What is the plan for the subsiding cities of the world? Bangkok, Mexico city, Ho Chi Minh and a variety of other cities are sinking at a rate that seems minimally reversible. Many of these are 3rd world cities with Florida’s Jacksonville, New Orleans among the more affluent. If it is inevitable that at least some of these will go under, what is the long term plan for relocating residents?
Postpocelipse said:
What is the plan for the subsiding cities of the world? Bangkok, Mexico city, Ho Chi Minh and a variety of other cities are sinking at a rate that seems minimally reversible. Many of these are 3rd world cities with Florida’s Jacksonville, New Orleans among the more affluent. If it is inevitable that at least some of these will go under, what is the long term plan for relocating residents?
If they are subsiding do they need a subsidy?
bob(from black rock) said:
Postpocelipse said:
What is the plan for the subsiding cities of the world? Bangkok, Mexico city, Ho Chi Minh and a variety of other cities are sinking at a rate that seems minimally reversible. Many of these are 3rd world cities with Florida’s Jacksonville, New Orleans among the more affluent. If it is inevitable that at least some of these will go under, what is the long term plan for relocating residents?
If they are subsiding do they need a subsidy?
A cert iv in “not sinking into tha blimmin swamp”?
People move to the city’s from the country for economic reasons and I guess if the city doesn’t work they will move again.
It may be that technology has removed the need for people to be in cities. There may be an inverse lawn of cities that beyond a certain size they become less efficient and suffer economically and other places will outcompete them.
I dont know if there are plans to relocate the citizens but I doubt it. Many wouldn’t want to go and where to go? I suppose you could build a big area fill of buildings to house them, oh wait….
Oops don’t mind me, totally wrong end of the stick.
But to attempt a better answer to the actual question, as opposed to my dyslexic reading of it, they will relocate gradually as insurance premiums etc rise, building and maintaining becomes more problematic. Or they may get up and leave, environmental reasons have emptied cities before, the ocean is fill of them. And towns and municipalities fail when industries leave or crops fail.
Nothing to see here when you are talking over large time scales.
Venice has been living with this problem for centuries. Mad it a bit of a tourist trap, it seems.
(And I read “subsidising”, too.)
The Netherlands have been successfully keeping the waters at bay for a while now.
Thanks to Peter.
Divine Angel said:
Bangladesh less so.
The Netherlands have been successfully keeping the waters at bay for a while now.
Indeed. But the Netherlands are quite a bit richer than poor ol’ Bangladesh.
Maybe they can learn to live with it and create water cities, like Venice.
Divine Angel said:
Maybe they can learn to live with it and create water cities, like Venice.
How long can you tread water?
Postpocelipse said:
What is the plan ..
Leave it to the market.
party_pants said:
Postpocelipse said:
What is the plan ..
Leave it to the market.
Predictably near-sighted. There are millions of people in most of these cities. It would be a massive economic nightmare to assume that other cities will simply absorb the impact. What could be planned for in the circumstance?
The issues involved are nothing we don’t cope with daily, simply on a massive scale. Since this sort of thing is going to be an issue until we can take it in our stride, it would seem like an intelligent subject to find a coherent solution for.
They can just come on boats to Australia, where they will receive a generous welcome, I’m sure.
By the way, Mexico City is located at an elevation higher than the highest point on mainland Australia, so I don’t think they need to worry about sinking into the ocean just yet.
No, but Mexico City is subsiding, as the groundwater is used; up to 10m within the last century IIRC. Parts are now below lake level.
A good article (if you can ignore the ads) on the sinking of Mexico City
http://www.wisegeek.com/is-mexico-city-really-sinking.htm
The article itself requires a subscription.
Postpocelipse said:
party_pants said:
Postpocelipse said:
What is the plan ..
Leave it to the market.
Predictably near-sighted. There are millions of people in most of these cities. It would be a massive economic nightmare to assume that other cities will simply absorb the impact. What could be planned for in the circumstance?
The issues involved are nothing we don’t cope with daily, simply on a massive scale. Since this sort of thing is going to be an issue until we can take it in our stride, it would seem like an intelligent subject to find a coherent solution for.
I’m not endorsing the plan, nI’m just telling you what the plan is… i.e. there is no plan.
You’d have to let the cities sort their own problems out
party_pants said:
Postpocelipse said:
party_pants said:Leave it to the market.
Predictably near-sighted. There are millions of people in most of these cities. It would be a massive economic nightmare to assume that other cities will simply absorb the impact. What could be planned for in the circumstance?
The issues involved are nothing we don’t cope with daily, simply on a massive scale. Since this sort of thing is going to be an issue until we can take it in our stride, it would seem like an intelligent subject to find a coherent solution for.
I’m not endorsing the plan, nI’m just telling you what the plan is… i.e. there is no plan.
I hope that doesn’t leave wookie in charge…..
wookiemeister said:
You’d have to let the cities sort their own problems out
cities don’t have a good record along those lines…
Postpocelipse said:
wookiemeister said:
You’d have to let the cities sort their own problems out
cities don’t have a good record along those lines…
There is a fascinating read about city subsidence generally and a longer story about Mexico dating back to the problems first encountered by the Aztecs and why they persevered, later by the Spanish and why they persevered and even worse, the situation of today. The Mexico City section is further down the page and called “Mexico City: a Case Study in Urban Geology”
http://mygeologypage.ucdavis.edu/cowen/~gel115/115CHXXsubsidence.html
party_pants said:
Postpocelipse said:
party_pants said:Leave it to the market.
Predictably near-sighted. There are millions of people in most of these cities. It would be a massive economic nightmare to assume that other cities will simply absorb the impact. What could be planned for in the circumstance?
The issues involved are nothing we don’t cope with daily, simply on a massive scale. Since this sort of thing is going to be an issue until we can take it in our stride, it would seem like an intelligent subject to find a coherent solution for.
I’m not endorsing the plan, nI’m just telling you what the plan is… i.e. there is no plan.
Let’s face it, we should be laying the blame directly at the feet of those who refuse to do anything about it. I’m looking at you, Tony Abbott!
Not one sheckel, nada, zilch, was placed into the recent budget to alleviate this scourge. Yet, do you see any of this raised in the main stream media? Of course not. It disgusts me!
thank you for your vehemence sibeen.
sibeen said:
party_pants said:
Postpocelipse said:Predictably near-sighted. There are millions of people in most of these cities. It would be a massive economic nightmare to assume that other cities will simply absorb the impact. What could be planned for in the circumstance?
The issues involved are nothing we don’t cope with daily, simply on a massive scale. Since this sort of thing is going to be an issue until we can take it in our stride, it would seem like an intelligent subject to find a coherent solution for.
I’m not endorsing the plan, nI’m just telling you what the plan is… i.e. there is no plan.
Let’s face it, we should be laying the blame directly at the feet of those who refuse to do anything about it. I’m looking at you, Tony Abbott!
Not one sheckel, nada, zilch, was placed into the recent budget to alleviate this scourge. Yet, do you see any of this raised in the main stream media? Of course not. It disgusts me!
I was more worried about Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh and New Orleans rather than any Australian city.
party_pants said:
sibeen said:
party_pants said:I’m not endorsing the plan, nI’m just telling you what the plan is… i.e. there is no plan.
Let’s face it, we should be laying the blame directly at the feet of those who refuse to do anything about it. I’m looking at you, Tony Abbott!
Not one sheckel, nada, zilch, was placed into the recent budget to alleviate this scourge. Yet, do you see any of this raised in the main stream media? Of course not. It disgusts me!
I was more worried about Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh and New Orleans rather than any Australian city.
At least The Band tried to raise awareness of the situation in New Orleans with their protest ballad “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down”.
Then the famous physicist, John Baez, got into the act as well.
The Rev Dodgson said:
When the Levee Break
The original version from 1929 by husband and wife team Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie
When the Levee Breaks
All girl band Zeparella do a pretty good cover of the Led Zeppelin version.
When the Levee Breaks
It’s really difficult to get people to abandon a city, or to even agree to abandoning their buildings in order to demolish them and rebuild at a higher base-level. Cities like Lisbon, Rabaul, Naples, Mexico City, New Orleans, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Tokyo, etc. have suffered disasters of such a magnitude that it’s safest to abandon them before they get destroyed again. Instead, the approach has been to either ignore the problems or to construct strong but temporary defences. For subsiding cities, the sensible choice would be to move to higher ground but that is seldom if ever done when large populations are involved. Instead piles for strengthening foundations, and dykes, pumps and movable barriers for holding back water are constructed.