7. Eco-cities in China: Pearls in the Sea of Degrading Urban Environments?

Economic reforms in China from the 1980s have created substantial material wealth and raised consumption to an unprecedented level. With rising affluence and demand for quality living, densely urbanized zones are increasingly being developed into eco-conscious townships or eco-cities. Whilst commercial entrepreneurship may have adopted norms of eco-city construction in selected sites including coastal areas, major cities and their rapidly extended metropolitan zones have encountered major pollution problems, threatening health and quality of life of ordinary residents. Will eco-cities serve as a normatic model for other Chinese cities to follow towards an improved urban environment? Or are they merely nodal points serving more commercial interests catering to the need of rising middle classes? This chapter investigates the hindrance and potential in developing an environmentally sustainable urban system in a country undergoing a late but rapid urbanization backed up by a huge surplus rural population eager to settle down in the cities. This is followed by analysis of public policy measures in energy saving, promotion of renewable energy, public transport, reforestation, recycling of water and other materials. Finally, the role of ecocities is studied in terms of whether they have the potential to lead a new development path towards a more sustainable urban future in China.