China’s unprecedented urbanisation has provided relief for over half a billion people out of poverty and generated economic expansion, but has also resulted in pollution, land degradation and energy use increases.
Now is the time for our nation to create a network of compact, connected, and clean cities if we hope to reduce climate change and promote economic development. These new cities should address public health challenges like air pollution while simultaneously protecting biodiversity.
China’s Commitment to Urban Sustainability
Over the past four decades, China has undertaken rapid urbanization as part of its development strategy, lifting half a billion out of poverty while making cities more prosperous. But its rapid development has had some unintended side effects like urban sprawl, pollution, and land degradation, straining infrastructure and resources.
China has implemented innovative sustainability strategies into its city planning and governance system in order to make urbanism more eco-friendly, such as developing green transport systems, improving urban buildings and creating more eco-friendly neighborhoods and cities (Table 2).
China’s 14th Five-Year Plan includes a commitment to peaking carbon emissions during its duration - a step toward sustainability which can protect people and ecosystems against further climate change.
To achieve this goal, it will be necessary to develop a sustainable national and subnational financing system for cities as part of reforms to local governance and capacity for urban planning. Such an endeavor requires building new management structures, financial tools, and talent pools.
China has taken another groundbreaking initiative with their promotion of the Low-Carbon City Pilot Program (LCCP), an innovative central government initiative intended to spur local policy innovation related to low-carbon development. While spontaneous local innovations may take place naturally in US cities, this policy may be initiated from above or compete against other cities for approval from higher levels or simply be horizontal competition between cities.
Green Transportation
Transportation is at the core of China’s commitment to sustainability. China’s population growth and urbanisation have increased demand for public transport while new innovative transportation solutions such as shared bicycles and electric scooters have surfaced as ways of meeting this need.
China faces significant transport system transformation challenges from increasing motorization, leading to high carbon emissions and air pollution levels. Chinese city planners are beginning to realize the importance of public transit services that prioritize people-centred urban design as solutions for this issue.
As part of this change, a variety of sustainable mobility trends are taking hold across Chinese cities. One such innovation is Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), an option which uses dedicated transit networks to offer rapid and convenient access to destinations. BRT currently exists in 21 cities and complements subway systems by shortening travel distance.
China’s sharing economy is also flourishing and has resulted in the widespread use of eco-friendly shared bikes. These bicycles do not emit greenhouse gasses and take up minimal road space - helping cities like Beijing combat gridlock with ease.
Though these trends can help address many of the current barriers to green transport, they must be used alongside other strategies for sustainable urban development - such as education advancement, health enhancement and economic expansion strategies - while simultaneously taking into account environmental and climate emergencies and biodiversity loss.
Eco-Cities
China is the world’s leading city-building nation and rapidly transforming their cities in response to various problems, from rural-urban migration and environmental despoliation, to transitioning towards higher value economies. Instead of approaching these problems with traditional top-down strategies, they have developed innovative sustainability initiatives designed to make their cities more eco-friendly.
eco-city building is one such strategy to address climate change; this new development model seeks to create compact cities with high density buildings and green transportation networks, serving as a key strategy in combatting urban sprawl, which contributes heavily to greenhouse gas emissions.
Eco-cities will go beyond low-carbon construction by offering social amenities such as parks and public transport to reduce carbon emissions. Waste management strategies will also be promoted in order to lower greenhouse emissions.
Tianjin Eco-City will become China’s biggest new eco-city when complete in 2020, comprising seven parts: lifescape, eco-valley, solarscape, windscape urbanscape earthscape and ecocorridors.
Project details also include subsidised public housing programs and green social and recreational facilities to meet population needs. It is anticipated that this eco-city will be replicated throughout China; its success could serve to expand sustainability throughout China’s urban environments.
Vertical Farming
Vertical farming is rapidly taking root across Chinese cities with the aim of increasing local food production. This innovative practice of growing produce indoors through hydroponics, aeroponics and aquaponics technologies.
Urban China, where population growth is rapid and its population rapidly expanding, places an unprecedented emphasis on food security. China accounts for only seven percent of global arable land but 22% of world population; thus ensuring their citizens have access to fresh, sustainable and safe foodstuffs.
Vertical farms can help address these challenges by producing food without using too much energy, water or fertilizers; plus reducing pesticide and fertilizer needs while cutting field-to-store transport times which could harm produce quality.
Vertical farms also must overcome climate challenges to remain effective. While vertical farms can produce food year round, they must also accommodate temperature variations effectively.
Although vertical farms present some unique challenges, experts predict their market will experience considerable expansion as an efficient means of growing and producing food.
Vertical farming offers many benefits for developing countries struggling to afford conventional greenhouses or fields, including reduced energy costs and waste production. Vertical farms can produce vegetables, fruits and herbs while using less fertilizer and water than traditional agriculture practices.
Smart Cities
China policy-makers have made smart cities an integral component of their urban strategy, seeking ways to address pollution, traffic congestion and housing affordability issues while stimulating overall economic development in their respective cities.
The smart city movement is being propelled forward by the rapid advancement of internet-based technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), cloud computing and Internet of Things (IoT). Such applications allow urban management to enhance operations through real-time data collection and analysis.
To create a truly “smart” city, innovations must also consider people’s needs and priorities - this means being responsive to changes in those needs as they occur while engaging them in the development process.
Smart cities must also incorporate open data and democratic access, helping citizens to understand how technologies function and encourage their adoption by showing that these initiatives serve their own best interests. Citizens will likely accept smart cities initiatives more willingly when they understand that they’re being utilized for their benefit rather than against it.
The government is making an aggressive investment in smart city technology, which could prove profitable for both itself and the nation as a whole. While some may express concerns regarding security risks associated with smart city technology use, leaders view smart cities as central components in creating an economy focused on modern service industries rather than industrial production.
Green Buildings
China is developing an ambitious long-term plan to reduce pollution, with plans in place to build and renovate green buildings in urban areas as part of this initiative. Doing so would reduce energy use significantly while simultaneously decreasing CO2 emissions and improving environmental conditions.
Additionally, the government has introduced several incentives to foster green building projects. These include fast approval channels and national plans on energy efficient buildings as well as legislation related to green building.
Chinese cities are currently home to an increasing number of eco-friendly projects, including Johnson Controls’ headquarters in Shanghai which features innovative energy-saving design and cutting-edge smart technology.
Huangbaiyu in Liaoning province in northeast China provides another great example. Thanks to American architect William McDonough’s help, this village was transformed into an eco-friendly community.
However, this project ran into many obstacles. Not only was it time- and budget-consuming; also villagers weren’t keen on moving into their new houses.
These issues underscore the necessity of encouraging green renovations in existing buildings over creating large green building pilot projects. While this approach may not have as great an effect as starting from scratch, it has the potential to improve effectiveness of green building policies and increase effectiveness of policies pertaining to green buildings.
Urban Green Spaces
Chinese cities are developing an abundance of urban green spaces, including parks. These environmental oases help purify air pollution and mitigate heat island effects while providing social and recreational areas where residents can exercise, play and unwind.
Recently, there has been an upsurge in urban park construction across the nation; Shanghai for instance added 55 parks last year alone!
These parks combine traditional Chinese garden elements and contemporary architecture in their design, such as winding corridors, pagodas and bridges.
But although these parks are revolutionizing Chinese cities, many still face accessibility and equity challenges. A lot of them are located in densely populated areas without easy access to mass transit systems and other amenities.
However, planning and management strategies often overlook this problem, leading to certain core areas such as high-density residential neighborhoods having limited greenspace coverage resulting in unequal exposure and thus negatively affecting quality of life as well as ecosystem services in these locations.
In Conclusion
China’s commitment to urban sustainability is commendable. Their innovative sustainability strategies are transforming their cities into more eco-friendly places. China’s 14th Five-Year Plan includes peaking carbon emissions during its duration which is a step toward sustainability that can protect people and ecosystems against further climate change.
However, there are still challenges to overcome. Urban green spaces, for instance, still face accessibility and equity challenges. Many parks are located in densely populated areas without easy access to mass transit systems and other amenities. There is a need for planning and management strategies to address these problems, leading to equal exposure and thus improving the quality of life as well as ecosystem services. Nonetheless, China has set an example for other countries to follow by taking innovative steps to combat climate change and promoting economic development.