Coastal cities in China reclaimed an average of 700 sq km of land, equivalent to the size of Singapore, each year between 2006 and 2010, for the development of houses, ports and industrial zones. “Now, nothing.” Such projects have now been limited by central government, but other countries, including Cambodia, Dubai, Malaysia, the Philippines and Sri Lanka, are still expanding their use of the technique. Critics claim that reclamation is eradicating areas such as mangroves, reefs and wetlands, damaging marine life and increasing pollution and waste. The Chinese government has also used its own land reclamation technology on a smaller scale.
Coastal cities in China reclaimed an average of 700 sq km of land, equivalent to the size of Singapore, each year between 2006 and 2010, for the development of houses, ports and industrial zones. Such projects have now been limited by central government, but other countries, including Cambodia, Dubai, Malaysia, the Philippines and Sri Lanka, are still expanding their use of the technique. Critics claim that reclamation is eradicating areas such as mangroves, reefs and wetlands, damaging marine life and increasing pollution and waste. The Chinese government has also used its own land reclamation technology on a smaller scale.