Synopsis on the Condition and Improvement of Infrastructure in Reference to

New Delhi, India, Mexico City, Mexico, and Shanghai, China

Senior Design I
Dr. Vivek Tandon
Fall 2009
Adam Duran, Michael Steward, Jackie Villegas, Timothy Engle, and Saul
Magallanes
Summary

The study of fundamental infrastructure issues due to overpopulation in New Delhi, Mexico
City, and Shanghai, has lead to a broadened thinking horizon when it comes to addressing
engineering issues. The cities in question are literally ancient, founded well before the time of
Christ, which results in inefficient and faulty infrastructure in of itself. With the population
booms in each locale, these issues become magnified, and the general health and welfare of the
populations in question are at risk due to these shortcomings. When compared to other
industrialized urban areas such as New York or London, the locations in question are operating
with grave discrepancies. Upon evaluation of this research, it can be determined from past
endeavors that in order for the governments to address their fundamental infrastructure issues,
based on current economic conditions, they should attempt to privatize each aspect of an
infrastructure redevelopment. It has shown effective in other countries, including sparsely in the
cities and countries in question.

Introduction

There are several major infrastructures issues in each of the cities studied, some similar and some
very different. Some similarities include; overpopulation, low literacy rates, corruption within
governments, and outdated infrastructures. In regards to population, as of 2008, the number of
residents in Shanghai was 18.88 million, Mexico City had 8.84 million, and the territory of New
Delhi was home to 12.25 million. Some of the fundamental engineering infrastructure concerns
to be discussed include: designing efficiently for populous; transportation and public transit;
water, waste, and wastewater management; and environmental impact improvement.

Discussion

The first city studied was Shanghai, China. Shanghai China is one of the largest cities in the
world, with an estimated population of 20 million people. It is a major port handling a large
percentage of the cargo coming in and out of China. It is densely populated with a majority of
the people living in the downtown portion of the city. It has experienced a larger population
boost in the last twenty years as more manufacturing plants opened up and people from rural
areas moved into the city looking for higher paying jobs.

The city of Shanghai has a concentrated density in the central area, and is looking into
redistributing it to satellite cities around Shanghai. Downtown Shanghai has 9 million people
living within a 600 square kilometer area [shanghai.gov.cn, 2004]. Accessibility is one of the
main reasons that people choose to stay in the downtown area. The city already has a plan to
provide better public transportation to outlying areas, but it needs to provide its population
incentives to move out into the suburban areas of the city. Improving the public transportation
system so that it is reliable and timely will encourage more people to move out from the dense

parts of the city.

The main cause behind the population concentration is that most people live next to their place of
employment. The city of Shanghai can ensure that people move out to other areas of the city by
encouraging companies to build in other less dense parts of the city. This will decrease the
density in the downtown area by making people move to where the jobs are located and take
advantage of existing underused land. A combination of better flow of people from the
concentrated business district to outlying areas along with extra incentives to move out of the
densely populated areas would allow for a better distribution of people. Shanghai is a major city
that will continue to grow; the only way to alleviate issues is to plan properly for further growth
by becoming a proactive city.

In regards to general infrastructure, the city of Shanghai is built on alluvial plain causing
geotechnical problems, such as unstable soil for foundations. It is also in an earthquake prone
region that causes problems for new and existing infrastructure. Many of the existing buildings
in the city are old and are more susceptible to failure due to lax or nonexistent building codes at
the time of construction. Issues like these can be addressed by having a department that ensures
that all building codes are enforced. This department would check on existing infrastructure to
see if it’s suitable for what it is being used for and also ensure that new structures are built
appropriately for the environment that Shanghai is in.

Shanghai already has some of the better structural and construction regulations in developing
countries; the main issue it faces is in the enforcement of these regulations. A recent collapse in
Shanghai recently occurred which showed the consequences of not enforcing regulations. The
lack of enforcement has resulted in collapsed buildings, death of workers, and the failure of
buildings under conditions that they should have withstood. The city needs to separate the
inspectors from the contractors and make them separate individual entities. It has to emphasize
the importance of safety and safe building in order to protect its population from disasters that
shouldn’t be occurring.

Shanghai has one of the most advanced public transportation systems that include trains, buses
and a subway system. The city’s subway system currently spans 250 km of working track and is
in the process of expanding it to 850 km of new subway track by the year 2020. Shanghai can
further improve public transportation by making it energy efficient. It needs to make use of
buses and cabs that use less or cleaner fuel. This can be done by encouraging energy efficient
cabs and by making buses use cleaner fuel. This will lead to a decrease in the amount of
pollution, decrease the amount of fuel that is used, and lead to a cleaner city for the general
public.

Shanghai also needs to make public transportation accessible and attractive to people that may
not use it. Shanghai’s government website currently estimates public transportation users at 14%

of its total population, a number that must be increased in order to Shanghai to be more energy
efficient. Shanghai has a growing population that may be inclined to buy their own cars instead
of using public transportation. In order to promote its services it needs to makes these lines run
more consistently, run from where these people work to places these people live, and to places
people want to spend time at. Making public transportation an attractive feature for the general
population will ultimately reduce the congestion and pollution in Shanghai.

The city has seen an increase in the amount of cars that are purchased and used by the general
population. Shanghai is already trying to get rid of high polluting vehicles currently on the road
by offering tax breaks to those that trade in their older cars. Shanghai already has a limit on the
amount of licenses that are offered for new car purchases. This plan can be further expanded to
allow priority to those people that wish to buy energy efficient cars. This would promote the use
of energy efficient cars and at the same time decrease the potential environmental toll that cars
take.

Shanghai is a major port with manufacturing plants, cars, buses, and several other sources of
pollution. Although the city has a major pollution problem it has been one of the most advanced
cities in the developing world in adopting green practices. It has promoted ways of making their
city more efficient and has been at the forefront of encouraging people and businesses to find
greener ways of doing business. According to shanghai.gov.cn, Shanghai has implemented a
ten-year plan that has a goal of decreasing per unit GDP consumption by 20% by 2010.
Shanghai has also implemented a proposal to implement desulfurization equipment to cut sulfur
concentration from 380,000 tons a year to 190,000 tons a year [Shanghai.org, 2006]. If it
continues to lead this environmental movement Shanghai could ultimately become a model for
other cities that share similar traits.

A large population and the emergence of more readily available disposable income have
increased the amount of housing needed and used in Shanghai. A way to reduce the amount of
pollution that comes from new housing is to build these houses in a manner that decreases the
amount of energy they use. Building housing with more natural lighting will reduce the amount
of electricity that people use during the day. Making these apartments and houses direct towards
or away from the sunlight will decrease the amount of heating and/or cooling needed. Other
steps that may be taken are using energy efficient light bulbs, encouraging the use of solar panels
for large apartment complexes. Replacing windows and doors in older structures will also lead
to a decrease in energy usage. Shanghai is also encouraging usage of energy efficient coolers
during the summer that would alleviate 25% of the home energy consumption during the summer
months. These small steps will lead to larger savings and make Shanghai a more efficient city.

The water quality in Shanghai is a major issue as companies dump their waste into water that
people use every day. Shanghai is rich with water resources, however many of them are

becoming polluted as the city experiences growth. The city is currently looking into taking water
from a river that is less polluted instead of taking water from multiple polluted rivers. Shanghai
currently treats 40% of its water and is looking into increasing that figure to at least 80% in the
near future. The city can take this a step further by offering incentives to companies to install
their own water treatment plants. This will lead to a decrease in the pollution and decrease the
amount of money the city spends on water treatment, which currently stands at 3% of its GDP.

Shanghai currently burns up most of its solid waste while also using landfills and doing some
recycling. A report by the Swiss consulate detailed Shanghai’s current management of waste
and its efforts to improve its solid waste management. It currently has around 1000 unregulated
landfills that are creating an environmental hazard. The city needs to start regulating where and
how its waste is processed to decrease the impact of waste. A big issue is also the lack of
recycling, something that would reduce the amount of waste that this city produces. The city
needs to encourage recycling and implement their own recycling programs in order to decrease
the amount of waste that is coming from people that are producing more and more waste.
Education and incentives will decrease the amount of waste that the city produces.

The second case study was conducted for New Delhi, India; or in broader terms the National
Capital Territory of Delhi. With over 12 million residents and an area of 1484 km2, 700 km2 is
considered urban, with the remaining 784 km2 being allocated as rural areas, the population
density is 8086 people per square kilometer. New Delhi’s high population growth rate can also
be attributed to a high economic growth rate. These high rates put increasing pressure on the
existing transportation infrastructure, and it led to the creation of a mass rapid transit system, part
of which is identified as Delhi Metro. The metro has three lines with a total length of 65 km, and
with phase two currently under construction, the total length will increase to 128 km. By 2020,
the construction of phase three and phase four will increase the length to an astounding 414 km.
This length would be more expansive than that of the London Underground.

While the government of New Delhi is making underground infrastructure improvements, 60%
of the transportation demand is handled by buses. A state owned faction labeled the Delhi
Transportation Company is a provider of such services and also operates the largest fleet of CNG
(Compressed Natural Gas) in the world. This is so because in 1998, the Supreme Court of India
mandated that all public transport vehicles to use environmentally friendly CNG.

Delhi was fortunate enough to inherit a competent British rail system and is a major hub for rail
transport. There are four main rail stations in Delhi. Delhi also bears three expressways, with
three more under construction to serve the needs of commuters into and out of the city. While
New Delhi has a very high roadway density, 1922 km of length per 100 km2, the well built roads
tend to be crowded considering the fact the rest of the roads are in disrepair. Two government
4

offices, one called the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), and the other the Public Works
Department (PWD), have oversight of the roadways. An effective solution for this is to privatize
the maintenance and repair of roads, and continue on with the MCD and PWD managing new
constructions as before.
Delhi is also home to the Indira Gandhi International Airport, which serviced 23 million
passengers in 2006-07. While this airport is often extremely crowded, some experts noted that
the backlog at the airport can actually hurt the economic growth of Delhi. This concern is
currently being addressed by the construction of a third terminal, which will allow the airport to
handle an additional 34 million passengers annually, and future expansion programs indicate an
annual capacity of 100 million passengers by 2020.

The engineering approach to these roadway concerns is obviously to invest money into the
transportation infrastructure, which is being attempted in the construction of new roads, but an in
depth, long-term, maintenance and repair program should definitely be considered. As for the
rest of the transportation infrastructure, the rapid transit improvements, a huge bus network,
efficient rail systems, and a soon to be improved airport, New Delhi seems to be addressing the
majority of the transportation issues accordingly and at a fairly efficient rate.

The biggest concern in India may be the poor infrastructure, management, and treatment of water
and wastewater. With the so-called Green Revolution of the mid 20th century, the Indian
Government has made water readily available for the use of agriculture, turning the country into
a net exporter of agricultural goods, but supply limited to the general factions of the population.
Agriculture alone consumes 90% of India’s useable water. While transportation issues are
primarily handled by the government, the water supply is managed by the Delhi Jal Board (DJB).
In 2006, according to Wikipedia, the DJB supplied 650 million gallons per day (MGD) of water.
Unfortunately, the demand has been estimated at about 950 MGD. To make up the discrepancies,
residents use tube wells and hand pumps to salvage the saline water. In regards to storage and
supply, Delhi’s largest supply comes from Bhakra storage, which supplies 240 MGD. A majority
of the rest is mined from the Yamuna River, a sacred river in Hindu beliefs where human
remains are often discarded, was estimated to provide 229 MGD. The city’s water supply runs
through a 9000 km series of mostly unserviceable pipes, with an estimated twenty five to forty
percent loss of flow due to leakage. New Delhi is drying up faster than anywhere in India with
78% of its groundwater being overexploited.

Experts state that falling groundwater and an ever increasing demand may place India into the
international category for water scarcity by 2025. According to indianexpress.com and Oxfam, in
1955, India had 5000 m3 of freshwater per person. By 2013 that number is expected to drop to
5
3 3
1700 m , and by 2025 to 1000 m , the international value for water scarcity. According to The
New York Times, the water supply and sewage infrastructures are in such a state of disrepair that
the city cannot provide water to a public tap for more than a few hours per day. A recent study
shows that 25% of Delhi households have no piped water, and 27% got water for less than three
hours per day, and an estimated two million households had no toilet. One solution is to raise the
costs of water for industrial and agricultural use to ensure these factions explore options for the
conservation of water.
In regards to waste, Delhi is in a slight debacle. They produce 8000 tonnes of solid waste refuse
each day, which is distributed to three landfills operated once again by the MCD. The blatant
solution for this situation should follow keel with the privatization or involvement of private
companies in the management of these landfills. The MCD is currently constructing another
landfill site due to the low remaining capacities at the other three sites. However, the Delhi
Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) has conducted studies that suggest landfills are not the
answer. The DPCC’s study indicates that education and reduction of solid waste is the solution.

The report by the DPCC suggests that 80 to 85 percent of total waste could be reduced or
reclaimed through programs such as composting and recycling. The city plans to set up
“composting” sites throughout the city, however space is obviously limited. This brings attention
to the fact that not all infrastructure issues are easily solved by engineering methods, but rather
by education and proactive public programs.

The Delhi sewerage system is quite atrocious, with only 45% of the population being connected
to the public system. Residents still produce enough waste that 950 MGD of sewage is dumped
in to the Yamuna River as it exits the city. This is a huge concern for downstream cities due to
the high costs of water treatment. Of that 950 MGD, only 512 MGD can be treated. Also, there
are many open sewers “canals” throughout the city. Chemicals are added for smell control, and
17 new sewage treatment plants have been constructed to help curb these issues, but poor and
blocked pipelines, and complete failures, hinder progress. However, the DJB has proposed an
interceptor sewer project, modeled after the city of Thames in England, where it has proven
successful. This project is expected to start in 2010 and would drastically reduce waste flowing
into the Yamuna. Still, a proactive initiative to repair existing pipelines, create new pipelines to
service a higher percentage of the population, and rid themselves of open sewers should be
considered.

Another transfer from government management is concerning electricity. In 1997, the MCD
transferred oversight to the Delhi Vidyut Board (DVB). However, the infrastructure is not
sufficient to meet the demands of the city. New Delhi’s per capita energy consumption is
estimated at 1265 kWh. This shortage results in frequent blackouts, especially during the peak
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requirements of air conditioners in the summer. Many industrial units in New Delhi maintain
their own generators due to unreliable electrical grid. Since 1997, the distribution of electricity is
provided by two private companies, Tata Power and Reliance Energy. The city of New Delhi
should consider the use of green power generation technologies such as wind or solar. While the
investment may be quite substantial, the rewards to the city and its industries may far outweigh
the costs.

In an attempt to improve water quality, the DJB is currently constructing three water treatment
facilities, rated at a total of 200 MGD. Unfortunately, 200 MGD is barely a fifth of the demand
of 950 MGD. A government audit indicates that the DJB spent $200 million dollars last year
yielding mediocre results. The Confederation of Indian Industry conducted a study that suggests
the country of India needs to invest $330 billion dollars over the next five years to keep the
economic growth rate at the current levels of 8%. The problem is India only is estimated to spend
$180 billion dollars. While New Delhi has some fair infrastructure and several programs to
address some issues, a substantial investment is needed to repair and maintain certain aspects of
the infrastructure particularly wastewater, sewerage, electricity generation, and water
conservation.

The last case study was Mexico City, which is currently ranked as the third largest metropolitan
city in the world with a population of 20,450,000 people, needs to prepare for a rapid population
increase in the years to come. Mexico City is located at a high altitude of 7,300 feet, in a valley
surrounded by mountains. The thin air along with high population, density, and traffic lead to
high pollution levels bordering on toxic. According to Excelsior, the city newspaper, the United
Nations determined the city’s air quality to be rated a 97.5, 100 being the worst possible rating.

A few other issues that the city deals with is that it’s on a geologically unstable land mass
susceptible to earthquakes. Furthermore, 43 miles southeast of the city lies Popocatépetl, an
active volcano can be found. The presence of this and nearby dormant volcano Iztaccíhuatl
indicates nearby fault lines, hence the constant threat of seismic activity.

A major concern about the growing population in Mexico City is transportation and its related
problems. The massive population in an industrialized country has the consequence of a directly
proportional amount of automobiles. During peak hours, the high densities of vehicles on the
road create congestion. The stagnant vehicles create many emissions which further exacerbates
smog. Since the city sits in a valley surrounded by hills, the smog is trapped in the downtown
area. One of the good things about Mexico City is that it has many modes of transportation other
than driving a car. The city’s public transportation system consists of several different bus
companies, a metro bus, a large taxi system, an extensive subway system, and a trolley railway
system. A good characteristic about all of these programs is that they are inexpensive to use, and

therefore open to a major portion of the population. A 2 peso ticket (about 25 cents) will get a
passenger across the city, as opposed to the nightmare and time of driving one’s own car in
Mexico City’s heavily congested streets.

Mexico City has attempted to alleviate the traffic problem and improve air quality with a system
called “Hoy No Circula”, where certain vehicles are not permitted to circulate, or be driven, on
certain days of the week. This, coupled with a emissions testing, has been able to at least control
the increase of pollution by promoting the public transportation system. Another vast
improvement has been maneuvered by mayor of the city. Mayor Marcelo Ebrab recently
replaced hundreds of “microbuses” with lower emission larger city buses. This will have a huge
impact considering these buses run every day all day to transport people perhaps to and from
work or even just tourists. This encourages more citizens to take the bus route which can alter
things such as gas usage, pollution, and traffic congestion. It can also help bring in more jobs
due to the high demand of passengers.

Mexico City is currently preparing for the impending need for a larger transportation system.
Two new subway lines are currently being built. This will alleviate much of the congestion both
on the streets and in some of the other lines. There is already a light rail in use that goes from
the Estadio Azteca, in the center of the city, to Xochimilco in the south. There are plans for a
“fast” train that will travel from the center of the city to the tollbooth to Queretaro in the north.

Another important aspect of building a reliable and successful infrastructure is education.

Education allows different opportunities to arise. Mexico has a literacy rate of about 91.4% as a
country, which seems to be reasonably high, considering that in earlier years school was not
required by the government. Trying to cope with survival by working before completing school
has a huge impact on this situation. The lack of economic development, resources, and finance
may be a foundation for the lack of education. Young people are having children, and need to
supply life necessities for their families. Having a government that does not help much with
welfare and Medicaid as we are used to seeing in the United States has an effect on decisions to
start working. Parents are forced to work in order to survive. The types of jobs that are available
for uneducated people are labor skilled jobs. These jobs don’t require much education, rather
they seek people who can learn a certain task and repeat it with minimal mistakes. For example
some jobs of this nature may include picking crops, doing factory work, or construction work.
These types of jobs do not pay very well yet they are the only choice some people have. The
entire country has made some changes to improve education and literacy rates.

In December 2001 the government made it mandatory to get preschool education. This is a good
requirement as it forces children to be in school, this may also contribute to influencing youth to
stay in school. Another significant improvement is the number of years of schooling for 15 years
and younger has gone up to about 8 years, compared to 6.8 in the past decade. If the trend

continues then the number of schooling years should be approaching 9 years as of 2009. In
comparison with other countries this number is low but can be changed. One solution is to
enforce more laws that require school attendance. For this happen, more teachers would be
needed. This solution could include incentives for citizens who are willing to make a
commitment to teach. By enforcing attendance laws more people would be forced to get an
education. The greater number of educated people the greater the chances are for people to
choose teaching as a profession. The main focus needs to be on mandatory attendance,
consequences, and rewards for those who may or may not attend school.

As previously mentioned, the 20 million and growing population of Mexico City is one of the
largest in a metropolitan area in the world. They produce enough sewage to fill an Olympic
sized pool every minute. The sewage system has not undergone inspections in the last 15 years
and it needs to be improved. Among the worst at recycling waste water compared to the size of
the city, Mexico City is only able to recycle 10% of the total waste water. This is partly due to
the lack of money to build and maintain new treatment facilities but also due to limited
restrictions on laws that regulate what and what can’t be dumped down the drain. The city’s
inability to recycle the water is contributing to it problem of shortage on water. According to the
public broadcasting service, Mexico City is running out of water. Surrounding lakes have been
drained in earlier centuries to expand the city, and little rain offers insufficient replenishment.
The city is located on top of an aquifer which is where they pump 70% of the water from. The
bad thing about this is that as water is pumped out of the aquifer its volume shrinks causing the
city to sink. Now it’s at a rate of 3 inches per year. One example of this is The Palacio de Bellas
Artes which has sunk under its own weight at this rate.

This could cause bridges, buildings, roads, manholes, sewage lines, and schools to collapse and
could damage the infrastructure. If more of the water is recycling the dependence upon the
aquifer would decrease, therefore the city would not sink at such a fast rate. The consideration
must be made to invest in water purification tanks and facilities to store them. Mayor Marcelo
Ebrab has made significant investments in the recent year by opening three new water treatment
plants. This creates jobs in the community and improves quality of life in the city.

One step in helping to prevent sewage failure was when Mayor Marcelo Ebrab announced the
plan for 1.2$ billion to help remodel 99 miles of sewer tunnels. The plan asks for the first 56$
million dollars to be spent for new pumping stations that will be able to handle about 10500
gallons of sewage they produce every second. Human waste has been a big problem in the area
due to growing population, and will continue to be one if something is not done about it now.
Inspiring youth to realize that an education could lead not only to a good paying job, but with
mass contributions can upkeep the needs of human life. This is in consideration that a great deal
is done and influences are grasped, by young citizens.

A recent issue of landfill space in the metropolitan area has also created a problem for Mexico
City. A closure of the only landfill in the area, which holds about 50 million tons of trash, was a
result of it being over packed posing health hazards for the city. Trash and waste had to be
transported out of the area to and rural area landfill due to the lack of space, and ability for the
landfill to hold any more trash. A large amount of money is being wasted and the environment is
being damaged because of this. The trash that the city creates needs to be transported out of city
which generates large fuel consumption, in turn a lot of wasted money. The citizens in Mexico
City are at great risk of this trash and waste seeping through the soil and causing a
contamination. Sewer lines, water lines, gas pipelines could all be affected by this material
disposed and compacted in landfills. An important change was decided on by the government to
rebuild this Metropolitan landfill. A decision to essentially build a landfill from scratch at this
site will improve the overall infrastructure. The new landfill facility with have a new recycling
center and will have a methane gas energy plant. Although money and time are the biggest
factors that control the construction of the new landfill, it’s assumed to be complete in 2012.
This recycling project will open a large amount of job opportunities decrease the damage to the
environment.

Conclusions

Based solely on the research completed, each of these cities have their unique engineering
concerns, some alike each other, some very different. While these cities may have some different
concerns, each case could be significantly improved by something that isn’t so much an
engineering concern, but a political issue. It is proven across the world, and even in the cities in
question, that privatization is a key stepping stone for over populous, corrupt cities to achieve
satisfactory infrastructure standards. Along with the privatization, the government must be
willing to supply private firms with the necessary resources, not only for maintenance, but for
research as well. Essentially, once these governments clean up their act, engineers can get to
work cleaning up the infrastructure mess.

10

Appendix A: Works Cited

*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delhi

*http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2007-01-04-delhi-airport_x.htm

*http://www.toxicslink.org/mediapr-view.php?pressrelnum=81
*http://www.indianexpress.com/news/oxfam-political-will-lacking-to-provide-essential-
services/14985/

*http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/19/health/19iht-rswatind.html?_r=1

*http://www.delhijalboard.nic.in/djbdocs/about_us/about.htm

*http://www.thehindu.com/2009/11/09/stories/2009110958260300.htm

* http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2009/200909/20090926/article_414993.htm
*http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-12/22/content_402296.htm

*http://www.shanghai.gov.cn/shanghai/node17256/node17413/node18168/userobject6ai1816.ht
ml

*http://www.chinaeconomicreview.com/cer/2009_10/Slow_down.html

*http://www.china.org.cn/english/environment/179557.htm

*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai

*http://www.sinoptic.ch/shanghaiflash/texts/pdf/2008/200805_Shanghai.Flash.pdf

*http://www.state.gov/

*http://www.citymayors.com

*http://www.buyusa.gov/mexico/en/environmental.html

*http://www.bnamericas.com/news/

*http://www.mexconnect.com/articles/1789-water-woes