Wasteful spending on vanity projects setting a bad example

First-time visitors to Beijing, Shanghai and other large mainland cities are likely to be impressed by the soaring high-rises and other shiny steel-and-glass structures cluttering the hazy skylines. Officials are yearning for grandeur and are competing to build the world's biggest and most impressive public projects, whether office buildings, sports stadiums or theatres. They are keen to impress visitors with grandiose plans for mainland versions of Hong Kong and Paris, Manhattan and Wall Street. However, this drive has led to serious concerns that many cities with long histories and rich cultures have started to lose their special appeal and are becoming increasingly alike architecturally. Meanwhile, many structures of cultural and historic importance are being pulled down. Many have questioned the wisdom of spending vast sums of money on extravagant projects. After all, the mainland is still very much a developing country: 26 million people live on less than 680 yuan a year. Although the leadership launched a crackdown on so-called vanity projects by local officials about three years ago, results have been mixed. After initially boasting that it wanted to make the 2008 Olympic Games the best in history, the central government has toned down the rhetoric and ordered officials to be thrifty in their preparations for the Games. As a result, the size of the National Swimming Centre, funded by overseas donations and under the supervision of the municipal government, will be reduced by 7,800 square metres. This will save 900 million yuan. Plans for a commercial area linked to the Wukesong Cultural and Sports Centre have been scrapped. Plans for the Games' basketball centre have been scaled back almost by half: to 65,000 square metres from 117,000 square metres. But as some projects are being scaled down, others have been left untouched. Two notable examples are the National Theatre and the new China Central Television (CCTV) headquarters. Much has been written about the soaring cost and controversial design of the National Theatre, which is located next to the Forbidden City and the Great Hall of the People. The project has nearly been completed at a total cost of 3 billion yuan, overshooting its budget of 2.69 billion yuan, which has come entirely from central government coffers. But it is fast becoming a white elephant, a laughing stock among architects and a vivid example of the government's extravagance. Mainland media reports say no government department wants to manage the theatre and officials reportedly have no idea where to find the 70 million yuan a year needed to maintain it. At 3 billion yuan, the 5,473-seat theatre cost an average of 550,000 yuan per seat, equivalent to the sticker price on a luxury Audi A6 saloon car. By comparison, it costs an average of 250,000 yuan to build a primary school in a poor rural area. Another example is the CCTV headquarters. Construction began late last year. Billed as the mainland's largest public cultural facility, the steel-and-glass structure will most likely be remembered as the mainland's biggest and costliest vanity project. The cost of the 550,000-square-metre building has been budgeted at 5.5 billion yuan, but media reports are already speculating the bill will reach 10 billion yuan by the time it is partly completed in 2008. The twin-tower structure will not only house newsrooms and television production facilities, but also a swimming pool, a 300-room, five-star hotel, a 1,500-seat theatre, and a massive shopping arcade. The central government approved the project mainly because the facilities would be ready for broadcasting the 2008 Olympics. But this is no justification for erecting such an extravagant building on one of Beijing's most expensive pieces of land. While leading western networks such as the BBC may maintain newsrooms and other frontline operations in downtown areas, their massive back offices and production facilities are usually located in suburban areas where land is much cheaper. The key difference is that CCTV is controlled and funded by the central government and does not appear to see commercial viability as a top priority. On Saturday, Xinhua quoted President Hu Jintao as urging all members of the community to contribute to the mainland's efforts to alleviate poverty. The central government's wasteful spending on extravagant projects is setting a very bad example.