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Pearl River Delta and Guangzhou (Canton) China

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Tomorrow's Coasts: Complex and Impermanent

Part of the book series: Coastal Research Library ((COASTALRL,volume 27))

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Abstract

By 2015, the Pearl River Delta urban agglomeration had overtaken Tokyo as the world’s largest megacity. The Pearl River Delta is sinking at an average rate of 2.5 mm/year. This subsidence, combined with rising sea level, increased intensity of impact from typhoons and storm surge and projections for increased urban expansion have placed Guangzhou at, or near the top of the list of the world’s most threatened coastal cities.

If it be said that your object is to exercise control over your country’s trade, your nationals have had full liberty to trade at Canton for many a year, and have received the greatest consideration at our hands.

—Emperor Qian Long’s Letter to King George III, 1793

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Southeastern Universities Research Association (SURA), Washington, DC, USA

    Lynn Donelson Wright

  2. Department of Coastal Sciences, University of Southern Mississippi, Ocean Springs, MS, USA

    Wei Wu

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  1. Lynn Donelson Wright
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  2. Wei Wu
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Correspondence to Lynn Donelson Wright .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Southeastern Universities Research Association (SURA), Washington, DC, USA

    Lynn Donelson Wright

  2. Marine Information Resources Corporation (MIRC), Ellicott City, Maryland, USA

    C. Reid Nichols

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Wright, L.D., Wu, W. (2019). Pearl River Delta and Guangzhou (Canton) China. In: Wright, L., Nichols, C. (eds) Tomorrow's Coasts: Complex and Impermanent. Coastal Research Library, vol 27. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75453-6_12

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