On Sun, 23 Sep 2007 09:59:48 -0400, Kurt Ullman
wrote:

In article ,
PaPaPeng wrote:



I'd like to restate my point as "There is no point building a car like
a tank aka Detroit Iron."

Japan had this must scrap law at least 30 years ago. In their crowded
roads and limited land there were several public policy decisions that
led to the laws. The environmental one of course is to remove older
cars off the roads. Older cars have lower fuel efficiency, contribute
to air pollution as well as road pollution from oil drips. Then there
are safety concerns as older cars tend to be less well maintained yet
requiring more maintenance. The economic one is to keep Japan's car
production lines open and provide a large domestic market for new
models over shorter model change cycles.


That would never fly in the US, although the automakers and UAW
might like the law. Heck we are getting all in a lather over here about
subsidizing High Def TV converters when the change comes about so
people's TVs don't become obsolete. I can only imagine the hooha about
trying to take older cars off the road and out of the hands of the poor,
etc.


There are quite a few societal consequences on car ownership that
comes to mind. I can only describe them as they arise. I don't have
that much interest in cars in general to make the link.

In the crowded Asian lands the limiting factor on car ownership is an
affordable long term parking spot at home and at the office that will
enable one to drive to work. If you live in NY or London you'll grasp
the picture instantly.

Japan has her particular problems. Arable land is scarce. Large City
properties are very expensive and their apartment building structure
limited by earthquake concerns. Townships are therefore built on less
valuable land so far out that a two hour one way commute by Bullet
Train is not uncommon.

Job expectations entails a lot of unrecorded and unpaid overtime.
Then there is that obligatory (work related) male bonding at the bar
after that. It will be a rare occasion that our salaryman gets home
earlier than midnight. He of course has to get ready for the next
day's grind at 4 or 5 am. I don't know how many hours there are in
his day but they have to add up to more than 24.

Its no wonder that the birth rate in Japan is so low that they have a
cabinet level minister for making babies. We hear of Japan's raqpidly
ageing population that will be 40 per cent of her population by 2035
or something like that. When Japanese men travel abroad for vacations
you get the horniest invasion into the fleshpots of Bangkok, Vietnam,
the Philippines and of late, China. They are picky about skin color.

Not to have a car in Singapore or Hongkong is not that big a deal as
both are just big cities and have very good public transit
connections.

In China city parking space is a problem. Labor is so cheap and
plentiful that all legal parking spots are guarded by uniformed
private guards. Yet the very wide city streets are jam-packed. The
car problems in China's cities have arisen only in the past 10 years.
It had always been a bicycle and bus cities where almost everyone
lives close to work. There are no sprawling suburban bedroom
communities. The Beijing municipal authority (with powers equivalent
to a full province) does not allow ostentatious single family homes.
All land is owned by the State and leased for private home developers
for 60 years. Commercial properties may have only 30 year leases with
an option for 30 more. The premise is that by 30 years the land will
be far more valuable for an even grander building. This also means
that the city planning authorities and potential investors can take
the grand long term view to redevelop whole districts without having
to worry about the ownership rights piecemeal. This power of
appropriation is applied very judiciously.

Public transit by bus and subway is extensive and very cheap. The bus
fare is only 1 yuan (7 1/2 cents) from terminus to terminus. China is
on a highway and high speed railway construction binge. If the
Beijing airport highway and the other Beijing highways are any
indication they are of top grade construction, better than any I have
driven on in North America. There is some nightlife in the big
cities, but not much. All remaining major businesses close at 9 pm.
The buses stop running at 10 pm. Everyone gets to go to bed at a
sensible time. For nightbirds, taxis are very cheap. Crime is very
low but not unknown. Single young ladies (walking their pet dogs) and
old ladies often go about alone after 10 pm.