What do Beijing residents expect of their new mayor? Of all the things that need improving, cleaner air will be at the top of many people's wish list.

Wang Anshun, who was acting mayor before he was elected mayor by the city's legislators on Monday, said on Sunday that doing things in line with the law of economics and the law of social development was the best way to address the conflicts between ever-burgeoning population size, dwindling resources and worsening environment. He also said that Beijing will be governed according to law.

Beijing has a goal of building itself into a world city. What is a world city?

It should definitely not be a city that has most of its winter days shrouded in smog, and neither should it be a city whose roads are congested most of the time. Nor should it be a city with its pavements dotted by cigarette butts and stains of phlegm.

Despite the increasing number of five-star hotels, the increasing number of centers of this or that and the plethora of plazas, Beijing will never become a livable city, a metropolis that people talk about with admiration unless it improves its living environment.

Thinking big is an illness that most of our urban planners have when it comes to drawing the blueprint for a city's development - the bigger, the better; the bigger, the more modern. Beijing was no exception to this mentality.

It is not that thinking big will definitely make things worse. But the lack of a long-term view, the lack of awareness about the downsides of urban expansion and the lack of attention to details that make cities pleasant places to live will definitely be disastrous.

It is not fair to expect that Wang will work out solutions to all the problems that have accumulated over many years. But there is enough reason for residents to cherish the hope that this mayor will follow the example set by the country's new leadership and take a pragmatic approach to Beijing's problems.

What this city and its residents need the most is its leadership's attention to the details that will improve the daily lives of its residents and the city's long-term and sustainable development.

If this mayor means what he said, he will show proper attention to the problems most residents are concerned with.

(China Daily 01/29/2013 page8)