Environment
Haikou has the highest rated air quality in China followed by Kunming. However, since approximately 2009, due to an increase in automobiles, there has been a substantial increase in air pollution.
According to the 2005 statistical book issued by the National Bureau of Statistics, Haikou scored the highest among China's main cities in air quality, with 366 days (2004) of ambient air quality equal to or above grade II, with only 0.033 milligrams/m2 of particulate matter (the least of all main cities), 0.003 milligrams/m2 of sulphur dioxide (only Lhasa had less), and 0.013 milligrams/m2 of nitrogen dioxide (the least of all main cities).
In 1995, the Haikou city government began an initiative to improve the quality of life for its residents. With the approval of the World Health Organization, and China's Ministry of Health, a ten-point plan was undertaken to address such issues as:
- Community health care
- Vaccinations for children
- Waste recycling
- Green belts and urban trees
- Environmentally friendly construction
- Public toilets
- Sewage treatment
- Communications
- Noise pollution
The groundwater is of international standard, and is classified as mineral water.
By 2004, the city had established 43 new community health service centers reaching 85 percent of the population. The initiative has increased the size of Haikou's green spaces to 2,000 hectares, with trees lining 40 percent of its roads. Noise pollution has dropped from 61.1db to 58.2db. 300 public toilets have been built. All industrial effluents, industrial waste water and solid waste, and all live sewage, is now processed through centralized treatment centers, and is disposed of without environmental impact. These improvements and others have increased life expectancy in Haikou to 78.26 years.
Haikou city has also built 163 model ecological villages. Now, over 200,000 villagers in 933 villages have tap water in their homes.
Read more about this topic: Haikou
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