cities.
On the one hand, the author emphasizes a reasonable high-density urban society, and at the same time, it does not simply negate the increase in private cars, but rather respects the car wealth positioning method in Japanese social values. It should be said that the author's analysis and suggestions are extremely valuable. Because from a variety of perspectives, we cannot oppose the arrival of the automobile society, but how can we minimize the negative effects of this society? This should be a topic for sociologists and experts in urban studies.
In terms of the author’s experience in Japan’s life, although Japan is today the world’s second largest automobile ownership country, despite the high penetration rate of Japanese automobiles, private cars do not account for a large proportion of Japanese’s wealth; From a point of view, the Japanese do not attach much importance to cars. There are many reasons for this. There are negative restrictions such as the limited space for storing cars and other reasons. At the same time, there are positive aspects. That is, public transport is very developed and convenient, and even many families of cars become vacation tools.
For China’s rapidly advancing automobile society, can people’s concept of “wealth status of private cars†become a delicate regulator?