Overview

In the last thirty years, China has experienced rapid economic development and urbanisation which has resulted in high levels of environmental degradation and has put considerable pressure on the country s infrastructure and natural resources. As China commits to considerably lower the carbon intensity of its economy, this volume analyses and explains the governance of climate change mitigation responses in major Chinese cities. The book focuses specifically on two highly carbon intensive sectors, buildings and transport, in Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong to explore how collaborative municipal networks function in practice in Chinese cities. The authors find that effective coordination relies on the political will of local administrative elites, the political significance attached to climate change issues, the legitimate authority granted to the coordinating agency, and human and financial capitals. Collaboration is hampered by limited span of network engagement, inadequate authority of the primary network participants, insufficient input and output legitimacy of the sectoral innovations, and missing linkages across functionally segregated sectors. The book concludes that the enhanced collaboration and coordination between networks that has emerged in the process of low carbon transitions is transforming the Chinese environmental state into a more pluralistic, inclusive and legitimate one. This book will be of interest to researchers and practitioners across disciplines including Chinese studies, environmental politics and policy, urban studies, and planning and geography.

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9781322344812

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Reviews

'This book is timely and compelling in addressing alignments of governance and climate change mitigation in the urban environment in China. [...] The analysis as a whole, with arenas appreciated and in-depth city assessments addressing contexts, dynamics and challenges in sectors so pertinent to climate change mitigation, neatly threads together theory and practice in making sense of urban environmental governance. In doing so, it is to be commended as adding considerably to a vital and ever-expanding body of literature and knowledge.' Ian Thynne, Australian National University and University of Hong Kong 'the two authors make a serious scholarly and inspiring effort to advance the theoretical frontier and enrich knowledge by examining this quickly emerging topic of environmental protection in China from a governance perspective. ... their study has effectively achieved the objective of advancing a proper understanding of the governance dynamics and challenges of urban climate mitigation in Chinese cities, making an important contribution to the theoretical inquiry of environmental governance. This book will inspire further theoretical and empirical research efforts on climate change governance in general and in China in particular.' Carlos Wing-Hung Lo, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Author Information

Qianqing Mai is a Researcher in the Department of Public Policy, City University of Hong Kong. Maria Francesch-Huidobro is Assistant Professor, Department of Public Policy, City University of Hong Kong, and Honorary Assistant Professor of the Kadoorie Institute, The University of Hong Kong.

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