Sustainable Urban Development and the Chinese Eco-City

FNI Report 5/2009 Sustainable Urban Development and the Chinese Eco-City Concepts, Strategies, Policies and Assessments May Hald Sustainable Urban Development and the Chinese Eco-City Concepts, Strategies, Policies and Assessments May Hald mayhald@yahoo.com July 2009 Copyright © Fridtjof Nansen Institute 2009 Title Sustainable Urban Development and Chinese Eco-City: Concepts, Strategies, Policies and Assessments Publication Type and Number FNI Report 5/2009 Author May Hald Project Pages 84 ISBN 978-82-7613-558-9-print version 978-82-7613-559-6-online version ISSN 1504-9744 Abstract The need for sustainable urban planning and development reached an important point in 2007, when half of the world’s population was defined as living in cities. This need is especially true for a country like China, where an unprecedented urban-rural migration has been taking place since 1978. Such a mass movement has posed many sustainability challenges for Chinese cities; for example, China is home to 16 of the 20 most polluted cities in the world. Now China’s leaders are attempting to use the country’s transition to a market economy and integra-tion into the global economy to advance environmental and social issues, also on an urban level. One way the country is confronting urban growth and sustain-ability challenges is through an eco-city development approach. The eco-city concept is relatively new in China, and is being used in cities such as Tianjin and Dongtan near Shanghai. Whether eco-cities address the main problems associat-ed with urban development and sustainability, however, rests on a broader, more fundamental planning approach that would streamline the goals and priorities of a large number of stakeholders, focus on existing city problems and look at small-scale eco- initiatives for answers, and thus remains in question. Key Words Sustainable urban development, Chinese eco-cities, Dongtan, sustainable urban planning, China`s urbanization, governance and urban development, Huangbaiyu, Rizhao, Tianjin, fuzzy planning, urban challenges in China, eco-communities, sustainable city Orders to: Fridtjof Nansen Institute Postboks 326 N-1326 Lysaker, Norway. Tel: (47) 6711 1900 Fax: (47) 6711 1910 Email: post@fni.no Internet: www.fni.no i Contents Acknowledgements iii 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Layout Overview 2 1.2 Research Methods, Literature and Theoretical Approaches 3 2 The New Urban Revolution 7 2.1 Urban Challenges 9 2.2 A Framework for Examining Urban Change 11 2.3 East Meets West? 13 3 Overview of China’s Urbanization 17 3.1 Historical Sketch 18 3.2 Mao’s Vision of the City 19 3.3 Post-Mao Urban Reform 20 3.4 China’s Present Urbanization Patterns 21 4 Challenges for a Sustainable Urban China 23 4.1 Migrant Workers and the Urban Poor 23 4.2 City Space, Land and the Built Environment 24 4.3 Urban Infrastructure 26 4.4 Environmental Degredation and the City 27 4.5 Lack of Natural Resources 29 5 Governance and Urban Development 31 5.1 Governance and Politics in China 31 5.2 Environmental Governance 33 5.3 Local Urban Governance 34 5.4 Governance and Urban Sustainability 36 5.5 An Emerging Civil Society? 38 6 Sustainable Urban Development and the Chinese Eco-City 41 6.1 Sustainable Urban Development 41 6.2 Applying Sustainability to Cities 42 6.3 Eco-City Concept 44 7 Dongtan Eco-City and Other Chinese Eco-City Projects 47 7.1 Dongtan Eco-City 48 7.2 Arup and SIIC: Planning Dongtan 49 7.3 Various Stakeholders 52 ... - tailieumienphi.vn