Climate Change Governance in Chinese Cities

In the last 30 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. 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.

Qianqing Mai is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Public Policy in the City University of Hong Kong

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