A Study of Urban Environmental Management in the Natural Resource-Based Industrial City of Jinchang, China

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Enhancing the Understanding of Urban Systems for Sustainability Transition: A Study of Urban Environmental Management in the Natural Resource-Based Industrial City of Jinchang, China

Ying Li

M.Sc., B.Sc. in Geography

A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at

The University of Queensland in 2017

The School of Geography, Planning and Environmental Management

Abstract

Rapid world urbanisation calls attention to the issue of sustainable urban development. Urbanisation problems are especially pressing in the industrial cities of China, where environmental conditions have deteriorated with rapid economic and urban development. This study is an exploration of sustainability in an urban context using the natural resource-based industrial city of Jinchang in N.W. China as a case study. The main objective of this study has been to gain a better understanding of urban systems and potential ways of facilitating urban sustainability.

The study demonstrates that urban transitions toward sustainability can be facilitated by a systematic and holistic understanding of complex urban systems. The study established a theoretical framework for understanding sustainable urban development and reviewed China’s environmental governance philosophies to provide a cultural and political context. A mixed methodology that combined quantitative and qualitative approaches was then applied to Jinchang City to test this framework.

Urban metabolism modelling using Material Flow Analysis (MFA) was used to model Jinchang’s urban biophysical system and evaluate its sustainability potential over a twenty years period. The study showed that Jinchang’s urban development relies heavily on local resources with high material/energy consumption and high waste/pollution generation. This directly challenges sustainable urban development. However, a sustainable trend was observed as economic growth has been strongly decoupled from air pollution while material utilisation efficiency has significantly improved. This suggests that synchronised progress in economic development and environmental improvement requires radical transformations of dematerialisation and decoupling of economic growth from material/energy consumption by adopting technical approaches of cleaner production, circular economy and economic structural adjustment.

A field inquiry with semi-structured interview as the main approach explored multi-level human responses to urban problems. This provided insights into the real world from a bottom-up perspective and helped to gain an in-depth understanding of human-environment interactions. The model of urban social system based on public responses revealed that the influences of urban social system on sustainable urban development are determined by key factors in three clusters: commitment of stakeholders, institutional development, and personal development. The challenge for a transition to sustainable behaviour is to bridge the gaps between knowledge and practice. The commitment of government is particularly important in promoting collaboration and participation of stakeholders to fill knowledge gaps and confront governance challenges. Cultural and personal development are soft i power to accelerate this transition by promoting the knowledge, motivation and commitment of stakeholders. The study suggests that transitions towards sustainability involve multi-level reforms and their synthesis across levels to improve governance and innovation in both the economy and environment.

This study contributes to the understanding of complex urban systems and the growing multidisciplinary knowledge on urban sustainability. By exploring the urban systems and its sustainability challenges using mixed methods, the study demonstrates how urban systems can be systematically understood and improved from an integrated biophysical and social perspectives. This particularly involves public participation and social elements into consideration of urban sustainability.

Finally adaptive and synergistic strategies for an integrated decision-making and regulatory system are proposed to facilitate urban transitions toward sustainability in the Chinese context. This exemplifies a model for urban transition among China’s rapidly industrialising cities. It also has wider implications for other parts of the world that are experiencing similar rapid growth trajectories.

Declaration by author

This thesis is composed of my original work, and contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference has been made in the text. I have clearly stated the contribution by others to jointly-authored works that I have included in my thesis.

I have clearly stated the contribution of others to my thesis as a whole, including statistical assistance, survey design, data analysis, significant technical procedures, professional editorial advice, and any other original research work used or reported in my thesis. The content of my thesis is the result of work that I have carried out since the commencement of my research higher degree candidature and does not include a substantial part of work that has been submitted to qualify for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university or other tertiary institution. I have clearly stated which parts of my thesis, if any, have been submitted to qualify for another award.

I acknowledge that an electronic copy of my thesis must be lodged with the University Library and, subject to the policy and procedures of The University of Queensland, the thesis be made available for research and study in accordance with the Copyright Act 1968 unless a period of embargo has been approved by the Dean of the Graduate School.

I acknowledge that copyright of all material contained in my thesis resides with the copyright holder(s) of that material. Where appropriate I have obtained copyright permission from the copyright holder to reproduce material in this thesis.

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Publications during candidature

Li, Y., Cheng, H., Beeton, R.J.S., Sigler T., and Halog, A., 2015. Sustainability from a Chinese cultural perspective: the implications of harmonious development in environmental management. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 18, 679-696. DOI: 10.1007/s10668-015-9671-9

Li, Y., Beeton, R.J.S., Sigler T., and Halog, A., 2016. Modelling the transition toward urban sustainability: a case study of the industrial city of Jinchang, China. Journal of Cleaner Production, 134, 22-30. DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.10.053

Li, Y., Beeton, R.J.S., Halog, A. and Sigler T., 2016. Evaluating urban sustainability potential based on material flow analysis of inputs and outputs: a case study in Jinchang City, China. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 110, 87-98. DOI: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2016.03.023

Publications included in this thesis

The main research outcomes and approach of this paper are incorporated in Chapter 2 and 3. The paper is wholly attached in the Appendix D.

Contributor Statement of contribution Designed experiments (60%) Ying Li Wrote the paper (60%) Designed experiments (10%) Hao Cheng Wrote and edited paper (10%) Designed experiments (10%) R.J.S. Beeton Wrote and edited paper (10%) Designed experiments (10%) Thomas Sigler Wrote and edited paper (10%) Designed experiments (10%) Anthony Halog Wrote and edited paper (10%)

The research objectives, approaches and outcomes of this paper are incorporated in Chapter 3-7. The paper is wholly attached in the Appendix E.

Contributor Statement of contribution Designed experiments (70%) Ying Li Wrote the paper (70%) Designed experiments (10%) R.J.S. Beeton Wrote and edited paper (10%) Designed experiments (10%) Thomas Sigler Wrote and edited paper (10%) Designed experiments (10%) Anthony Halog Wrote and edited paper (10%)

The research objectives, approaches and outcomes of this paper are incorporated in Chapter 3 and 4. The paper is wholly attached in the Appendix F.

Contributor Statement of contribution Designed experiments (70%) Ying Li Wrote the paper (70%) Designed experiments (10%) R.J.S. Beeton Wrote and edited paper (10%) Designed experiments (10%) Anthony Halog Wrote and edited paper (10%) Designed experiments (10%) Thomas Sigler Wrote and edited paper (10%)

Contributions by others to the thesis

No contributions by others

Statement of parts of the thesis submitted to qualify for the award of another degree

None

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Acknowledgements

I would like to express my gratitude to all the people who have helped me during my study at the University of Queensland. I thank my academic advisors, Associate Professor R.J.S. (Bob) Beeton, Dr. Thomas Sigler and Dr. Anthony Halog, for their academic advising, support and encouragement throughout my research. I am grateful for the opportunity to work with them. Special thanks to Bob for all of his kindness and wisdom from which I have benefited a lot. I will always appreciate that.

I am also grateful to my colleagues, whose help and support have facilitated the completion of this study. Their interesting ideas, enthusiasm and experience have inspired me a lot. These include, Hao Cheng, Tho Quach, Hong Nga Nguyen, Rodolfo Sapiains Arrue, Chantinee Boonchai, Vathsala Abeygunawardane, Trishah Rillorta, Bradd Witt, Patrick Moss, Long Cheng, and others whose names are not here. I would also like to thank Ros Beeton, who helped me with thesis edit, and particularly I am grateful for her warm welcome to me and my families in Australia.

I thank the University of Queensland and China Scholarship Council for their provision of scholarships and research funds that allow me to pursue my study at UQ. I would also like to thank the staff at the School of Geography, Planning and Environmental Management for their assistance with administrative matters. Thanks to the interview participants for their support and insights and to those people who have helped me with data collection and interpersonal communication in the fieldwork.

Last but not the least, I would like to give my thanks to my parents who have never stopped giving me their unconditional love and support. I am grateful to my lovely friends who have given their generous friendship and accompanied with me all of my days. I wish to express my appreciation to my partner-in-life Huiyuan (Shark) Liu for his love and for those happy and difficult times we spent together. At last I have to give a big hug to myself for all the efforts I have made on this memorable track of PhD study.

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Keywords

Sustainable development, urban systems, urban sustainability, environmental management, harmonious development, human response, material flow analysis, urban transition, industrial cities, north-western China

Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classifications (ANZSRC)

ANZSRC code: 050205 Environmental Management, 40%

ANZSRC code: 120507 Urban Analysis and Development, 40%

ANZSRC code: 160606 Government and Politics of Asia and the Pacific, 20%

Fields of Research (FoR) Classification

FoR code: Group 0502 Environmental Science and Management, 60%

FoR code: Group 1205 Urban and Regional Planning, 40%

Table of Contents

Abstract ...... i Declaration by author ...... iii Publications during candidature ...... iv Publications included in this thesis ...... v Statement of parts of the thesis submitted to qualify for the award of another degree ...... vii Acknowledgements ...... viii Keywords ...... ix Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classifications (ANZSRC) ...... ix Fields of Research (FoR) Classification ...... ix Table of Contents ...... x List of Figures ...... xiv List of Tables ...... xvi Abbreviations ...... xvii

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION, RESEARCH QUESTION AND STRUCTURE ...... 1 1.1 Introduction ...... 1 1.2 Sustainable Urban Development ...... 2 1.3 Sustainability in the Context of China ...... 3 1.4 Research Questions and Objectives ...... 5 1.5 Research Scope and Bounds ...... 6 1.6 Dissertation Structure ...... 7

CHAPTER 2: SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: AN IMPERATIVE CHOICE ...... 11 2.1 Sustainable Development ...... 12 2.1.1 Resource and Ecological Crisis as Impetus for Sustainable Development ...... 12 2.1.2 Sustainable Development Interpretation and Evolution ...... 14 2.1.3 Urban Sustainability ...... 16 2.2 Urban Socio-economic Systems ...... 19 2.2.1 Understanding Urban Systems ...... 19 2.2.2 The Socialised Urban Environment ...... 22 2.2.3 Environmental and Social Impacts of Urbanisation ...... 23 2.3 Human Response: An Approach to Understanding the Human-environment Interactions ...... 24 2.3.1 Personal Value, Attitude and Behaviour ...... 25 2.3.2 Human–environment Interaction ...... 26 2.3.3 Public Participation in Environmental Management ...... 27 x

2.4 China’s Urban Sustainability and Harmonious Development ...... 28 2.4.1 Culture of Harmonious Development as Soft Power in China ...... 29 2.4.2 China’s Development Path ...... 33 2.4.3 Urban Development in China ...... 35 2.4.4 Urban Environmental Governance System ...... 37 2.4.5 Sustainable Urban Development Approaches in China ...... 38 2.5 Chapter Conclusion ...... 41

CHAPTER 3: A MIXED METHODOLOGY ...... 45 3.1 Research Framework ...... 45 3.1.1 Systems Thinking with Multi-level Perspective ...... 46 3.1.2 Research Framework of DPSIR ...... 47 3.2 Case Study Approach ...... 49 3.2.1 Case Study Design ...... 49 3.2.2 Case Study Selection ...... 50 3.2.3 Study Area Introduction ...... 51 3.3 The Quantitative Component: Modelling Urban Metabolism through MFA ...... 54 3.3.1 Quantitative Data Sources ...... 55 3.3.2 Analytical Procedure and Methods ...... 55 3.4 The Qualitative Component: Understanding Interactions between Humans and Urban Environment . 57 3.4.1 Qualitative Data Sources and Data Collection Methods ...... 57 3.4.2 Interview Questions and Composition of Interviewees ...... 58 3.4.3 Qualitative Data Interpretation and Analysis ...... 59 3.5 Expected Limitations ...... 61

CHAPTER 4: URBAN METABOLIC SYSTEM MODELLING ...... 63 4.1 Material Flows of Inputs and Outputs in Urban Systems ...... 63 4.2 Variations in Material Inputs ...... 65 4.3 Changes of Main Pollutants and Wastes ...... 67 4.4 Structural Decomposition of Material flows ...... 70 4.5 Decoupling Economic Growth from Material Flows ...... 72 4.6 Chapter Conclusion ...... 75

CHAPTER 5: PUBLIC PERCEPTION ON THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT ...... 78 5.1 Urban Environmental Changes and Impacts ...... 78 5.1.1 The Environment of Jinchang ...... 79 5.1.2 Impacts of Air Pollution ...... 80 5.1.3 Environmental Changes and Challenges ...... 81

5.2 Economic Dilemma and Opportunities ...... 83 5.2.1 Local Economy and Industrial Development ...... 83 5.2.2 Pollution Control vs. Economic Development ...... 85 5.2.3 Economic Transformation ...... 86 5.3 Urban Construction and Planning ...... 87 5.3.1 Urban Expansion ...... 87 5.3.2 Housing and Infrastructure Construction ...... 89 5.3.3 Urban Ecological Construction ...... 90 5.4 Public Understanding of Social Progress as the Basis of Sustainability ...... 91 5.5 Group Differentiation in Human Perception of the Urban Environment ...... 93 5.6 Chapter Conclusion ...... 96

CHAPTER 6: URBAN SOCIAL SYSTEM UNDERSTANDING ...... 99 6.1 Causal Chains Underlying Urban Social Systems ...... 99 6.2 Commitment of Stakeholders ...... 101 6.2.1 Commitment of Government ...... 102 6.2.2 Commitment of Local Enterprises ...... 103 6.2.3 Multi-stakeholders Cooperation ...... 104 6.3 Institutional Development ...... 106 6.3.1 Deficiency in Current Governance ...... 107 6.3.2 Institutional Reform and Development ...... 108 6.4 Personal Development ...... 109 6.4.1 Pro-environmental Behaviour at Individual Level ...... 110 6.4.2 Intellectual Capital Management ...... 111 6.5 Chapter Conclusion ...... 112

CHAPTER 7: URBAN ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT AND IMPLICATIONS FOR THE SUSTAINABILITY TRANSITIONS ...... 116 7.1 Multi-level Environmental Policy and Management ...... 116 7.2 National Level Response and Institutional Reform ...... 118 7.3 Municipal Level Response ...... 120 7.3.1 Enhancing Multi-stakeholders Collaboration and Public Participation ...... 121 7.3.2 Urban Eco-environmental Construction and Urban Form Adaptation ...... 124 7.4 Industrial and Enterprise Level Response ...... 131 7.4.1 Economic Transformation to Diversification ...... 131 7.4.2 Promotion of Cleaner Production and Circular Economy ...... 134 7.4.3 Enhancing Technological Innovation ...... 135 7.5 Individual and Social Level Response ...... 136 xii

7.5.1 Human and Intellectual Capital Management ...... 137 7.5.2 Transformative Behaviour and Sustainable Lifestyle ...... 138 7.6 Chapter Conclusion ...... 140

CHAPTER 8: CONCLUSION ...... 145 8.1 Main Research Findings ...... 145 8.1.1 Implications of Harmonious Development in China’s Modern Development and Environmental Management ...... 146 8.1.2 Urban Metabolic System Modelling and Sustainability Potential Evaluation ...... 148 8.1.3 Public Perception on the State of Urban Environment ...... 149 8.1.4 Urban Social System Understanding with regard to Urban Sustainability ...... 151 8.1.5 Urban Transitions toward Sustainability in North-western China ...... 153 8.2 Integrated Discussion ...... 155 8.3 Future Research ...... 156 8.4 Final Remarks ...... 157

REFERENCES ...... 158 APPENDICES ...... 185 Appendix A. Interview Running Sheet ...... 185 Appendix B. Participant Information Sheet ...... 190 Appendix C. Participant Consent Form ...... 192 Appendix D...... 194 Sustainability from a Chinese Cultural Perspective: The Implications of Harmonious Development in Environmental Management ...... 194 Appendix E...... 216 Modelling the Transition toward Urban Sustainability: A Case Study of the Industrial City of Jinchang, China ...... 216 Appendix F...... 239 Evaluating Urban Sustainability Potential based on Material Flow Analysis of Inputs and Outputs: A Case Study in Jinchang City, China ...... 239

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List of Figures

Figure 1. 1 Interrelationships of research questions, techniques, data and thesis chapters ...... 9

Figure 2. 1 The number of publications using specific words of ‘sustainab*’ in topics from 1985 to 2015 ... 12 Figure 2. 2 Pollution and sustainability of resource use caused by economic growth ...... 13 Figure 2. 3 Mapping of views on sustainable development ...... 16 Figure 2. 4 Venn diagram for understanding “the three interconnecting systems” of sustainable cities ...... 20 Figure 2. 5 Interrelationship evolution of the urban triple-bottom-line systems ...... 20 Figure 2. 6 The circular metabolism of cities ...... 21 Figure 2. 7 Cognitive hierarchy model of human behaviour ...... 25 Figure 2. 8 Different scenarios of Environmental Kuznets Curve ...... 34 Figure 2. 9 Correlation of urbanisation rate and economic growth in China between 1978 and 2010 ...... 35 Figure 2. 10 The variation of urbanisation rate in China between 1949 and 2010 ...... 35 Figure 2. 11 China’s multi-level environmental governance system ...... 38

Figure 3. 1 Mental map of this study ...... 47 Figure 3. 2 Conceptual framework of DPSIR applied to this study ...... 48 Figure 3. 3 Location of Jinchang City ...... 52 Figure 3. 4 Causal loops of urban population, industrial development, environment and land use ...... 53 Figure 3. 5 Mixed analytical methods applied in the study ...... 54 Figure 3. 6 Statistical information of interviewees ...... 59 Figure 3. 7 Interview nodes structured to explore human responses to the urban environment and SD ...... 60

Figure 4. 1 Composition and changes of material inputs in Jinchang City between 1995 and 2014 ...... 64 Figure 4. 2 Consumption of construction materials in Jinchang City between 1995 and 2014 ...... 66 Figure 4. 3 Changes of main pollutants and solid wastes in Jinchang City between 1995 and 2014 ...... 67 Figure 4. 4 MO of solid waste per unit of MI in Jinchang City between 1995 and 2014...... 68 Figure 4. 5 Decoupling economic growth from material flow factors in decoupling framework ...... 73

Figure 5. 1 Causal loop diagram of factors influencing urban environment ...... 78 Figure 5. 2 Causal relationships of factors influencing urban economy...... 83 Figure 5. 3 Causal loops of key factors influencing urban construction ...... 87 Figure 5. 4 Structure of social progress formulation as reported by informants ...... 92 Figure 5. 5 Group differentiation in self-reported satisfaction with the state of urban environment ...... 94 Figure 5. 6 Word frequency of public perception of urban environment with regard to urban sustainability 96 xiv

Figure 6. 1 Causal loop diagram (CLD) of the social factors influencing sustainable urban development .. 100 Figure 6. 2 CLD of the commitment of stakeholders in influencing sustainable urban development ...... 101 Figure 6. 3 CLD of institutional development in influencing the capacity of sustainability transition ...... 106 Figure 6. 4 CLD of personal development in influencing people’s pro-environmental behaviour ...... 109

Figure 7. 1 Policies and strategies with regard to urban environmental management in China since 1979 and showing the responses of Jinchang City ...... 117 Figure 7. 2 The slogans of the CPC since 1980s representing China’s policy evolution related to SD ...... 119 Figure 7. 3 An innovative framework of multi-stakeholder cooperation ...... 122 Figure 7. 4 Transition of urban layout and land use in Jinchang City from 1985 to 2015 ...... 127 Figure 7. 5 Dynamic urban from of separating residential areas from industrial areas in Jinchang City ...... 130 Figure 7. 6 Urban economic transformation and diversification for a sustainable economy ...... 132 Figure 7. 7 Three-level recycling circles in urban systems ...... 135 Figure 7. 8 Enhancing governance and public participation in policy and strategy implementation ...... 140 Figure 7. 9 Adaptive responses of stakeholders to urban DPSI with regard to sustainability transition ...... 141 Figure 7. 10 Integrated decision-making and regulatory system of urban sustainability transitions ...... 142

List of Tables

Table 2. 1 China’s Policy evolution and its related slogans, movements, institutional changes and environmental management ...... 32

Table 3. 1 Economic structure and GDP per capita in Jinchang City ...... 52

Table 4. 1 Composition of material inputs in Jinchang City ...... 63 Table 4. 2 Composition of material outputs of Jinchang City ...... 65 Table 4. 3 Average annual growth of variables by structural decomposition analysis of MF ...... 71 Table 4. 4 Decoupling economic growth from material flow factors ...... 72 Table 4. 5 Decoupling GDP from MF in multiple periods ...... 74

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Abbreviations

CASS Chinese Academy of Social Sciences CHANS Coupled Human and Natural System CLD Causal Loop Diagram CNY Chinese Yuan CPC Communist Party of China CPPCC Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference CSC China State Council DEA Data Envelopment Analysis DEP Department of Environmental Protection DPSIR Driving-Pressure-State-Impact-Response DRC Department Research Centre of the State Council EEA European Environment Agency EF Ecological Footprint EKC Environmental Kuznets Curve EPB Environmental Protection Bureau EPBC Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation EV Electric Vehicle FYP Five-Year Plan GDP Gross Domestic Product GGI Green Growth Indicator GHG Greenhouse Gas GIS Geographic Information System GOIA Government-Organised Industrial Association GPI Genuine Progress Indicator HD Harmonious Development HRM Human Resource Management HS Harmonious Society ICEV Internal Combustion Engine Vehicle IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change IUCN International Union for Conservation of Nature JNMC Jinchuan Group Ltd LUCC Land Use and Coverage Change MCDM Multi-Criteria Decision Making MDGs Millennium Development Goals MEP Ministry of Environmental Protection MFA Material Flow Analysis xvii

MHURD Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development MI Material Input MILU Multiple and Intensive Land Use MO Material Output NBSC National Bureau of Statistics of China NDRC National Development and Reform Commission NFPP Natural Forest Protection Program NGO Non-government Organisation NMFAP National Main Functional Areas Planning NPC National People's Congress OECD Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development PRC People's Republic of China R&D Research and Development RQ Research Question RS Remote Sensing SD Sustainable Development SDA Structural Decomposition Analysis SEPA State Environmental Protection Administration SGOIA Semi-Government-Organised Industrial Association SME Small and Medium Enterprise SOE State Owned Enterprise SoE State of the Environment SOIA Self-Organised Industrial Association SPM Small Particulate Matter TBL Triple-Bottom-Line TRS Targeted Responsibility System UGS Urban Green Space UNCED United Nations Conference on Environment and Development UNCHE United Nations Conference on the Human Environment UNCSD United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development UNEP United Nations Environmental Programme USGS United States Geological Survey WBCSD World Business Council for Sustainable Development WCED World Commission on Environment and Development WMC Western Mining Corporation Ltd WSSD World Summit on Sustainable Development WTO World Trade Organisation WWF World Wildlife Fund

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION, RESEARCH QUESTION AND STRUCTURE

1.1 Introduction

More than half of the world’s population currently live in urban areas and global urbanisation is increasing (UNEP, 2012). Urbanisation is most rapid in the developing world and continues to rise (Martine, 2008; Rana and Marwasta, 2015; Wachter and Birch, 2011). Urbanisation is accompanied by a varying mix of economic growth, intensive resource use, energy consumption, waste production, and environmental pollution. Many countries in East and South Asia, Africa and South America are confronted with these issues on a serious scale (Cohen, 2004; Martine, 2008).

Some commentators expect urbanisation to continue with profound impacts on the natural environment (Bettencourt and West, 2010; Marcotullio and McGranahan, 2007; Mumford, 1961). Some make predictions of social conflicts, ecosystem services decline, collapse of basic services and health problems if urbanisation is not properly managed (Bateman and Hochman, 1971; Leon, 2008; Saich and Yusuf, 2008). Others propose an alternative view that urbanisation can contribute to environmental conservation as urban residents use less resources per capita because of enhanced resource use efficiency and improved environmental regulation (Fan and Qi, 2010; Glaeser et al., 1992).

The reality is that both views are supported by evidence from existing big cities and new cities that are experiencing rapid growth (Bai et al., 2010; Haas, 2012; Newton, 2008). The people and governments of these cities are challenged to find solutions to the multitude of problems associated with rapid change. China is often cited in such discussions (Li et al., 2014b; Lu, 2012; The World Bank and DRC of China, 2014), however it is not unique as spectacular urbanisation can be witnessed worldwide (UN, 2014).

This study seeks to contribute to the understanding of urban systems and in so doing identify potential strategies that facilitate urban transitions toward sustainability with a focus on a relatively new city in western China. To achieve this, it explores the many dimensions of sustainability in the urban context. This involves modelling of urban systems and understanding the interactions between governance, culture and the urban environment that influence urban sustainability and hence any transition to it.

Most studies of urban sustainability focus on environmental and economic aspects of urban systems and often neglect the vital role of human society including its governance, cultural influences and context-specific issues (Stossel et al., 2015; Vojnovic, 2014; Weingaertner and Moberg, 2014; Wu, 2014). This study firstly addresses issues associated with the understanding of urban biophysical and social systems in the context of the management philosophies and policies of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC). By adopting an integrated approach that utilises mixed methods, an empirical study of the interactions between biophysical and human urban systems was carried out. Components of the study are consequently based on theories, conceptual frameworks and research approaches from different disciplines. This multidisciplinary approach focuses on strategies for facilitating urban sustainability that reflect the real world complexity of a natural resource-based industrial city, namely Jinchang in north-western China.

This study demonstrates how the urban systems and the associated urban transitions toward sustainability can be understood and facilitated. The study focuses on urban systems modelling associated with resource utilisation, environmental changes, human-environment interactions and adaptive management. In particular, inquiry tools are utilised to explore the interactions between humans and urban systems. By combining quantitative modelling of urban metabolism with a qualitative inquiry into human responses, this study examines urban problems and suggests strategies to promote better urban transitions from integrated biophysical and social perspectives. This builds on the theoretical basis of urban metabolism (Girardet, 2004; Kennedy et al., 2011) and human- environment interaction (Brondízio and Chowdhury, 2013; Moran, 2010) to identify changes and suggest adaptive responses which, when combined with informed public understanding and insights, can create adaptive changes in the environmental, economic and social dimensions of the city.

1.2 Sustainable Urban Development

Sustainable urban development is a fundamental discourse for all cities. This is particularly so for new industrial cities in rapidly developing countries where local residents and ecological systems are being significantly impacted by the externalities of economic growth (Dong et al., 2015; Wu et al., 2012). While contributing to economic welfare, improved living conditions and social progress, the growth of cities challenges biophysical systems and potentially threatens human health and long-term development (Bettencourt and West, 2010; Dye, 2008; Galea and Vlahov, 2005; Leon, 2008; Moore et al., 2003; Shen et al., 2012). However, the environmental externalities and impacts on human health are often marginalised in favour of economic concerns (Matus et al., 2012a; McKenzie, 2008; Srivastava, 2009). Consequently rapid urbanisation around the world, associated with intensive 2 resource and energy consumption, waste generation and environmental degradation calls for a transition toward more sustainable models of urban development (Giddings et al., 2005; Girardet, 1999; UN, 2002). The UNEP’s ten-year framework of programs on sustainable consumption and production (10YFP) also emphasises the necessity for improved systems of economic, industrial and environmental management involving integrated systematic changes (Cohen et al., 2013; Tseng et al., 2013).

As centres of human activity that directly and indirectly dominate biophysical systemic changes, cities have become a focal point for achieving global sustainable development (Camagni et al., 1998; Parkin, 2000; Stilwell and Larcombe, 1980). In 2002 the UN emphasised the significance of sustainable cities and research on urban sustainability has accelerated accordingly (Childers et al., 2014; McCormick et al., 2013; Nevens et al., 2013; Shen et al., 2011; Wu, 2014). Giddings et al. (2005) stated that “the overriding objective of urban sustainability is to achieve a high quality of life for the whole community within a socio-economic framework that minimises the impact of the city on the local and global environment”. To explore the factors influencing the operation of urban systems, Willis (2005) identified people, urban form, communication, legislation, and public investment as key areas of investigation. Zhang’s (2006b) synthesis contends that urban structure and function need to be improved constantly at the micro-level to achieve urban sustainability. More recently Dendler et al. (2012) saw a sustainable future as requiring multi-level and multi-actor transitions from the physical to the institutional, from government to the community, and from the public to the private sectors. Such a perspective strongly suggests that a multi-disciplinary approach to urban problems is required.

1.3 Sustainability in the Context of China

Sustainable development as a goal enjoys a broad consensus in the environmental science and policy discourses, but its implications differ in specific cultural contexts (Boonchai and Beeton, 2015; Calder et al., 2002; Li et al., 2015; Nurse, 2006). It has to be integrated with local conditions and cultures when applied to a particular context. Therefore, environmental management and urban sustainability in China has to be addressed in the context of China considering its culture and way of governance. This requires a dynamic and systemic thinking approach.

The challenge of achieving sustainable development is global, but China in particular offers researchers opportunities to test innovative systemic changes (Matus et al., 2012b; McMichael, 2011). Ideas that resemble sustainable development are not new to Chinese culture, but have roots in ancient 3

Chinese philosophy (Li et al., 2015). This in turn influences current governance and policies. As a distinct local discourse, the ancient meaning of “harmony” gives China unique sustainability perspectives with institutional implications for policies of harmonious development and environmental management (Li et al., 2015).

China has the largest population in the world. The Sixth National Census (2010)1 revealed that the population of China has reached 1.37 billion, with 49.68 per cent of the population living in urban areas and the trend of migration into cities shows no sign of decreasing. The combination of population, resource endowment and the need for economic development puts tremendous pressure on both resources and the environment. It also places pressure on China’s urban environmental systems and challenges the possibility of sustainable urban development. Many of China’s large and newly emerging small to medium sized cities have reached crisis levels in terms of pollution and related health hazards (Chen et al., 2012; Economy, 2005; Gong et al., 2012; Kan et al., 2012). Given the consumer-oriented lifestyle aspirations of China’s emerging middle classes (Reusswig, 2010), urban sustainability must be addressed at this critical juncture.

Currently China is driven to create a new national identity of “harmonious development” that involves Chinese traditional philosophies and values implying sustainable development in its modern administration (Li et al., 2015). The slogans of “harmonious society”, “ecological civilisation” and “Chinese dream” reflect this new way of responding to the world with the aspiration to achieve cleaner growth, personal prosperity and social stability (Table 2.1 in Chapter 2). Various concepts and models for urban development, with sustainability as a constant theme, have been adopted in many Chinese cities (de Jong, 2013; Liu et al., 2014; Zhou et al., 2012). Meanwhile ministries, bureaus, commissions and agencies have been increasingly involved in urban environmental management (Huang et al., 2010; Liu et al., 2014; Mol, 2006).

Cities engaged in heavy industry typically evolve over time from focusing on rapid development with significant environmental costs and human impacts, to a restoration phase and finally to maturity (Dasgupta et al., 2002; Dinda, 2004). This final phase may be one of contractions as de-intensified production is often linked to a remediated natural urban environment and the emergence of a service

1 The reference time for the Sixth National Census was November 1st, 2010. The census surveys the basic situation of the population and household, including: gender, age, nationality, education, occupation, migration, social security, marriage and birth, death, and housing situation. The object of the census was the natural person residing in the territory of the People’s Republic of China (excluding Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan regions). The National Bureau of Statistics released the results of the Sixth National Census on April 28th, 2011. 4 based local economy. Historically this process has been a long and complex one, and a focus on how it occurs has wider implications for cities worldwide.

This study of an industrial city in north-western China provides a model of how new industrial cities have the potential to be significant actors in the transition toward urban sustainability in the context of China. Specifically this study suggests how necessary environmental improvements for north- western China can be achieved and a model for the developing world can be created.

1.4 Research Questions and Objectives

The above suggests that the problem of sustainability transitions for rapidly developing urban areas is complex and demands investigations that are interdisciplinary and problem orientated. To focus this study two theses were proposed as a basis for leading the literature to research questions and the subsequent study. The two theses are:

i. Urban transitions toward sustainability can be facilitated by understanding the complex urban systems. ii. Urban transitions toward sustainability are dependent on integrated transformations which are culturally and politically appropriate.

To explore these theses from both technological and social-economic perspectives, five research questions (RQ) were developed to guide this research:

RQ 1: How have Chinese traditional philosophies and New China’s policies concerning sustainable development evolved and how do they influence China’s modern administration and development?

RQ 2: How can the urban metabolism framework be applied in understanding urban physical systems and evaluating urban sustainability potential?

RQ 3: How do local residents respond to the state of the urban environment? What is the difference in their response among different groups of local residents?

RQ 4: How does the urban social system influence sustainable urban development?

RQ 5: What are the most critical gaps in achieving urban sustainability, and how can urban transitions toward sustainability be facilitated with emphasis on urban environmental management in the context of north-western China?

This study is about enhancing a systematic understanding of urban systems and facilitating urban transitions towards sustainability. From the three perspectives of urban physical metabolism modelling, urban social system understanding, and decision-making improvement, the objectives of this research are articulated as follows:

1) Enhance urban systems understanding to identify the source of problems and explore the potential of urban sustainability; 2) Increase the understanding of urban sustainability in social and cultural contexts based on public response investigation and develop strategies to involve public participation in urban environmental management; 3) Improve environmental management and facilitate urban sustainability transitions by framing integrated decision-making and regulatory systems appropriate in the Chinese context.

1.5 Research Scope and Bounds

The terms ‘urban area’ and ‘city’ refer to both the geographical or ecological entity, and their use will be interchangeable throughout this dissertation depending on context to represent Jinchang City. Jinchang City is those parts of the administrative area with a high population density and the concentration of social and economic activities, and is exclusive of the surrounding towns and rural areas. The time span of this study is from the establishment of Jinchang as a prefectural-level city in 1981 to the present.

Economic development, environmental impacts and human responses are basic research dimensions in this study. A top-down response hierarchy from the central government, to local government, local enterprises, and local residents forms the framework for the interactions of human activities with the urban systems. In this context integrated environmental management is considered an effective path for shaping sustainable urban systems.

1.6 Dissertation Structure

Multiple approaches and methods have been adopted in this study. Figure 1.1 shows the interrelationships of research questions, research techniques, data categories and corresponding chapters to present the interior structure of this thesis. From this framework, it is proposed that a transition to urban sustainability is possible through improved planning and regulation that are informed by the improvement of material and energy flows, linked with broader understanding on how urban systems function. The resolution of this depends upon the understanding of the urban biophysical systems and how they interact with human responses in the Chinese context.

Three papers were published during the course of this study. Materials from or related to these papers are incorporated in this dissertation and referenced as appropriate.

The dissertation is structured in eight chapters. The first chapter has introduced the current environmental and urban problems and emphasises the need for facilitating urban transitions toward sustainable development. Taking Jinchang City as a case study, the research questions and objectives of this study are proposed as a framework for integrating urban metabolism modelling and social inquiries into urban systems understanding and adaptive environmental management.

Chapter 2 reviews the theories and practical problems of sustainable urban development relevant to this study. Starting from the general to the particular, this chapter outlines the fundamental theories and research background concerning sustainable development, urban metabolic and socio-economic systems, human-environment interactions, and their implications for China’s development and regulatory policies. This addresses research question (RQ 1), which is supplemented by a published paper (Appendix D). The chapter highlights that studies on sustainable development in China should be contextualised in Chinese culture, an observation that has significant implications for future sustainability transitions in China. The chapter also identifies gaps in the existing research that require further studies. In doing so the chapter establishes a basic of the two theses and four remaining research questions.

Chapter 3 discusses the research framework and the mixed methodology used in the study which combines quantitative and qualitative approaches. Data collection, analytical methods and the purposes of using these methods are introduced. This in turn established the framework that allows the research questions to be answered in the subsequent chapters.

Chapter 4 presents the quantitative modelling of urban metabolism to explore the urban biophysical systems. It reveals the variation of urban material/energy utilisation and efficiency and environmental changes, and evaluates the urban sustainability potential for the city. The urban metabolism modelling demonstrates how the urban metabolism framework can be applied in understanding urban biophysical systems and evaluating urban sustainability potential (RQ 2).

Chapter 5 further explores the state of the urban environment based on the qualitative inquiry of public perception. It presents the perspectives of local residents on the pressing concerns regarding environmental, economic and social issues and challenges. This chapter reveals how local residents respond to the urban environment and what are the differences in their responses (RQ 3).

Chapter 6 builds an understanding of the urban social system. This utilises the results of in-depth interviews to create a causal link analysis to highlight the importance of integrating components of human and social factors in urban sustainability research. This allows the key social factors and relationships influencing sustainable urban development to be identified (RQ 4). Chapter 4, 5 and 6 collectively demonstrate how the urban systems could be systematically understood using combined quantitative and qualitative approaches.

Drawing upon the knowledge and insights from previous chapters, Chapter 7 discusses adaptive responses and suggests ways to build up integrated decision-making and regulatory systems in the Chinese context, and proposes possible strategies to facilitate urban sustainability through multi-level and multi-perspective transitions. This chapter addresses RQ 5.

Chapter 8 summarises the main findings of this study, resolves the research questions, and presents the final discussion and implications of this study.

Technique Research question Chapter Data

Social economic Literature review Ch 1 Introduction condition

RQ 1 Chinese sustainable Environmental Case study Ch 2 Literature review development condition

Ch 3 Methodology Material Document analysis RQ 2 Urban metabolism consumption and modelling production Ch 4 Urban metabolic Quantitative analysis system modelling Water and (material flows) RQ 3 electricity Public response and difference Ch 5 Public perception to Qualitative analysis urban environment Construction (In-depth interview) project investment RQ 4 Ch 6 Urban social system Urban social system understanding Integrated analysis Land use and urban planning Ch 7 Urban management strategies toward RQ 5 sustainability Housing and Urban sustainability Theoretical model vehicles transition

Ch 8 Conclusion Application and Interview and strategy proposal documents

Figure 1. 1 Interrelationships of research questions, techniques, data and thesis chapters

Chapter 1 Introduction Research Background Research questions Thesis structure

Chapter 2 Literature review Urban sustainability We are Urban systems here Human-environment interaction Sustainability in Chinese context

Chapter 3 Methodology Research design and framework Case study approach Quantitative component Qualitative component

Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Urban metabolism modelling Human perception to urban environment Urban social system Variations of material/energy Environmental changes and impacts understanding utilisation and efficiency Economic dilemma and opportunities Commitment of stakeholders Environmental changes Urban construction and planning Institutional development Urban sustainability potential Response differentiation Personal development

Chapter 7 Management and strategies Multi-level policy and management Urban form and ecology renovation Institutional reform Economic transformation Intellectual capital management Behavioural changes

Chapter 8 Conclusion Main findings Integrated discussion

CHAPTER 2: SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: AN IMPERATIVE CHOICE

Population growth, economic development and the rising pursuit of material standards of living have resulted in increased use of natural resources and dramatic ecological damage. The depletion of natural resources and degradation of the environment will ultimately impede economic and social progress if not addressed. To confront this dilemma, sustainable development has become an international imperative over the past three decades (IUCN, UNEP, WWF, 1980, 1991; UN, 2000).

As human economic and social activities are situated primarily in cities, cities have created great amounts of wealth and have improved human lives significantly (Bettencourt et al., 2007; Newman and Kenworthy, 1999). At the same time, cities are considered major contributors to environmental issues because they are the main consumers of natural resources and they usually cause varying degrees of impact on the surrounding natural environment ultimately leading to global environmental problems (Grimmond, 2007; Hardoy et al., 2013). Therefore, urban sustainability is crucial for achieving sustainable development because cities are the dominant influence on the flows of materials, the impacts of humans on nature, and ideological changes in human society. Improvements on urban environment tainted by unacceptable levels of pollution are not new and have been achieved by shifts in the economy along with moving of polluting industries elsewhere. The contemporary problem is that there is now a dwindling number of places in industrialising countries that are free from chronic pollution issues.

This chapter firstly addresses the sustainability challenges that occur as the result of economic development and urbanisation in contemporary China. It proposes the integrative analysis of environmental protection and resource conservation with development to achieve long-term planned change. The concept of sustainable development, sustainability in urban areas, and efforts made to facilitate urban sustainability transition are reviewed. This is complemented by an overview of China’s philosophy of harmony and governance to achieve an understanding of the overlay of culture as the fourth pillar of sustainability. The chapter also explores approaches that allow for the understanding of the operation of urban systems, as biophysical and social systems with their associated interactions. In doing this, the chapter identifies the gaps in the existing research in urban sustainability with particular reference to issues associated with small and medium sized industrial cities. This forms the basis for the two theses proposed in Chapter 1. The five research questions that are designed to evaluate the theses are also grounded in this chapter.

2.1 Sustainable Development

Environmental issues have entered the top political agenda in many countries. To confront worldwide environmental problems, a widespread consensus has formed that progressing toward sustainable development is an imperative (Breheny, 1992; UN, 2000). Although harmonious coexistence of humans and nature has had strong ethical advocates in Western contexts since the mid-nineteenth century (Marsh, 1864), it was the coining of the terms sustainable development and sustainability in 1980 by IUCN, UNEP, WWF and their subsequent development in Our Common Future (WCED, 1987), Caring for the Earth (IUCN,UNEP, WWF, 1991) and the adoption of the Millennium Development Goals by the UN (2000), that have fuelled the integration of economy, society and environment as an exponentially growing area of scholarship (Figure 2.1).

Figure 2. 1 The number of publications using specific words of ‘sustainab*’ in topics from 1985 to 2015 Note: ‘sustainab*’ using an asterisk allows for a search of both sustainable and sustainability.

2.1.1 Resource and Ecological Crisis as Impetus for Sustainable Development

As economic and ecological stresses have responded to natural limitations, developmental doctrines around the world have increasingly been linked to resource conservation, environmental protection and socio-economic development (Daly, 1993; Hopwood et al., 2005; Smith, 2011). The concept of sustainable development is emblematic of this, especially as resource use and waste disposal capacity approach a proposed theoretical carrying capacity of the earth (Grooten, 2012; Wackernagel et al., 2002).

As industrial production and energy extraction have grown faster than the population growth, an ecological crisis was argued to be a vital challenge to modern civilisation (Danilov-Danil'yan et al., 2009). As societies become wealthier, resource and ecological stresses are usually caused by two major pathways, namely resource use and emissions (Meadows et al., 2005). In the last several hundreds of years, the environment has been considered as external to humans and was exploited to a great extent as human knowledge and technology increased (Hopwood et al., 2005).

Since the 1960s, the Ecological Footprint2 (EF) of humans has been dramatically accelerated by rapid urbanisation (Hubacek et al., 2009; Rees and Wackernagel, 2008). There are two opposing perspectives on this proposition at the moment. The first is that the carrying capacity of the earth has increased to the equivalent to 1.5 earths today and will increase to two earths by 2030 if current development trends continue (Grooten, 2012; Matthews, 2012; Wackernagel et al., 2002). The current pressure of population and economic growth on limited natural resources has resulted in serious environmental problems through overexploitation and massive waste emission (Fu et al., 2007; Suzanne, 1997). These problems could be categorised into two clusters of pollution and sustainability of resource use (Figure 2.2). The former is manifest in current costs, while the latter creates long-run challenges to human life (Naughton, 2007). This suggests that there are limits to the acceptable physical growth of population and economy (Meadows et al., 2005; Meadows et al., 1972), though the extent of these limits remains subjective. Such serious ecological challenges would not only affect continuous economic growth and improvement of people’s material living conditions, but could also cause significant risks to long-term human survival.

Natural Resources: Pollution Availability and sustainability

Soil erosion

Air pollution Wat e r p o l l u t i o n Loss of forest an d s h o r t a g e and grassland

Hazardous waste Loss of species and habitat

Figure 2. 2 Pollution and sustainability of resource use caused by economic growth. Source: Naughton (2007)

2 Ecological footprint was defined as the amount of land area that required to supplying resources and absorbing emissions, it is a measure of human’s resources demand on the earth’s ecosystem. The calculation methods are various. 13

The second and alternative point of view is that technological development and economic adaptation, if facilitated, will address these issues (Anadon et al., 2016; Nelson et al., 2007). The increasingly serious environmental degradation and resource depletion call for a change in the development pathway and a rethinking of how to measure the progress of human society (Daly, 1993; Hamilton, 1998; Smith, 2011). With growing awareness of the importance of linking environmental problems with socio-economic issues to secure long-term sustainable development, traditional economic growth measures have been criticised for not accounting for environmental degradation and health problems as externalities of economic development. Consequently Green Growth Indicators (GGI), Genuine Progress Indicators3 (GPI) and adjusted measures have been proposed for the rethinking of development (Bagstad et al., 2014; OECD, 2011; Vaghefi et al., 2015; Veklich and Shlapak, 2012).

2.1.2 Sustainable Development Interpretation and Evolution

Sustainable development (SD) is derived from the literal meaning of the word sustainability, and is often used in the same way. Both concepts are derived from the older forestry term of “sustained yield” dating from 1713 (Grober, 2007). However, the definition of SD is still ambiguous, and it has been interpreted and debated by many scholars from diverse disciplines with different emphases in natural, economic, social, technological and political fields (Osorio et al., 2005; Parris and Kates, 2003; Todorov and Marinova, 2011). It also could be seen that SD means different things to different people and organizations in certain cultural contexts (Boonchai and Beeton, 2015; Li et al, 2015; Ng, 2007; Robinson, 2004). Part of the explanation is that there is no universally accepted set of theories, methods and strategies for researching SD. This reflects the ambiguity of this concept and diverse purposes with regard to SD (Dendler et al., 2012; Parris and Kates, 2003). However, most interpretations of SD involve two basic emphases on guaranteeing human needs and benefiting future development (Childers et al., 2014; WCED, 1987). There is a trend suggesting that the focus of SD has shifted to involving social capital, human development and their interactions with natural systems to solve problems and meet challenges (Beeton, 2006; Fotovvat et al., 2014; Jain and Jain, 2013; Kusakabe, 2012; UN, 2000).

3 GGI and GPI are used to reflect the true national wealth by deducting the cost of natural capitals and negative impacts of environmental problems. It equals to the current statistical GDP deduct the cost of environmental pollution and natural resource degradation, protection fees of resource conservation and environmental protection, and other costs of human capital. 14

A sustainable human-environmental system integrates natural systems with human systems. It does not only refer to environmental protection but also embraces economic and social aspects. Popular interpretation of sustainable development has emphasised three interconnecting subsystems of environment, economy and society to demonstrate and evaluate complex systems and to promote a “revolution” in sustainability (Barbier, 1987; Camagni et al., 1998; Jenks et al., 1996; Lozano and Huisingh, 2011; Rotmans and Van Asselt, 2000). Nurse (2006) argued that sustainable development includes a cultural view and this is supported by Boonchai (2012) in Thailand and Cheng (2013) in China. In addition, Kruseman and Ruben (1996) stated that the concept of sustainability should be defined and measured at different levels namely, global, national, regional, local and point scales. Recently, significant scholarship has adopted a multi-level model for sustainability analysis (Geels, 2011; Ness et al., 2010; Parra, 2010; Todorov and Marinova, 2011).

Broadly speaking, the concept of sustainable development tries to combine environmental issues with socio-economic issues (Hopwood et al., 2005). It is not just a simple combination of these issues, but also concerned with the social progress and cultural heritage of human beings and their descendants (Renn, 2005; Watene and Yap, 2015). Sustainability research has undergone a transition from the preservation of nature and environmental constraints to economic evaluation, social behaviour, policies, and politics (Todorov and Marinova, 2011). Bifani (1999) stated that sustainable development is not a static conception for humans’ survival, but a dynamic process with continuous progress. To facilitate the understanding of different trends and transitions of the idea of sustainable development, Hopwood et al. (2005) proposed a map of thoughts on sustainable development combining environmental and socio-economic issues. This map also marks the political and policy frameworks of sustainable development and their attitudes and means toward change (Figure 2.3). In Figure 2.3, the two axes represent environmental and socio-economic views. The environmental axis presents the priority of environment and the socio-economic axis covers the importance of human well-being and equality, while the shaded area indicates the views on sustainable development. Three approaches for achieving sustainable development are clarified as status quo, reform, and transformation (Hopwood et al., 2005).

Figure 2. 3 Mapping of views on sustainable development. Source: Hopwood et al. (2005)

Recent multi-disciplinary attempts have been made to couple human and natural systems to achieve sustainable solutions involving transitions from resource conservation and environmental protection to social progress in a cultural context (Hopwood et al., 2005; Todorov and Marinova, 2011). It implies the importance of incorporating the strategy of sustainable development into development plans and policies and facilitating changes of ideas and life styles. This integration of scientific research with governance contributes to improve sustainable management of complex human-nature systems (Beeton and Lynch, 2012). Robinson (2004) argued “for an approach to sustainability that is integrative, is action-oriented, goes beyond technical fixes, incorporates a recognition of the social construction of sustainable development, and engages local communities in new ways”. However, so far there are no exact steps for how to bring about a revolution of sustainability. The optimistic view is that the revolution will stem from the visions, attempts and actions of billions people.

2.1.3 Urban Sustainability

In seeking a sustainable urban future, the concept of urban sustainability or sustainable cities has developed as an essential part of sustainable development as cities are considered both challenges and opportunities for sustainability (Weinstein, 2010). One of the most crucial arguments for cities to change their models of development toward sustainability relies on the dependence of humans and their urban systems on the natural environment as both a source and a sink (Ascione et al., 2011;

Tidball and Stedman, 2013). If there is no control of the extraction of natural resources, the physical environment will become depleted and unable to provide resources for the ever-growing demands of the urban system. Simultaneously the disposal capacity of the natural environment would be exceeded. The direct consequence of these changes may be a decline in human wellbeing (Buchholz, 1993; Dryzek, 2013; Washington, 2013). As human social-economic activities and urban biophysical dynamics are closely interrelated, the concept of urban sustainability has evolved to a transdisciplinary field involving social and ethical factors, technological capacity, and political and cultural factors that turn knowledge into action (Rogers, 2000; Spangenberg, 2011; Weinstein, 2010).

Urban sustainability is a multidimensional concept. In the 1960s, Friedmann (1966) argued that urbanisation should imply development focusing on the upgrading of urban functions, historical and cultural heritage that guides the process of urbanisation toward a reasonable growth rate and scale. In 2002 the UN declared that “sustainable cities must be economically viable, socially equitable and contribute to the environmental protection of all species” (UN, 2002). Giddings et al. (2005) claimed that “the overriding objective of urban sustainability is to achieve a high quality of life for the whole community within a socio-economic framework that minimises the impact of the city on the local and global environment”. The concept of urban sustainable development calls for a systematic approach to urban development and the management of urban resources in a responsible manner for future generations within the environmental carrying capacity (Wong and Yuen, 2011). Willis (2005) identified specific factors of urban sustainability as “people, buildings, pollution, urban form, transport, communication, legislation, and public investment”. Zhang (2006b) defined urban sustainability as the constant improvement of urban structure and function. The transitions toward urban sustainability must consider the interactions and evolution of these elements, and combine them into a systematic management system to resolve the challenges of sustainability.

Many studies have attempted to address the urban sustainability challenges with environmental, economic and social concerns. Urban ecology and related concepts have been developed to study the eco-environmental aspect or the biophysical dimension of urban sustainability (Childers et al., 2014; McCormick et al., 2013; Nevens et al., 2013; Stossel et al., 2015). In recent years, a growing number of researchers shifted their attention to the social aspect of urban sustainability (Anđelka, 2012; Cloutier et al., 2014; Colantonio, 2010; Dempsey et al., 2011). Conceptual approaches for urban sustainability are now typically incorporating both biophysical and socio-economic components given the interdisciplinary nature of urban sustainability (Boone and Fragkias, 2013; Li et al., 2016a). Many studies have endeavoured to advance urban transitions toward sustainability based on frameworks of sustainability, adaptation and resilience (Childers et al., 2014; McCormick et al., 2013; 17

Nevens et al., 2013). Meanwhile, the importance of human actions and initiatives that interact with the urban systems has been emphasised. Consequently finding solutions for urban sustainability involves more consideration of social factors and their practical applications (Chan and Siu, 2015; Colantonio and Dixon, 2011; Weinstein, 2010).

Despite increased awareness and research on promoting sustainable urban development, there are few effective initiatives and structural transformations that could decisively shift urban development in the direction of sustainability because of the complexity of urban systems, the inadequacy of governance and planning, and weak pathways for systematic implementation of ideas into actions (McCormick et al., 2013; Mutisya and Yarime, 2014; Rode and Burdett, 2011; Ryan, 2013; Waas et al., 2011). It is emerging that the importance of governance with its related regulations for urban sustainability has been recognised as a crucial path for achieving sustainability goals (Chan and Siu, 2015; Lee and Lee, 2014; Lenssen et al., 2014; Shipp, 2015; Smedby and Neij, 2013). However, lack of information and experience usually lead to inefficiency of municipal planning and governance (Measham et al. 2011). This highlights the value of involving environmental-based analysis and participatory engagement in urban planning and decision-making (Maiello et al., 2013; Portney and Berry, 2010; van Stigt et al., 2013; Wamsler et al., 2015).

Many approaches and techniques have been applied in urban sustainability research, which contributed to the understating of urban systems and multi-dimensional initiatives for urban transformation. These can be categorised into five research areas:

 Developing conceptual frameworks for facilitating sustainable urban development from specific or multiple dimensions (Camagni et al., 1998; Geels, 2011; Hellström et al., 2000; Mutisya and Yarime, 2014; Sun, 2000);  Using ecological or biophysical indicators and models to understand and evaluate urban environmental systems (Huang and Hsu, 2003; Liao et al., 2012; Xu and Zhang, 2007);  Using Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) technologies as spatial toolkits to monitor urban development and facilitate urban planning (Pandey et al., 2012; Silverio, 2009; Yang et al., 2008);  Measuring and evaluating urban sustainable development from different perspectives with diverse indicators assigned with different levels of ‘importance’, creating popular ways of evaluating local sustainability (Bagheri and Hjorth, 2007; Dick et al., 2014; Turcu, 2013; Wen et al., 2005; Zhang et al., 2008).

 Exploring urban management and governance in the context of social and institutional transformation by examining institutions, policies and collective actions on sustainability transitions (Béal and Pinson, 2015; Nevens et al., 2013; Wamsler et al., 2015).

Despite the progress, there is a deficiency in systematically advancing urban sustainability transitions that integrate analysis of complex urban systems with strategic responses to sustainability challenges. In particular, the research on the social dimension of urban sustainability in certain cultural contexts and the exploration of interactions between humans and urban systems is weak. Therefore, this study attempts to combine an integrated analysis with an action orientation. The key focus and contribution of this study is to provide a structural transformation for research and action on urban sustainability transitions taking advantage of systematic understanding of urban systems and connecting sustainability goals to realistic strategies.

2.2 Urban Socio-economic Systems

Urban areas are the centre of human activities. They provide space and opportunities for production, trade, entertainment and innovation, which have greatly improved the quality of human life. Urbanisation was a turning point in human history which changed human life and advanced human culture to a new stage, however apart from all positive aspects, urbanisation also has resulted in environmental and societal problems (Fu et al., 2007; Havlick et al., 1978; Pugh, 1996; Rotmans and Van Asselt, 2000).

2.2.1 Understanding Urban Systems

Most of society’s concerns about urban systems lie at the interfaces between the triple-bottom-line (TBL) of economy, society and environment (Camagni et al., 1998; Parkin, 2000). Figure 2.4 shows the interconnected systems of cities. These interacting zones attract the attention of different interest groups in the urban system; however, a sustainable urban system must be positioned within the tolerable limits of these three axes that control the boundaries of cities (Clayton and Radcliffe, 1996; Zhang et al., 2008). A sustainable urban system is where economic development, social progress and ecological conservation are coordinated and promote each other through a highly efficient use of materials, energy, and information within the bounds of the system (Zhang et al., 2008).

Pure equity and welfare

Distributive equity Society

Quality of Life

Sustainability Pure profitability and Economy economic growth Pure ecological and Environment aesthetic principles

Long-term efficiency

Figure 2. 4 Venn diagram for understanding “the three interconnecting systems” of sustainable cities Source: adapted from Stilwell and Larcombe (1980), Camagni et al. (1998) and Parkin (2000)

Based on this three-pillar model, a variety of models has been proposed to explain the changing interrelationships between the three pillars (Figure 2.5). A growing number of researchers are adopting the nested sustainability model (compared with the three-pillar model) of which the environmental dimension of sustainable development is the basis for economic and social sustainability (Giddings et al., 2002). This demonstrates an increasing emphasis on the importance of the fundamental role of environmental systems and suggests integrated urban management systems that incorporate environmental principles into social and economic decision-making. This does not imply deindustrialisation rather it calls for the incorporation of ever increasing information content into products. This reflects the resolution of social and environmental challenges by better production of tangible and intangible goods and services for sale.

Environment Society Environment Society

Society Economy Economy

Economy Environment

Figure 2. 5 Interrelationship evolution of the urban triple-bottom-line systems Source: adapted from Giddings et al. (2002) and Newton and Bai (2008)

In order to understand the fundamental environmental systems of cities, this study adopts Wolman (1965) and Girardet (1992)’s model of urban metabolism. This model considers the city as an ecosystem and describes the city using a ‘metabolism’ model, in which energy and material flow undergo various forms of conversion and consumption, and are then discharged to waste or emitted as pollutants to the surrounding environment (Girardet, 2004; Kennedy et al., 2011; Newton, 2008). Figure 2.6 indicates how a city can be regarded as both a sink and a source of materials and energy. Both flow through the system and are regulated by human activities. The impact of human activities on the environment depends to a large extent on the quantity and quality of resources and material flows into and through the urban system. In addition, waste flows out from the system into the surrounding environment. The former disturbs natural systems and causes environmental degradation, and the latter contributes to environmental pollution and influences human health (Badcock, 2002; Rogers, 1997). The alternative is a circular metabolism model which proposes high rates of material recycling and reuse as an effective way to improve urban sustainability, in which both material inputs and waste outputs are efficiently used and reduced (Beatley, 1999; Doughty and Hammond, 2004; Kennedy et al., 2007; Pincetl et al., 2012). In this model, not all flows are equal, for instance money tends to accumulate and other flows vary depending on policy and management intervention. Addressing this pattern of urban metabolism facilitates the understanding of urban systems, which in turn can be considered as an index to provide a basis for its sustainable development planning.

Solar Energy

Ecosystem

INPUT OUTPUT

Food Reduced Pollution Environmental Environmental Disturbance Energy Urban Product Pollution System

Goods Sink + Source Money

People People

Recycling Heat Loss

Figure 2. 6 The circular metabolism of cities Source: adapted from Goodland et al. (1992), Rogers (1997), Girardet (1999) and Doughty and Hammond (2004)

2.2.2 The Socialised Urban Environment

In most literature, the environment is defined as the externally biotic and abiotic surroundings or conditions that affect and modify the growth and development of an organism or population (Kemp, 1995). The environment could be divided into the natural environment and the built environment. Also it could be considered as the natural world as a whole, or in a particular area where it is especially affected by human activities (Stevenson, 2010). Environmental philosophy in its modern form originated in Great Britain, United States, Australia and Norway. In the case of the latter three, it originated from wilderness advocacy and focused on environmental ethics (Kirkman, 2009; Marsh, 1864). More recently in Australia the “Environment” was formally defined in statute as4:

a). ecosystems and their constituent parts, including people and communities; b). natural and physical resources; c). the qualities and characteristics of locations, places and areas; d). heritage places of value; e). the social, economic and cultural aspects of a thing mentioned in paragraph (a), (b), (c) or (d).

The emergence and development of cities are profoundly influenced by the development of human society. O'Sullivan (2007) has argued that the development of human technology generated urban systems that seem to break cities away from the natural order and urban society emerged because of the advantages of technology, concentrated production and trade. Thus, the urban environment is quite different from the natural environment in many ways and it is usually characterised with social symbols. Harper (2004) observed that modern humans are living in a “socialised environment” because of the shaping by humans of the environment in which they live.

When discussing the environment, especially the urban environment, the influence of human activities which conform to cultural norms cannot be ignored. A general consensus is that there is a strong relationship between the urban environment and human activities. Forty years ago, Berger and Luckmann (1967) observed that human activities are mediated and constructed by culture and their behaviours toward the environment are based on their thinking of what the environment is. Recently it has been proposed that the social-cultural environment can evolve and transcend natural environmental limits dominating urban development through the interactions of humans with urban environments (Sacco and Crociata, 2013). This socialised urban environment implies that the

4 This definition of environment is outlined in Australian Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 as amended, reprint three. This definition is consistent with the Chinese explanation of the word of environment. 22 relationship between humans and the city has developed into a new mode of urbanisation. In this process of urbanisation, human right to the city is more than the access to cities but refers to the right of constructing and reshaping the urban systems (Harvey, 2008; Lefebvre, 2012).

This study sees cities as socialised urban environments apart from but interacting with natural ecosystems (Harper, 2004; O'Sullivan, 2007; Stevenson et al., 2013). The development of cities is closely related with the development of human society that is closely related with culture, human perceptions, attitudes and behaviours (Berger and Luckmann, 1967; Buttle, 1986; Carley et al., 2013). Most notably among these are the political and governance systems that are operating in the society (Bang and Esmark, 2009; Knox-Hayes and Hayes, 2014). Therefore, local authorities play a vital role in local environmental adaptation and urban sustainability transitions (IPCC, 2014; Measham et al., 2011). In China, these are particularly crucial for the implementation of change to be effective (Guan et al., 2014; Kostka and Hobbs, 2012; Zhu, 2011).

2.2.3 Environmental and Social Impacts of Urbanisation

As a significant symbol of urban development, urbanisation is strongly tied to economic and social development (Bairoch, 1988; Dhiratayakinant, 1993). Social and economic development is the main driving force of urbanisation. Generally, the development of agricultural productivity is the precursor to the rise of cities subsequently the growth of industrialisation becomes the dominant force and the prosperity of tertiary industry further promotes urbanisation. This process of urbanisation has feedback loops that affect both society and the environment. Numerous studies have provided solid proof that urbanisation has caused global environmental problems such as ecological degradation, climate change, water shortages, air pollution, land erosion and the food crises (Kalnay and Cai, 2003; Rogers, 1997; Schellnhuber, 2010; Zhu, 2012).

Many cities have experienced harsh environmental conditions coupled with wide spread health problems (Chen et al., 2013; Matus et al., 2012a; Mumford, 1961). Categorised by their economic development level, different types of cities have specific characteristics of environmental burden. For low-income areas of cities, health is the most crucial issue because of a deficiency of clean water and sanitation; for some middle-income cities or suburbs, urban air pollution is the most prominent environmental challenge, especially in industrial cities with highly concentrated SO2, NOx and small particulate matter (SPM); for relatively high-income developed cities CO2 emission is of most concern due to the high level of consumption and the change of economic structure (Marcotullio and McGranahan, 2007; McGranahan et al., 2001; McGranahan et al., 1996). As a world trend, dirty 23 industries have moved away from cities in developed countries to developing countries. In China, industrial growth was initially in coastal provinces, now many industrial cities are flourishing in western and inland regions under the national strategy of industrial migration (Keng, 2006; Lemoine et al., 2014).

On the other hand, urban development also improves the urban environment through a more efficient distribution of utilities (e.g. water and fuels), enhanced resource use efficiency, greener and cleaner production, and advanced regulation of waste and pollution (Fan and Qi, 2010; Rogers, 1997). It is argued that not all urbanisation is negative, and greatly improved urban conditions are emerging in some cities in developed countries, where environmental regulation and better technology are dominant (Beeton and Lynch, 2012).

2.3 Human Response: An Approach to Understanding the Human-environment Interactions

The theoretical study of urban systems provides a structure for understanding cities and also improves the integrity and credibility of research in this area. Increased research on theories of urban systems necessitates an increase in research into the human dimension of response and management (Alberti, 2008; Poredoš, 2011; Yetiskul et al., 2016). This is consistent with the concept of sustainability that the fourth pillar of cultural and human factors makes up a crucial dimension to sustainability transition.

The human dimension is how humans interact with urban systems and respond to urban problems (Moral and Walker, 2007). It plays a vital role in the application of research (Wong, 2012). Because theoretical research usually provides a general model for certain issues with a wide spectrum of reality, it often brings about oversimplification and distortions of reality (McGuire, 1981). Research on the impacts of urban development is routine but how humans respond to these problems remains limited. From the perspective of sustainable development, Robinson (2004) suggested that it is desirable to develop decision-making strategies that actively engage the human dimensions of relevant interest groups thus taking their actions and desires for the future into account. As Liu (2014), a principal investigator of the International Network of Research on Coupled Human and Natural Systems (CHANS-Net) has argued, the sustainability revolution requires not only new science and technologies, but also changes in human attitudes, intentions and behaviours. In this study, human responses refer to people’s perceptions, attitudes and behaviours toward certain urban issues, which profoundly influences human-environment interactions.

2.3.1 Personal Value, Attitude and Behaviour

Transitions toward sustainability involve various elements of policy, technology, practices, cultural and scientific knowledge (Elzen et al., 2004). How do these elements work during a transition? Geels (2011) asserted that “these elements are reproduced, maintained and transformed by actors”. Moving from policy making to individual practice requires aggregated behaviour of decision-making and practices to form the development path.

An emerging trend of research on pro-environmental behaviour has been detected and the importance of human functioning has been emphasised (Kinzig et al., 2013; Matutinović, 2012; Poortinga et al., 2004; Rhode and Ross, 2008). Environmental psychology has been increasingly involved in environmental management, which contributes to the understanding of the relationship between human behaviour and the environment (Bonnes and Bonaiuto, 2002; Pol, 2002; Sapiains et al., 2015, 2016; Stokols and Altman, 1987). Figure 2.7 indicates that values, attitudes and behaviours constitute the three primary components of the human cognitive hierarchy, and each of them is based on one another forming an inverted pyramid (Fulton et al., 1996; Rokeach, 1973).

Numerous Behaviours Faster to change Peripheral Motivation Behavioural Intentions Specific to situations Attitudes

Ethical principle Value Orientations

Values Few in number Slow to change Central to beliefs Transcend situations

Figure 2. 7 Cognitive hierarchy model of human behaviour. Source: adapted from Fulton et al. (1996)

Values is an abstractive concept that reflect an enduring belief and based on an initial cognition. It is the foundation of a cognitive hierarchy from which attitudes and behaviours are generated (Rokeach, 1973; Vaske and Donnelly, 1999). The ethical paradox posed by values of development and environmental protection compose the main values focusing sustainable development (National Research Council, 1999). From the perspective of historical development, Leiserowitz et al. (2006) organised the transitional phases of values concerning sustainable development into three stages: economic development, human development and social development.

Attitude refers to a mental evaluation of an object or situation, positive or negative, and it usually derives from values (Leiserowitz et al., 2006; Vaske and Donnelly, 1999). Sets of values form attitudes and norms; attitudes typically range from the anthropocentric to the eco-centric in the field of natural resources use and protection (Gagnon Thompson and Barton, 1994; Steel et al., 1994). Kaida and Kaida (2016) confirmed that pessimistic anticipation of future well-being and eco-centric values would facilitate pro-environmental behaviours. In addition, people’s internal psychological demands for emotional stability would strongly influence their pro-environmental actions, besides from the understandings of environmental problems (Sapiains et al., 2015, 2016).

Behaviours reflect concrete decisions and actions. They can be considered as the result of values and attitudes. Behaviours usually lag behind, compared with values and attitudes, especially collective action. Both individual and collective behaviours are crucial for sustainable development. They are often mutually supportive and promote social transitions by creating positive feedbacks (Leiserowitz et al., 2006). Values and attitudes for sustainable development have already reached a relatively mature stage while behaviours are still confronting gaps and barriers in translating values and attitudes into behaviours because the operation of all behaviours is affected by a set of variables derived from many aspects of society, such as culture, custom and personal constructs. Leiserowitz, Kates, and Parris concluded that,

Human beings are forced to choose, consciously or unconsciously, between competing values. Individuals and societies may unanimously support abstract values, such as economic growth, security, freedom, and environmental protection in isolation, but in the realm of concrete decision making, these values are often incommensurate, and trade-offs have to be made. (Leiserowitz et al., 2006, pp.439-440)

It is worth noting that there are disparities between attitudes toward sustainability and relevant behaviours. This study supported Leiserowitz et al. (2006)’s view that changing attitudes, accelerating sustainable actions and bridging barriers are important measures to support SD.

2.3.2 Human–environment Interaction

In the field of discovering how humans change and adapt to the urban environment, human– environment interactions have become an important issue that reveals the dynamics of the complex socio-ecological systems of cities (Brondízio and Chowdhury, 2013; Li and Zhang, 2013; Moran, 2010). This concept views the city as a coupled human and natural system (CHANS) (Liu et al., 2007).

It highlights the importance of integrating the interconnected components of people, built environment and natural environment in urban sustainability. Through such a holistic perspective, the interactions among these three components in urban systems can be comprehensively understood. It is particularly significant in exploring the multilayered urban social system to the local context, which is part of the essence of urban sustainability (Moran, 2010).

Despite many studies on human-environment interactions (Brondízio and Chowdhury, 2013; Marsh, 1864; Turner et al., 1994), most research is deficient in combining the biophysical and social sciences (Liu et al., 2007). Investigating the feedback loops between human and natural systems is a main approach to study human-environment interactions (Chin et al., 2014; Elshafei et al., 2014). This is more complicated in urban systems due to the complex economic activities and contextual social factors in cities. Starting with environmental problems, urban environmental management is not just a physical issue but it has developed as a social one. There is a growing consensus that human intervention plays a key role in changing the urban natural systems and maintaining resilience toward sustainability (Ernstson et al., 2010; Laganier, 2012; Schewenius et al., 2014). However the human dimensions of responses to urban systems is still less studied and is weakly involved in policy-making and implementation. Therefore, there is an urgent need to understand urban social systems in which humans respond and interact with urban problems.

The application of research insights to filling the gaps between human responses and theoretical research represents a great challenge for urban sustainability management. This is particularly important for the connecting of the actions and insights of local residents with decision-making. The motives and responses of different groups and people within one city are varied and sometimes contradictory. They mix and balance eventually influencing urban development. Ambrose (1994) argued that there are three main sets of interests initiating and influencing the process of urban development: public authorities, profit-seeking developers, and ‘voluntary’ organisations, groups and individuals. The activities and interactions between these elements profoundly influence the functioning of urban social systems (Bunar, 2011; Cohen et al., 2015; Jung et al., 2015; Pasquini and Shearing, 2014).

2.3.3 Public Participation in Environmental Management

In pursuit of some objectives, local actors often deviate from the original intention of specific social programs because of concerns about personal interests (Bryman, 2012; Elmore, 1978; Hanf, 1982). However, Hjern (1982) and Camagni et al. (1998) emphasised that the success of program 27 implementation is more dependent on individual actions at the local implementation level than policy and decision-making at the central government level. More recently, Pow and Neo (2013) pointed out that urban sustainability is a place-dependent concept.

Active public participation is crucial for environmental management in planning and implementation of initiatives (Harder et al., 2013; Selman and Parker, 1997; Taylor, 2000). Giddings et al. (2005) asserted that people need to be the focus of a city and achieving a sustainable urban system is a major commitment that involves strong support by people. Bookchin (1995) asserted that the erosion of citizenship would be the end of cities. He also called for an innovation of public involvement in decision-making, a reassertion of citizenship and deep-rooted democracy. In China although the importance of public participation has been acknowledged, public opinion has not been formally and effectively incorporated into environmental governance (Lo and Leung, 2000; Zhan and Tang, 2013).

Public participation plays a potential role in facilitating effective and accountable decision-making by enhancing the interactions between stakeholders (Liu et al., 2012; Zhong and Mol, 2008). Reasons for encouraging public participation are derived from the considerations of ethical, political and knowledge values, in which the value of knowledge contribution is of most importance to deal with local environmental and social problems by inquiring and learning from “the bottom” of urban life (Andersson, 2008). It continues to be argued that is crucial to listen to and learn from the public to achieve a more diversified and enlarged context for collaboration and decision-making (Guy and Marvin, 2007; Harder et al., 2013). This study attempts to build an understanding of how a basis for public participation can be created through understanding of the manifestations of the social system.

2.4 China’s Urban Sustainability and Harmonious Development

This section explores the first research question “How have Chinese traditional philosophies and New China’s policies concerning sustainable development evolved and how do they influence China’s modern administration and development?” (RQ 1). This provides a basis for further research questions on urban sustainability in China.

China’s development and governance is consistent with its cultural background that reflects the Chinese way of dealing with the relationship between humans and nature, interpersonal relationships and public administration. The ruling philosophy transition since 1949 has significantly influenced China’s development today. China’s economy has been growing at a remarkable speed in the last three decades (EW World Economy Team, 2013a; Li et al., 2014a; Wearden, 2010), however, the 28 growth rate is expected to gradually decline because of economic structural transformation (The World Bank, 2014). China’s economy places tremendous demands on natural resources, which has led to a series of environmental and social problems in urban areas with rapid urbanisation (Economy, 2005; Li et al., 2014a; Xiang et al., 2011). Even though China has greatly improved energy efficiency and taken steps to protect the environment, it is still confronted with the dual task of mitigating environmental pressures and maintaining economic development (Liu and Raven, 2010; SEPA, 2004; Zhang et al., 2010).

2.4.1 Culture of Harmonious Development as Soft Power in China

Today China’s rapid development has been anchored by policy expressions using the traditional Chinese administrative methodology of slogans to reflect developed policy. Though “New China” has radically altered many aspects of socio-economic development since 1949, its development- oriented slogans reflect ancient traditions of Chinese public administration. In New China, the central organs of the party have assumed this authority and the obligation associated with it. Modern China can only be understood when research is underpinned with this historical context.

In the context of human-environmental relations, how the natural (and supernatural) worlds are mediated by the state becomes important (Riva et al., 2004). China’s deep political and environmental histories reveal that modern concepts such as sustainable development can be found to have roots in ancient Chinese thinking and current policies. These concepts revolve around “harmonious development” (HD) reflecting a way of Chinese thinking that is being blended with new approaches from the developed world to deal with issues of environmental management.

Chinese culture has been evolving for thousands of years, and has not been impervious to outside influences demonstrating internal integration and external adaptation (Triandis, 1996; Pan et al., 2012). The main theme of management philosophy in New China has been a mix of traditional Chinese culture as the core with modern Western management added (Fan, 1998; Yang, 2012; Zhang, 2010). Most recently, this has taken the form of “soft power” (Nye, 2004), in contrast to what has been a more militant and domineering “hard” approach (Zhang, 2010). Soft power has been considered as a core concept in the Chinese cultural development framework. This concept was captured by the intellectuals and converted into “a new way to conceptualise and exercise power” (Wang and Lu, 2008). The cultural development dimension in the current Chinese administration is a manifestation of “soft power”, which could be regarded as part of China’s comprehensive national

29 power (Zhang, 2010). In Chinese philosophy, there is a strong relationship between soft power and a harmonious world.

The ancient philosophy of harmony in China underlies what has more recently been a pragmatic focus on sustainable development. The “thoughts of harmony” reflect an aspirational foundation of contemporary Chinese society and culture together with a pragmatic response to the environmental costs. A series of ancient Chinese ideas about harmony share the common basis of systems thinking and evolutionary theories. The word “harmony” in Chinese culture derived from “和” (he) that has the meaning of moderate, coordinated and reconciled. Living harmoniously with nature was a well-established concept in ancient China, also a fundamental issue of cultural direction. The philosophies of Confucianism, Taoism and Yin-Yang have rich philosophical thoughts on the relationship between humans and nature (Appendix D).

Contemporary Chinese society and the modern Chinese state have merged ancient and recent development philosophies, particularly as environmental issues have grown more acute in the past decade. The influence of Chinese culture derived from Confucianism and other philosophies is magnified by the leaders in the group. This is historically consistent as the Chinese are fond of their literary culture and concluding the essential meaning into a few words as slogans. The generation process of slogans also shows the transition of ruling ideas of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and social changes (Table 2.1). These slogans and social movements added to or changed the principal pathway of institutional change. Each leader’s thoughts on management and social control vary. However, all of them are orientated towards harmony both inside the Party and the country.

Sustainable development is now broadly understood as a global environmental philosophy. However, it has to be integrated with local conditions and cultures when applied to each respective context. The ancient Chinese ideology of harmony has direct significance in practicing environmental protection and sustainable development (An, 2008). In the context of Chinese culture, sustainable development and harmonious development have many points in common. The investigation of public perception about sustainable development and harmonious development in China revealed that harmonious development could be simply understood as the Chinese iteration of sustainable development, but with a distinct lineage, traceable across two millennia of historical development.

Though the concept of sustainable development originated from Western culture, the ideas of sustainability have parallels in Chinese traditional culture in which the concepts of sustainable development are best understood as harmonious development. In the Chinese context, sustainability 30 is a contemporary variant which is built on Chinese traditional philosophies – a confluence of multiple traditions that date back nearly five millennia. The primary implication of this is that it allows modern Chinese governance systems to align with sustainable development. Harmonious development is being redefined to become a conduit to gain acceptance of a form of sustainable development in Chinese society. In China today, Western constructs of sustainable development are intangible, while harmonious development and its articulation in “harmonious society” and “Chinese dream” is a culturally acceptable way of facilitating China’s development. It is aligned with the economic and political circumstances in the world while driving environmental improvement without compromising China’s governance system.

Table 2. 1 China’s Policy evolution and its related slogans, movements, institutional changes and environmental management

Slogan Time Movements Institutional changes Environmental management

科学技术是第 Science and technology Deng stressed China should develop its This asked CPC to modify its institutional constitute a primary 1978 scientific and technical education to policies to boost the economic 一生产力 productive force. modernization. development.

解放思想， Emancipate the mind, Deng used this to change the working emphasis This provided a theoretical foundation to 1978 实事求是 seek truth from facts. of CPC. Open and Reform since 1980s.

Dramatic economic development since the 3rd This was the main theme of China's 改革开放 Reform and opening up. 1980s Session of the 11th Central Committee of CPC. economic change over the last thirty years.

建设中国特色 To build socialism with Deng provided the nature of the Open and Foundation of Chinese economic policies 1982 社会主义 Chinese characteristics. Reform. reform.

Officially frame out the Socialist market 社会主义 Socialist market Deng defined what the Chinese economic 1992 economic policy on the 14th Central 市场经济 economy. reform is. Committee of CPC. Balance the gaps between the economy and Sustainable Made sustainable development the national Issue ten measures to China’s environmental problems and 可持续发展 1992 resources, the environment and population and development. policy of PRC. formulate the first Five-Year Plan on environmental protection. humans and the environment. Control the total amount of pollutant emissions, prevent environmental pollution in "Three rivers and Three lakes, Two Thought of three Jiang proposed on how to build up a healthy districts, One city, and One sea"* and control human-made 三个代表 2002 This became one of the principles of CPC. represents. Party. ecological damage in other key areas. Water pollution control and ecological protection in Three Gorges Reservoir area and upper reaches. South-to-North water diversion project. Hu defined this concept to focus on social Scientific outlook on This becomes the method of CPC to Reduce energy intensity and major pollutant emission, and 科学发展观 2003 development and re considered the cons and development. implement policies and regulations. protect drinking water safety for urban and rural people. pros since Open and Reform.

Establish environmental management systems, improve Hu asked CPC to focus on social and ecological 构建社会主义 Building a harmonious This is the current principle policy of CPC environmental quality in some cities and regions, and build a 2004 development after more than 20 years of 和谐社会 society. to implement economic regulations. number of environmental protection model cities and economic development. demonstration areas. Involve ecological conservation in culture and lifestyles, Hu emphasised the ecological civilisation as a This becomes an indicator of governance eliminate techniques and products with heavy pollution, and 生态文明 Ecological civilisation 2007 component of human civilisation reflecting social progress. carry out comprehensive control of soil erosion in upper reaches of the Yangtze River.

Xi explained this concept with military Strengthen the importance of social harmony and ecological This becomes the important guiding strengthening, economic prosperity, social civilization, and build a resource-saving and environment- 中国梦 Chinese dream 2012 ideology and important concept of harmony and the improvement of people’s friendly society. Environmental pollution can be investigated for governance. livelihoods criminal responsibility according to law. * The “Three rivers” refers to Hai river, Huai river and Liao river; “Three lakes” are Taihu lake, Dian lake and Chaohu lake; “Two districts” represents the Sulphur dioxide pollution control areas and acid rain control areas; “One city” is Beijing City and “One sea” is the Bohai sea. 32

2.4.2 China’s Development Path

In China, administrative policies are usually considered the main approach to guide social control, industrial development, population migration and urban development (Johnson, 1999; Zhang, 2004b). Since 1980s, China has reformed its economic system which has provided a great opportunity for urban development. This represents the most significant urban growth period that has been accompanied by extensive industrialisation and modernisation. The flourishing urbanisation in modern cities has become an emblem of China’s progress (Liang and Zhang, 2011).

Chinese economic growth in the last three decades has been faster than that of Europe during the Industrial Revolution and the USA in the 19th century when the American West was opening up (Arora and Vamvakidis, 2011). Reasons for this rapid growth lie in the accumulation of human and physical capital (Barro, 2001; Knight et al., 2011; Lucas, 1988). China’s economy is highly reliant on natural resources, in particular those needed for the industrial sectors that are dominated by state owned enterprises (SOEs) (EW World Economy Team, 2013b; Geng and Doberstein, 2008). The environmental problems aggravated by rapid urbanisation and industrialisation will remain critical issues for a long time (Naughton, 2007; Wen and Yu, 2010). China’s urban economy has followed a linear growth model of high input, high use and high discharge (Bai et al., 2011; Naughton, 2007). It intensified the pressures on the urban environment and brought serious challenges to the welfare of urban residents and urban sustainability (Fan and Tao, 2009).

China’s road to industrialisation has concentrated on shifting economic resources from the agricultural sectors to the industrial sectors giving priority to heavy-industry growth in the internal industrial sectors (Cao and Li, 2003). China’s economy has been led by industrial sectors, and after several decades of development, China is considered as an industrial workshop of the world (Zhang, 2006a). While industrialisation has led to a relatively complete industrial system in a short period, it has also brought about massive waste, a highly polluted environment and lagging urban infrastructure and it has aggravated the gaps between urban and rural areas. Meanwhile, air pollution has become a serious urban problem in most industrial cities, with some experiencing air pollution more than 10 times over the standard of air quality proposed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) (Cook, 2002). According to a World Bank report, of the 20 most air polluted cities in the world 16 are in

China. The sulphur dioxide (SO2) emission in China ranks first in the world, the carbon emission rank second, 90 percent of rivers flowing through cities are polluted to various degrees, and one-third of cities are suffering serious pollution from multiple sources (Chen et al., 2013; E.C. Economy, 2005; Gong et al., 2012; He and Chen, 2002). 33

In response to the environmental challenges, China has taken steps to incorporate the principles of circular economy thinking in a variety of policies and strategies for efficient resource consumption and pollution reduction (Geng et al., 2013). This is consistent with China’s increased commitment to reducing pollution and promoting cleaner production. The optimistic views of The Economist (2012) stated that China’s economy is not as risky as it looks because of its self-sufficient economic model, although more changes are still needed for future long-term growth. As the gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate5 of China has eased during the latest decade, the composition of economic growth will change to be less resource intensive and the consumption share of GDP will rise as a consequence (Cox and Janda, 2012). Meanwhile, the Chinese Government has tried to regulate its economic development model to sustainable growth in a harmonious way with less environmental impacts, and this transition also provides a favourable socio-political environment for policy making and investment allocation toward sustainability (Fu et al., 2007; He et al., 2012; Naughton, 2007). Accordingly, in China, it is possible that the environment could be improved with less environmental impact than the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesised in its inverted U-shape between environmental degradation and economic growth (Kuznets, 1955; Kuznets, 1968; Song et al., 2008). Dasgupta et al. (2002) proposed four possible scenarios of EKC (Figure 2.8). China’s path along the EKC will depend on politics and public pressure and efforts for improved interactive relationship between urbanisation and the eco-environment (Fang and Wang, 2013; Taylor, 2013; Zhao et al., 2016).

Figure 2. 8 Different scenarios of Environmental Kuznets Curve. Source: Dasgupta et al. (2002)

5 The larger the economy, a lower percentage growth rate does not mean low growth, as the measurement base is greater. In China, the imperative to grow the hinterland means that in effect the task of material growth is only half complete. 34

2.4.3 Urban Development in China

The processes of economic growth, urbanisation and industrialisation have been developing and evolving in tandem and are inextricably related to one another (Hoselitz, 1957; Jacobs, 1969; Zhang, 2004a). The data from 1978 to 2010 shows that the processes of urbanisation and economic growth in China are closely related with a high positive correlation coefficient (Figure 2.9).

10 2 ) ) y = 0.0082x - 0.288x + 2.9248 R² = 0.9774

yuan 8

Real GDP (trillion (trillion GDP Real 2

15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 Urbanisation of population (%) Source: Based on data from NBSC (2011), Gross Domestic Product , Population and Its Compostion Figure 2. 9 Correlation of urbanisation rate and economic growth in China between 1978 and 2010

In line with economic development, China has experienced a rapid urbanisation process in the last few decades (Figure 2.10), and this trend of urbanisation is expected to accelerate under the current national policies (The Central Government of PRC, 2010).

20 Urbanisation rate (%) rate Urbanisation

1949 1954 1959 1964 1969 1974 1979 1984 1989 1994 1999 2004 2009

Source: Based on data from NBSC (2011), Population and Its Composition

Figure 2. 10 The variation of urbanisation rate in China between 1949 and 2010 35

China’s urbanisation has been under the control of the Chinese central government to a great extent (Hsing, 2010). In the early 1950s, the Chinese central government was focusing on rural strategies while cities were not favoured by social and economic policies (Lillian, 2012). After Mao’s death, and the adoption of the policy of reform and opening-up in 1978, China oriented its attention of economic development to urban areas, and cities gained various priorities of policies and made rapid progress in urbanisation. Since then, Chinese society has transformed from an agriculturally rural base to an industrially urban base (Zhang, 2004a). From the 1980s, a great number of cities appeared as many towns and counties upgraded to cities according to the policy of “control the scale of large cities, rationally develop medium-sized cities, and actively develop small cities” (Zhou, 1992). Since the mid-1990s, China’s urbanisation was further accelerated. Local governments have engaged in mobilising its resources to develop the cities to strengthen their urban-based local state power (Hsing, 2010). More people were attracted to urban areas for better living welfare. Consequently, urban population control became a crucial issue in many large cities and relevant policies were proposed to manage urbanisation through rural-urban migration control and the household registration system (hukou) (Brada et al., 2009; Chan and Zhang, 1999). It should also be noted that the statistical data of the urban population is disputable for three reasons: the extended geographical boundaries of cities, the unaccounted temporary migrant population in urban areas and some statistical drawbacks (Fan and Qi, 2010; Zhou and Ma, 2005). Therefore, the actual urban population is usually larger than the statistical one.

In the process of urban development in China, the rise of industrial cities has made a great contribution to China’s economic development. At the same time, they have also greatly increased natural resources consumption and caused serious environmental pollution. Industrial cities in north-western China are at a difficult crossroad; on the one hand, they are desperately exploiting local resources in order to improve the material living standards of local people; on the other hand, the serious pollution has caused a differing degree of physical and mental health hazards to local people (Chen et al., 2013; Gong et al., 2012; Srivastava, 2009). Moreover, the limited natural resources are challenging the further economic expansion of industrial cities. The traditional linear economy development model of industrial cities cannot be sustainable under the current development path way of heavily relying on natural resources. Therefore, for the long-term development of industrial cities, transformation of traditional development models to a sustainable model is an imperative choice.

2.4.4 Urban Environmental Governance System

China’s 12th Five-Year Plan (FYP) increased the central recognition of environmental issues and gave priority to environmental protection and sustainable urban development (de Jong, 2013; The 12th FYP of the State Environmental Protection, 2011; The Central Government of PRC, 2010.). Consequently cities have been motivated to adopt this guidance through multi-level responses.

The Chinese government has consecutively set ambitious environmental protection goals and regulated its economic development model to achieve sustainable growth in an environmentally- friendly way with fewer environmental impacts (Liu and Diamond, 2008; Naughton, 2007). In China, the top-down environmental governance system is the fundamental structure of environmental decision-making, regulation and supervision, which is consistent with the hierarchical political institution (Dumbaugh and Martin, 2011; Liu et al., 2012). In general, political centralisation and the government organisation framework determine the process of environmental problem resolution (Beeton and Lynch, 2012). According to this, governments at all levels are responsible for their environmental qualities in their jurisdictional areas. Multi-level environmental protection departments (MEP, provincial DEPs and local EBPs)6 are affiliated and managed by the governments at the same level and are responsible to their upper departments as well. The lower-level governments are required to meet the general environmental targets made by the central and upper-level governments. Local governments and EPBs are committed to solving specific regional environmental problems (Figure 2.11). In addition, the local EPBs are mainly influenced by local governments due to the administrative personnel management and financial resource allocation, thus the performances of local EPBs are greatly dependent on the decisions of corresponding governments on environmental issues.

6 MEP, DEP and EBP represent the three levels of environmental protection departments in China, which are Ministry of Environmental Protection at national level, Department of Environmental Protection at provincial level, and Environmental Protection Bureau at local (city) level. 37

Defined social and Party policy environmental needs

Central System targets National MEP government

Investment Government policies Identify new needs Law, planning and programs and guideline Multi-system Evaluate operation Provincial performance Provincial DEP government Monitoring Efficiency

Regional adaptation Regional planning and supervision Multi-system New problems and supervision outcomes emerge

Municipal Finance, personnel and general control Local EPB government

Coordination Influencing

Pre-environmental Economic Environmental Investment Trade-off planning, monitoring development protection and planning and supervision

Accountability in governance performance Figure 2. 11 China’s multi-level environmental governance system

2.4.5 Sustainable Urban Development Approaches in China

Research on China’s urban sustainability has flourished in recent decades. Many scholars have pointed out that China urgently needs to carry out the strategy of SD and make radical changes to solve the challenges in sustainable urban development (Cheng and Hu, 2010; Wang and He, 2015; Xiang et al., 2011). Evaluating urban sustainability using different measures that represent multiple aspects of sustainability is always a focus. For example, Wen and Yu (2010) evaluated the urban environmental sustainability of 46 Chinese cities with data envelopment analysis (DEA). Liu (2009) investigated urban environmental protection in 113 cities using an environmental performance index (EPI) combined with GIS techniques, and demonstrated a sustainability divide between eastern and western cities. In addition, multiple measures and approaches have been applied in urban studies with regard to sustainability. Many scholars linked urban ecology with the sustainability of cities (Nassauer et al., 2014; Song and Gao, 2008; Williams, 2009; Wu, 2014; Wu et al., 2014). Some addressed the role of the built environment and construction in promoting urban sustainability (Chiu, 2012; Huang and Yin, 2015; Wang, 2014; Wang et al., 2013). The performance of energy and

38 technology is also considered as an essential issue for sustainability (Jiang et al., 2014; Zhao and Guo, 2015). However, most of these research outcomes cannot be effectively applied in urban planning and decision-making. Therefore, the integration of strategic environmental assessment, urban planning, and ecological planning is necessary in order to enhance the effectiveness of strategy implementation through a double-constraint mechanism (He et al., 2011).

In accordance with the world’s trends and to resolve the impacts of rapid urbanisation, China is promising to improve the environment gradually and achieve urban sustainability in the future. The changing attitude of the Chinese government has called for fundamental transitions in urban development ideologies over the last decades. These transitions could be summarised as follows:

 Approach to development from priority development to coordinated and comprehensive planning and management (Li et al., 2008; Xu and Yeh, 2011);  Development mode from extensional development to greener and inclusive development (Fan and Tao, 2009; The World Bank and DRC of China, 2014; Williams, 2009);  Dealing with the urban-rural relations from the urban-rural split to urban-rural integration (Li, 2012; Sheng, 2011; Ye, 2009; Ye and LeGates, 2013);  Purpose of development from object-oriented to people-oriented and harmonious development (Blaxland et al., 2014; Li et al., 2015; Pan, 2015; Song, 2011).

The challenges of environmental social problems in China require strong policy intervention for the successful transition toward sustainable urban development (Wu, 2013). It is impossible to rapidly change environmental conditions dramatically and escape the environmental consequences of urban development given China’s rate of change. China’s environmental investment has increased significantly during the last decade, but remains slower than the growth of industrial output and lacks multiple sources of financial supports (China Watch, 2006; Wu et al., 2015). The most critical challenge is the trade-off between environmental conservation and economic growth (Li and Lang, 2010; Xiang et al., 2011). Many policies and regulations need to be detailed and localised. The failures among China’s efforts in building sustainable cities are usually blamed on the local implementation in the distinct Chinese context, such as the project for the Dongtan Eco-city (Larson, 2009; Williams, 2009).

China has had a unique way of promoting sustainable urban development. The main approach has been developing urban models at the city level7. The concept of Eco-city was initially proposed in urban China in the 1980s, however it lacked a clear framework and effective practice due to deficiencies in planning and investment (Pow and Neo, 2013). Since the 1990s, the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) 8 of China has promoted a movement for establishing Ecological Demonstration Regions 9 with local communities and research institutes (Wang and Ye, 2004). By 2012, 528 cities and districts have been designated as National Ecological Demonstration Regions (MEP, 2012).

Over the last two decades, China has adopted various concepts for a sustainable urban model. These concepts covered diverse aspects of environmental protection, energy efficiency, Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emission and social aspects with different foci, however urban sustainability has been a constant theme (Chinese Society for Urban Studies, 2011; Liu et al., 2014; Wu et al., 2014; Zhou et al., 2012; Zou, 2014). For instance, the Eco-city focuses on energy efficiency and eco-communities (Ghiglione and Larbi, 2015; Qiang, 2009; Zou, 2014); the Garden City emphasises increasing green space and landscape design (MHURD, 2000; Torrens, 2002); and the Environmental Protection Model City aims to elevate the importance of environmental protection aligned with economic growth (MEP, 2009). In the past ten years, many notable pilot projects of urban models have been developed, such as Tianjin Sino-Singapore Eco-city, Tangshan Caofeidian Eco-city, and Shenzhen Sino-Dutch Low-carbon Eco-city (de Jong, 2013; Low et al., 2009; Qiang, 2009; Zhou et al., 2012). Although some practices have failed due to a lack of efficient operational approaches (Zou, 2014), initiatives in these urban models have provided both theoretical and practical experiences for identifying existing barriers and sharing experiences with other cities. Meanwhile, an award system has been created to encourage local governments to adopt these concepts and find solutions to regenerate the cities, as well as honour cities that have made excellent progress in sustainable cities promotion (Liu et al., 2014).

To encourage the initiatives of local government and urban inhabitants for urban transitions toward sustainability, China proposed the concept of “ecological civilisation” as a political slogan in 2007 to

7 Three national departments of MEP, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development (MHURD) and the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) take the primary responsibilities to develop theoretical concepts, guidelines and frameworks, as well as promoting the construction of demonstrative urban models. 8 The State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) of China was founded in 1982 and elevated to the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) in 2008. Such administrative elevation gives the MEP equal status with other ministries and strengthens its position for environmental regulation. 9 An Ecological Demonstration Region is located within a city or county. The SEPA formulated the “National Ecological Demonstration Regions Planning” in 1994 to promote local environmental protection. 40 reemphasise the philosophy of respecting and sustaining the nature (Table 2.1). This concept, as a “new stage of human civilisation”, was incorporated into the CPC’s constitution in 2012 (Gare, 2012). This is aimed to further strengthen environmental consideration in decision-making and promote public participation in daily environmental activities (Wang et al., 2014).

2.5 Chapter Conclusion

A successful urban transition is conductive to both sustainable economic growth and environmental improvement, and benefits human well-being. The focal points of shifting cities toward sustainability are to re-establish the relationship between the city and its physical environment and to motivate urban transitions through deep investigation into the urban social systems. Nevertheless, the implications of sustainable development differ in specific cultural contexts. In the Chinese context, sustainability is a contemporary variant built on Chinese traditional philosophies of harmony. The culture of harmonious development as soft power is important in the context of the Chinese Government’s approach to environmental problem solving as it provides a culturally acceptable adjunct to regulation. Magnified by the leaders in the group, China’s political slogans (Table 2.1) demonstrate the evolution of China’s policies concerning sustainable development and their influence on China’s modern administration and development. The slogans of “harmonious society”, “ecological civilisation” and “Chinese dream” particularly reflect China’s aspiration to achieve cleaner growth, personal prosperity, and social stability. This resolves research question 1.

To date research has contributed to the field of urban sustainability from different aspects of theories, models, methods and management philosophies. However, there are still gaps in the existing research that require further studies.

Firstly, the existing overall body of knowledge and theory lacks an overall and well accepted operational model for urban systems understanding and urban sustainability transitions. Studies to date have mostly focused on the understanding of urban physical systems, however the essential social aspects are often neglected. Research systems and methods for a systematic understanding of urban systems are incomplete. Achieving a sustainable urban system in the context of a socialised urban environment requires a combination of physical and social factors to build an urban system model. Particular attention to the understanding of social systems in diverse urban contexts is required. Therefore, this study places special emphasis on approaches for facilitating sustainable urban development based on a broader understanding of urban systems and urban sustainability.

Secondly, further research on different types of urban systems and dynamic urban operating systems need to be strengthened. Urban development is a dynamic process of change and the development of urban systems depends on both natural transition and anthropogenic shaping. No two urban systems are exactly the same and each of them has particular characteristics that distinguish it from others. Case studies in the current literature usually fail to make a point of recognising unique characters of different types of urban systems, and neglect the urban dynamic change. In the past few decades a large number of industrial cities have emerged in China but these cities are less studied. Therefore to improve and complete the research on urban systems, further research should pay close attention to the urban dynamic changes specific to a particular type of urban system. This study will do so taking Jinchang, an industrial city in north-western China, as an example. The study in this industrial city has wider implications for other cities with chronic pollution problems, and is intended to be a basis for suggesting transitions toward sustainability in north-western China.

Thirdly, most of the current research focuses on the theoretical level emphasising the retrospective evaluation or observation of the biophysical and economic performances of urban systems, however the combination of culture, governance and people is less studied. A large number of studies on urban management are limited to the current situation, the severity of the problem, the desire for urban management improvement, and propose several commonly applicable suggestions. However, many ignore the respective local circumstances and lack consideration of how to carry out these urban management strategies effectively given the background of local development orientation, culture and custom. Consequently, this study tries to take the local circumstances of culture and public response into consideration, in order to understand how Chinese culture and policies influence China’s modern environmental management and how the local reality could be better understood based on public investigation.

Finally, urban management strategies and the implementation of the paths for urban sustainability are not yet clear, in particular a multi-level decision making mechanism and public participation pattern is not clearly defined. Therefore, further studies are needed to build a comprehensive and feasible public participation mechanism, integrate top-down and bottom-up approaches for decision making, and promote the transition of urban systems toward sustainability through planning guidance and public participation patterns. This study highlights the importance of involving public participation in understanding urban social systems and promoting information-based urban management.

These observations and the contents of this chapter when reviewed through the lens of research question 1 suggest gaps that can be addressed by the study proposed. These are organised by the two 42 theses and research questions presented in Section 1.4. The next chapter sets out the research approaches adopted and subsequent chapters report the systematic resolution of the remaining research questions.

Chapter 1 Introduction Research Background Research questions Thesis structure

Chapter 2 Literature review Urban sustainability Urban systems Human-environment interaction Sustainability in Chinese context

Chapter 3 Methodology Research design and framework We are Case study approach here Quantitative component Qualitative component

Chapter 8 Conclusion Main findings Integrated discussion

CHAPTER 3: A MIXED METHODOLOGY

A methodology provides a framework and guide for research design, practice and analysis (Salkind, 2012; Storey and Scheyvens, 2003). This chapter introduces the mixed methodology applied in this study, which, by definition, uses a mix of methods to address the varying components of an interdisciplinary study (Robson 2011). Its sequencing and linkages depend upon the theses and research questions developed to guide the study so that each question can be systematically resolved. This study’s research questions focus on the understanding of urban systems to facilitate the transition toward sustainable urban systems. Such environments are extensively influenced by human activities and the urban systems involved require understanding of biophysical, economic, social, and cultural systems in a socialised urban environment. One approach to such complexity is the application of systems thinking and multiple methods.

This study utilises a combination of natural and social sciences. The research methods applied facilitate the understanding of urban systems together with its subsets that involve urban metabolism and urban social systems. These are then linked to an understanding of the interactions between humans and urban systems. With this approach, environmental management and research techniques that span the spectrum from natural to social sciences are used. This chapter explores an integrated approach for urban systems understanding which combines multiple methods and inquiry tools. This is added to by formally specialised research methods, historic and cultural review methods and a field inquiry. The combination of these approaches is important for an understanding of the real world. The utilisation of mixed methods helps to gain a more comprehensive understanding of urban systems by providing multi-angular evidence and avoiding biased results.

3.1 Research Framework

The fundamental assumption of this study is that transitions toward urban sustainability could be facilitated through improved decision-making and regulation that are informed by the optimisation of material and energy flows, linked with a broader public investigation of how urban systems function. This is addressed by adopting an integrated approach using a mix of methods that are relevant to the different aspects of research. These consist of discipline specific empirical studies involving the interactions between humans and the urban systems in which they live. This is done by drawing upon a variety of data sources supplemented by in-depth interviews of informants from government, industry and civil society.

3.1.1 Systems Thinking with Multi-level Perspective

This study adopts systems thinking to understand and manage the dynamic urban systems in the context of China’s adaptation to its changing environment. Considering the urban system as a whole entity with multi-level interactions requires systems thinking integrated with multi-level perspectives that emphasise the interrelations among the key factors of a complex system (Checkland, 1981; Porter and Córdoba, 2009). It provides a platform for studying the complex and multi-faceted urban systems and enhances the capability of decision-makers to adopt effective strategies, policies and actions (Davidson and Venning, 2011; Geels, 2011).

To address the two research theses proposed in Chapter 1, this study identifies two main analytical themes involving both urban physical and social mechanisms. A mental map or mind map of the study (Figure 3.1) allowed this to be developed. The top part of the mind map is a physical understanding of urban metabolism. Taking the urban system as a “black box”, this research takes the material inflows and outflows through the urban system into account without considering the internal flows. The inflows account includes resources, energy and food inputs. The outflows consist of waste, pollution and products. Both of these accounts are comprised of many kinds of materials. Material flow analysis (MFA) allows this “black box” to be systematically investigated (Bao et al., 2010; Huang et al., 2012). Material input-output analysis, in combination with the economic and social factors of complex urban systems, probes further into factors influencing economic development and the quality of life. The main task is to transform a complex urban system into a set of numerical values which make the physical urban system more easily understood.

As well as understanding the interactions between human and urban systems and some key issues influencing urban development, the second part focuses on the urban social system understanding based on an investigation of public responses. Investigations in this study are classified into four levels: national policy, local governance, local enterprises and individual responses. By investigating different groups of local residents from multiple levels of the society, the study builds up an improved urban environmental management system, combining top-down and bottom-up approaches for better urban development directed at sustainability. The synthesis of the top-down and bottom-up approaches is conducive to the effectiveness of environmental management as the two approaches complement each other (Böhringer and Rutherford, 2008; Harder et al., 2014; Zhang et al., 2011).

Resource Use Coorelation Efficiency Analysis

Green Concept Economy Decoupling Consumption Growth Material Flow Analysis Concept Limitaion Modern Concept

Recycling

Inflow Outflow

Society Quality of Equity Life Reduced Resource Pollution

Urban System Energy (Sink + Product Source) Economy Environment

Food Money

Ecological Behaviour Sustainability Black Box Environment Protection

Attitude Individual Human Rational Activities Urban Form Consumption

Value Land Use Regulatory & Land Use Industrial Public System Coverage Control Lay Out Participation Change Resource Use

National Economy Sustainability Pollution Policy Restructuration Reduction

Local enterprise History Review New Local Management Worldwide & China Technological Government Philosophy Value Policy Evaluation Innovation (from 1949)

Growth Model Economy Land Transition Development Management Culture

Environment Urban Planning Protection

Figure 3. 1 Mental map of this study

3.1.2 Research Framework of DPSIR

This study applied DPSIR (Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response) as a framework for urban research; in particular it identifies the key urban issues together with urban material flows and human responses (Figure 3.2). The DPSIR framework model was introduced for establishing the causal relationships that link human activities with urban environment (EEA, 1999; Giupponi, 2007). It can be used to identify the state of environment, evaluate human response and support decision-making (Carr et al., 2007; Tscherning et al., 2012).

The DPSIR model was initially proposed by Rapport and Friend (1979), as the “Pressure-State- Response” (PSR) framework. It was then adopted by the United Nations Commission on Sustainable

Development (UNCSD, 1997), the European Environment Agency (EEA, 1999), and the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD, 2001), where it continues to be studied and developed. This model was also utilised in Australian State of the Environment reporting (Australian State of the Environment Committee, 2001, 2006, 2011).

The DPSIR model recognises that human activities create pressures on natural resources and the environment and in turn these pressures generate impacts on the quantity and quality of the natural environment and humans. The governments and communities then respond to these changes through policies, regulations, planning and individual behaviours (Ness et al., 2010; Zhang et al., 2002). Based on the causal relationships between human activities with the natural, social and environmental changes, the model assumes that appropriate responses can reduce or prevent negative pressures and impacts (Bidone and Lacerda, 2004; Giupponi, 2007; OECD, 2004). Additionally, integrating social, economic and natural systems into a framework, the model proposed here provides a basis for further detailed analysis (Bidone and Lacerda, 2004).

Driver: State: Pressure: Economic development Air pollution Excessive natural resource use Urbanisation Resource depletion Extensive land use Social progress Urban form

Impact: Response: Human sickness Perception, attitude, behavior, Environmental degradation investment, urban planning, regulation, Economic growth limitation policy, institutional innovation Inadequate infrastructure and services

Figure 3. 2 Conceptual framework of DPSIR applied to this study Source: adapted from EEA (1999), Carr et al. (2007) and Ness et al. (2010)

In this study, pressure (P) and state (S) explained the urban biophysical systems changes, where MFA was used as the major approach to model urban metabolism (Kovanda et al., 2012; Sahely et al., 2003; Schandl and West, 2012). This was the basis for addressing research question 2 “How can the urban metabolism framework be applied in understanding urban physical systems and evaluating urban sustainability potential?”

In the DPSIR framework, impact (I) and response (R) reflect human perspectives and responses in the context of certain urban environments. The phase of response was studied to find out the human responses and interactions with the urban environment. This was the basis for addressing research question 3 “How do local residents respond to the state of the urban environment? What is the 48 difference in their response among different groups of local residents?”, and research question 4 “How does the urban social system influence sustainable urban development?”

The study then explored how urban transitions toward sustainability could be facilitated through adaptive responses (R). This addressed research question 5 “What are the most critical gaps in achieving urban sustainability, and how can urban transitions toward sustainability be facilitated with emphasis on urban environmental management in the context of north-western China?”

To consolidate the framework, multiple methods of data collection that complement each other are necessary to collect adequate evidence and avoid biased results. The main methods of data collection used in this study include: a) documentation of literal and numerical documents from multiple sources; b) semi-structured interviews with questions designed to generate consolidated information from the target population; c) self-reporting of personal feelings, attitudes and beliefs, utilising a field log book; and d) visual material and observation as essential complementary approaches to collect evidence.

3.2 Case Study Approach

The world is a set of complex problems; the variables in the world system are interacting with one another and the managers are always managing “messes” (Allen and Gould, 1986; Clark, 1993). The relationships of variables in the system are hard to identify within a unique time and space. General theories and laws are not applicable for all problems. Consequently empirical research of case studies is essential to address the complexity associated with researching substantive and real world issues, specific concepts, methodologies and data (Patterson and Williams, 1998; Robson, 2011).

3.2.1 Case Study Design

Case studies have been used in many research fields, such as management science, public policy, urban planning, social work and decision analysis, as a methodology that can yield meaningful repeatable results (Yin, 2009). The case study design utilises four basic steps: what questions are to be studied, what data are relevant, how can reliable data be collected, and how can data be analysed and interpreted (Kaplan and Kaplan, 1989). In this study, two theses dependent on five research questions were identified in Chapter 1. The resolutions for research question 1 and a basis for the remaining research questions were provided in Chapter 2. Data relevant to these questions can be categorised into quantitative data that is important for understanding the biophysical components of urban systems and qualitative data that reflect human responses and understanding the social aspects 49 of urban systems. The data collection methods are closely related to the form of the data. The detailed analytical methods used are summarised in the following sections.

3.2.2 Case Study Selection

The study used Jinchang City as a case study. Jinchang is a key industrial city in north-western China. The city has strong industry-based economy coupled with chronic air pollution issues. It ranked in the top 10 most polluted Chinese cities in 2004 (People's Daily, 2004). It is China’s largest centre for nickel and cobalt production and platinum group metals refining. The output of nickel and platinum group metals of Jinchang City accounts for 90% of China’s total production (China Daily, 2013). The Jinchuan Group Co., Ltd (JNMC)10 is the dominant state-owned enterprise in Jinchang City. It is a large-scale nonferrous metallurgy and chemical joint enterprise engaged in mining, smelting, chemical engineering, and material processing. It is also the fourth largest nickel manufacturing enterprise in the world (JNMC, 2012). These activities support Jinchang’s economy by contributing 60-70 per cent of the fiscal revenue of the city (Jinchang Daily, 2011a; JNMC, 2014). This combination of circumstances makes Jinchang an ideal case study for the emerging industrial cities in north-western China.

Jinchang City is a product of large-scale promotion of economic development in China which plays a crucial role in improving the economic condition in the north-western Chinese cities. However, it comes with an environmental cost (Fang and Xie, 2010; Wang et al., 2003). With the maturity of economic development, the constraints of resources, environmental deterioration and people’s increasing demand for a better environment, the planners and managers of Jinchang City are obliged to change the previous economic and urban development model and look for a way of sustainable development. In the context of China’s effort to build a harmonious society (Li et al., 2015), the exploration of a sustainable urban development path for Jinchang provides an experiment in making a smooth transition that will be relevant to many other cities in China and around the world.

10 JNMC was initially founded in 1959 following the discovery of the Jinchuan Nickel Mine located at the foot of the Longshou Mountain in the west of Jinchang. Adhering to the PRC policy of vertical integration and diversification of mining and metals as the core development strategy, JNMC has become the largest nickel, cobalt and platinum metals manufacturing enterprise and the third largest copper producer in China. On April 28th 2011, JNMC was awarded the Chinese Industrial Award (the highest award for industry in China) and it also became the first enterprise in Gansu province with an operating income of more than 120 billion yuan (Jinchang Daily, 2011b). 50

3.2.3 Study Area Introduction

Jinchang is in central Gansu province (101° - 102°E, 37° - 39°N), west of the Yellow River, north of the Qilian Mountains and south of the Alashan Plateau (Figure 3.3). The city is bounded by the Gobi desert to the north and west and fragmented farming areas in the south and east. The urban area has an annual temperature range from -23 to 38°C, annual average precipitation of 139mm, evaporation of 2,094mm, and persistent winds from the northwest that only vary in strength (Jinchang Municipal Government, 2012a). Due to the region’s biophysical and climatic properties, land degradation and decreasing underground water, airborne dust is a serious problem that aggravates the industrial pollution generated by smelting (Derbyshire et al., 1998; Ma et al., 2010).

The city’s location in the eastern sector of the Hexi Corridor11 was once an important part of the “Silk Road”12 from China to Central and West Asia. It was a county-level city named Yongchang13 before 1981 when it was upgraded to a prefecture-level city. Up to this time it was considered as a historically important node of cultural exchange. The administrative area of Jinchang includes 1 urban district (Jinchuan) and 1 county district (Yongchang). The administrative area of Jinchang covers 9,593 km2, of which the urban district occupies 3,770 km2 and the county occupies the remaining 5,823 km2. The total population of Jinchang by 2014 is 478,700 and the urbanisation rate is 59.33 per cent. The original residents of Jinchang City (central urban district) are the people who emigrated from the surrounding rural areas and cities nearby, as well as young intellectuals and decentralised cadres from eastern regions of China. The latter came with the purpose of promoting industrial and economic development in the area following the significant mineral discoveries in 1950s.

11 The Hexi Corridor (hexi zou lang) refers to the historical route in Gansu province of China. It is a main thoroughfare from hinterland to western China with a length of 900 km and a width ranging from several kilometres to hundreds of kilometres. It runs from Wushaoling in the east to Yumenguan in the west, and is located between the Nanshan (Qilian and Altun mountains) in the south and Beishan (Mazong, Heli and Longshou mountains) in the north. As part of the Silk Road running northwest from the bank of the Yellow River, it was the most important route from North China to the Tarim Basin and Central Asia for trades and the military. 12 The Silk Road was an ancient commercial trade route connecting Asia, Africa and Europe. It started from the capital of Chang’an (today’s Xi’an) of ancient China and ended in Africa and Europe. The initial role of this route was transporting China produced silk to Western countries, afterwards, it became a main road for economic, political, and cultural exchanges between East and West. 13 There are many archaeological sites in Yongchang county. They cover at least 4000 years from the Stone Age, the Western Han (202 BC-9 AD) site, sections of the Great Wall from the Han (202 BC-220 AD) and the Ming (1368–1643) dynasties. Subsequent dynasties are also represented reflecting the corridor’s significance as a trade route since ancient times. 51

Figure 3. 3 Location of Jinchang City Source: image data from USGS Earth Explorer and Google Map (Accessed November 2014)

Natural resource-based industries are the key to Jinchang's economy. By the end of 2011, the gross domestic product (GDP)14 of Jinchang achieved 23.3 billion yuan (CNY) with a growth rate of 15.7 per cent with the industrial added value accounting for 78.4 per cent (Table 3.1). The GDP per capita reached 50,060 yuan per year with a growth rate of 15.4 per cent compared with the previous year. This was much higher than both the Chinese average and the Gansu provincial average (Jinchang Municipal Government, 2012b; National Bureau of Statistics of China, 2011).

Table 3. 1 Economic structure and GDP per capita in Jinchang City (2011) Output value Growth rate Share of total GDP billion yuan % % Industrial added value 18.2 17.1 78.4 Tertiary industrial added value 3.8 12.0 16.4 Agricultural added value 1.2 5.5 5.2 GDP per capita (yuan per year) Jinchang 50,060 Chinese average 29,992 Gansu province average 16,096

14 All indicators referring to GDP in this study are real GDP (measured in RMB yuan) which are calculated at constant prices with 1995 as the base. 52

Early in the study a causal loop analysis was conducted using nodes and feedback loops to assist thinking about urbanisation, industrial development, ecological environment and urban land use (Figure 3.4). The figure shows the basic relationships and trade-offs between industrial development, ecological environment and urban construction in Jinchang City. This analysis was used to direct thinking about the biophysical and social systems in Jinchang.

City-ward Out-ward migration migration - + + - Urban population + - Births per year Deaths per year + + - Fertility Service per capita Life expantancy + + + + + + + Education, family Health status planning - Service capital Ecological + - environment Faimily income - - + Pollution + + + Industrial benefit Waste + Urban land use Ecological + function Resource + Industrial + consumtpion + + - production/output+ + Urban expansion Industrial - development Resource + + stock/capacity + + Technological investment Urban construction - + resource/maintainance + Efficiency of capital + Environmental investment

Figure 3. 4 Causal loops of urban population, industrial development, environment and land use Note: (+) refers to positive feedback, (-) means negative. Source: following the methodology of Meadows et al. (2005) and Fazey et al. (2011)

Jinchang City is no exception to the many small to medium sized industrial cities in China that have reached dangerous levels of pollution with associated health hazards (Chen et al., 2012; Kan et al., 2012). With the dramatic expansion and population growth in the last two decades, the city has entered a period of rapid development of both industrial production, urban construction and their associated negative externalities. The desire of residents for a better environment has also greatly increased, consequently government and industrial enterprises are realising that they must change their ways of management and operation if they are to maintain a social licence to operate. Therefore, the promotion of sensible urban development is a significant issue relevant to urban environmental management and the political system of governance. 53

3.3 The Quantitative Component: Modelling Urban Metabolism through MFA

Methodology is the body of theory about how the world can be interpreted, and methods are sets of techniques for interpreting the world (Storey and Scheyvens, 2003). In order to most accurately answer the research questions, multiple analytical methods were adopted to provide a holistic approach for understanding urban systems and facilitating sustainability transitions (Figure 3.5). Methods used in this study could be categorised as both quantitative and qualitative research.

Figure 3. 5 Mixed analytical methods applied in the study

In this study, quantitative research methods were used to provide a physical understanding of urban mechanisms, build a visible numerical background of urban systems through numerical manipulation, explain the relationships between variables and make inferences by the application of quantitative statistical analysis. This study utilised material flow analysis (MFA) of inputs and outputs to analyse the systemic changes of the urban physical systems of Jinchang. Specified indicators that are associated with socio-economic activities were selected to circumscribe the urban metabolism in terms of material flows. Based on MFA results, the sustainability of the urban system was evaluated using techniques of structural decomposition analysis and decoupling analysis. Such an approach for exploring the metabolism of resources in the economic and industrial activities, allows the resource utilisation efficiency and urban sustainability potential to be evaluated.

3.3.1 Quantitative Data Sources

Data on MFA were collected from the Statistical Yearbook of Jinchang City (population, economic development, urban construction, energy, resource use and environmental condition), a compilation of statistical records of JNMC (mining, imports, production, marketing, resource use and supply, waste generation), environmental statistical reports and environmental monitoring records were obtained from the environmental protection bureau of Jinchang City. Additional data were collected from the official reports and network databases, such as the China environmental quality report. National data and provincial data were also used to estimate knowledge gaps for Jinchang City.

Socio-economic indicators were adopted to reflect the urban economic change and the development of social wealth. GDP was used to represent changes of economic growth. GDP per capita was applied as an indicator for social wealth. Although the concept of social wealth covers diverse domains relating to quality of life, the economic factor is crucial in influencing other aspects of social wealth. In this research, the reliability of some environmental records and GDP reported by the government is disputable, due to their limitations in reflecting the real condition. However, they are still widely used as being recorded frequently, consistently and comparably. To triangulate these results, some qualitative data was collected from interviews and archives (e.g. local chronicles of Jinchang) as complementary information offsetting the deficiency in data reliability.

3.3.2 Analytical Procedure and Methods

MFA is the major research method used to understand urban metabolism and its underlying mechanisms. The theory of MFA provides specific measurable indicators of material inputs (MI) and material outputs (MO) which, when combined with socio-economic activities, can be applied to better understand the processes underlying urban sustainability. MFA of input-output has limitations in its rough classification and brief analysis of the system, and neglects the intra-relations between variables. However, it has the advantage of studying both the overall amounts and directions of material flows throughout the system (Bao et al., 2010). Several groups of scholars have investigated how sustainable urban development can be facilitated using a material input-output analysis based on both human and biophysical input variables (Goldstein et al., 2013; Huang and Hsu, 2003; Kovanda et al., 2012; Li et al., 2010; Schandl and West, 2012). Goldstein et al. (2013) provided a meta-analysis of available data from different cities to demonstrate that urban metabolism and MFA models can be effective approaches to study urban issues. A detailed review of MFA and its applications are shown in the published paper in Appendix F. 55

Structural decomposition analysis (SDA) can be applied to MFA to explain observed changes of material flows (Hoekstra and van den Bergh, 2003; Rose and Casler, 1996; Rose and Chen, 1991; Su and Ang, 2012). It is used to explain changes in the dependent variable by decomposing it into several independent variables, in order to measure the contribution of each independent variable to the dependent variable over time. In this case three explanatory variables of population, social wealth and technological progress (Equation 3.1) were used and the contribution of each to the urban material flows over time was determined.

퐺퐷푃 푀퐹 MF = 푃 × × 푃 퐺퐷푃 Equation 3.1 Structural decomposition analysis of material flows Note: MF refers to MI and MO, as measures for pressure on natural environment; P is population; GDP MF means GDP per capita, as a proxy for the social wealth; represents material inputs or outputs per P GDP GDP as a standard for technological progress

The study further used decoupling analysis to evaluate urban sustainability potential, by measuring the decoupling status between economic growth and environmental pressures (Ru et al., 2012; Zhang, 2000; Andreoni and Galmarini, 2012; Ren and Hu, 2012; Liang, 2010). The decoupling model uses a “flexible concept” (Tapio, 2005; Vehmas et al., 2003) to reflect the decoupling relationship between variables and in so doing overcomes the dilemma of selecting a base period. In this study, the elasticity value of “T” was used to measure the decoupling relationship between material flows and economic growth and suggest urban sustainability potential (Equation 3.2).

% ∆MF 푇 = 푀퐹,퐺퐷푃 % ∆GDP Equation 3.2 Elasticity value of decoupling GDP from material flows

Note: 푇푀퐹,퐺퐷푃 represents the decoupling elasticity between material flow and economic growth; ∆MF and ∆GDP refer to the changes of material flow and GDP respectively

The decoupling model recognised eight decoupling states that could be used to measure decoupling status. Decoupling status in a given period depends on the value “T” (T<0, 0≤T<0.8, 0.8≤T≤1.2, or T>1.2) and the changing trend of MF and GDP (∆MF >0 or <0, ∆GDP >0 or <0). The three basic states are decoupled, coupled and negatively decoupled. In a certain period, when the growth rate of resources consumption or environmental pressure indicators is less than the rate of economic growth, the situation is considered to be in a state of relative decoupling or weak decoupling. When the resources consumption or the environmental pressure is decreasing and the economy keeps growing at the same time, absolute decoupling or strong decoupling occurs.

3.4 The Qualitative Component: Understanding Interactions between Humans and Urban Environment

A qualitative research approach is generally used as a comprehensive research strategy for undertaking an empirical inquiry into a phenomenon or for exploring the relationship between a phenomenon and human activities (Punch, 2013). It is a widely used approach to gain an in-depth understanding of behaviour and the reasons for that behaviour (Salkind, 2012). Denzin and Lincoln (2005) gave a generic definition of qualitative research as “studying things in their natural settings, attempting to make sense of, or interpret, phenomena in terms of the meanings people bring to them, and making the world visible”. With this as a guide, qualitative research designs were proposed.

The qualitative research methods used in this study (Figure 3.5), which mainly consists of semi- structured interviews and archival based policy research, enable the understanding of urban systems to be more comprehensive and realistic. Using the system dynamics method of causal loop modelling (Maani and Cavana, 2007), the qualitative analysis aims to explore the interactions between humans and the urban environment that build up the urban social systems. In doing so, it probes deeply into the management of government and enterprises and inquiries into public behaviours that influence both social and policy responses.

3.4.1 Qualitative Data Sources and Data Collection Methods

In this study qualitative data were generated from personal knowledge, observation, perception and experience of the informants involved in the semi-structured interviews. Photographs, personal stories and field logbooks were supplementary data sources.

Semi-structured interview was applied as the main approach in qualitative data collection in this study (Yin, 2009). The primary aim of the interviews was to get personal ideas and experience, which are relevant to the research questions, from the target population. The sample target population was designed before the interview according to specific criteria. The semi-structured interview provided one-to-one communication. The investigator asked the interviewees to clarify and explain any uncertain or ambiguous answers during the interview, which significantly reduced misunderstanding and avoided neglecting important information. The limitation of the interview lies in the great cost of acquiring data in terms of time and expense (Teddlie and Tashakkori, 1998; Yin, 2009). In this study, this extended to conducting the interviews in Chinese and translating the transcripts into English.

3.4.2 Interview Questions and Composition of Interviewees

To collect the empirical data, semi-structured interviews were conducted during the field work which focused on collecting individual experiences and perspectives from multi-level groups. The interviews were directed at research questions 1, 3 and 4 covering three major issues: the understanding of sustainable development in the Chinese context; the local perceptions of the urban environment in Jinchang City; and the human responses to urban problems.

The interviews utilised formal questions with open ended responses and follow-up inquiries (Appendix A). All interviewees were asked the same questions and each interview lasted for approximately one hour. Depending on context, different questions and prompts were used as follow ups to clarify what was being offered and to collect more detailed information. After each interview, observations were recorded in a field logbook.

The interviews were carried out by drawing on four targeted groups15. Primary data were derived from 50 formal interviews. The sample comprised 12 government officials (G#), 10 enterprise managers (E#), 13 factory workers (W#), and 15 local inhabitants (ordinary residents, who are not factory workers) (R#). The interviewees were labelled as G#, E#, W# and R# in sequence, and their identities were kept confidential. Each group covered a variety of informants with diversified occupations, ages and educational backgrounds. The key demographic characteristics of the interviewees are presented in Figure 3.6. Most of the informants were male (44 persons), while only six informants were female. This gender bias occurred firstly because the majority of the females refused to accept the interview invitation as they felt stressed by being interviewed and worried about providing inappropriate answers or misleading information to the researcher. Secondly, the interview attempted to get certain groups of people involved, which specified the selection of the informants. Apart from the group of ordinary residents (R#), the majority of the other three groups were males, the characteristics of the targeted groups determined the gender of the informants.

15 All data involving human subjects were collected under the University of Queensland’s requirements and approvals for the ethical conduct of research. Details of this are available in Appendices B and C. 58

Figure 3. 6 Statistical information of interviewees

All interviews were conducted in Chinese and the records have been translated into English. The sense of the way concepts were expressed in Chinese has been maintained where possible. Because of the way the Chinese language implies certain ideas, translation was not entirely verbatim. The field logbook helped to conserve the original meaning of some expression. The results of the qualitative inquiry were used to triangulate the understanding of urban systems and human responses, discover the role of different stakeholders, identify sustainability challenges and suggest strategies for involving human factors in decision-making.

3.4.3 Qualitative Data Interpretation and Analysis

The interviews were transcribed and then organised using open coding and categorised to establish the basic structure of the data (Auerbach and Silverstein, 2003; Corbin and Strauss, 2015; Yin, 2009). The categories were then organises into nodes (Figure 3.7) using NVivo 10 (QSR International) software where the contents of the interview transcriptions were linked to the relevant nodes. The

59 interview information was then further analysed using these nodes and the grouping of the interviewees. In addition, causal loop diagrams (CLD) were developed as an approach to modelling the relationships between key factors that form the interactions between humans and urban systems. The CLD links the word-and-arrow diagrams with coded data to create causal relationships; this process used Vensim 6.3 (Ventana Systems, Inc.) software.

Challenge Opportunity Urban future Evaluation Proposal of SD Relationship of HS Sustainable Influence Harmonious and SD development society (HS) Personal (SD) Implementation acknowledge Contribution Positive Mixed Negative Attitude Neutral Social progress Balance of economy and environment Role of enterprise Local awareness Response Enterprise Resident Environmental protection practice

Prediction of SD Political institution Consideration of Role of government next generations Government Response

Natural environment Environmental Urban sprawl impact Housing condition Air pollution Urban Urban Infrastructure and planning Air quality and environment construction changes Ecological construction Environmental protection

Renewalbe energy Agriculture Transformation Circular economy Industry Urban and choices economy Alternative industry Other industries Social reform

Figure 3. 7 Interview nodes structured to explore human responses to the urban environment and SD

3.5 Expected Limitations

It should be acknowledged that there were several expected limitations in this research. Firstly, some statistical data and reports from governments are disputable. There are two main reasons: different statistical calibre and adjusted statistical data. For instance, the air pollution degrees reported by authorities are generally lower than the “realistic” condition reported by informants.

The second limitation is the limited number of indicators due to the confined availability of data and the gaps in statistical availability. Despite the lack of comprehensiveness, the indicators selected in this research are the most pertinent factors relevant to the purposes of this research.

The third limitation is the interview sampling. Four groups of individuals are identified in order to get representative data. The research sampled 50 effective individuals with 10-15 individuals from each group and unavoidably sampling errors may occur. Two approaches were used to minimise this know problem. Firstly the selection of informants tried to cover diverse occupations, ages and educational backgrounds. Secondly the researcher reviewed the interviews and kept a field log. In the case of each group the initial review of interviews was directed at establishing when a point of no new information was being added, that is the point of theoretical saturation had been reached (Ashley and Boyde, 2006; Rennie, 1998; Robson, 2011).

The fourth limitation is that some questions in the interview are relatively sensitive in China, such as some issues related to air pollution and political institutions. Some people may be reluctant to answer or they may give deceptive answers, or even provide some answers that are inconsistent with the truth. Therefore, great care in interpretation was taken in data analysis, with the help of contemporary field log books.

Chapter 1 Introduction Research Background Research questions Thesis structure

Chapter 2 Literature review Urban sustainability Urban systems Human-environment interaction Sustainability in Chinese context

Chapter 3 Methodology Research design and framework Case study approach Quantitative component Qualitative component

We are here

Chapter 8 Conclusion Main findings Integrated discussion

CHAPTER 4: URBAN METABOLIC SYSTEM MODELLING

Regarding cities as hybrids of biophysical and social systems, this study builds upon the quantitative modelling of urban metabolism and the qualitative inquiry of public response to explore the urban systems of Jinchang City. This chapter focuses on the biophysical systems modelling of the city. It utilises material flow analysis of inputs and outputs, combined with specified indicators of urban socio-economic activities, to explore and evaluate the variations of urban material/energy utilisation and efficiency, environmental changes, and urban sustainability potential (Section 3.3). The chapter demonstrates “how the urban metabolism framework can be applied in understanding the urban biophysical system and evaluating urban sustainability potential” (RQ 2).

4.1 Material Flows of Inputs and Outputs in Urban Systems

The material inputs into Jinchang City between 1995 and 2014 were dominated by four major components: industrial minerals and metals, energy consumption, construction materials and biomass (predominantly from the surrounding farming areas) (Table 4.1).

Table 4. 1 Composition of material inputs in Jinchang City Unit: tonnes per capita Industrial minerals Year Energy Construction materials Biomass Total inputs and metals 1995 19.78 19.31 3.42 0.46 42.97 1996 22.05 20.71 3.41 0.48 46.65 1997 23.24 21.92 3.52 0.49 49.17 1998 23.01 20.82 3.76 0.52 48.12 1999 24.02 22.52 4.66 0.59 51.78 2000 24.57 27.25 5.12 0.62 57.57 2001 27.54 20.94 5.29 0.66 54.43 2002 26.27 18.58 5.70 0.70 51.26 2003 27.87 20.54 5.76 0.73 54.90 2004 29.96 18.42 7.46 0.77 56.59 2005 29.38 17.76 6.77 0.80 54.70 2006 33.34 19.13 7.06 0.83 60.37 2007 36.20 24.35 7.51 0.89 68.95 2008 37.07 21.61 8.20 0.95 67.83 2009 37.76 24.61 8.56 1.01 71.94 2010 40.88 23.96 8.60 1.07 74.51 2011 39.97 22.65 8.95 1.10 72.67 2012 41.04 22.36 9.42 1.14 73.95 2013 42.72 23.58 11.49 1.25 79.05 2014 46.57 24.64 10.80 1.37 83.38

Industrial minerals and metals were composed of total mining minerals, imported metals and chemical materials. Energy consumption (measured by coal equivalent tonnes) consisted of coal, coke, heavy oil, diesel oil, petrol and electricity. Construction materials included both industrial and urban construction materials. Biomass was comprised of crops and timbers. The materials extracted from the finished products and waste for reuse were not calculated as annual material inputs reflecting the nature of the input-output model which focused on the materials flowing through the boundary of the urban system. From 1995 to 2014, the consumption of industrial minerals and metals and energy comprised more than 85% of total MI, with the share of 49.27(±6.58)% and 38.44(±8.89)% of total MI respectively over the period. The share of construction materials showed an increasing trend from 7.95% to 12.96% (Figure 4.1).

20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4

2 Material Inputs / Millions tonnes Millions / Inputs Material 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013

Industrial minerals and metals Energy Construction materials Biomass

Figure 4. 1 Composition and changes of material inputs in Jinchang City between 1995 and 2014

The material outputs consisted mainly of industrial products, solid waste, water pollutants and air pollutants. The main industrial products included nickel, copper, cobalt, platinum, gold, silver and titanium (Table 4.2). Solid waste, including industrial solid waste and domestic waste accounted for more than 90% of MO. The air pollutants were composed of three major pollutants, sulphur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen and dust (which included industrial dust and wind-borne loess dust). Sulphur dioxide (SO2) emission accounted for 63.51-75.28% of total air pollution (0.44-1.35 tonnes per capita) during the studied period. The MI and MO in Jinchang City were linearly correlated with a correlation coefficient of 0.991 between 1995 and 2014. The whole period presented a scenario of high MI and high MO. During this period, the MI increased with an average growth rate of 7.40% per year, while the MO increased with an average growth rate of 8.35% per year.

Table 4. 2 Composition of material outputs of Jinchang City Unit: tonnes per capita Industrial Solid Sulphur Nitrogen Water Total Year Dust products waste dioxide oxide pollutions outputs 1995 0.42 22.94 1.29 0.47 0.04 0.10 25.26 1996 0.47 24.79 1.42 0.44 0.04 0.10 27.25 1997 0.40 26.82 1.35 0.41 0.04 0.10 29.12 1998 0.41 29.00 0.96 0.38 0.04 0.10 30.88 1999 0.46 30.91 0.71 0.36 0.04 0.10 32.58 2000 0.52 32.64 0.91 0.33 0.04 0.09 34.54 2001 0.71 34.17 1.05 0.30 0.05 0.09 36.37 2002 0.86 34.83 0.90 0.27 0.05 0.08 36.99 2003 1.08 34.10 0.85 0.23 0.06 0.08 36.40 2004 1.28 39.91 0.80 0.19 0.12 0.07 42.38 2005 1.51 40.73 0.73 0.16 0.12 0.07 43.31 2006 1.79 44.72 0.57 0.15 0.10 0.05 47.40 2007 2.06 44.82 0.53 0.15 0.08 0.06 47.70 2008 2.18 48.22 0.47 0.15 0.12 0.05 51.20 2009 2.68 49.65 0.47 0.14 0.12 0.06 53.13 2010 2.58 49.74 0.44 0.11 0.15 0.05 53.07 2011 3.02 51.83 0.45 0.08 0.14 0.05 55.58 2012 3.25 53.63 0.47 0.06 0.12 0.05 57.58 2013 3.85 53.83 0.47 0.06 0.12 0.05 58.38 2014 2.90 54.30 0.45 0.06 0.12 0.04 57.87

4.2 Variations in Material Inputs

The consumption of industrial minerals and metals comprised the major component of the MI (more than half) due to Jinchang City’s dependency on the non-ferrous metallurgy industries. Between 1995 and 2014, the consumption of industrial minerals and metals increased from 2.29 million tonnes (46.57 tonnes per capita) to 10.80 million tonnes (34.29 tonnes per capita) reflecting the increasing economic scale of JNMC. Meanwhile, the importation of metal ores from surrounding areas for smelting and fabricating increased from 4.65 thousand tonnes (0.04 tonnes per capita) to 693.62 thousand tonnes (2.99 tonnes per capita). The increase in imported metal ores demonstrated Jinchang City’s enhanced cooperation with other resource supply partners to make Jinchang City a metal ore processing hub while maintaining the inventory of local mineral resources. This reflected a local policy of husbanding local resources while promoting domestic imports.

Over the period, the energy consumption increased from 2.24 million tonnes (19.31 tonnes per capita) to 5.71 million tonnes (24.64 tonnes per capita) of coal equivalents. The share of industrial mineral and metals of total MI kept increasing, while the share of energy consumption steadied between 15% and 30%. The decreasing trend of energy consumption per unit of metal production showed that the

65 industrial production has become more efficient. Metal production was not alone in increasing energy consumption. With expanded production and individual prosperity resulted in a shift toward a consumer society.

Between 1995 and 2014 the consumption of construction materials increased from 396 thousand tonnes (7.95% of total MI) to 2.51 million tonnes (12.96% of total MI), which represented both rapid industrial and urban construction (Figure 4.2). Between 2001 and 2004, the consumption of industrial construction materials doubled from 420.93 thousand tonnes to 834.61 thousand tonnes, suggesting a great investment in industrial production. The consumption of construction materials for urban construction was growing with two leaps in 1999 and 2007, which reflected two stages of intensive urban construction. Since 2007, the new urban planning proposed to separate the industrial and residential spaces is reflected in accelerating urban construction in the northern area of Jinchang City (Figure 7.4 and Figure 7.5 in Chapter 7). Accompanying this, the local government and JNMC made intensive efforts cooperatively to improve water treatment, store reclaimed water and transform a “black river”16 that drained the area adjacent to the mine site into parklands (Gan, 2012). These required a great amount of construction materials.

1,600

1,400

1,200

1,000

800

600

400 Thousands tonnes Thousands 200

1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 Consumption of Construcion Materials / Materials Construcion of Consumption

Industrial construction materials Urban construction materials

Figure 4. 2 Consumption of construction materials in Jinchang City between 1995 and 2014

In addition, the MI of biomass showed an upward trend during this period. Due to the natural geographical characteristics and limited arable lands in the Jinchang municipality, the production of

16 The renovation of the Longquan landscape belt in Jinchang was a story of “rebirth of black river”, which has transformed the previous dirty and smelly river into a leisure complex with water plaza, sculptures and walking corridors. The Longquan landscape belt was one of the eight urban landscape construction projects in Jinchang started in June 2008. It is built along the west channel of the old city, which is 2,650 m in length and covers 100,000 m2. 66 crops and timbers was relatively low. Thus the MI amount of biomass was far below that of other MI in Jinchang City.

4.3 Changes of Main Pollutants and Wastes

Both industrial products and solid waste increased between 1995 and 2014. Industrial products increased rapidly from 48,147 tonnes (0.42 tonnes per capita) to 890,928 tonnes (3.85 tonnes per capita), with an average annual growth rate of 17.59%. From 2000, the growth rate of industrial products accelerated showing an exponential growth trend and an expanded production capacity. During the studied period, total solid waste, including industrial solid waste and domestic waste, increased from 2.66 million tonnes (22.94 tonnes per capita) to 12.59 million tonnes (54.30 tonnes per capita) (Figure 4.3).

180 14

160 12 140 10 120

100 8

80 6 60 4

40 Solid waste / Millions tonnes Millions / waste Solid

Pollutions / Thousands tonnes Thousands / Pollutions 2 20

1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013

Sulphur dioxide Nitrogen oxide Dust Water pollutions Solid waste

Figure 4. 3 Changes of main pollutants and solid wastes in Jinchang City between 1995 and 2014

The growth in industrial solid waste was the result of industrial expansion in mining and smelting, while the domestic waste was contributed to by construction waste and household waste. The increasing trend in solid waste can be divided into three stages, with average annual growth rates of 8.72% in 1995-2003, 10.14% in 2003-2012, and finally the growth rate slowed down in 2013 - 2014. This trend is linked to the large scale investment in Jinchang’s heavy industries.

The indicator generated by dividing MO of solid waste by total MI reflected the general material use efficiency, which fluctuated frequently between 1995 and 2014 (Figure 4.4). With the increasing of

67 total MI, the output of solid waste increased even faster and reached its peak in 2005 and 2006. After 2006, the solid waste began to decrease with respect to the total MI. The trend of solid waste changes respective to the total MI indicated that the solid waste increased rapidly with the MI in the early stages of economic development which showed an extensive industrial production with low efficiency of material use. However, the solid waste stabilised with a tendency to decline from 2006. Similarly, the MO of solid waste per unit of industrial products output decreased from 70.84 to 13.97 during the studied period. SO2 emission per unit of industrial product outputs also declined from 3.34 to 0.12. Evaluating the MO of solid waste and SO2 emission with respect to total MI and industrial products showed that the material use efficiency has improved significantly with the maturation of industrial activity and technological progress. This implies a potential for declining environmental pressure which suggests the scenario of a conventional or revised EKC is possible (Figure 2.8).

0.80 y = -0.001x2 + 0.0306x + 0.4776 R² = 0.7841 0.75

0.70

0.65

0.60

0.55

Solid waste per unit of MI Solid waste / Total material inputs material Total / waste Solid 0.50 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013

Figure 4. 4 MO of solid waste per unit of MI in Jinchang City between 1995 and 2014

Controlling and ultimately reducing air pollution is critical for improving the environment. In Jinchang City, industrial minerals and metals are derived from the multi-metal sulphide ore deposits.

The smelting of nickel and copper and power generation emitted large amounts of SO2 and consequently this has become the predominant pollutant in Jinchang, accounting for 60-75% of total air pollution between 1995 and 2014. To mitigate this, JNMC built two sulphuric acid plants to absorb the SO2 in early 1987, which increased the recycling rate of SO2 from 4% to 74% (JNMC, 2011). In the next decades, more environmental projects were put into operation successively. Throughout the whole studied period, the SO2 emission dropped (Figure 4.3).

The changes in SO2 emission could be divided into three stages during this period. Stage I, from 1995 to 1999, was a period of fluctuation. The SO2 emissions increased from 149.50 thousand tonnes (1.29

68 tonnes per capita) in 1995 to 170.30 thousand tonnes (1.42 tonnes per capita) in 1996, and then decreased sharply to 90.90 thousand tonnes (0.71 tonnes per capita) by 1999. The changes of SO2 emission in 1996 and 1997 were consistent with the output of industrial products. In 1996, the second phase of the environmental projects were put into operation. The chemical plant of JNMC began to absorb the SO2 emitted from the flash furnaces in the nickel and copper smelting plants, and the production of sulphuric acid exceeded 10 thousand tonnes per year. Between 1998 and 1999, the output of industrial products increased, but the SO2 emission kept decreasing. One of the reasons for this significant decline of SO2 emission was changes to ores with different (lower) total sulphur contents. More importantly, in 1998, the JNMC imported new converters to use in Nickel and copper smelting to absorb SO2, and the sulphuric acid chemical plant underwent a five-month overhaul and reconstruction to increase its capacity of SO2 absorption (JNMC, 2011). As a consequence, not only the product yield increased, but the SO2 emission reduced. From then on, the environmental protection work focusing on SO2 emission reduction, became a priority for institutionalised management.

During stage II, between 2000 and 2005, the SO2 emission increased again to 141.30 thousand tonnes (1.05 tonnes per capita) in 2001 and then stabilised at a high level of 120-130 thousand tonnes until

2005. The annual average SO2 emission during this period was 128.20 thousand tonnes (0.86 tonnes 3 per capita), and the annual average SO2 concentration value in the urban area was 0.149mg/m , which exceeded by 48% Standard III for “Ambient Air Quality Standards (GB 3095-2012)”17. The direct reason for the heavy emission in this period was the enhanced production according to the “Bigger and Stronger” development strategy of JNMC (Research Office of Jinchang Municipal Government,

2006). The product yield continued to increase at a faster rate from 2000 and the SO2 emission increased simultaneously. Lower investment in pollutant control equipment led to massive concentration levels of SO2 emission, which aggravated the air pollution between 2000 and 2005. Because of the severe air pollution, Jinchang was listed as one of the ten most polluted cities in China in 2004 (People's Daily, 2004).

Stage III, between 2006 and 2014, SO2 emissions began to show a relatively steady state with SO2 emission stabilised at 85-110 thousand tonnes. The annual average SO2 emission reduced to 97.74 thousand tonnes (0.48 tonnes per capita), which was 23.96% lower than that in Stage II (2000-2005).

17 The “Ambient Air Quality Standards” of PRC National Standard is developed for the implementation of the “Environmental Protection Law” and the “Atmospheric Pollution Prevention Act” of PRC. The standard is released in 1982 and amended in 1996, 2000 and 2012. The latest version is GB 3095-2012. According to the “Ambient Air Quality 3 Standards”, the Standard for SO2 concentration in urban area is that: Standard I: no more than 0.02mg/m ; Standard II: no more than 0.06mg/m3; Standard III: no more than 0.10mg/m3. 69

The enhanced recycling of SO2 as sulphuric acid, which increased from 471 thousand tonnes in 2005 to 2,588 thousand tonnes in 2014, contributed to a large portion of this decrease. The annual average 3 SO2 concentration value of 0.084mg/m in urban area reached the Standard III of air quality, but still

40% higher than the Standard II. During this period, the decline in SO2 emission was offset by the additional amount of pollutants because of the increased MI and products. The amount of emission reduction in Stage III is probably underestimated by the newly increased amount of emission, which means the SO2 emission must have increased in the absence of improved SO2 reduction technology.

Total MI has nearly doubled between 2006 and 2014, whereas the SO2 emission showed slight fluctuations at the same time. This means the control of SO2 emission not only reduced the SO2 emission from the existing production but also effectively restrained the new SO2 emission from enlarged production. Although the urban air pollution problems still exist, the capacity for SO2 reduction has increased significantly. Apart from the construction of desulphurisation facilities in smelting and industrial coal-fired boilers, the approaches of technological innovation and industrial restructuring are the key issues that need long-term efforts to improve the urban air quality.

Apart from SO2 emission, Nitrogen oxides (NOx) and dust are the two other major air pollutants. NOx emission was stable at less than 10 thousand tonnes between 1995 and 2003. After that, it experienced a slight increase between 2005 and 2007. From 2008, the emission of NOx increased substantially, which reflected the improvement in household income and the associated increase in private cars in Jinchang City. While the adoption of clean energy and emission control techniques for motor vehicles reduced the NOx emission per vehicle, this positive influence was offset by the rapid growth of car ownership from 2008. In addition, dust declined continuously from 54.66 thousand tonnes (0.47 tonnes per capita) to 13.80 thousand tonnes (0.06 tonnes per capita) during the studied period. This corresponded with rapid environmental improvements involving extensive tree planting and ground stabilisation around the urban area to reduce ambient dust, and the utilisation of industrial dust removal techniques in both production processes and winter heating systems to meet the national standards of smoke emission.

4.4 Structural Decomposition of Material flows

The SDA results of MF in Jinchang City (Table 4.3) showed that between 1995 and 2014, the variables of population and GDP per capita increased simultaneously with average annual growth rates of 3.72% and 5.94% respectively. Both MI/GDP and MO/GDP decreased by 2.26% and 1.40% at the same time, showing that the technological progress in MI was more significant than that in MO.

The results indicated that the technological progress played a role in restraining the rapid growth of MI and MO. However, the positive effect was offset by the growth of population and social wealth.

Table 4. 3 Average annual growth of variables by structural decomposition analysis of MF Unit: %

Period MI MO Population GDP/cap MI/GDP MO/GDP 1995-2014 7.40 8.35 3.72 5.94 -2.26 -1.40 1995-2000 8.68 9.12 2.51 1.18 4.79 5.22 2001-2005 4.10 10.04 5.17 17.82 -15.99 -11.19 2006-2010 9.83 8.01 3.71 5.56 0.33 -1.33 2011-2014 6.41 5.72 3.46 -1.28 4.18 3.51

The SDA also showed three distinct periods of change 1995-2000, 2001-2005 and 2006-2014. Changes in population, social wealth and technological progress in each period provided a broad temporal overview of the evolution in Jinchang City. In 1995-2000, all independent variables showed positive values. The positive values of MI/GDP and MO/GDP indicated that both material consumption and waste discharge per unit of GDP were increasing. During this period, the growth rates of population and social wealth were not significant and the pressures on the natural environment mainly came from low material/energy efficiency.

In 2001-2005, the population growth reached its highest rate in the three periods. At the same time, the social wealth increased dramatically with an average annual growth rate of GDP/capita of 17.82%. Technology advanced significantly during this period reflected by the decreasing MI/GDP and MO/GDP. Also the growth of MI slowed down compared with the previous period of 1995-2000. At the same time, the MO grew faster due to the considerable growth of population and social wealth. As the major components of MO were waste and pollutants, the environmental pressure was very severe during this period. The development in 2001-2005 reflected the norm that rapid economic growth and industrial expansion usually lead to environmental problems.

Between 2006 and 2014, the growth rate of population and social wealth slowed down. Also, the impact of technological progress decreased, which lead to an increased growth of MI. This suggested that human pressure on natural resources remained high. However, the average annual growth rate of MO was the lowest in the three periods. This period of 2006 to 2014 represented a state of relatively steady development with GDP growing slowly. Although the advantage of technological progress was not obvious, the waste discharges and pollutant emissions have substantially declined, which indicated an improved urban environment.

4.5 Decoupling Economic Growth from Material Flows

In this study, the material flows of MI, MO and SO2 emission were the three major environmental indicators used to explore the relationship between economic growth and material flows. Using the method outlined is section 3.3.2 and the key factors of ∆GDP and ∆MF between 1996 and 2014, a decoupling analysis was conducted (Table 4.4 and Figure 4.5).

Table 4. 4 Decoupling economic growth from material flow factors a Decoupling GDP Decoupling GDP Decoupling GDP

Year from MI from MO from SO2 emission T Status T Status T Status 1996 0.778 WD 0.734 WD 0.850 EC 1997 -1.244 SND -1.515 SND 0.346 WND 1998 0.198 WND -3.575 SND 13.122 RD 1999 1.158 EC 0.906 EC -2.784 SD 2000 1.329 END 0.825 EC 2.971 END 2001 -0.215 SD 0.622 WD 1.402 END 2002 0.029 WD 0.621 WD -0.647 SD 2003 0.849 EC 0.267 WD -0.010 SD 2004 0.452 WD 1.209 END -0.008 SD 2005 0.124 END 0.489 WD -0.287 SD 2006 0.785 WD 0.732 WD -0.997 SD 2007 1.065 EC 0.203 WD -0.333 SD 2008 0.113 WD 1.592 END -1.375 SD 2009 0.588 WD 0.423 WD 0.114 WD 2010 1.046 EC 0.696 WD 0.170 WD 2011 0.273 WD 0.763 WD 0.538 WD 2012 0.509 WD 0.628 WD 0.694 WD 2013 0.470 WD 0.109 WD -0.075 SD 2014 0.740 WD -0.075 SD -0.292 SD a WD represents weak decoupling, SD represents strong decoupling, RD represents recessive decoupling, EC represents expansive coupling, RC represents recessive coupling, END represents expansive negative decoupling, SND represents strong negative decoupling and WND represents weak negative decoupling.

Expansive Negative Decoupling △MF T>1.2 △ △ MF>0, GDP>0 Expansive Coupling 0.8≤T≤1.2 2000 △MF>0, △GDP>0 Strong Negative Decoupling T<0 2004 △VOL>0, △GDP<0

1997 Weak Decoupling 2004 0≤T<0.8 1997 △MF>0, △GDP>0

2008 1997 2013 2004 Weak Negative Decoupling 1998 △GDP 0≤T<0.8 △MF<0, △GDP<0 2008 2002

2006 Recessive Coupling Strong Decoupling 0.8≤T≤1.2 1999 T<0 △MF<0, △GDP<0 △MF<0, △GDP>0 1998 Recessive Decoupling T>1.2 △MF<0, △GDP<0

Decoupling GDP from MI Decoupling GDP from MO Decoupling GDP from SO2 emission

Figure 4. 5 Decoupling economic growth from material flow factors in decoupling framework

During the study period, the relationship between economic growth and MI experienced many forms of decoupling, which indicated an unstable decoupling relationship. Between 2001 and 2014, weak decoupling became more frequent, which means that the increasing rate of MI was less than that of GDP and the economic growth was using less resources. The expansive coupling and expansive negative decoupling suggested that the resource use efficiency was relatively low and the value of resources were not being fully reflected.

The decoupling status between economic growth and MO has changed several times during the studied period with weak decoupling occurring frequently. The decoupling status between economic growth and MO was mostly located in the first and second quadrant (where △MF>0) in Figure 4.5, as the MO kept increasing throughout the study period. In 1997 and 1998, the MO increased while the GDP decreased at the same time, creating strong negative decoupling and environmental pressures became more obvious. Since 2001, the weak decoupling of economic growth from MO became

73 normal, indicating the economic growth was being achieved while generating less waste and exerting less environmental pressure.

Decoupling of economic growth from SO2 emission differed greatly from that for MI and MO. From

1996 to 2014, more than half of the results of decoupling GDP from SO2 emission were distributed in the fourth quadrant where the GDP increased and the SO2 emission decreased simultaneously.

From 1996 to 2001, the relationship between economic growth and SO2 emission experienced frequent changes, which presented an unstable decoupling trend because of the fluctuation of both

GDP and SO2 emission in this period. Since 2002, the strong decoupling showed that economic growth can be absolutely decoupled from pollutant emissions thus alleviating environmental pressure.

The results of decoupling analysis in multiple periods showed the strong decoupling only occurred in the relationship between economic growth and SO2 emission (Table 4.5). It could be a scenario that the strong decoupling first happens in SO2 emission and other variables would decouple later.

Table 4. 5 Decoupling GDP from MF in multiple periods Decoupling GDP Decoupling GDP Decoupling GDP

Period from MI from MO from SO2 emission T Status T Status T Status 1996-2014 0.535 WD 0.665 WD -0.055 SD 1996-2000 1.079 EC 1.143 EC -0.423 SD 2001-2005 0.109 WD 0.300 WD 0.014 WD 2006-2010 0.323 WD 0.254 WD -0.143 SD 2011-2014 0.278 WD 0.246 WD 0.166 WD

In 1996-2000, the results of decoupling GDP from MI and MO all showed expansive coupling, when the GDP had a consistent increasing trend with both MI and MO. The economic growth contributed by high MI and high MO suggested an unsustainable trend of economic development. However, the

GDP and SO2 emission was strongly decoupled in this period. In 2001-2005, the results of decoupling

GDP from MI, MO and SO2 emission were all shown to be weak decoupling. The economy experienced a rapid expansion and resource utilisation has also improved. The transition from expansive coupling in 1996-2000 to weak decoupling in 2001-2005 suggested the economy was developing in a sustainable direction. Meanwhile, due to the rapid industrial development and the limited SO2 absorption capacity of the environmental equipment at this time, the state of decoupling

74 capturing SO2 as sulphuric acid. Although economic growth was not absolutely decoupled from MI and MO, it has broken away from SO2 emission. Compared with the period 2001-2005, the economic development situation during in 2006-2010 was on a trend to being sustainable. This involved technological progress and industrial restructuring directed at improving resource use efficiency and economic growth mode. In 2011-2014, the relationship between economic growth and SO2 emission showed weak decoupling due to the small increase in SO2 emission during this period. It suggested that environmental initiatives and techniques need to be enhanced continuously with the industrial production.

4.6 Chapter Conclusion

The results showed that urban metabolic system modelling is an efficient way to study urban systems’ sustainability. It helps in understanding urban metabolism, evaluating urban sustainability, and identifying crucial problems hindering sustainable transition. This provides a basis for further research of optimising decision-making and management as regard to the critical barriers detected by urban metabolism modelling.

The results of MFA demonstrated that the urban metabolism of Jinchang City was dominated by a large amount of material consumption and waste generation which has been challenging the urban sustainability to a great extent. However, over the nearly 20 years for which data was available for the application of MFA with associated analytical techniques gave a clear oversight. This allowed for the understanding of the concrete drivers of degradation in the face of increasing production, with the enhancement of sustainability as the desired outcome. Despite the heavy reliance on material/energy consumption and the complexities of environmental problems, sustainable trends have been observed in particular with economic growth becoming strongly decoupled from SO2 emission.

With regard to facilitating sustainability, there were results that support the conclusion that improved resource utilisation and environmental conditions, accompanied with sensible investment, would facilitate urban sustainability transitions. The relationships between GDP and material inputs-outputs (MI/MO) experienced many shifts and tended to be weakly decoupled, indicating overall enhanced material/energy efficiency. Over the study period, the per capita GDP increased with a simultaneous reduction of SO2 emission suggesting an improvement in environmental sustainability. This was, however, confounded by demographic shifts, as SDA showed that the technological progress had restrained the rapid increase of both MI and MO to some extent, but was offset by population growth and social wealth increases. These positive changes reflected the effects of investment in pollution 75 control, industrial technology and urban economic structural adjustment. The analytical results also demonstrated the value of the approach for measuring progress to a more sustainable city.

Notwithstanding this progress, the data also demonstrated a ‘perverse’ outcome where improvement in social wealth is followed by an increase in traffic pollution due to increasing vehicle ownership which is correlated with the increase of household income and the popularity of the private car. Undeniably, Jinchang City’s economy relies heavily on mining and minerals processing; this presents authorities with a conundrum as it directly challenges urban sustainability. However, with innovative investment, adoption of cleaner production together with circular economy strategies, and structural adjustments to the economy, improvements have been demonstrated to be possible. Total air pollution has decreased dramatically accompanied by expanded industrial production, economic growth and household consumption. In addition, improvements in water quality, water reuse and urban ecological construction have been significant (Jinchang Municipal Government, 2014). At the same time social wealth has increased several-fold. Collectively this suggests much progress has occurred in the urban economy, society and environment, which further indicates that urban sustainability is potentially achievable.

These results resolved research question 2 “How can the urban metabolism framework be applied in understanding urban biophysical systems and evaluating urban sustainability potential?”. The following Chapter explores public perception on the state of the urban environment from perspectives of local residents, in order to addresses research question 3.

Chapter 1 Introduction Research Background Research questions Thesis structure

Chapter 2 Literature review Urban sustainability Urban systems Human-environment interaction Sustainability in Chinese context

Chapter 3 Methodology Research design and framework Case study approach Quantitative component Qualitative component

Chapter 8 Conclusion Main findings Integrated discussion

CHAPTER 5: PUBLIC PERCEPTION ON THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT

This chapter addresses public perception on the state of the urban environment in Jinchang City through a qualitative inquiry. Focusing on issues of urban environmental changes, economic development and urban construction, the chapter explores the question “How do local residents respond to the state of the urban environment? And what is the difference in response among different groups of local residents” (RQ 3). Government officials, enterprises managers and workers, and local inhabitants are the major stakeholders interviewed to investigate their different perceptions, attitudes and responses to the issues associated with sustainable urban development. The findings of this chapter demonstrate how the urban systems and urban problems could be better understood from the perspectives of the public. This also provides a knowledge base concerning public participation for decision-making and strategy proposals.

5.1 Urban Environmental Changes and Impacts

Using the nodes and sub-nodes in the preliminary qualitative analysis (Figure 3.7), the perceived relationships in the urban environment are mapped in a causal loop diagram (Figure 5.1). The figure is a conceptual model of the key factors influencing the urban environment and their relationships. Using this model, the urban environmental changes and impacts of Jinchang City can be further discussed within a framework that draws on systems theory and the results of the biophysical component of this study.

+ Environmental - Natural investment and environment management + Industrial + development + + Human demands for + Production + better environment + capacity Enterprise profit + Urban environment + + Interventions from + + Pollutant emission national/local policies for - Environmental environmental improvement + + initiatives Air quality- + Techniques in pollution reduction + + + + - Talent introduction Public awareness of Chronic disease environmental protection + + - - External Human health investment

Figure 5. 1 Causal loop diagram of factors influencing urban environment 78

5.1.1 The Environment of Jinchang

Being located adjacent to the Gobi desert and characterised by water shortage, sand, dust and strong winds, the natural environment around Jinchang City is poor (G4, G7, G12, E6, E7, E8, W5, R5, R8, R10). The over-exploitation of ground water in recent years and rising snow lines in the Qilian Mountains urgently call for local ecological protection which particularly focuses on forest and pasture closure and water conservation (G5, E5, E8). The realistic situation of water shortage is relatively hard to change, however the South-to-North water diversion project18 is intended to address the problem in the medium to long term (R2, R9).

Apart from the inherent difficulties of the natural environment, the anthropogenic pollution (reported in Chapter 4) is seen by informants as a significant contributor to the environmental degradation and social problems in Jinchang City (E1, E8, R6, R8, R10). Air pollution is a sensitive issue in the city. On one hand, local residents have complained about the bad air quality for decades, but an unsatisfactory situation still persists despite progress. On the other hand, air pollution is the by- product of industrial development. The trade-off between economic development and environmental protection is a crucial issue which is worthy of discussion among different levels of government, local industrial enterprises and urban residents.

Jinchang City benefits from mineral resources but suffers from the deteriorating air quality associated with their production. R12 described it as “destructive development”. The increase in production capacity means increased pollution (G5, G9, E3, W1), and the air quality is closely related to the quality of mineral ores (G7, E1, E10, W12). At the early stage of the city, there was less consideration of environmental protection and the traditional “linear economy” based industrial production generated a great amount pollution (G5, E7, W13, R7, R10). Between 2000 and 2005, JNMC’s rapid growth and expansion together with the remaining problems from 1980s and 1990s led to the worst environmental period (E8). E3 described the scene of the industrial pollution as that “the waste gas from factories envelops the industrial area and forms a smoky top hat”. R12 jokingly said, “We are nationally renowned because of our serious pollution”, and G10 concluded the deteriorated air condition as the outcome of “evil money”19.

18 South-to-North water diversion project (which is yet to be completed) is a strategy to alleviate the problem of water shortage in the north of China. The project is planned to divert water from different reaches of the Yangtze River to the north of China through three routes. The western route that is planned to transfer water from the upper reaches of the Yangtze River to the upper reaches of the Yellow River to supply water for arid north-western China. 19 The Chinese phrase of “evil money” means the one-dimensional thinking of pursuing economic growth as single purpose but ignoring the cost and impact of environment. 79

5.1.2 Impacts of Air Pollution

As the dominant environmental problem of industrial cities, the impacts of air pollution on human health are obvious but remain hard to eliminate. The pungent smell from factories spreads frequently to the residential districts, and the local residents generally reflected that they have been choked by smoke and could feel obviously uncomfortable (G10, E7, R1). R14 mentioned that some students in the No. Eight Primary School (close to the Nickel smelting factories) fainted from the smoke in the 1980s. “It is not just a question of comfort, but more about health” (E1).

The impact of environmental pollution to human health is acknowledged by the public. The long- term exposure to air pollutants has led to a series of chronic diseases. The local residents often have teary eyes, running noses, shortness of breath and chest tightness due to harmful air pollutants (G2, W3, W9, W11, R6, R9). Allergic rhinitis, chronic pharyngitis, respiratory and lung diseases, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, and hypertension are the most common diseases caused by air pollution directly and indirectly (G1, G7, G9, G12, E2, W10, R2, R6). Some informants reflected that their allergic rhinitis and pharyngitis are usually healed automatically when they go to other places with better air quality (E2, R2, R10). There is no accurate estimate of how and to what extent air pollution influences human health in Jinchang City, but there is a consensus that the environmental pollution does harm human health. As a way out, an increasing number of people choose to live in southern cities after retirement (E5, R9). However, the majority have to stay and struggle for a better environment.

Some informants acknowledged the underlying impacts of environmental conditions on urban development. They believed the air pollution not only influences the health of local residents, but also could restrict future chances of environmental improvement and the city’s development (G3, E9). The serious pollution would impede the introduction of advanced enterprises and talents, which would further weaken the competitiveness and environment of the city (R4). E9 also stressed that if the destruction of the urban environment cannot be restrained, it will definitely threaten people’s normal lives.

To reduce the impacts of pollution on human health, JNMC has supplied the factory workers, who are suffering most from the air pollution, with basic personal protection equipment for use at work. This includes protective uniforms and health supplies such as cough syrup (W5, W10, W13). In contrast to the other informants, most factory workers have adjusted to the heavy air pollution in factories, though some admitted that they have no choice but to endure the situation (W1, W4, W10, 80

W11). W10 said that, “We have to endure the pollution no matter how heavy it is because we all rely on it to live”. As the industrial district and residential district are moving apart according to the latest urban planning (Section 7.3.2 in Chapter 7), the factory workers reflected that they can escape from the intensive air pollution and enjoy clean air after work (E3, W2, W7). However, many of them have not actually ever thought about the urban environment and its influence on individual living and development. As some workers said, “It is the business of government” (W8); “I only care about my salary” (W13). One enterprise manager explained this as “peoples’ feeling about air pollution has experienced a transition from sensitive to numb and then to accustomed” (E5). However this is not the case in the opinions of other groups of people.

5.1.3 Environmental Changes and Challenges

Many informants reflected that the positive changes of urban environment have been obvious in recent years. R8 said that “I am very proud that the city is very clean and the streets are beautiful”. E8 and R1 emphasised that continuous efforts are required as human demand for a better environment are increasing with socio-economic progress. These efforts rely on further reduction of SO2 and particulate matters, treating solid waste and sewage, and remediation of the ecological environment (G2, G4, E7, E9, R3, R9).

In the past 7-8 years, the JNMC has strengthened pollution control for two main reasons: one is to restructure and gain a commercial float, and the other is to meet municipal requirements to improve the local environment (E2). The 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China proposed the slogan of "Giving back people the blue sky and clean water", and to follow the idea, JNMC spent three billion CNY to improve air quality (E10). Considerable efforts have been made with environment-related investments, emission treatment and indicators control, and urban greening (G3, G5, E2, E8). Most informants felt that the air quality has now improved significantly compared with the years before 2005. This is consistent with the data reported in MFA (Figure 4.3). However, some believed that even if the environmental investment has substantially increased, the facilities and techniques for pollution control are antiquated and cannot match current production process (G2, E5, W7). Consequently pollution is always exceeding the emission standards (E3, W11, R14). The pessimistic view from R8 asserted that air pollution will only become worse with industrial development. The effects of air quality improvement cannot meet most people’s expectation (G2, W4, W5, W7, R1, R12), and the environmental statistical data published by the government is sometimes inconsistent with people’s perceptions (G1, G8, R14).

“The air pollution situation is dependent on where the wind blows” is a common refrain amongst local residents. The prevailing northwest wind plays a dual function in Jinchang City. On one hand, it brings massive amounts of dust and sand from the deserts nearby. On the other, the strong wind helps to blow away and dissipate air pollutants effectively, and “the wind works even better than many other means of pollution control” (G11). When the wind is relatively light or comes from the southeast direction where the factories are located, the urban area is seriously polluted (G4, G11, E5, W11, W13, R2). This implies that urban planning should incorporate a combination of airflow modelling and abatement as an approach to mitigate urban environmental problems (De Giovanni et al., 2015; Huang and Zhou, 2013). This is explored in Chapter 7.

The key challenge in environmental improvement reported by informants lies in investment. Generally, environmental investment requires large amounts of capital, however the benefits are usually slow and sometimes not significant (G5). Government investment is limited and cannot effectively function in reducing pollution (R2). From the point of view of industrial enterprises, it is hard to increase both the environmental investment and the profit at the same time (E4). Some informants believed that the enterprises only focus on profit while paying no particular attention to environmental problems (G1, W12, R2, R8). For these reasons, the investments in environmental improvement are usually insufficient and less effective. The reality is that the investments in environmental protection have provided benefits to the local residents in the form of pollution reduction (Section 4.3) and urban eco-environmental construction (Section 7.3.2 in Chapter 7), but the industrial enterprises are still profiting at the expense of the health of local residents (R13).

It is also noteworthy that the air quality throughout a day is variable, being worst from midnight to early morning. The informants reflected that many factories usually release the pollutants in the evening (G1, G10, E1, E4, E5, E6, R1, R10, R12). This could explain the inconsistency between official reports of environmental data and the real condition of air quality, as the data monitoring of pollutant emissions were collected by the local EPB during daytime. There is an amount of pollution not captured in the quantitative analysis but reported by the informants. R10 argued that the factories only take measures to control the emissions when they have been forced to make change or the pollution has caused extreme events related to human health. Thus, the initiatives of local enterprises become a crucial factor for effective pollution control. Another reason that could explain the divergence of people’s feelings and the quantitative data is that people’s satisfaction and expectation of environmental quality is increasing over time. Even though the air quality has improved, some people still feel progress is not good enough (R2, R7).

5.2 Economic Dilemma and Opportunities

Jinchang’s economy ranks at the top of Gansu province and the per capita income is higher than the Chinese average (Table 3.1), even though its economic aggregate is still relatively small when compared nationwide. It was one of the nation’s top 35 cities before 1985 and has been rapidly developing in recent years (G2, G12, E10). To acknowledge Jinchang’s outstanding performance in mining and nonferrous metallurgy, it was praised as “the gold child of the motherland” by Deng Xiaoping in the 1990s and “the pride of the motherland” by the former Prime Minister Wen Jiabao in 2009. However, Jinchang’s economic dilemma emerged with its expanded industrial production. The necessity for industrial transformation has become a consensus among the public. Figure 5.2 shows the causal relationships of key factors influencing the economic situation of Jinchang City.

+ Resource Intellectual capital reserves + Experience in + Production/resource - economic + use efficiency transformation Social reform - - + Environmental + cost - + + Industrial development Economic + National economic (mining, smelting and - transformation and resource metal production) + strategies Sustainable + + + urban economy + + + Decision-making on + industrial development Technological planning Technological + + progress - investment Economic benefit - + + + Government-led + investment Political - insitution reform Pollution control pressure Vested interests of - + stakeholders

Figure 5. 2 Causal relationships of factors influencing urban economy

5.2.1 Local Economy and Industrial Development

There is a consensus that the industrial economy plays a vital role in supporting Jinchang’s economic development, especially the industries of mining, smelting and metal production based on non- renewable resources. Some informants from local industrial enterprises believed that Jinchang has no advantage in agricultural and tertiary industries but can only rely on metallurgical industries (E2, E3, E7). In their view, “JNMC’s economy is Jinchang’s economy”. R5 and R8 stated, “If JNMC sneezes, Jinchang City will get cold”. This implies that Jinchang’s economic structure is simple and fragile.

R12 described the economic mode of Jinchang as one in which people don’t think of the city as ‘home’ and therefore are less concerned with long-term outcomes.

The city is just like a ‘Tent City’, where a bunch of people came here for mining and making money. There is no superiority and sustainability of its economy. The way of economic development is like digging and selling one’s own baby. (R12)

The sustainability of Jinchang City has been challenged after several decades of mining and production, and the future of Jinchang has become a frequently discussed topic among the public in recent years. Many people believed that there is no reason to be optimistic about the long-term economic development of Jinchang City (G3, E1, E4, E5, R2, R5, R13). The limitation of the mineral resources is the common recognition of the dilemma and many people believed that it is impossible to avoid the crisis of resource depletion. In some informants’ opinion, the resource-based city has its flaws that even the most robust mines will be depleted one day (G1, E8, E9). Jinchang City’s competitive advantage of its resource base is fading (E1, E5, E9). In E8’s view, there is no exception that the resource-based cities will experience booms and busts. As E8 stated,

From now on, we need to work hard and think about what to do in the next 20 to 30 years. What we can do is try to make the economic declines proceed slowly with less impact on peace. Strictly speaking, the economy will certainly decline. (E8)

Many informants held similar opinion with E8’s opinion that Jinchang’s economy is in its prime now and there would be a recession coming. G9 and R14 mentioned that several plants in JNMC have not been making profits in recent years. Although JNMC has developed some international cooperation, its primary production is still based on local raw materials processing which only earns a low processing fee. The advantage of early innovations of nickel carbonyl and titanium products have not gained ideal profits because of the long development process, which resulted in JNMC losing its market (E3, E9, R2). Meanwhile, some factory workers and local residents complained that even though the economy is growing quickly, they have not shared appropriate benefit and their living quality has not been improved significantly due to the rising costs of consumer goods (W8, W10, R6, R8). The tragedy of Yumen City20 is an example frequently mentioned by the informants. R12 described the vicissitude of Yumen City as a “Short-lived Glory”. The story of Yumen reminds the

20 Yumen City is located in the western Hexi Corridor in Gansu Province, where the first petroleum industrial base of New China was founded in 1957. After half a century of development, the petroleum was depleted. The local government and the petroleum base have been moved out and more than 90,000 residents have had to leave the city. The city is now almost a ghost town where the abandoned buildings are used to raise goats and poultry. 84 local residents that there is an urgent need to make wise decisions to avoid following Yumen’s pathway. This vivid example has more resonance with local people than telling them the theory of sustainable development.

5.2.2 Pollution Control vs. Economic Development

The environmental cost relating to industrial production is a sensitive issue. Many informants mentioned that the industries cannot follow the old path of polluting first and treating the pollution later, but should adopt end-of-pipe approaches in advance (G5, E1, E5, R3, R5, R9). The relationship between pollution control and economic development seems contradictory, however, increasingly people have realised that there is no absolute contradiction between these two issues (G4, G11, E7, R1). In G9’s opinion, pollution control has two aspects. On the one hand, it limits economic development to some extent. On the other hand, it forces enterprises to improve efficiency and if necessary restructure. In parallel with G9’s views, many informants believed that pollution control would restrict economic growth in the short term, but is better for long-term progress. G1, G4 and G10 stressed that pollution control should not constrain economic development but rather improve technological innovation and promote industrial transformation. This involves a consideration of technological dimensions in the Kuznets Curve (Figure 2.8). It is also in line with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP, 2011) concept of decoupling that maintains economic growth while reducing negative environmental impacts at the same time (see Section 4.5 for Jinchang’s situation, in particular how SO2 emissions have been strongly decoupled from economic growth).

In E10’s opinion, there is no difficulty to deal with the relationship between pollution control and economic development as long as the enterprises can comply with emission standards. E3 believed that the necessity to control emission is because the environmental protection facilities are not adequate or not working effectively. G4 also emphasised the importance of the “Three simultaneous” 21 in project development to prevent most environmental problems. However, the implementation of pollution control is not always efficient. Some informants argued that pollution control should not just rely on the facilities but also needs to adopt a circular economy model and cleaner production technologies (G1, G8, E8). In G8’s view, economic development always sacrifices the environment, but economic development could also help to improve the environment by providing supports for investment and technological innovation. It is only when the economy develops to a certain extent that people realise and understand the importance of the environment (W10).

21 The “Three Simultaneous” is proposed in Article 26 of China’s “Environmental Protection Law” that pollution prevention facilities must be designed, constructed and implemented with the main project simultaneously. 85

Regarding the externality cost of pollution, health problem is the dominant one. E2 and R9 emphasised that the cost of people’s health cannot be recovered after being damaged. Thus, the social responsibility of local industrial enterprises becomes an issue that concerns the public. Currently, new projects must have rigorous-environmental assessment before implementation. However, the control of pollution emission is more difficult for those enterprises that are small-scaled and equipped with out-dated environmental facilities (G1, E5). Therefore, strict control of emissions combined with specific investments in pollution prevention technologies are necessary for systemic pollution control (G5, G10, E10, R1). E10 argued that the purpose of economic development is to create a better life for residents, thus environmental investment is never too much.

5.2.3 Economic Transformation

While pollution control is of greatest concern in terms of the environmental and social aspects of SD, the urgency of transforming the industrial economy is seen as the key to avoiding the predictable crisis of economic recession. The informants generally believed that industry based on mining and smelting should stay at current scale and the city should develop a more efficient and diversified economy on the base of this (G1, G4, E8, E10, W3, R1, R13). E8 and R2 pointed out that a resource- based city can decline very quickly while fostering a new economic model is relatively slow. Thus, the economic transformation should be immediately taken into consideration when the economy is at the prime stage (E8). The objective is to ultimately reduce the dependence on non-renewable resources. Similarly, raising the view of the whole city, many informants believed that ultimately Jinchang City cannot be simply an industrial city, rather it should become a city that integrates urban development with a comprehensive multi-channel economic transformation (E1, G6, G11, R2, R3). In other words, the urban transition from a resource-based industrial city to an economically diversified city is inevitable (E2), if the city is to survive. At present however, this transformation is at the stage of a theoretical proposition. The task is arduous, which requires a great amount of investment and experience to put thoughts into practice (E2, E4, E9, R3, R5).

Practically, there are a lot of barriers to economic transformation. A lack of experience is regarded as a critical problem (G1, E5, R14). As E3 stated, “We are just following others but have no own intellectual capital, advanced techniques and innovative technologies”. Many informants believed that the decision-making levels of government and local enterprises’ practices will play a decisive role in conducting the transformation (G1, E4, E5, E8, W2, R2, R14), while the national economic and resource strategies are also important for policy and financial supports (E5). For example, E6

86 mentioned that the national economic policies of the westward shift of the economy are advantageous for Jinchang’s economic diversification.

5.3 Urban Construction and Planning

The urban development and construction of Jinchang City follows the Chinese style (E4) (Section 2.4.3). “Small city” is a generally recognised position of Jinchang City and most informants believed that the scale of the city should not be expanded excessively. Two prominent reasons for this lie in the restriction of water (G9, E5, E8, E10) and the necessity for improving the urban functions and environmental quality rather than geographical scale expansion (G4, R1). However, Jinchang City was initially built with a singular purpose of serving extractive industry. This has resulted in what is seen by some as an irrational urban layout because of the lack of basic urban functions in the early stage (G4, E8, R1). Figure 5.3 is the causal loop diagram showing the key factors influencing urban construction and the relationships between them that were identified by the informants.

Residential Land use intensity buildings + + Revenue Cost of urban + + land use - + - - + Urban expansion Optimised urban + Governance and - construction planning - + Agricultural land Land use control + + + Urban Ecological Construction infrastructure - - construction construction resource + + Repeated Maintenance cost construction - - - - + Regional + Social wealth environment + Civil environmental Urban awareness and environmental cooperation improvement

Figure 5. 3 Causal loops of key factors influencing urban construction

5.3.1 Urban Expansion

Most informants reported, without prompting, that Jinchang City has been expanding rapidly. Urban expansion is considered as an inevitable process with the development of an urban economy. However, in G1’s view, the urban district of Jinchang was simply scattered rather than deliberately developed. Although the urban population has doubled over the last 20 years due to rural-to-urban 87 migration, the urban construction was perceived as over expanded, irrational and wasteful (G2, G4, G5, G10, R8). Some informants described this phenomenon as “blind expansion” (G6, W7, W8) and “destructive enthusiasm of expansion” (E1). G8 stated that, “Jinchang City is expanding like a bubble. The expansion only happens on the surface, while the real urban development is lagging behind its appearance.”

Jinchang City’s low land cost further accelerates the urban expansion (R1, E2, R14). Abundant cheap land has become an attraction for project investments (R4, R13) and the profit from land selling becomes a significant contributor to local revenue (R3, R14). Accompanying the rapid urban expansion, the land use intensity in urban areas remains at a low level. There is much idle land in the city due to the flexible land use control (G2, G4, E2, W1, R3, R6), and some companies even make profits from land enclosure (R3, R13). E2 asserted that these idle lands should be cleared away through land market and stricter land use control.

Some informants argued that the scale of the urban district should be moderate and be appropriate to the population size and local resource limits (G4, G6, G7, E1, E7). Uncontrolled urban expansion would increase excessive resource consumption (G6, G12, E3, E7) and threaten the surrounding environment (G7, G8, G10). E1 argued, “Urbanisation is not reinforced concrete and roads, but the improvement of a well-functioning eco-social-system, where the development, human life and environment are operating interactively in a virtuous cycle system.” Meanwhile, some informants reflected that there are no significant features and nothing impressive in urban construction, and they call for a delicate and compact urban system (G9, R1, R2, R12, W2).

Contrary to the above concerns, several informants believed that the urban district will not be growing endlessly because of the limited water resource and pessimistic economic assumptions (G9, G14). On the other hand, the urban expansion could provide more opportunities for the development of other industries (G1, R1), and help to change degraded areas adjacent to the Gobi desert into liveable areas (R10, R11). More importantly, the urban expansion improves the air quality in the residential areas by separating residential areas away from factories (R4, R14, W1, W10, R15) (Figure 7.5 in Chapter 7). It is also beneficial to the regional environment through ecological construction and optimised land use (G11, E6, R9, W4, W11, R14).

Another problem associated with urban expansion is the lack of unified and consistent urban planning. G6 reflected that there have been three editions of Jinchang’s urban plan (1982, 1997 and 2009), however the implementation of these plans was greatly influenced by human factors. Government- 88 led expansion is a crucial characteristic of Jinchang City’s sprawl (E8). Some informants believed that a considerable number of investments and construction were arbitrary regardless of the urban plan (R1, R5, R7, R12). Particularly, repeated re-construction was frequently mentioned as a malpractice, which wasted a great amount of natural resources and social wealth (R1, R5, R12, R13, R15, W2, W9). Government officials talked less about the issues of repeated construction and the discontinuity of urban planning because of their own identities and interests. Instead, many informants from other groups believed that weak governance should be blamed for the poor urban planning and construction (G1, G2, E8, W12, R2).

5.3.2 Housing and Infrastructure Construction

One distinguishing phenomenon of urban expansion is the rapidly increasing number of residential buildings. This explains the rapidly increased consumption of construction materials after 2006 (Figure 4.2). Many informants stated that there are a great number of residential buildings resulting in an oversupply. Buying properties as an approach to personal investment is a direct driving force for the increase of new residential buildings (E1, E3, W2, R5, R9, R13). In addition, the contribution of real estate development to local revenue further promotes this trend (E2, E5, E9, R2). Some informants reflected that quite a lot of families own two or more properties in Jinchang City and many of these properties are unoccupied (G8, G9, E1, W8, W11, R5). R5 described this phenomenon as “Chinese disease”. The informants generally believed that the excessive investment in housing construction is unwise and dangerous. However, there is no effective motivation that could change this situation.

With the expansion of the city, great amount of money has been put into cement houses (construction, operation and maintenance all require fee) and the city would be very dangerous once the economy starts going downhill. The city should take the financial means to guide money investing into the industries and sustaining the economic development as priority. (E8)

On the contrary, some informants in the government officials and factory workers groups held positive attitudes toward these newly built properties. Some government officials believed the increase in residential buildings is consistent with the national trend and is necessary to meet people’s demand for improved standards of living (G6, G7, G12). This is also reflected by the declining residential area per capita. Among the low-income group of factory workers, many people wish to benefit from the large amount of new properties because the housing stress would be less (W4, W5, W7, W13).

Another crucial issue associated with urban construction is the development of urban infrastructure. Nearly half of the informants felt the infrastructure construction could not match the speed of urban development. In their opinions, the geographical area of the urban district is expanding, but the urban infrastructure is not synchronised or is not good enough. The variety and quality of urban infrastructure need to be improved, and the maintenance should keep up with it (G10, E2, R1, R2). The construction of water and heating supply, libraries, theatres, hospitals, ecological recovery and road renovation has made great progress in recent years (G4, G5, E3, E4, E7, R8, R9). However, young informants asserted that the urban infrastructure is still unsatisfactory and they attributed this to the old-fashioned concepts of urban management (W3, W8, W10, R2, R4).

5.3.3 Urban Ecological Construction

Although there are a series of negative environmental and social impacts accompanying the urban development as addressed above, most informants believed that Jinchang’s urban construction in recent years is conducive to regional environmental improvement, especially the small-scale environment (G11, E2, E4, E5, E10). The surrounding Gobi desert could also benefit from the urban construction by “greening up” and the control of desertification (i.e. ecological restoration) (G9, E2, E6, E8).

Recently, with the intensifying trend of improving the urban ecological environment, the cityscape has undergone tremendous changes in urban greening, parks and public gardens construction, and community landscape renovation (G12, E3, E5, E7, W7, W11). The clear evidence includes street greening, construction of the Eastern Lake and the Jinchuan National Mine Park, renovation of the Longquan Landscape Belt, and community environmental improvement22. Moreover, the relocation of residential areas to the north is a significant strategy for regional environmental improvements, this is of vital importance to the health of local residents (G4, E3), although the massive construction of residential buildings is disputable. Nevertheless, informants reflected that the maintenance and protection of the environment is inadequate (R8, R10). Some informants pointed out that the investment in environmental protection is less rewarded or unprofitable (G9, R5, R12). This is a significant obstacle to environmental activities. Therefore, the improvement of the urban ecological environment still requires more investment, governmental support and planning (G9, R2, R5), as well as the improvement of civil environmental awareness and extensive behavioural changes (G10, W10, R8, R15).

22 More information about these projects is addressed in section 7.3.2 in Chapter 7. 90

5.4 Public Understanding of Social Progress as the Basis of Sustainability

In Section 4.4 (Chapter 4), social progress has been discussed as social wealth with its proxy being GDP per capita. This view of social progress is a blunt instrument. In Section 2.4.1 (Chapter 2), “harmony” was introduced in a Chinese cultural context. In this section the concept of social progress is probed in more detail to explore people’s expectations of an improved urban system.

When informants measure social progress, the word “happiness” was frequently mentioned (E1, E6, E7, E8, W3, W7, R13). As E1 and E8 explained, social progress does not mean the speed of economic growth or urban expansion, but refers more to the substantial improvement of people’s feeling of happiness. Some also described it as “feeling better” (G9, R1) or a “comfortable smile” (E4). Some informants mentioned that social progress has had different understandings and meanings in different historical periods (E9, R5). As G9 stated, “people's senses are developing along with the development of society. People would think the development is good, only when they feel they are living a better life under the current environment.”

R4 adopted a Chinese proverb that “the benevolent see benevolence and the wise see wisdom” (仁者见仁, 智者见智 ren zhe jian ren, zhi zhe jian zhe) in response to social progress, but apparently, the quality of life is of the most concern to the local residents in evaluating social progress. The concept of social progress is comprehensive and there is no accepted standard measurement that is objective and impartial, available to date. “People-oriented development” is regarded as a well-accepted direction (G4, E3, R4, R12). G4 and G7 also concluded the social progress as a “philosophical question” of harmony. As R14 stated, “it is not necessary to pursue high in all aspects. Sometimes, the crazy growth would even cause fear and anxiety”. For instance, E8 mentioned that “one aspect of social progress is the pursuit of simplicity and health rather than luxury”. G5 further stated, “A progressive society is a good mechanism to stimulate vitality, good ideal, progressive spirit and rational planning”. E8 concluded that social progress is a dynamic process that needs criticism at all times. He also stated:

Social progress is a historical trend forever, but with different speed and influence at certain periods. China's social progress is very fast, but also paid a high price. Progress should be "stable”, which should be well planned following the economic and cultural rules. China's social progress is very much worth reviewing because many emotional factors were involved. The connection of various stages is not well organised, and this is also related with the political system. (E8)

Local residents’ evaluation of social progress concentrated on three aspects: economic situation, environmental condition and quality of social life. A word frequency analysis of the transcribed data organised into super-nodes around social progress allows the generation of Figure 5.4. In this figure, each aspect of social progress includes several standards that the informants believe essential for it. In all, the requirements for improved standards of living, a habitable environment, social harmony and civilised behaviours are evaluated as the most important.

Economic Situation

Improved living standards Increased income No pressure on survival Social Life

Environmental Freedom and democracy Condition Social harmony

Habitable Good order Space to enjoy nature Social security Clean Comfortable Happiness Social equality (education, medical and health care, employment, income) No pollution Feel better Comfortable smile Public welfare and facilities Good climate Ecology Culture and thought Environmental protection Universal values Active participation in environmental issues Various needs Plants and animals Peace of mind Social Progress Abundant leisure time Civilised behaviours Communist society

Figure 5. 4 Structure of social progress formulation as reported by informants Note: the font size is proportional to the word frequency mentioned by the informants regarding their opinions on social progress as a basis of sustainability.

Improving the standards of living is considered as the primary measure of the economic situation, and it is usually associated with personal income. The demand for a habitable and comfortable environment without pollution is commonly emphasised, referring to environmental condition, while the practice of environmental protection is mentioned frequently as an indicator associating human initiatives with the natural environment. The informants frequently mentioned the quality of social life when evaluating social progress. Generally, they appreciated social harmony and equality, improved public welfare and infrastructure, civilised behaviours and the development of culture and thought as important factors contributing to social progress. Regarding the quality of social life, G1 further stated, “Social fairness and justice is the basic standard, when people dare to express their discontentment with the governments and the governments are supervised by the public transparently.” This builds the foundation of public participation in urban decision-making. In addition, the issue of

92 cultural loss attracted many informants’ attention, which was believed as a pervasive social problem in a society where everything is pursuing high-speed growth (G8, E5, W5, R13). As E5 elaborated,

The improvement in cultural heritage is an important evaluation criterion for social progress, but it is missing seriously nowadays. The long-standing Chinese culture should be inherited. The loss of culture was accelerated after the Cultural Revolution and the reform and opening up, which results in the moral faults and a series of social problems. In addition to the legal constraints, people’s behaviours are depending largely on moral constraints. Most people in China are atheists without religion, which further exacerbates the instability of culture heritage and behaviour restriction. (E5)

The results reported in this section demonstrate that while RQ 1 “How have Chinese traditional philosophies and New China’s policies concerning sustainable development evolved and how do they influence China’s modern administration and development?” was resolved using historic evidence; the underlying importance of traditional philosophies remains resonant with the informants in this study. Harmonious development is not just an official policy but it has support among the citizens. The way this is reflected in attitudes to sustainability is however mixed and this is the subject of the next section.

5.5 Group Differentiation in Human Perception of the Urban Environment

The informant groups’ self-reported satisfaction with the state of the urban environment was organised using categories and the nodes in the qualitative analysis. This is reported to demonstrate people’s general feeling about the state of the urban environment with regard to sustainability (Figure 5.5). The degree of satisfaction represents the positive feedback of “good” and “improving or improved” that was evident in the interviews.

Environmental condition 100

40 Urban future Economic situation 20 Government official Enterprise manager Factory worker Non-factory resident Overall Environmental Urban construction awareness

Figure 5. 5 Group differentiation in self-reported satisfaction with the state of urban environment Note: the axes represent the degree of satisfaction (%) reported by different group of informants.

The figure demonstrates that the overall self-evaluated environmental awareness is not high, but people are more confident with the urban future of sustainability. The informants also acknowledged that the local environmental awareness is gradually emerging, and people have become more concerned and recognised the importance of environmental protection. Uneven levels of environmental awareness exist among different groups of society. This awareness is reported as associated with personal wealth, such as the rich usually pay more attention to the quality of their living environment while the poor are less sensitive (G5, G10). It is also related to peoples’ occupation and the social environment they live in (W7, R2). The enterprise managers and the ordinary residents are at the two extremes. The enterprise managers were more confident with their efforts in pollution control and ecological restoration as part of their corporate responsibility. Consequently they rated higher self-evaluated environmental awareness to acknowledge their achievements. However, the ordinary residents’ increasing demand for environmental quality leads to their higher expectation for environmental awareness and action. This is reflected in the relatively low satisfaction rate in this group. In addition, it is reported that educated young people usually have better environmental awareness than the aged.

The relatively high satisfaction with the environmental condition is largely coming from the improvement in air quality and ecological construction in recent years (Section 4.3 and Section 7.3.2 in Chapter 7). Although some informants reflected that the current state of the environment is not

94 considered to be commensurate with desired living standards, most informants have acknowledged the obvious reduction of industrial emission and praised the progress of pollution control and environmental protection in recent years. In addition, given the long-term exposure to industrial pollution, many local residents have become accustomed to the poor environmental conditions, in particular the factory workers who admitted that they have become numb to the smell of the pollutants. This is reflected in their relatively high satisfaction of the current environmental condition. Although a few people were more fastidious, generally people’s expectation for a better environment usually increases with personal wealth. The collaborative efforts of the local government and enterprises that attach great importance to environmental conservation in fields of industrial production and urban ecological construction are undisputed by informants.

Government officials were relatively optimistic with the economic situation as they saw more chances of economic transformation. However they were generally less satisfied with the urban construction due to their familiarity with the matters of urban planning and construction, and the pros and cons of massive new building projects remain controversial. Despite being affiliated with the government, these informants attributed many failures in urban management to institutional limitation. In contrast, the enterprise managers were less optimistic with the economic situation as they focused more on the existing industrial production and attached much importance on current industries contribution to the urban economy. They associated resources and environmental pressures with the current mining and metallurgy industries leading to their dim perceptions of the urban economic situation.

Most factory workers held pessimistic opinions on industrial pollution, but the separation of living areas and the industrial district makes it possible for them to keep away from intensive pollution after hours (Section 7.3.2 in Chapter 7). It is also reported that although the local industrial economy has undergone impressive expansion and growth in the past ten years, their workers did not feel they were benefiting from this. Consequently, factory workers were usually more concerned about their actual income than the urban environment. Finally, the ordinary residents were more critical and had relatively higher environmental expectations. They weighed the environment as more important than their individual interests, and they believed the government and enterprises should and must take responsibility to provide the local residents with a better environment.

5.6 Chapter Conclusion

The investigation of people’s diverse perceptions and attitudes contribute to an understanding of the real state of the urban environment. The study showed that there is an increasing satisfaction with the urban environmental condition given the improvement of air quality and eco-environmental construction in recent years. This has strengthened most residents’ confidence in the sustainable development of the city. However, the frequent concerns of informants also revealed local residents’ uncertainties about the urban development, where the local industry, resource, environment and urban construction were counted as important issues to address with regard to urban sustainability (Figure 5.6). This is consistent with the analysis of urban metabolism which indicated that the consumption of resources by industry and construction constituted the major components of urban material utilisation (Section 4.2).

Figure 5. 6 Word frequency of public perception of urban environment with regard to urban sustainability

The air pollution has been a critical urban problem that has received considerable attention from the local residents due to its close relationship with people’s daily lives. The impacts of air pollution were seen as hard to eliminate. Informants saw initiatives and measures for radical pollution control as still being weak due to economic considerations and inefficient urban management. This highlighted the importance of improving resource use efficiency and promoting economic transformation toward cleaner production and sustainable development. In addition, the inquiry about people’s perception discovered an inconsistency between personal experience and the official statistical data used in MFA. In particular, the data on pollutant emission reported by the local authorities and industrial enterprises is disputable. It is possible that the reported pollution is lower than the actual amount as the local

96 residents observed furtive emission during the night. The reality is that the investments in environmental protection have provided benefits to the local residents in forms of emission reduction and urban greening, however the production modes of industrial enterprises are still dominant in influencing the urban environment. This suggests that the optimistic scene on the urban environment condition should be discounted. This helps to clarify the reality of the local environment while highlighting the importance of using mixed methods to understand the real world.

The state of the urban environment reflected that the main challenges of sustainable urban development in Jinchang City originate from the constraints of resource-dependent industries, human-caused pollution plus deficiencies in the natural environment, and less efficient urban environmental management. The challenges in economic and environmental sustainability could be partly solved through technical approaches, such as improving resource use efficiency by the adopting of circular and cleaner production technologies. However, initiatives and measures for radical improvements in urban environment management are still weak on account of economic considerations and deficient environmental awareness. There are many challenges in urban governance due to the complexity of urban social systems and institutional constraints. The ordinary residents usually hold the government responsible for the trade-off and win-win relationship between environmental improvement and economic development. Governmental officials in contrast generally blame the failure of urban governance to the constraints of the institutional system. Nevertheless, insufficient investment in field-based research and practices has been an obstacle impeding the urban transition toward sustainability. However Jinchang City's economy, although facing great challenges and uncertainty, would benefit from its early planning for innovating traditional production modes, adopting circular and cleaner techniques, and developing alternative industries. In addition, the generally increased environmental awareness accompanied with improved urban governance would promote the initiatives for the urban stakeholders to put sustainability measures into effect.

This chapter has addressed RQ 3 “How do local residents respond to the state of urban environment? What is the difference in their response among different groups of local residents?” The information generated from different groups revealed a multi-perspective human response towards urban issues. This reflects how sensitive and critical problems could be revealed with information inter- complemented. Chapter 6 will explore the basic relationship structure of urban social systems for a better understanding of how the urban social systems influence sustainable urban development (RQ 4).

Chapter 1 Introduction Research Background Research questions Thesis structure

Chapter 2 Literature review Urban sustainability Urban systems Human-environment interaction Sustainability in Chinese context

Chapter 3 Methodology Research design and framework Case study approach Quantitative component Qualitative component

We are here

Chapter 8 Conclusion Main findings Integrated discussion

CHAPTER 6: URBAN SOCIAL SYSTEM UNDERSTANDING

In a coupled human and natural system, human responses to urban problems and their interactions with the urban systems reveal the dynamics of urban social systems. Combining an understanding of urban physical systems with an investigation of urban social systems allows the integration of the interconnected components that describe the interactions of people with the built environment.

This chapter aims to understand the urban social system in Jinchang City. By investigating the key factors of human-environment interactions in the urban systems, the chapter seeks a better understanding of the influence of urban social system on sustainable urban development by introducing social elements into the consideration of urban sustainability. This addresses research question 4 “How does the urban social system influence sustainable urban development?”. The chapter sets out a framework for the urban social system by establishing the underlying causal chains in sustainability responses in an urban setting and then examines its components.

6.1 Causal Chains Underlying Urban Social Systems

In Chapter 5, people’s diverse perceptions and attitudes contribute to understanding the state of urban systems. Based on this how the urban social system influences sustainable urban development is essential for taking social elements into the comprehensive understanding of urban systems and urban sustainability. This chapter further utilises the results of in-depth interviews – both informal and formal – and other information collected through observation and relevant documents analysis. The research framework (Figure 3.1) together with the interview nodes (Figure 3.7) provides a structure to identify the relationships between variables (significant factors) that form the interactions between humans and urban systems using causal loop diagrams (CLD). Figure 6.1 is the resulting conceptual model of the key social factors influencing urban development in Jinchang City. It shows that the urban sustainability transition capacity is determined by several key factors organised in three clusters: a) commitment of stakeholders, b) institutional development, and c) personal development. The interrelated factors constitute an integrated urban social system with multiple feedback loops (Loop #). Each loop is designated by a number.

+ Legal framework and + Institutional reform enforcement mechanism and development L6 +

Scientific evaluation + system for governance + Professional integrity + L7 + development Effectiveness of strategy - implementation and Bureaucracy and Planning and governmental function + hierarchical + L8 decison-making + L9 restrictions - Capability of + process decison/policy makers + and monitors Social wealth Affection of personal Institutional interests and reputation development + + + - + Coordinated + Institutional support for participation of L5 + development toward sustainability stakeholders Economic growth Development + and transformation direction and overall - planning + + Financial and policy Government-enterprise + + + support/coordination + cooperation Investment and experience in prodcution management and + + Macro-control techonological innovation + + + Commitment of + Economic profits Commitment of local Public participation in stakeholders + authority/government + environmental Integration of management + + Capability of entrepreneurial dynamis and + decision and policy authoritative acccordance Internal + + making development of Environmental enterprises Environmental + L4 + support and service Commitment of L2 assessment and Pressure from local enterprises + maintenance + + public + L1 National and local + Innovation and standards + knowledge-based + Commitment of strategies government leaders + + Employment + + Authoritative opportunities Personal supervision and Commitment of environmental monitoring enterprise managers awareness + + + + + Household - Motivation for income Personal evaluation of L3 environmental - protection/responsibility + the importance of People's living economic interests + + quality Environmental - Remote problems + Economic constratints and life - location of city Demand for better pressure L14 environment - - - + - Social environment Spread of new + Gap between Personal of sustainability ideas and technolgy Practice channels + L11 knowledge and development + and basic facilities practice + - Environmental + + - L13 Personal concepts information and guide Knowledge and + + + and ideas Environmental behaviour experience and performance Policy + + + interventions L12 L10 Talent introduction + + strategies + Cultural Lifestyles and habits of development of Intellectual capital + living environmentally + sustainability + + Education and traning

Figure 6. 1 Causal loop diagram (CLD) of the social factors influencing sustainable urban development Note: The arrow marks of positive (+) and negative (-) reflect the relationship between variables. A positive polarity means two variables develop in the same direction, and a negative polarity refers to the opposite direction. The arrow mark (//) means time delay. The circular arrows with in a CLD represent feedback loops, which can show reinforced or balanced relationships between variables.

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6.2 Commitment of Stakeholders

Figure 6.2 (a part of Figure 6.1) is the causal loop diagram of the key stakeholders’ functions influencing sustainable urban development. There are five major feedback loops in this figure.

Social wealth

+ +

Coordinated + Institutional support for development toward participation of L5 + stakeholders sustainability Economic growth Development + and transformation direction and overall planning + + Financial and policy Government-enterprise + + + support/coordination + cooperation Investment and experience in prodcution management and + + Macro-control techonological innovation + + + Commitment of + Economic profits Commitment of local Public participation in stakeholders + + authority/government environmental Integration of + + management Capability of entrepreneurial dynamis and + decision and policy authoritative acccordance Internal + + making development of Environmental enterprises support and service Environmental + L4 + assessment and Commitment of L2 local enterprises Pressure from maintenance + + public + L1 + National and local + Innovation and standards + knowledge-based + Commitment of strategies government leaders + + Employment + + Authoritative Commitment of opportunities Personal supervision and enterprise managers environmental monitoring + awareness + + + Household - Motivation for income L3 environmental Personal evaluation of - protection/responsibility + Environmental the importance of People's living problems economic interests - quality Economic constratints and life - pressure Figure 6. 2 CLD of the commitment of stakeholders in influencing sustainable urban development

 Loops 1 and 2 show reinforced relationships between variables. The initiatives of local authorities/governments are driven by the commitment of government leaders and the pressure from the public. Enhanced commitment of local authorities/governments has positive influence on the improvement of environmental support and service, which could further enhance public personal environmental awareness. Personal environmental awareness is a positive factor influencing both public pressure and commitment of government leaders.  Loop 3 demonstrates balanced relationships between the variables of commitment of government leaders, their motivation for environmental protection, and personal evaluation of the importance of economic interests. Balanced personal economic interests and increased motivation of environmental protection positively influence the commitment of government leaders.  Government-enterprise cooperation is crucial for decision-making improvement through reinforcing Loop 4. The cooperation contributes to innovation and knowledge-based strategies through integration of entrepreneurial dynamism and authoritative accordance.

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 Loop 5 shows positive feedbacks between enterprises’ investment in technological innovation and sustainable growth of economy and social wealth.

6.2.1 Commitment of Government

The initiatives of local authorities/governments are driven by the commitment of government leaders and pressure from the public (Loop 1, Loop 2). The commitment and performance of government usually depend on how the government leaders consider urban development and their personal interests (Loop 3), as well as their senses of social and historical responsibilities (R2, R5). The pressure from the public is associated with the overall environmental awareness of local residents which is determined by their personal perceptions and attitudes to environmental problems.

It is generally recognised that local authority plays a leading and decisive role in urban development and environmental management; in particular so in China where the government is regarded as having “unlimited power” (G1, G7, G9, E1). Regarding the urban environmental management approach found in this study, local government is in the position of macro-control and performs three basic duties namely formulating urban development planning, providing financial and policy supports, and enforcing environmental assessment and supervision. In addition, the government’s leading role in integrating various and multi-level resources and strengths is crucial for bridging cooperation between different departments, convening professionals from different disciplines, and involving public participation in decision-making (G1, G2, G9, E3, R2, R6).

The government’s role in environmental management is regarded as providing leadership to adapt to and improve the environment, by identifying directions and providing environmental infrastructure. Enterprises and residents’ consciousness and behaviour would then follow this lead (E3, E10, W2, W6, R9, R13). In particular, the government is responsible for balancing the interests of local enterprises and residents as they usually have different priorities and preferences with regard to economic growth and environmental improvement. In recent years, local government in Jinchang has carried out significant measures to prevent further environmental deterioration by forcing local enterprises to implement environmental protection facilities, closing high-polluting small businesses, and raising the environmental thresholds for enterprise development (G5, G8, E5). This requires enhanced environmental assessment and an increased authoritative supervision capability of local government.

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The integration of scientific research and practical applications is necessary to strength the governmental capability for decision making. As preconditions, the environmental data sources and their reliability need to be strengthened in order to establish a reliable foundation both research and decision-making (G5, G10). Meanwhile, increased public environmental awareness reinforced with institutional supports is facilitating an emergence of public participation in environmental management. This could contribute to the formulation of knowledge-based strategies and better meet the ever-increasing demands of local residents. Furthermore, the government and its subordinate departments could establish sustainable development concepts with particular emphasis on people- orientated environmental management and development. Informants want to participate in a comprehensive reinforced management cycle from environmental planning and investment to environmental assessment and maintenance (G4, G9, G11, W3, R3). However currently, there remains a deficiency in institutional approaches for effective public participation in environmental decision-making (Section 6.3).

6.2.2 Commitment of Local Enterprises

In Jinchang, local industrial enterprises play a pivotal role in supporting local economy and providing employment opportunities. At the present stage, industry is still the unshakable foundation of Jinchang’s economy and is the main source of financial support for future transformation of the urban economy and sustainability (G5, R1, R14). G11 described JNMC as the “half territory 半壁江山 (ban bi Jiang shan)”23 of Jinchang City. The dominant role of local enterprises runs through the industrial production, air pollution control, economic growth and transformation, and living quality improvement for the local residents (G4, G12, R9, R11, R14).

Currently, the commitments of local enterprises are expected to be more proactive (G4, G8, G10, E6, E7, E10, R5). E9 stated that an important responsibility of industrial development is to nurture both the environment and society. “In the beginning, the city was established to service the industry. For now, enterprises have the obligation to return the benefits to the society” (G7). Although some informants reflected that there is great improvement in recognition of this problem and praised JNMC’s performance in recent years (Section 5.1). As E10 mentioned, the local enterprises’ attitudes are changing from gaining economic profits only to considering their environmental impacts and trying to make some difference. However, the investigation also revealed that local enterprises’ social and environmental responsibilities are still failing to live up to the general expectations. In R10’s

23 This implies the importance of JNMC to Jinchang City. 103 view, the enterprises’ consciousness of environmental protection is floating on the surface which is usually defeated by the temptation of profits.

From an external perspective, local industrial enterprises are committed to reducing emissions to meet the environmental requirements of both local and national standards, while at the same time pursuing sustained growth in the economy. Authoritative supervision and monitoring further promote the execution efficiency of local enterprises. From an internal view, the requirements for internal development and the maintenance of external competitive capability force the local enterprises to adapt to the urban environment. The key point is to increase investment and learn from national and global experiences to improve the capacity of advanced production management and technological innovation (Loop 5), rather than by closing down factories temporarily to meet an inspection (E5, R9). Based on this, economic transformation is inevitable to break the city’s dependence on highly polluting industries. In addition, motivations of enterprises’ social and environmental responsibilities are influencing the commitments of local enterprises dominated by enterprise managers. This process is influenced by the managers’ personal knowledge and experience, as well as their acceptance of trade-offs between economic and environmental interests. In particular, the social responsibility of enterprise has been recognised as an essential element for coordinating the relationship between enterprises and the society (economic benefits and public interests) (Balabanov et al., 2015).

6.2.3 Multi-stakeholders Cooperation

The collaboration and synergies of key stakeholders in the city are the catalysts to generate solutions and innovations for common urban problems. The relationships between the two major stakeholders of government and local enterprises are at the same time contradictory and cooperative. In general, the priority of enterprises is to maximise profits, while the duty of government is to facilitate a coordinated development of society. The different original intentions determine the inevitable contradiction between them.

As enterprises, the first task is always pursuing continuing economic growth. As local residents, friendly environment and social welfare are of their most important concerns. As government managers, seeking the interest balance of diverse stakeholders through macro-control is crucial for promoting urban sustainable development. (G5)

There is not a complete confrontation between enterprises and government but they have to rely on each other to achieve win-win outcomes. “They just perform different social roles and responsibilities”

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(R4). Only with prosperous enterprise development can government achieve the goal of enhanced social welfare and strengthen its social management capabilities. Meanwhile, government’s supervision as well as policy and financial support guarantee that the enterprises can develop in a stable and favourable economic and social environment (G10, R2). This government-enterprise linkage is, under current policy settings, one of the pillars of “harmonious development”.

As a state-owned enterprise, JNMC has inseparable relationship with local government, which determines that the enterprise’s decision-making is interwoven with the government. “Jinchang City has the advantage that the government and enterprise can sit down together to negotiate many issues” (E7). On the other hand, this relationship between government and enterprises also implies the bureaucratic and hierarchical restrictions for enterprises’ decision-making. R12 pointed out that JNMC always holds some degree of antagonism towards the local government because JNMC did not always take responsibilities for urban development, environmental improvement and residents’ health into account as part of enterprise commitments. As a state-owned enterprise, the local government has limited authority to interfere in the operation of JNMC. Therefore, cooperation would be a better way to communicate and build a positive relationship between the enterprise and local government in this “company city” (Neumann, 2016; Sicotte, 2009). This way of cooperation also works well among other enterprises.

The approach of government-enterprise cooperation contributes to stimulate innovations and generate practical strategies through the combination of entrepreneurial dynamism and authoritative accordance (Loop 4), which is necessary for balanced economic growth and environmental improvement. In addition, government-enterprise cooperation has the advantage of complementarity. The government is in the position of guidance and providing supports through scientific research and strict supervision, and it should allocate certain authorities and responsibilities to local enterprises to encourage their initiatives (G1, E1, E7, E8, R2). The development strategies and activities of local enterprises need to be consistent with government planning and that feed back to the society (G4, E8). Government-enterprise cooperation combined with public participation helps to organise diverse interests of stakeholders, enhance the capability of decision making and seek optimisations for urban development. However, the current system seems to be lacking an effective communication framework among stakeholders. This in turn creates a significant obstacle that challenges multi- stakeholder cooperation. Regarding this, financial and institutional supports in the multi-stakeholders cooperation are required (G8, G10, E9, E10, W4, R1, R13).

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6.3 Institutional Development

Institutional issues associated with sustainability governance have become important as the sustainable development model has been adopted by more and more political leaders (Hodgson, 2006; Waas et al., 2011). There is a phenomenon that decisions relating to urban environmental management have not been promptly and appropriately made to solve emerging problems because of institutional constraints. The rules, formed by a certain institutional system, influence the process of decision-making and individual behaviours. Figure 6.3 (a part of Figure 6.1) is a CLD shows how institutional development is a key component for promoting sustainability transition. There are four major feedback loops reinforcing institutional reform and development. The capability of decision and policy makers, planning and decision-making process, and evaluation system of governance are three key variables influencing the effectiveness of strategy implementation and governmental function.

+ Legal framework and + Institutional reform enforcement mechanism and development L6 +

Affection of personal Institutional interests and reputation development + + Coordinated Institutional support for development toward participation of sustainability stakeholders Figure 6. 3 CLD of institutional development in influencing the capacity of sustainability transition

 Loop 6 presents positive feedback relationship between scientific evaluation system for governance and institutional reform.  Loops 7 and 8 show that scientific evaluation system for governance and professional integrity development have positive influence on improving capability of decision/policy makers, which is beneficial to planning and decision-making process.

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 Loop 9 shows that institutional reform to enhance support for participation of stakeholders has positive impact on the process of decision-making.

6.3.1 Deficiency in Current Governance

Many informants observed the current deficiencies in urban governance. Some reflected that the government usually puts more attention on slogans24 rather than practical actions, which leads to gaps between implementation and initial expectations of many policies (G4, G7, R2, R10). This in turn generates public dissatisfaction with the government. In R1’s view, the government has the ability and ways of governance, but did not perform well because of institutional and practical constraints.

It is reflected that the government officials only rely on economic performance to demonstrate their personal achievements (R3, R9, R12). E5 mentioned that the current attitude of the local government is “the people who can promote the economy, the government will solve any trouble for him/her”. Meanwhile, the local government is always in the dilemma of how to enforce environmental protection and maintain the fiscal revenue at the same time. Consequently for most of the time, the enforcement of pollution control is compromised. Some informants described that as “the government is economy-kidnapped” (R5, R15). R13 observed that many large-scale projects have generated great profits and reputation for government officials while local residents rarely shared the wealth. R3 further emphasised that “local leaders’ ideas are very important; if their ideas are on the right track, the work could be done better”. However, R15 reflected that government leaders always talk grandly about GDP growth, but GDP and residents’ happiness index are not developing in the same direction. Thus, the government urgently needs to get out of the biased GDP frame by adopting a scientific and comprehensive evaluation systems for governance (Loop 6), otherwise the urban sustainability will always be “a picture on the paper” (E1, E3).

In addition, arbitrary investment and incoherence urban governance were perceived as lacking scientific planning and long-term considerations (G3, G9, E9, E10, W2, W5, R1). Changes in government leadership with different ideas and plans further aggravate the incoherence of strategies and urban governance. R12 described the frequently changing administrative way as “changing direction for terms of leadership; the city often becomes a headless fly”. This usually leads to inefficient strategy implementation with an associated waste of administrative resources.

24 Using slogans to reflect policies is an important administrative approach in Chinese political culture (Sections 2.4.1 and Appendix D). 107

6.3.2 Institutional Reform and Development

The political institution comes to be the root cause of the failure of governance which is hindering the effective performance of governmental function. G1 stressed that institutional reform would touch many people’s interests, thus the privileged classes are usually against the reform in order to safeguard their vested interests. Another reason for the failure of governance is that the innovation in both technology and governance usually takes a long time and has weak profitability compared with extensive economic expansion. G1 addressed this issue from the view of a government official,

If I were the mayor, I would also eager to pursue the performance of economic growth because I have signed the responsibility letters when I took office... Many issues are institutional problems, one of which is the characteristic of short-term evaluation system of government officials. Leaders would like to set up a project this year, produce the next year and get profit the year after. On the contrary, the large-scale technological innovation and social reform require various forces, which take a long time and gain slowly. (G1)

Urban governance is based on the institutional system, as the institution determines the decision- making process. One vital reform of institutional development is to enhance the participation of the public and other non-state stakeholders in decision-making (Loop 9). Many informants reflected that the government performs badly in public hearings and they (as individuals) have no right to speak. It is a Chinese characteristic that the governments’ decision-making, from central to local, seldom involves public participation. As W11 stated, “the government is out of touch”. It is also reflected that most people have no intention to get involved in the government affairs because they have become accustomed to being ruled for thousands of years. Therefore, institutional reform is necessary to confront such a phenomenon, and particularly to prevent the government from playing the role of both “judge and athlete” (E1).

The capacity of decision and policy makers significantly influences the effectiveness of urban governance. The problems in current governance suggest that improvement in the capacity of decision and policy makers is needed. This requires improved professional integrity and a reformed institutional system that has scientific evaluation of governance at its core (Loop 7, Loop 8). In addition, institutional reforms can facilitate the reduction of bureaucratic restrictions while establish a legal framework and enforcement mechanism directed at improved effectiveness of strategy implementation and governmental function.

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6.4 Personal Development

Personal development plays a positive role in introducing new knowledge and performing actions. It has strong potential to influence the economic and urban performances given its creativity values in driving the development of research, skills, policy and management through people's initiative (Marrocu and Paci, 2012). Figure 6.4 (a part of Figure 6.1) shows how personal development influences people’s pro-environmental behaviour and performance toward sustainability in urban social systems. There are five main feedback loops in this CLD.

Personal environmental awareness + + Household Motivation for income Personal evaluation of environmental - protection/responsibility + the importance of People's living economic interests + + quality Environmental - Remote problems + Economic constratints and life - location of city Demand for better pressure L14 environment - - - + - Social environment Spread of new Gap between Personal of sustainability ideas and technolgy Practice channels + L11 knowledge and development + and basic facilities practice + - Environmental + + - L13 Personal concepts information and guide Knowledge and + + + and ideas Environmental behaviour experience and performance Policy + + + interventions L12 L10 Talent introduction + + strategies + Cultural Lifestyles and habits of development of Intellectual capital + living environmentally + sustainability + + Education and traning Figure 6. 4 CLD of personal development in influencing people’s pro-environmental behaviour

 Loops 10 and 12 are two positive feedback loops showing that people’s pro-environmental behaviour and performance are influenced by their ideas, lifestyles, habits, and the social and cultural environment they live in. These variables are reinforcing each other.  Loop 11 demonstrates that cultural development of sustainability has positive impact on influencing personal environmental awareness. Enhanced environmental awareness is beneficial to pro-environmental behaviour and performance through increased demand for better environment and narrowed gap between knowledge and practice.  Loops 13 and 14 show that improved intellectual capital management could promote individual knowledge and experience in sustainability, and contribute to a sustainable social environment through positive feedback loops reinforced by policy interventions.

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6.4.1 Pro-environmental Behaviour at Individual Level

Informants reported that local residents have an improving environmental awareness. Some people attributed this to the long-lasting effects of environmental problems (E1, E9, R8). Environmental supports and services provided by local governments also influenced personal environmental awareness to some extent (R2, R12). The abilities of human self-awareness and self-correction come into the scope of pro-environmental behaviour adaptation (R3).

As an indispensable component of achieving a sustainable society, people’s daily behaviours comprise the bottom line activities of the sustainable system. Many informants mentioned that they more or less have environmental-friendly behaviours in their daily lives, including multiple uses of water (G3, W3, R7, R10), less use or reuse of plastic bags (G7, G8, R2, R10, R11), household waste classification (G2, W1), tree planting (E1, W1, W2, R1, R3, R9), green travel (G5, R2, R3), using clean energy (R2, R3), and say no to disposable chopsticks (G8). However, only a few informants asserted they have very good pro-environmental habits.

Bridging the gaps between knowledge and practice is of importance for pro-environmental behaviour development. As expected, there are always gaps between thoughts and actions. People’s behaviour is not only following their thoughts but is also strongly influenced by their lifestyles, habits, and the social and the cultural environment they live in (Loop 10, Loop 12). Most informants have a willingness to adopt pro-environmental behaviours, but deep-rooted habits usually create obstacles to their concrete behaviours. This is expressed as “Wish is one thing, but practice is another” (G9, E1, R1, R8). Some informants admitted that their pro-environmental behaviours are less frequent compared with their thoughts, and instead, they complained more about others’ nonfeasance25 (E1, E5, E6, R6). That comes to the common phenomenon that people expect more, but few of them truly implement. Besides, personal factors of economic constraints and life pressure influence people’s demands for better environment. More wealth and leisure time would promote people’s initiatives to adopt pro-environmental behaviours to meet their demands for a better environment (G10, E1, R8).

Meanwhile, the lack of practice channels and environmental infrastructure is a key obstacle to pro- environmental practices for most residents (G9, E2, W11, R3, R4, R5, R14). This is closely related to the commitment of local government which has the responsibility to provide basic guides and supports for public participation in environmental activities. As a consequence, most people do not

25 The literal meaning of nonfeasance refers to failure to act where action is required, or failure to perform a required duty. 110 have long-term habits of living environmentally. E5 stated, “I do not know where to start because I have no experience. Sometimes I really want to do something, but do not know how to do it.” In addition, some informants reflected they need more information and media broadcasts about environmental protection and sustainable lifestyles, as R6 mentioned “I do not know what type of waste is recyclable and I am sure many other people have the same problem like me”. Therefore, government-led or organisation-led environmental activities are required to get more individuals involved in sustainable living. In particular, the government is expected to guide and support the formation of people’s environmental habits. In E3’s view, people’s initiatives to adopt pro- environmental behaviours would naturally increase as long as the government could provide instructional information and convenient channels.

In addition, human behaviours are significantly influenced by the social and cultural environment that influence the overall environmental awareness of the citizens and the public sense of sustainability (Loop 11, Loop 12). Following the general trend and going with the stream is an associated problem with the social environment that impeding pro-environmental behaviour development (G4, G6, E3, E6, R11, R13). People usually think that one person’s behaviour would not produce a great impact (R7, R8). Several informants reflected that they do not adopt some pro-environmental behaviour because they are afraid of being regarded as abnormal (E3, W7, W10, R3, R10). As E3 mentioned,

Sometimes I ride a bicycle instead of driving, but I cannot keep on doing this for a long period. It is easy to find excuses not to ride. Ironically, the public opinion usually casts negative impacts on our behaviour. I have even been mocked as stingy because of not driving. (E3)

6.4.2 Intellectual Capital Management

The geographical location of Jinchang City is far from China’s economic and cultural centres. This isolation impedes the spread of new ideas and technology, which has a profound influence on the formation of the local social environment and intellectual capital.

The ideology or mentality of the local people at both the governmental and individual level is regarded as a crucial factor to urban development. The way people think determines their decision-making and behaviours. In particular, if a person has a certain status and privilege, their decisions will have even greater impacts (E8). However, the remote location of Jinchang City plus the shortage of local intellectual capital, block the spread of the latest concepts and ideas. This results in a lack of information and inexperience in many fields ranging from technology to empirical management (G4,

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W7, R12). E9 believed the general local ways of thinking are traditional and fogyish. It is crucial for the local residents to “emancipate their minds” and to adopt new ideas and behaviours through improved intellectual capital management (G6, E2, E9, W11, R12).

As an essential component of the social environment, cultural development influences the formation of personal concepts and ideas. In R5’s view, the cultural development of society is progressing very slowly, particularly in western China, where “people are less open-minded but content with meeting basic needs with peasant's consciousness and short-term perspectives”. Therefore, the importance of cultural development is emphasised to promote personal potential and social responsibility (E1, E3, E8, R5). As R7 asserted, China is still in the stage of “violent management” where personal initiative and harmonious management are less developed.

Above all, the informants reported that intellectual capital in the form of knowledge and experience is particularly deficient in western China. This is closely associated with poor educational opportunities. Many observed that current education, vocational and technical training cannot keep up with the needs of sustainable development. In addition, cities in western China have difficulties in attracting human capital. The brain drain is serious since the generations born after 1980s are more likely to pursue university studies and jobs in more developed regions of China (E3, E5, R12). Consequently, there are very few research institutions, universities and research supportive infrastructure in western cities, this in turn aggravates the scarcity of intellectual capital (R12, R7). Since the soft power of intellectual capital is imperative to enhance the local knowledge pool and promote human civilisation, policy intervention is necessary to enhance education, training and talent introduction strategies. Improved intellectual capital management could promote individual knowledge and experience in sustainability, and contribute to a sustainable social environment through positive feedback loops (Loop 13, Loop 14) reinforced by policy interventions.

6.5 Chapter Conclusion

The investigation into the human–environment interactions reported in this chapter reveals that the influences of urban social systems on sustainable urban development are determined by several key factors operating within three perspectives: the commitment of stakeholders, institutional development and personal development. Environmental management to facilitate urban sustainability transition will have to be supported by joint efforts from governments, enterprises, the society and individuals.

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The key of institutional development involves reform and improvement of the evaluation system of governance, the capacities of decision and policy makers, and the process of decision-making. The current GDP-based “yardstick competition” has resulted in local government putting much emphasis on short-term economic development and personal achievement, which has significantly impeded any effective government strategy to implement urban sustainability. This chapter supports the argument that reforming evaluation system for governance and developing professional integrity are necessary for improved the local capacity for urban governance, better decision-making and effective implementation of strategies. In addition, the participation of stakeholders in the decision-making process is increasingly important to balance the interests of the privileged classes and the public if sustainable urban governance is to be achieved.

Government is essential for the effective conduct and coordination of urban environmental management through the macro-planning of urban development, financial and policy support, and coordinated management of various interests. The initiatives of local authorities/governments are driven by the commitment of government leaders and pressure from the public. In response to urban sustainability transitions, the cooperation between government and enterprises is crucial for the stimulation of innovation and generation of practical strategies through the combination of entrepreneurial dynamism and authoritative accordance. This could be further enhanced by public participation in environmental management which is directed at proposing knowledge-based strategies. However, the lack of an effective communication framework is a major obstacle challenging multi-stakeholder cooperation. Government initiatives are vital to identify cooperative mechanisms and provide basic supports for improved involvement of stakeholders. Alongside bureaucrats and functionaries, the participation of local residents is now recognised as a foundation of environmental decision-making and sustainable development because it helps to clarify local issues and promotes a commitment to sustainable urban management (Heinrichs, 2011; Warburton, 1998; Webler et al., 2001; Woolrych and Sixsmith, 2013). Getting these parties into a dialogue on urban problems would help to build a participatory decision-making process in response to the need for sustainability transition.

Cultural and personal development are important soft power components of urban sustainability transitions. Cultural development of sustainability influences personal development by providing moral impetus for the development of pro-environmental behaviour. The Chinese traditional culture of harmony has been embedded in China’s governance for sustainable development and it is evident that such views permeate Chinese society and create positive impetus in people’s daily behaviours through cultural infiltration of living harmoniously with nature as the value (Section 2.4.1 and 113

Appendix D). In this way, the attitudes and lifestyles of local residents influence people’s behaviours and are of importance to transform the ideas of sustainability into concrete actions in daily lives. The key challenge for pro-environmental behaviour development is to bridge the gaps between knowledge and practice. Enhanced environmental awareness is essential to narrow the gaps. In addition, social environment and the condition of environmental infrastructure contribute to people’s pro- environmental behaviour development by providing mental supports and practice channels. The development of intellectual capital provides a catalyst to accelerate this transition by promoting knowledge, motivation and commitment of stakeholders for sustainability. This needs to be enhanced by policy interventions through education, training and talent introduction strategies. This challenge has significant parallels with those found by Sapiens et al. (2015) in an Australian study.

The results from Chapter 4-6 make a significant contribution to the resolution of thesis 1 that the “Urban transitions toward sustainability can be facilitated by understanding the complex urban systems”. This chapter resolved research question 4 “How does the urban social system influence sustainable urban development?” The results and their organisation into causal loops have demonstrated that there are many links between the urban social system and sustainable urban development. The chapter also demonstrated some of these links are weak while others are overemphasised. This suggests that transitions to urban sustainability will require more context specific insights into how the entire urban system works in practice. This is the purpose of the next chapter.

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Chapter 1 Introduction Research Background Research questions Thesis structure

Chapter 2 Literature review Urban sustainability Urban systems Human-environment interaction Sustainability in Chinese context

Chapter 3 Methodology Research design and framework Case study approach Quantitative component Qualitative component

Chapter 8 Conclusion Main findings Integrated discussion

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CHAPTER 7: URBAN ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT AND

IMPLICATIONS FOR THE SUSTAINABILITY TRANSITIONS

Dynamic urban systems require adaptive policies and innovations to improve the decision-making systems dealing with constantly changing challenges. As discussed in the previous chapters the current urban environmental management and decision-making systems in Jinchang are lacking clear frameworks and integrated approaches to facilitate urban sustainability transitions. In addition, there are few strong initiatives that could bring about extensive behavioural and social changes. This chapter suggests a framework for urban transitions towards sustainability using the research outcomes to identify suggestions for policy-making. This is built on the conceptual framework of DPSIR (Figure 3.2) and focuses on multi-level adaptive responses. In doing so, research question 5 “What are the most critical gaps in achieving urban sustainability, and how can urban transitions towards sustainability be facilitated with emphasis on urban environmental management in the context of north-western China?” is addressed.

7.1 Multi-level Environmental Policy and Management

Environmental management, as a social response to urban environmental problems, aims to eliminate the negative environmental consequences of urbanisation and actively adapt to social requirements (Jago-on et al., 2009). Government initiatives in approaches of policy measures are the most common form of social response (Borja et al., 2006). Responses vary depending on the understanding and evaluation of the environmental problems, and are directed by a desired scenario. China’s environmental management is greatly affected by policies and institutions (Section 2.4). To alleviate pressing environmental problems and adapt to the global transition toward sustainability, the Chinese central government has put much emphasis on environmental protection and management in its policy-making and political slogans (Table 2.1). Correspondingly, local governments are responsible for carrying out the central and higher-level government’s policies by developing regional plans and specific measures and programmes. This requires local authorities to make decisions that are appropriately aligning with local reality and public needs.

Figure 7.1 is derived from available documentation at multiple levels that are relevant to Jinchang. The figure shows the evolution of policies and strategies with regard to environmental management and SD at levels of national macro-control to local responses, which have different implications, effectiveness and objectives that can be directed at long-term goals or short-term benefits.

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2006 First Green GDP Report, Link Environmental Performance to Officials Due Diligence 2008 Upgrade SEPA to MEP, 1992 Circular Economy Promotion Law 1979 2001 Chinese Agenda 21, 2003 First Environmental 1982 Ten Measures to Accession to WTO Clean Production Promotion Law 2010 Protection Law Foundation of SEPA Environmental Problems Environmental Tort Liability Law

National Policies and Regulation 2002 2012 South-to-North Water "Chinese Dream" 1983 1996 2007 2009 Diversion Project 2004 Confirm Environmental Protection First Five-year Plan "Ecological civilisation" Carbon Tax "Harmonious Society" as National Policy on Environmental Protection National Wide Pollution Source Survey, Banking Leverage 2011 National Industrial Solid Waste 2006 Utilization Demonstration Base, 1987 Systematic Urban Sewage Treatment, Urban Green Space System Planning, 1981 1996 Jinchuan Gorge Reservoir Completed, Phosphorus Chemical Industry Base Photovoltaic Power Project Jinchang City Establishment, Civilized City Implementation Plan, Three North Shelterbelt Project 2008 First Notice of Strengthening Urban Management, Construction of Economic and 2002 Longquan Landscape Renovation, 2013 Interim Provision of Wastewater Charges Technological Development Zone Initial Plan to Create Civilized City Energy Conservation Programs Qilian Mountain Ecological Protection

Local Governance and Programs

2000 2005 1985 1993 2012 2014 "Western Region Development Strategy" East Lake Project First Urban Comprehensive Planning Urban Water Supply Planning "Jinchang Mode" "National Garden City" Major Projects 2009 2004 of Circular Economy Awarded by MHURD, Creating "Five Cities", First Garden-style Streetscape Renovation Mine State Park Project, Residential Community "Hengchang" Urban-rural Integration, Hexipu Chemical Circular Economy Industrial Park

1987 1996 2000 2009 Built Two Sulphuric Second Phase of "Bigger and Stronger" 2006 "Blue Sky and Clean Water" Environmental Projects 26 Projects 2012 Acid Plants to Absorb SO2 1991 Development Strategy, Demonstration Enterprise Acquired South African Company Smelting Wastewater Treatment Technological Upgrading Projects of Circular Economy Mette Reese

JNMC Activities and Adaption

2004 2011 1989 1998 1992 International Cooperation with WMC JNMC listed in Hongkong as "Jinchuan Integrated Resources Utilization" Project Import New Takeoff of Nickel Capital , Jinchuan Group International Resources Co. Ltd Environmental Equipments Asia's First Nickel Flash Smelting Furnace Figure 7. 1 Policies and strategies with regard to urban environmental management in China since 1979 and showing the responses of Jinchang City

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7.2 National Level Response and Institutional Reform

Since environmental issues have been increasingly incorporated into national policies (Table 2.1), approaches to environmental management have also evolved (Figure 7.1). The evolution of the main policies and strategies at the national macro-control level represents China’s transformation in the ideas and approaches of social governance and is consistent with China’s aspiration for a harmonious society (Section 2.4.1). China’s environmental governance and local adaptation to social requirements is in accordance with China’s hierarchical political institution, which follows the main pathway of “command-and-control” combined with various strategies and their synthesis cross levels.

It is argued that the government should play a critical role in promoting the urban transition towards sustainability (Chapter 6). However, the dynamics of industrial and political interests might help or hinder transformations to sustainability. Local governments are challenged by the dilemma of pursuing sustained economic growth to meet state targets without substantially degrading the local environment. It is of critical importance when the city’s leadership seeks to promote SD and involves the ideas of SD in decision-making. This requires the government to be environmentally responsible and industrially innovative if it is to be able to take a proactive stance in dealing with environmental problems. On such a path, institutional development is recognised as the primary consideration for improving decision-making (Section 6.3). However, the GDP-based “yardstick competition” has compelled the local government to put much emphasis on short-term economic development, while leaving environmental and social development behind. It is argued that the implementation of better decision-making requires creating a more supportive framework for change. The significance of institutional development for urban sustainability transitions could be expressed as “best practices are at once a political rationality and a governmental technology through which the policy problem of urban sustainability is framed and defined” (Bulkeley, 2006). This is not inconsistent with the historic Chinese view that finding appropriate ways of problem solving should be in the context of a harmonious political environment (Section 2.4.1 and Appendix D). In particular, there is an urgent need for innovation in political achievement evaluation and governance decision-making systems in order to set adaptive policies and catalyse urban sustainability transitions. This need not challenge the role of the CPC and SOEs but it does call for a systematic synthesis of the primary slogans since 1980s (Figure 7.2).

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To build socialism with Chinese characteristics

Sustainable development Socialist market economy

Thought of three represents

Scientific outlook on development

Building a harmonious society

Ecological civilisation

Chinese dream

Figure 7. 2 The slogans of the CPC since 1980s representing China’s policy evolution related to SD

Superficially it could be argued that fundamental changes in developmental ideology and administrative systems are vital for urban development. Radical innovation is often the key impetus that leads to transformative changes to the existing system (Elzen et al., 2004). Innovative concepts are critically important but relatively difficult to achieve for the cities in north-western China due to the deficiencies of information, knowledge, strategic vision and experience in urban environmental management. This highlights the importance of improving education and intellectual capital management that could stimulate change and innovation of human knowledge and ideas (Section 6.4).

In urban systems, the roles of key urban stakeholders, their interrelationships and general behaviours are institutionalised, which form the basic local supporting framework for urban management. In common with most resource-based cities, Jinchang City could not completely escape from the traditional mode of urban development which was operating under the mandatory and strategic plans of the state. This leads to confusion in the relationship between government, enterprises and social affairs management. As a consequence, the function of local government has been greatly compromised. Therefore, one important purpose of institutional transformation is to transform the function of government and reform the administrative system. This requires that institutions to be dynamic and conducive to the formulation and implementation of adaptive policies as a response to the present or coming challenges. The GDP-based “yardstick competition” should be reformed through innovative evaluation systems for governance that links political achievement with unbiased SD indicators. It is essential for the effectiveness of strategy implementation and governmental

119 function. This also requires improved capability of decision makers and monitors to carry out these measures effectively (Figure 6.3).

China has put much emphasis on institutional and governance reform in order to improve government efficiency and initiative (China Daily, 2011). Based on China’s experience in environmental management, it can be demonstrated that monetary penalties cannot solve environmental problems because they do not provide sufficient incentive to control emissions (Lin, 2013). Therefore, China’s 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-2010) linked environmental performance to local government officials’ due diligence as an approach to local pollution control and sustainable development, which suggests the failure to meet environmental standards would lead to criticism or demotion of responsible officials (Li, 2013; Liu et al., 2012; CPC, 2006). The approach of making officials responsible is taking hold. Such reform provides an opportunity to overcome the implementation failures in environmental management (Qi and Zhang, 2014).

Nevertheless, lack of information and experience usually leads to inefficiency of municipal planning and governance. This highlights the value of involving environmental-based analysis and participatory engagement in urban planning and decision-making. Thus, institutional support for the participation of stakeholders is of importance to reform the decision-making process in sustainable urban governance (Section 7.3.1).

7.3 Municipal Level Response

Resonating with the national trend of promoting sustainable urban development, many urban development concepts and modes have been widely accepted and implemented at local levels (Section 2.4.5). Local government and EPBs of Jinchang City have been increasingly involved in solving the specific urban environmental problems. This is in turn directed by national policies, superior instructions, and the need for local development. In Jinchang, the urban models developed under the slogan of creating “Five Cities”26 has, to a significant extent, influenced the implementation of environmental policies and strategies by providing target indicators and stimulating the initiatives of local government. This demonstrates the effectiveness of developing urban models for urban sustainability transitions, which is facilitated by increased resources use efficiency and decoupled

26 Creating the “Five Cities” is a slogan proposed by Jinchang municipal government since 2009 to improve the urban environment and development, and to create new urban image. The “Five Cities” refers to National Civilised City, National Environmental Protection Model City, National Garden City, National Healthy City, and National Model City of Public Cultural Service System (Jinchang Municipal Government, 2014). 120 economic growth from material flows (Chapter 4). Nevertheless, there are gaps in achieving the goals of the “Five Cities”, which involve deficiencies of stable emission compliance of local enterprises, integrated strategy implementations, and public self-consciousness and initiatives (Chapter 5). It implies that developing urban models at city level should be consistently promoted by integrating diverse departments and agents extending from governments to local residents for gradually transforming the development model from priority development to coordinated and comprehensive planning and management. As the interview information also revealed, the series of actions to create “Five Cities” have the potential of improving urban management mechanism by organising responsible departments and agents, promoting cooperation and supervision systems, and inspiring public enthusiasm and involvement (Chapter 5). This requires the government to build up a multi- stakeholder participatory management system that involves research institutes and multi-agents into the innovation framework for adaptive strategies and greater sustainability outcomes.

7.3.1 Enhancing Multi-stakeholders Collaboration and Public Participation

The process of governance and planning links to the importance of multi-stakeholder collaboration and public participation in contributing innovations and adaptive strategies for urban transitions (Section 6.2.3). The cooperation and coordination of various related stakeholders of multi-levels from government to industrial sectors and to the local public are essential to alleviate the weakness of current environmental management.

Governments are responsible for making strategic decisions appropriate for their level on urban development in accordance with the national and global trends as well as the public’s demands (Section 6.2). It is consistent with the slogans model that government should act its role as a regulator, coordinator and creditor rather than a ruler by right. It is vital that the government has a clear vision and strong capability for guiding urban transitions, along with appropriate and intelligent planning as the basic operating framework. Based on the framework, corresponding strategies should be realistic and flexible to solve the dynamic problems and adapt to the latest situation. Apart from renovating the traditional mode of governance, the government of industrial-based cities should particularly focus on developing integrated planning for economic structural adjustment, enhancing environmental protection, and accelerating social transitions toward sustainable living. However, there are gaps in clarifying how the different goals could be jointly addressed. This requires the government to build up a multi-stakeholder participatory management system for local environmental problems solving. Such an approach fits with the Chinese management philosophy of “harmony” and the interpersonal harmony between officials and the public outlined in Appendix D. 121

This study argues that increased involvement of research institutes and agents into the innovation framework could facilitate the implementation of theoretical research and adaptive strategies for greater sustainability outcomes in industrial cities (Figure 7.3). In this network, all agents are open to the outside for effective exchanges of knowledge and information. Enhanced interactions between policy-makers and researchers could promote the transfer of research outcomes to decision-making (Bhagavatula et al., 2013). As enterprises engage in gaining technological achievements and promoting applications through the cooperation with research institutions; the government can stimulate and coordinate technological innovation and achievement transformation by adopting specific policies and appropriate financial strategies. Simultaneously intermediary agencies, such as environmental NGOs (Jepson, 2005; Princen et al., 1995; Yang, 2005), are responsible for disseminating technological achievements and enhancing cooperation among various agents. The collaboration and synergies of key stakeholders should be enhanced by sharing their intentions, knowledge and interests in environmental decision-making. Opportunities exist for government to build a platform and organise the relationship network among different stakeholders to jointly promote coordinated economic, social and environmental sustainability, and mobilise community activities in developing pro-environmental behaviour and sustainable lifestyles. This means the local government is expected to shape a “co-creative process” in planning and decision-making that involves multi-stakeholders with “mutual trust” (Nevens et al., 2013).

External contacts

Government

Research External contacts Local residents Agents External contacts institutes

Enterprises

External contacts

Figure 7. 3 An innovative framework of multi-stakeholder cooperation

Most mining cities in China have followed the former Soviet Union mode of "one factory one city" (Cinis et al., 2008). This kind of management system leads to a complex relationships between the 122 local government and the dominant enterprise. Regarding the economic transformation and urban transition, both sides are expecting the other to take more responsibility in capital investment, environmental protection and infrastructure construction. However, as demonstrated in Chapter 5, they lack efficient communication on industrial planning and assignment of responsibility. This situation does not only bring about negative impacts on the optimal allocation of resources, but also generates conflicts and impedes the industrial restructuring and economic transformation. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen the communication and cooperation between these two dominant stakeholders, by approaches that include joint meetings, communication on major events, and an exchange of cadres between the two systems. In addition, the intervention of the special agent of industrial association27 could be a critical intermediary to facilitate information exchange, provide service and assist collaboration in technological innovation and industrial restructuring (Cheng, 2013; Xu, 2003).

Public participation is essential in decision-making mainly due to its capability of knowledge contribution. The value of public knowledge and the growing grassroots innovations generated from community-based initiatives contribute to resolving complex environmental and social problems by involving problem solving and social learning at all levels of urban life (Seyfang and Haxeltine, 2012; Smith et al., 2013). The public participation also exerts public pressure on local authorities to overcome some weaknesses of environmental governance. However currently, public participation in governmental decision-making is deficient due to the institutional constraint for the sake of “social stability” (Liu et al., 2012). In addition, most local residents have no awareness or intention of becoming involved (Section 6.3). Although the importance of public participation has been acknowledged, public opinion has not been formally and effectively incorporated into environmental governance. Therefore, it is necessary to promote public participation in the decision-making process by creating a platform for the multi-stakeholders to discuss common problems and objectives, and balance their divergent interests. This involves institutional transformation in the decision-making process and enhanced information disclosure of both government and enterprises to provide the basic information to foster public knowledge and evaluation. Moreover, education, publicity and other approaches for promoting public awareness of engagement in decision-making are also necessary to motivate public desire for participation.

27 The current industrial association in China has three patterns with different organisational forms, namely, government- organised industrial association (GOIA), self-organised industrial association (SOIA) and semi-government-organised industrial association (SGOIA). The GOIA is widely adopted compared with the other two, but SGOIA would be more efficient in coordinating and promoting the government-enterprise collaboration in economic transformation. 123

7.3.2 Urban Eco-environmental Construction and Urban Form Adaptation

The ecological deterioration and environmental quality decline in Jinchang (Chapters 4, 5 and 6) suggested that the interactions between urban development and eco-environmental initiatives have to be evaluated in the context of harmonious co-existence (Section 2.4 and Appendix D). Specifically, the city has to address the issues derived from the pressures of air pollution, the consequences of historic desertification, and a poorly planned original urban layout (Section 5.3).

Economic and social processes influence urban environment in both temporal and spatial scales (Wu, 2014). Improvement of the urban environment relies much on continuous eco-environmental construction that is directed towards shifting the urban image from “dirty and gloomy” to “clean and liveable”. This relies on well-designed urban form that avoid pollution concentration, improve urban micro-meteorology, and contribute to lower material/energy consumption (Breheny, 1992; Edussuriya et al., 2011; Kastner-Klein et al., 2004; Jabareen, 2006). To actively adapt to the local environment and the public requirements, changes in urban construction practices should be directed at an environmental-friendly city that combines urban planning with environmental conservation planning. In particular, eco-environmental construction is beneficial for attracting public attention and motivating them towards environmental considerations in all activities from daily life to decision- making involvement.

In the past 30 years, Jinchang City has experienced rapid urban construction, with urban layout changing significantly between 1985 and 2015 (Figure 7.4)28. The urban form of Jinchang City was traditionally linked to mining and non-ferrous metallurgy and was located in close proximity to them. The consumption of construction materials was mostly concentrated on industrial development before 1999 (Figure 4.2). When combined with a high concentration of air pollution due to JNMC’s “Bigger and Stronger” strategy during 2000 to 2005, this caused significant negative impacts to the health of local residents (Section 4.3; Section 5.1.2). However there were few relevant measures that addressed these problems before 2005. The municipal projects were initially focused on urban water supply and sewage treatment, while the industrial pollution was superficially controlled relying on pollutant control equipment that was regarded as out-dated by some informants (Figure 7.1; Section 5.2.2).

28 The images of urban layout are made in ArcGIS using Landsat Image data (L4-5 TM) obtained from USGS EarthExplorer. The Landsat images selected were taken between June to August in 1985, 1995, 2005 and 2015 with cloud over lower than 0.04. 124

Since the acceptance of harmonious development nationwide, the pursuit of a good environmental quality has become a popular issue among local residents. During 2006-2014, the resource utilisation efficiency kept increasing and the SO2 emissions have been significantly reduced. SO2 emissions have now stabilised at 85-110 thousand tonnes per year due to the constraints of industrial techniques and continuously increasing production (Section 4.3). This indicated that technological innovation in production and structural adjustment to urban economy are urgently needed at this stage (Section 7.4). In parallel with this, active eco-environmental construction is necessary as an indirect response for urban environmental improvement, especially in north-western China.

Promoted by the goal of creating “Five Cities”, Jinchang City has carried out significant eco- environmental construction, which made Jinchang one of the top 100 liveable cities in China (ranked No.77)29 in 2013 and awarded as “National Garden City” by MHURD in 2014 (Jinchang Daily, 2014). The eco-environmental constructions covered various domains with key projects involving wastewater treatment and reuse, green space development, and landscape renovation. The eco- construction of the East Lake30 and Longquan Landscape Belt16 in Jinchang City are two successful eco-environmental projects that integrate waste water treatment and reuse with landscape renovation. The North Green Barrier31 has become one of most important green space development projects. Meanwhile, JNMC built a botanical garden32 and revitalised the tailing dam into a Mine Park33 as eco-environmental restoration programmes of “Blue Sky and Clean Water” (Figure 7.1). These efforts of urban greening and vitalising the vast barren land around the city have significantly changed

29 This ranking was reported according to the “Urban Competitiveness Report 2013” released by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) in 2013. 30 Eastern lake, also known as Goldwater Lake, is located in the eastern urban area of Jinchang, with a total area of about 2.36 km2 and water surface area of 0.6 km2. Built in 2005, it is the largest artificial urban water storage landscape in north- western China. The project is a complex that utilises industrial purified water to help to solve the problem of urban wastewater storage and utilisation, and provides leisure, tourism and ecological protection functions as well. 31 The North Green Barrier is one fragment of the national “Three-North” Shelterbelt Reforestation Programme as powerful approach of windbreak for wind velocity reduction and sand fixation in northern China. "Three North" Shelterbelt Reforestation Programme refers to the construction of large-scale plantation ecological engineering in three northern regions (northwest, north and northeast). The project was implemented since 1979 as an important national project in order to protect China’s ecological environment. After cultivation for more than 30 years, the Northern Green Barrier in Jinchang City has become the largest a green space with great amount of grown trees in the Jinchang urban area. To take full advantage of the buffer plantings of the Northern Green Barrier, Jinchang municipal government rebuilt this area as an open park integrating the functions of ecological conservation, landscape appreciation, leisure and entertainment since 2010. 32 The botanical garden, which is entirely enclosed in a greenhouse with circulated climate control, covers an area of 7,100 m2 and contains more than 40 thousands plants from tropical, subtropical and desert areas. This modern greenhouse has become a unique green space in north-western China for public visits, leisure and science education. 33 The Tailing Dam Renovation is the biggest landscape renovation in Jinchang City. JNMC launched the project of revitalising the tailing dam into a Mine Park in 2009 (namely Jinchang Jinchuan National Mine Park). The mine park is constructed around the old open pit mine (China’s largest one so far) with a total area of 3.1 km2. It includes an urban viewing platform, mountain greening area and mining visiting area. Irrigation water for the greening area (about 1 km2) is extracted from domestic sewage and treated wastewater from the mining pit. The mine park integrates the ecological function, visual effect and leisure function, which demonstrated a synthetic eco-environmental construction bestowing the waste of production with ecological values. 125 the land coverage in the city (demonstrated by increased green areas in Figure 7.4; photos of some eco-environmental construction projects are shown in Figure 7.5). This is reflected in the positive comments of many informants (Section 5.1.3). It demonstrated the importance of eco-environmental construction accompanied with improved maintenance for renovating the urban system and meeting people’s demands for a liveable environment.

In addition, increasing urban green open spaces is essential to mobilise urban residents to become involve in environmental conservation as a way of socialising urban environmental management. The conscious activities of residents could be considered as the “soft environment” that could complement the insufficiency of the physical environment (Section 6.4). It is not only beneficial for environmental improvement, but also conducive to engage local residents in urban environmental management. As Radywyl and Biggs (2013) indicated that public spaces, with their associated social interactions play an important role in promoting information and knowledge transfer from the bottom to the governance level. The ecological construction of public green spaces could be an approach of promoting pro-environmental behaviours and public participation by mobilising the residents spontaneously.

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Figure 7. 4 Transition of urban layout and land use in Jinchang City from 1985 to 2015 127

A sustainable eco-environment needs to be embedded in an appropriate urban form. The further improvement of urban form in Jinchang City particularly involves the separation of residential and industrial spaces in a manner consistent with the prevailing winds removing pollution from living areas. This will involve adjusting the urban spatial pattern by moving the residential areas northward and extending the industrial areas eastward (Figure 7.5). This includes transforming the old city blocks and gradually moving the residential area to the north of Xinhua Road (the central road extending from the west to the east of the city) and south of the North Green Barrier. The residential area would be surrounded by a peripheral green corridor composed of the North Green Barrier in the north, the Longquan Landscape Belt in the west and a green belt around the city. The active adaptation of urban form to the local environment is resonant with the city’s endeavours to create “Five Cities”, something frequently referenced by the informants.

Wind is a key factor to mitigate air pollution, with the trajectories determined by urban form (Cionco and Ellefsen, 1998). The positive impact of the prevailing north-west winds on air pollution mitigation has also been frequently mentioned by the local residents (Section 5.1.3). The positioning of the green barrier between the prevailing winds and the urban area should help to mitigate the dust problem. Such modifications to urban form are possible because of the availability of cheap land. Located at the upwind direction of the perennial north-west wind, the residential area can escape from the intensive impact of air pollution. As some factory workers reflected, finally they can enjoy clean air after work (Section 5.1.2). This modification of Jinchang’s urban layout partially addresses the issues identified in the MFA, the location of Jinchang City in a degraded landscape and the observations of informants. In doing so, the scale of the urban district and the land use intensity should be controlled for dematerialisation in urban construction, as the material inputs of urban construction have been accelerating since 2007 (Figure 4.2).

The adaptation of urban form has great potential to improve environmental conditions in the populated areas, which demonstrated a transition from industry-oriented development to people- oriented development. However, the trade-off of mitigating pollution hazard for the locals and the issue of air quality in north-western China indicates that resolutions of urban environmental problems also need economic transformation to promote a circular urban metabolism to achieve long-term efficiency. This suggests that more attention should be paid to revitalising the inner city and improving material flows in the urban systems rather than expanding the urban spatial area. This is also consistent with local people’s view on the positioning of Jinchang City as a “small city” (Section 5.3). From this view, rational planning and intensified land use are needed to ameliorate the urban physical construction and reduce material inputs in urban systems. Maximising the reuse of 128 existing/idle urban land and restricting urban expansion are crucial to ensure that all the urban land is planned and developed at appropriate densities on the basis of restricted land use control (Section 5.3). For instance, the multifunctional land use of small scale urban agriculture in roof spaces and gardens is a popular way of urban ecological construction, which is regarded as having more environmental benefits than food production functions (Lovell, 2010; Rode and Burdett, 2011). Moreover, two major issues of building and transportation should be focused in the way of material/energy dematerialisation and traffic pollution reduction (Section 4.3; Cabeza et al., 2014; Decker et al., 2000; Mahdavi and Ries, 1998).

129

(R.J.S. Beeton and Ying Li)

Figure 7. 5 Dynamic urban from of separating residential areas from industrial areas in Jinchang City 130

7.4 Industrial and Enterprise Level Response

Industrial reform involving cleaner production, recycling and reuse at the enterprise level play an important role in improving resource/energy utilisation efficiency and reducing waste/pollution (Chapter 4). It is vital for local industrial enterprises to reform themselves towards resource-saving and environment-friendly activities. In 2003, the strategy of developing a circular economy was incorporated into the national policy of scientific development, and enterprises and industrial parks were given major responsibility for implementing circular economy strategies into industrial systems (Geng and Doberstein, 2008). Influenced by this policy, JNMC launched a series of technological upgrading projects and environmental measures. From 2008 onwards, the cooperation between local government and JNMC in urban environmental improvement has been further demonstrated by many joint projects. In 2009, JNMC invested 23.18 billion yuan in the “Blue Skye and Clean Water” project to change the serious situation of pollution and environmental degradation, this initiative included 26 subprojects in pollution control, waste management and ecological landscape reconstruction (Section 7.3.2). However given the reality that the air quality was still unstable and some emission was not captured in the records (Section 5.1.3), this suggests stricter control and supervision on emission are necessary for radical pollution control. To further deepen the reform towards a circular economy, “Jinchang Mode”34 was proposed with JNMC as the core enterprise of industrial chains (Wang et al., 2012). Local enterprises and inter-sector production should take advantage of this to create industrial symbiosis by establishing better resource utilisation, recycling networks and regional industrial ecology, to provide an approach for local industries to meet both environmental and resource depletion challenges (Chertow, 2007; Dong et al., 2015; Lombardi et al., 2012). Beyond that, economic transformation and structural adjustment both at industrial and municipal level are vital to shift the urban economic development toward efficient, circular, diversified and environment-friendly directions and regenerate old enterprises along these lines.

7.4.1 Economic Transformation to Diversification

Economic transformation is a substantial factor in diversifying and developing resource-based industrial cities. Given the challenges from resource limitations and environmental pressures, it is in Jinchang’s strategic interest to promote economic transformation. Such change would address current environmental and social values by creating new economic opportunities and solutions. The

34 Jinchang Mode was identified as one of the 12 typical cases of regional circular economy in China. The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) promulgated 60 cases of typical modes of circular economy at regional, industrial park and enterprise levels in 2011. 131 intentions of economic transformation are various; however, the enterprises’ foci are primarily about maximising profitable operations. Therefore, the intervention of government, industrial associations and research institutions are necessary for the successful urban economic transformation, with foci of reforming existing industries and promoting structural adjustment to the economy (Figure 7.6). Such transformation is aimed at revitalising and strengthening the economic systems, while increasing the liveability of the city with environmental consideration.

Knowledge and Technological Cleaner production and Social recycling experience learning innovation circular techniques and innovation through cooperation

Resource-efficient and Reforming existing Industrial and environment-friendly industries urban symbiosis production

Investment in Governmental Industrial economic industrial design complex transformation

Industrial Eco-effective and Sustainable diversification diversified economy economy

Policy Structural adjustment intervention to economy

Figure 7. 6 Urban economic transformation and diversification for a sustainable economy

Reforming the existing industries is a direct approach to promote industrial upgrade and change the urban material flow pattern of high inputs and high emission. It aims at reforming the industrial activities to be more resource-efficient and eco-effective by shifting the established trajectory of linear procedures to a circular mode of “cradle to cradle” (McDonough and Braungart, 2002). The basis is reinvesting profits in innovative technology and industrial processes. Meanwhile, governmental investment is important for improving industrial efficiency to get the benefits of this in the future. The other benefit to government is social harmony. The MFA in Jinchang City suggested improving material utilisation as one of the ways facilitating sustainability. It also observed much progress in the symbiotic relationship between urban economy and environment, which indicated a potential sustainability trend (Section 4.5). It continuously requires infusing the ideas and techniques of cleaner production and circular economy into the existing industries with eco-industry in mind (Dunn and Bush, 2001; Sarkar, 2013). This is particularly important for the dominant industries in Jinchang City, which attract considerable attention of China’s environmental policies as the “2H1R”35

35 The “2H1R” industries refer to resource-based industries with high energy consumption and heavy pollution, which are the main causes of resource depletion and main sources of pollution emission in China. 132 industry (Huang et al., 2010). The economic transformation requires strong initiatives of local industrial enterprises to make efforts in rational exploitation and resource utilisation, updating existing technology and equipment, adopting cleaner production and circular economy principles and techniques, and extending the industrial supply chains to extend the industry’s life by adding more value to final products. It is also necessary to strengthen continuous eco-innovation and practices in industrial production to achieve a stable decoupling of urban economy from material and pollution dependence.

In resource-based industrial cities, the focus of structural adjustments to the economy is cultivating diversified industries to mitigate the significance of heavy industries in the urban economic system. It is necessary to develop the diversified economies, promote the rapid development of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and foster new economic growth points. This not only depends on the market’s increased ability of automatic diversification, but greatly relies on the government’s preferential policies and investments in new industries with high-techs and characteristics. Firstly, the development of high-tech industries needs to be highly encouraged to increase added value of products, which should rely on but not be limited to the current industries. Secondly, promoting characteristic agricultural systems that are suitable for north-west China, which involves the industrial cultivation of malting barley, pollution-free vegetables, high quality lamb and its by-products, as well as other agricultural industries associated with the characterises of the desert and the long-time exposure to sun light in north-western China. Thirdly, promoting structural adjustment to the economy and actively developing the tertiary industries of tourism and services. Upgrading the scale and level of local tourism by integrating distinctive north-western culture and entertainment based on the natural landscapes and local heritages36. Recently, Jinchang set up a new programme of building a “Flower City”37 to promote tourism development and revitalise the local environment (China Daily, 2014). Moreover, China’s plan to recreate a “New Silk Road”38, the railways connecting China and Europe through Central Asia, is conducive to the economic transformation in north-western China by providing favourable conditions that benefit from enhanced connection of trade, infrastructure, investment, capital and people (Cheng, 2015).

36 The local heritages includes the primeval forest in Qilian mountain range, site of ancient Rome, Han Ming Great Wall, Western Han Liqian ruins, the Shengrong temple built in the Tang Dynasty and the bell tower in the Ming Dynasty. 37 This is accompanied with many preferential policies, such as providing subsidies for travellers coming from external provinces, and holding collective weddings for couples around the world for free. 38 The conception of recreating a “New Silk Road” was introduced by President Xi Jinping in 2013. An action plan of this project was released in 2015. It is also known as “One Belt, One Road” which contains one “Silk Road Economic Belt” and one “21st Century Maritime Silk Road”. The “New Silk Road” is in an attempt to facilitate economic boost and promote strategic partnership with countries in Asia, Europe and Africa. 133

It is not enough to encourage economic transformation by spontaneous actions of local enterprises and other economic entities. This is particularly difficult for cities in north-western China where technological knowledge and experience are relatively scarce. Therefore, supportive government policies and financing guarantees are essential to facilitate the initiatives and implementations of transformative strategies. Specialised planning and regulation, accompanied with financing measures, should be strengthened to promote structural adjustment to the economy and direct capital flows through the economic systems. Such measures could include: providing preferential policies to emerging industries that benefit the economic structural optimisation; closing or converting those traditional industries with high energy consumption and high pollution while lacking ability to improve production efficiencies; encouraging the development of small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs); building science and technological innovation funds to support the development of high- tech and new alternative industries; improving the channels and ways of private investments; financing and taxation to provide more services for diversified and active investments. The innovation of local enterprises, in particular the SMEs, plays an important role in promoting economic transformation (Klewitz and Hansen, 2014).

7.4.2 Promotion of Cleaner Production and Circular Economy

The introduction of cleaner production and circular economy (or green economy) is an appropriate way to break away from high dependency on material inputs and outputs. In this context, dematerialisation and efficiency improvement become the priorities in the process of industrial transition to reform the material flow pattern, and this has been demonstrated as feasible by the contribution made by technological development progress in Jinchang (Section 4.4).

The circular economy in Jinchang City has been developing for nearly ten years; however, it is still at an early stage of practice (Chapter 4). The application of the circular economy has been carried out at industrial production level with the main target of maximising the efficiency of resource use in several industrial sectors. To date there are deficiencies in expanding the circular economy into the industrial clusters and urban social systems. Consequently, an integrated circular system involving government, industrial enterprises and public engagement needs to be formed. It would benefit from three-level recycling circles which comprise a small recycling circle in production processes, a medium circle in industrial sectors, and a large circle in urban society (Figure 7.7). This approach would see the government as responsible for promoting circular economy by legislation, planning, creating incentives and adjusting assessment criteria for economic development. Industrial enterprises also need to continuously strengthen their capacities for adopting the techniques of 134 circular economy in production process and building circular networks among industrial sectors. Meanwhile, the public engagement in social recycling could be enhanced through long-term education and publicity backed up with improved environmental infrastructure, in order to permeate the concepts of the circular economy into people’s daily lives and end up the throwaway society (Section 6.4.1; Section 7.5.2).

Figure 7. 7 Three-level recycling circles in urban systems

7.4.3 Enhancing Technological Innovation

Technological innovation is a key factor that could transfer the pressures to opportunities and points to applications for urban transitions. The MFA of Jinchang City has demonstrated the significance of technological progress on restraining the increase of both MI and MO (Section 4.4). However, the pressure for continuous technological innovation never ceases, with the ever-increasing human demands and its consequent problems, which is demonstrated by the unstable decoupling status between economic growth and material flows (Section 4.5). This indicates that the process of knowledge and technology accumulation should be given increasing policy supports. Appropriate financial supports, capital investment, tax exemption and reward incentives should be applied and be open to the whole society to encourage technological innovation and application of technological achievements in all sectors, organisations and the society. In addition, the public opinion generally supports an improved technological innovation system (Section 5.3).

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In China, the uneven development between south-eastern and north-western regions39 or across provinces suggests that regional-level innovation is more appropriate and applicable (Cheng, 2013). Therefore, the technological innovation system should be improved focusing on the weakness of technological development in north-western China. Firstly, government intervention should be enhanced to strengthen investment in the field of technological innovation by increasing research and development (R&D) investment. Meanwhile, intellectual capital management (Section 7.5.1) and the construction of public knowledge infrastructure, such as libraries, science museums and information networks should be improved in order to enhance the technological innovation capability of the whole society. This is also a solution to problems associated with weak urban infrastructure mentioned by the informants (Section 5.3.2). Secondly, the city should make good use of the knowledge, technique and intellectual capital from outside the region to promote cooperation and develop joint projects between local enterprises, research institutions, and advanced enterprises around the world. In this way, the self-dependent innovation and technology import could progress simultaneously. Finally, technological innovation must be considered in decision-making toward urban transitions, where knowledge and techniques can be spread and utilised efficiently through a network of multi-agent cooperation (Figure 7.3).

7.5 Individual and Social Level Response

The sustainability revolution is not only about new technologies, scientific governance, a robust economy and a restored physical environment. It must engage urban residents with the objective of achieving changes in attitudes, behaviours and lifestyles into a sustainable society. This comprises one of the critical basic elements for sustainability. China’s endeavours to build a “harmonious society” and a “resource-saving and environmental-friendly society” rely on individual initiatives, behaviours and lifestyles to a great extent. A sustainable society embraces the concepts of harmonious and long-term development to local communities, which promotes environmental protection, green living and travel, moderate consumption and healthy lifestyle (Carley et al., 2013; Hackett, 2011; Roseland, 2012). To achieve such a transition, appropriate policies and environmental infrastructure could help to change people’s attitudes towards a sustainable lifestyle and bridge the gap between their thoughts and actions.

39 According to national socio-economic and environmental patterns, south-eastern China is characterised with a developed economy, advanced technologies, convergence of talents and favourable natural environment. North-western China is in the far isolated barren area, which is relatively poor and less developed in both economic and social development. 136

7.5.1 Human and Intellectual Capital Management

The scarcity of intellectual capital in north-western China highlights the necessity of enhancing human resource management (HRM) for developing intellectual capital, especially in terms of technological innovation, scientific management and social transitions. Intellectual capital (or knowledge capital), as a subset of social capital and human capital (people with high levels of education and skills), is the creative key for private and public investments (Beeton, 2006). It reflects the understandings of the society and influences people’s values and behaviours (Pretty and Smith, 2004). Jinchang City, in common with all of north-western China, needs to pay special attention to intellectual capital development and human capital attraction by improving education, allocation of incentives and preferential policies.

Education is regarded as a direct investment in intellectual capital cultivation (formal knowledge). It plays a crucial role in intellectually promoting sustainable transitions and cultivating pro- environmental behaviours by means of knowledge diffusion, transformation of ideas and lifestyle changes (Foo, 2013; Liefländer et al., 2013). It is particularly important for the policy/decision makers whose ideas and capabilities would influence the decision-making to a greater extent. Marrocu and Paci (2012) verified that higher education and positive economic performances are closely related and depends on people’s connection with the creation and diffusion of knowledge and innovation. In addition, environmental education is a crucial approach for recognising the values of environment and developing sustainable behaviours through action-oriented guidance and participation (Martin and Wheeler, 1975; Tilbury, 1995). It is not enough to spread information only with the purpose of arousing people’s environmental awareness but programs of skills training and participation in environmental activities are also of importance (Sheehy and Dingle, 2004). This helps to bridge the gaps between knowledge and practice in people’s environmental activities. In addition, experiential knowledge which is held by individuals and communities should be emphasised for learning from the past and contributing to meaningful insights for strategies (Beeton, 2006).

Compared with south-eastern regions in China, the basic service of education is relatively low in north-western China. Basic education and vocational training needs to be strengthened to improve the public educational level and cultivate professional and technical personnel. This should be a lifelong process adapting to the new environment and challenges. Vocational training is particularly beneficial to the decision-making capability of the decision-makers. The development of higher- education institutions should be encouraged to cultivate senior management personnel and provide knowledge and technique to support innovation and urban transitions. 137

Regarding the problem of talent shortage and outflow in north-western China, there is an urgent need to enhance HRM to retain and attract human capital. Firstly, establishing improved personnel selection and appointment mechanism are needed. Within this mechanism, outstanding talents could have the opportunities to display their abilities in appropriate positions and could be effectively promoted accordingly. Secondly, it is vital to improve the distribution-incentive system to motivate people’s professional personal integrity. The distribution-incentive system should have various forms in line with the characteristics of the personnel and their positions, such as allowance based wage and performance related pay. Finally and most importantly, local government should create a favourable environment for attracting and retaining qualified talents. The strategy could be promoted by popularising preferential policies on career development, special allowance, project start-up capitals, and other financial incentives.

7.5.2 Transformative Behaviour and Sustainable Lifestyle

There is an increase in environmental awareness among the Chinese people (Section 5.5; Liu et al., 2014). This has become a powerful impetus in exerting pressures on governments and local enterprises to give priority to environmental protection (Section 6.4; Huang et al., 2010). More importantly, the framework for the development of pro-environmental and responsible behaviours that are essential for a sustainable society is emerging in the general public.

The awareness of environmental protection is the precondition of behavioural change and is closely associated with the information people received (Section 6.4). This indicates that transformative behaviours require relevant information as the basis, accompanied with sufficient incentives and capabilities to bring about behavioural change. Along with the tendency of increasing environmental awareness, urban sustainability transitions have shown explicit demand to fill the gaps between awareness and pro-environmental behaviour. However, current actions are usually less desirable. This is usually due to inadequate education which often influences individual attitudes and behaviours at young ages (Frisk and Larson, 2011). This again highlights the importance of education in pro- environmental behaviour development mentioned above. More importantly, this study indicated that people’s behavioural choices have intimate relationships with urban green infrastructure and neighbourhood social circumstance. Lacking practice channels and appropriate social environment are key barriers impeding people’s pro-environmental behaviours (Section 6.4.1). This suggests that local governments have to actively propagandise pro-environmental behaviours and a culture of sustainability to motivate people’s spontaneous changes in behaviours and eliminate negative bias for pro-environmental behaviour. This also requires improvement in environmental information 138 disclosure, environmental education and publicity, and green infrastructure construction, to motivate behavioural changes. This helps to create a favourable neighbourhood social environment that supports the adoption of pro-environmental behaviours.

Sustainability transition must be accompanied by a transformation of personal lifestyle, which requires large-scale endeavours from the bottom of the society in forms of cumulative actions to make a radical change toward sustainable lifestyle. It is difficult to maintain a sustainable lifestyle due to ecological consciousness, market conditions and consumption habits (Banbury et al., 2012). However, incremental social and environmental concerns consolidate the basis for urban residents to adopt more sustainable lifestyles. This could be achieved by combining changes in consumption, transport and daily environmental practices.

The key to engaging more people adopting a sustainable lifestyle is changing their attitudes from “should do” to “must do”, thus consciously transferring the moral responsibility to practical actions (Miller and Bentley, 2012). Given the fact that many people have the wish to maintain a sustainable style but lack determination and social support to do so, information and a supporting social environment about developing a sustainable lifestyle need to be enhanced. In China this emphasises the importance of governmental functions in promoting sustainable lifestyles by social support utilising material and spiritual media. This involves actively enhancing the guiding function of urban green infrastructure, as well as propagandising the values and providing behavioural instructions for a sustainable lifestyle. Examples include information dissemination to advocate a minimalist culture and encourage alternative ways of sustainable living with moderate consumption (Axsen et al., 2012). This reflects people’s reverence for the Chinese ancient ideology of “heaven-human unity” as a soft power leaver that could promote sustainable social transition (Appendix D).

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7.6 Chapter Conclusion

Urban environmental management takes account of various decisions made by multiple agents of governments, private sectors and civil society. This means multiple dimensions and objectives of economic, environmental and social sustainability, including their interactions, must be taken into account in the process of decision making for better solutions. It is about innovations and implementations of governance, planning and social management in the evolution of urban systems. In this process, governance and public participation are two keys and interacting factors that influence decision-making and strategy implementation (Figure 7.8). At their intersection are the recognised tools available for improving environmental outcomes.

n Regulatory o

r Governance Integrated t Instruments S Monitoring Planning and Decision-making Systems

Policy and Strategy Implementation Policy and Strategy

Public Proposals Governance Response and Legislation

Autonomous Initiatives

Civil Social

k Activities a

e Public Participation W

Weak Strong

Figure 7. 8 Enhancing governance and public participation in policy and strategy implementation Note: the two axis represent the intensities of governance and public participation from weak to strong

Regarding the dynamic characteristic of urban systems, transition towards sustainability needs continuous improvement and adaptation. This requires systematic understanding of urban systems, followed by adaptive responses combined with diverse approaches to solve the urban problems accordingly. The previous chapters have demonstrated that the challenges in sustainability transitions have been framed in terms of institutional constraints, economic development modes, innovation and intellectual capital deficiencies, as well as a lack of public participation in both decision-making and

140 daily performance. To address this, the study argues that transitions towards sustainability involve multi-level reforms and their synthesis cross levels to improve governance and innovation in both the economy and the environment; it also engages people and their lifestyles into the consideration of a sustainable society. In Figure 7.9, the response component of the DPSIR framework has been combined with the adaptive responses of multiple stakeholders to reflect the finding of this study. Responses are varied and they are directed toward the other four phases intentionally in the context of the social system. This demonstrates the mechanism of responses that generates solutions for changing the urban development toward sustainability.

Pollution control and circular economy

Pressure State Publicattitude

Planning, decision-making, Integrated regulation based on andparticipation regulation and investment multi-stakeholder cooperation

Driver Impact , ,

Policy making and Environmental renovation and perception institutional reform infrastructure construction Government

Technological innovation Technological Adapt to market and Behaviour change

and industrial transformation transformation industrial and long-term profits and public pressure

Enterprises Local residents Response

Agents

Environmental recovery and economic compensation

Figure 7. 9 Adaptive responses of stakeholders to urban DPSI with regard to sustainability transition

The activities and interactions between these responses are mixed and balanced. This suggests that the urban environmental decision-making and regulatory system must be formulated with the integration of multi-level and multi-perspective innovation and management drawing upon disciplinary insights (Figure 7.10). There is a strong need for more flexible combinations of institutional development, economic transformation, human initiatives, eco-environment construction, social transitions and different forms of capitals to develop pathways to facilitate sustainable urban development. These elements suggest principal pathways for the planning and implementation of urban transitions. The interactions of these strategic elements are also important, as the physical changes of urban metabolism are always relevant to economic activities, environmental conditions and social aspects (Chapter 4; McCormick et al., 2013). 141

Weaknesses and Challenges Opportunities and Strategies

Sensitive to political institution Institutional and decision-making system innovation Constraint of evaluation system of governance Conceptual change Top-down management Institutional and Policy priority on strategy and culture of SD Low effectiveness of strategy implementation governance reform Strong regulation and improved legislation Disconnection with stakeholders Multi-stakeholders collaboration and public participation Poor law enforcement

Impacts of industrial pollution Radical pollution control Limitation of natural environment Environmental Urban greening and urban form adaptation Low efficiency of urban construction renovation Residents mobilisation in environmental protection Public demand for better environment High performance of building and land use

Resource and environment unsustainability Industrial regeneration and symbiosis Integrated Focus on mass and short-term profits Economic Diversified and specialty industries development decision- Single and fragile economic structure transformation Circular economy and cleaner production making and Lack of experience and initiatives Intentional planning and financing measures regulatory system for urban sustainability Backward technology in north-western China Policy preference and investment in R&D transitions Deficiency of investment Technological Advanced technology introduction Lack of neutral institutions and agents innovation Collaboration with research institutions and agents

Outflow of human capital Local wisdom accumulation Lack of ability to create and innovate Intellectual capital Education and technical training Low level of education and partnership in research management Human capital cultivation and attraction Losing culture and ethics Cultural infiltration

Lack of initiatives and information Transferring moral responsibility to practical actions Limitation of practice channels Behavioural Pro-environmental behaviour and sustainable lifestyle Difficulties in habits changing change Environmental education and information dissemination Constraint of social environment Resource-saving and environmental-friendly society

Figure 7. 10 Integrated decision-making and regulatory system of urban sustainability transitions

Jinchang City, as a traditional industrial city in the north-western region with a positive economic foundation, has the opportunity of utilising the advantages of specialty industries to innovate urban environmental management and create a new image of sustainability. In order to effectively achieve the environmental targets and meet with local realities, it is essential to make adaptation from the central level to the local realm by integrating multi-perspective planning and public participation. This suggests all strategies need to be applied in a context-specific way. The direction of economic development can shift towards an efficient, circular, clean, eco-friendly and diversified development. An improved governance and multi-stakeholders collaboration with enhanced initiatives and capabilities of decision makers would facilitate this. The local government has the opportunity to coordinate multi-level decisions and set locally appropriate objectives and approaches according to the practical situation of the urban system. The government is expected to make efforts to proactively identify critical points of urban transitions, set realistic goals, promote economic transformation and diversification, assign responsibilities, and facilitate strategy implementation sequentially. This requires an improved environmental management system based on integrated decision-making and regulation by organising responsible departments and agents, promoting cooperation and supervision

142 systems and inspiring public enthusiasm and involvement in a cultural context of harmonious development. In north-western China, the issues of transformation of ideas, structural adjustment to the economy and intellectual capital management are of critical importance to the local development which can be improved by education, allocation of targeted incentives and preferential policies.

Building on Chapter 4, 5 and 6, this chapter has introduced a discussion of the ways to create a government-led integrated decision-making and regulatory system relevant to the Chinese context. This allowed the proposing of strategies to facilitate urban sustainability through multi-level and multi-perspective transitions. In doing so, it resolved research question 5 by identifying critical gaps to achieving urban sustainability and suggesting how urban transitions towards sustainability can be facilitated with emphasis on urban environmental management in the context of north-western China.

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Chapter 1 Introduction Research Background Research questions Thesis structure

Chapter 2 Literature review Urban sustainability Urban systems Human-environment interaction Sustainability in Chinese context

Chapter 3 Methodology Research design and framework Case study approach Quantitative component Qualitative component

Chapter 8 Conclusion We are Main findings here Integrated discussion

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CHAPTER 8: CONCLUSION

The complexity of the issue of sustainability combined with continuous urbanisation means that cities and urban policy play key roles in fostering global sustainability. Cities are expected to be harnessed as key sites generating solutions for massive environmental challenges and facilitating sustainability transitions. The main objective of this study has been to better understand urban systems and urban sustainability based on a mixed methodology. The study has a strong focus on sustainable development principles and its implications in modern and ancient Chinese cultural contexts, urban systems understanding together with subsets that involve urban metabolism and urban social systems, and adaptive approaches to urban sustainability transitions. Based on the research questions and objectives, the study collected empirical evidence, both quantitative and qualitative, from Jinchang City to support the theoretical and analytical discussions. In doing so the study shed a light on future sustainable urban development in China.

As explained in Chapter 1, this study revolved around the drive to better understand urban systems and facilitate urban sustainability transitions through approaches that are both technological and socio-cultural. This was set in a Chinese cultural and regional contexts. The study was organised by two theses. The first is that “urban transitions toward sustainability can be facilitated by understanding the complex urban systems”. The second is that “urban transitions toward sustainability are dependent on integrated transformations which are culturally and politically appropriate”. The two theses and research questions have been addressed using specific research techniques and multi-source data (Figure 1.1). In this chapter, the main findings of each research question are summarised and integrated to confirm the theses and the contributions of this study.

8.1 Main Research Findings

Sustainable development has been acknowledged as imperative in both environmental science and policy discourses. This imperative has accelerated the integration of economic, environmental, social and cultural dimensions in contemporary policy settings. As various challenges emerge along with rapid urbanisation and industrialisation, cities have become a focal point and major contributors for achieving global sustainable development. There has been an upsurge in research in urban sustainability worldwide. China, as a development hot-spot in today’s world, has witnessed a rapid emergence of small-medium cities paralleled with tremendous economic growth over the past several decades. These significant changes were intimately related with the integration of China’s deep

145 history with a revolution in China’s institution and administration characterised by the leadership phases and slogans (Section 2.4 and Appendix D).

This study argues that urban environmental management is a complex process that requires a better understanding of both the biophysical and social components of urban systems. Urban sustainability can be facilitated through integrated decision-making and regulatory systems based on the understanding of urban dynamic systems that comes from the combination of quantitative modelling and qualitative inquiry. Systematically following the five research questions proposed in Chapter 1, the main research findings of this study are now generalised.

8.1.1 Implications of Harmonious Development in China’s Modern Development and Environmental Management

The implications of sustainable development differ in specific cultural contexts. In China, culture is the “soft power” of administration and has been influencing the Chinese people’s common values of living with the natural world and the government’s regulations and policies. By reviewing Chinese traditional culture and inquiring into the public, this study has verified that the ideas of sustainable development have been embodied in Chinese culture from ancient times and have been influencing China’s governance and policies for thousands of years. From the Chinese cultural perspective, the concept of sustainable development has deep roots in Chinese culture, represented by the traditional philosophies of Confucianism, Taoism, Legalism and Yin-Yang. These ideas were well formulated and understood in a common expression of “harmony” in Chinese society. The notion of “harmony between humans and nature” is a well-established concept in ancient China, also a fundamental issue of cultural direction. Ancient Chinese ideas about harmony differ in their ontological and epistemological foundations from modern ecological and sustainable theories, but they share the common basis of systems thinking and evolutionary theories (Appendix D). It has been reemphasised in recent years reflected by the slogans of building a “harmonious society” (Section 2.4).

Solving sustainable development problems are not just economic and environmental issues, but also a cultural process that requires new ways of thinking to enter the mix. Chinese and Western roots of sustainable development are conceptually and historically different, but their interaction and convergence have led to the evolution of Chinese sustainable development in a global context. Converging with Western theories and practices, China has experienced rapid transitions of ruling ideas that have unique institutional implications for harmonious development in both social administration and environmental management (Table 2.1). The notion of harmonious development 146 reflects China’s aspiration to achieve sustainable development and aligns with contemporary development circumstances in the world.

The Chinese traditional philosophies of harmony have had a fundamental influence on the formation of China’s distinctive sustainability perspectives and administrations of modern development and environmental management. The political institutions of China link social regulation with each leader’s thoughts, consequently the implications of harmony have had different themes symbolised with specific slogans at different stages. The proposals of building a “harmonious society” and realising “ecological civilisation” and the “Chinese dream” particularly demonstrated that China’s foci of regulation have changed to incorporating economic development with increasing environmental and social considerations. This reflects China’s fostering of a harmonious way of development with the aspiration to achieve cleaner growth, personal prosperity and social stability. Consequently, the phrase of harmonious development has been understood as the Chinese iteration of sustainable development. In other words, it has become a conduit to gain acceptance of sustainable development in Chinese society.

The contemporary government of China has merged ancient and modern development philosophies, particularly referring to environmental issues. The thoughts of harmony have been reflected in the evolution of China’s pragmatic response to environmental problems since 1992 when China put forward the Chinese version of Agenda 21 and incorporated environmental protection in the national Five-Year Plans. In addition to learning from Western experiences, China has also developed its unique way of environmental management that merges the philosophies of harmony with modern disciplines and practices. The trends in China suggest that the next revolution could be the application of the same level of economic investment in environmental governance that we have seen in industrialisation. This is harmonious development with a strong environmental overlay. It is consistent with its cultural, political and social circumstances and has great potential in facilitating China’s sustainable development in the context of the Chinese governance system. The challenge remains in implementing this at the lower levels of administration.

Since harmonious development has become a societal framework in China, this concept has not only permeated through the governance system but has also driven urban development toward a sustainable direction. Urban sustainability transitions must be based on the scientific understanding and evaluation of urban systems that could generate adaptive solutions and strategies. Taking the industrial city of Jinchang as a case study, where sustainable development is significantly challenged, how humans interact with the urban environment was studied using a mental map (Figure 3.1) and 147

DPSIR framework (Figure 3.2). During the fieldwork, multi-source quantitative data was collected and semi-structured interviews were conducted to explore the urban systems from perspectives of urban metabolism modelling (Chapter 4), public perception on the state of the urban environment (Chapter 5), and urban social system understanding (Chapter 6).

8.1.2 Urban Metabolic System Modelling and Sustainability Potential Evaluation

With regard to understanding the biophysical urban systems, this study demonstrated that the application of MFA with associated analytical techniques, as underpinned by urban metabolism theories, allowed for an understanding of the biophysical urban systems. Linking the concepts of metabolism and ecosystem to urban systems, this study considered cities as resource (material and energy) sinks and sources of waste and pollution. Using quantitative data collected from multi- sources, an MFA of inputs and outputs was applied. Combined with socio-economic indicators and techniques of SDA and decoupling analysis, this facilitated an understanding and evaluation of the urban metabolic system and its sustainability potential.

This study showed that Jinchang City’s urban development relied heavily on local resources with high material/energy consumption and high waste/pollution generation, which directly challenges sustainable urban development. The variations of material flows between 1995 and 2014 showed that the total material inputs and outputs kept increasing (Table 4.1 and Table 4.2). The whole period presented a scenario of high MI and high MO which were linearly correlated with a correlation coefficient of 0.991. The city’s heavy reliance on material consumption with associated air pollution is not easy to eliminate, and this is further aggravated by population growth and social wealth increase. As a result, the local government is faced with the conundrum of making a trade-off between economic growth and environmental protection.

However, sustainable trends have been observed. The decoupling analysis indicated overall improved material/energy utilisation efficiency and improved environmental sustainability. The relationships between GDP and MI/MO experienced many shifts and tended to be weakly decoupled, indicating an enhanced material/energy efficiency. Particularly economic growth has becoming strongly decoupled from air pollution which suggests improved environmental sustainability (Table 4.4). Air pollution has decreased dramatically accompanied with expanded industrial production, increased social wealth and household consumption. In addition, evaluating the MO of solid waste and SO2 emission with respect to total MI showed that the material use efficiency has improved significantly with the maturation of industrial activity and technological progress (Figure 4.4). What is of special 148 note is that industrial production was concurrently greatly increasing. Collectively these positive trends suggest that much progress has occurred in the urban economy, society and environment and this goes beyond simple incrementalism. It further implies that urban sustainability is potentially achievable.

The SDA indicated that the technological progress had restrained the rapid increase of both MI and MO to some extent. However, this was offset by population growth and an increase in social wealth (Table 4.3). These changes reflected the importance of investment in pollution control, industrial technological innovation and structural adjustment to the economy. It implied that technological progress and innovative investment could contribute to restrain the rapid increase of both MI and MO and convert the material flows mode from linear to circular to some extent. Nevertheless, a synchronised progress in economic development and environmental improvement requires radical transformation of dematerialisation and strong decoupling of economic growth from material/energy consumption. This involves thoughtful use and handling of raw and processed materials aimed at changing the pattern of high material inputs and high emission. It also requires infusing the ideas and techniques of process integrated cleaner production and eco-industry into the existing industries, thus improving industrial activities to become more resource-efficient and eco-effective by shifting the established trajectory of linear procedures into a circular mode. In addition, fostering and developing alternative industries are necessary to reduce economic dependence on heavy industry while achieving a stable decoupling of the urban economy from material consumption and pollution. An integrated circular urban system involving industrial production and public engagement would benefit from the three-level recycling circles (Figure 7.7). All these need to be supported by sensible governance and investment in technological progress, economic transformation and enhanced environmental protection.

The study on urban metabolism modelling verified that MFA tools are applicable to urban systems to track changes, identify existing weaknesses and evaluate urban sustainability potential with regard to local realities. This approach can provide fundamental information of urban biophysical systems and suggest adaptive strategies for urban environmental management.

8.1.3 Public Perception on the State of the Urban Environment

The inquiry of local residents’ perception and response to the state of the urban environment demonstrated how urban systems could be understood from a bottom-up perspective. By means of in-depth interviews with 50 local residents in Jinchang City, the study further clarified the nature of 149 the urban system, provide complementary knowledge of the real world, and suggest opportunities for public participation in sustainable urban management. In particular, some information collected through public inquiry contributed to explaining and filtering complex and conflicting information, and thus contributing to a better understanding of urban systems.

Regarding the essentials of sustainable development, the public evaluated that improved standards of living, a habitable environment, social harmony and civilised behaviours are of most importance (Figure 5.4). This is consistent with the theoretical triple-bottom-line of sustainability. In Jinchang City, the issues of local industries, resources, environment and urban construction attracted much attention of the local residents (Figure 5.6).

As a direct reflection of urban environment, the condition of air quality has become a public issue that has divergent views. Regarding the externality cost of air pollution, health problem was the dominant one. Most informants recognised the obvious improvement in the urban environment in recent years; however, a few inside stories were also discovered which revealed valuable information conflicting with the official statements. In particular the inquiry revealed an inconsistency between personal experience and the official statistical data of pollutant emission used in MFA. It is possible that the officially reported pollution was lower than the actual amount of pollution as the local residents observed furtive emission during the night. This implied that the data reported by the local authorities and industrial enterprises was disputable. This suggested that the positive trend of urban environment observed in MFA modelling should be carefully considered. It also highlights the importance of using mixed methods to understand the real world situation.

The majority of local residents held pessimistic attitudes about the resource reserves and the traditional way of industrial production. However this was not in conflict with their confidence in the economic transformation toward sustainability. The informants who were government officials were more optimistic about the economic prospect based on their specialised framework that has taken the issue of economic transformation into their working agenda. Others were less confident with the economic transformation and they argued the government should be more conscientious about the dual task of facilitating a sustained economy and a better urban environment. Consequently, great expectation was attached to the local government to make sensible decisions and facilitate the implementation of strategies.

The motives and responses of different people within one city are varied and sometimes contradictory. They are mixed and balanced eventually in influencing urban development. People’s perception and 150 response to the issues of urban development showed a diversity of opinions and values. This diversity was related to people’s occupation, education background and the social environment they live in that determine their knowledge and perspectives on specific issues. The divergence of groups was significant regarding the issue of evaluating local people’s environmental awareness, in which enterprise managers and ordinary residents were at the two extremes (Figure 5.5). Compared with others, the enterprise managers who have made great endeavours in pollution control in industrial production process, rated their self-evaluated environmental awareness higher to acknowledge their achievements. In contrast, the ordinary residents’ increasing demand for better environmental quality resulted in their higher expectation for people’s environmental awareness, which led to their low satisfaction with the current situation. Factory workers were more tolerant with the environmental condition as many of them have been accustomed and numb to the smell of the pollutants. They were usually more concerned about their actual income than the urban environment. Meanwhile, government officials were relatively optimistic with the economic situation and saw more chances of economic transformation, but they were less satisfied with the urban construction and attributed many failures in urban management to institutional factors. On the contrary, the enterprise managers were less optimistic with the economic situation because they attached great emphasis on the intrinsic industrial production but neglected the potential of economic diversification and transformation. The strongest aspiration for a better environment came from the ordinary residents and the government was placed in the key position of responsibility for this.

8.1.4 Urban Social System Understanding with regard to Urban Sustainability

Urban environmental management is not just a physical issue but it has developed as a social one. An investigation of urban social systems assists in integrating the interconnected components of people, built environment and natural environment in urban sustainability. It is important to involve the human response in the system to fill the research gaps in human dimension of urban sustainability. The modelling of causal relationships between humans and urban systems contribute to the understanding the urban social system, in which the key social factors and their relationships revealed that the influences of urban social systems on sustainable urban development are determined by several key factors in three clusters: the commitment of stakeholders, institutional development and personal development. These interrelated factors constitute an integrated urban social system with multiple feedback loops (Figure 6.1).

Institutional constraint is attributed as an important cause for many governmental and social problems. The key for improving institutional development is to reform the evaluation system of 151 governance, enhance the capacities of decision and policy makers, and improve the process of decision-making. Particularly, a reformed evaluation system of governance is imperative to eliminate the obstruction of GDP-based “yardstick competition” on urban governance, and improve the effectiveness of strategy implementation by enhancing the capacities of decision and policy makers. In addition, the participation of stakeholders in decision-making process is increasingly important for balancing the interests of stakeholders and providing knowledge base if sustainable urban governance is to be achieved.

The commitment of government is essential in conducting and coordinating urban environmental management through many approaches including the macro-planning on urban development, financial and policy support planning, and the coordinated management of the various interests involved. In response to urban sustainability transitions, the government’s leading role in integrating various and multi-level resources and strengths is crucial for bridging cooperation between different departments, convening interactions between professionals from different disciplines, and involving public participation in decision-making. Government-enterprise cooperation and public participation in urban governance are of importance for innovations and knowledge-based strategies. Notably, the participation of local residents has become an important foundation of environmental decision- making due to its clarifying of local problems and promoting a commitment to sustainable urban management. However, challenges of building a participatory decision-making process rest on addressing the deficiency of the communication framework and the insufficient participatory willingness of local residents. This requires local government’s initiatives to identify cooperative mechanisms and provide basic supports for public participation to address local environmental issues from public concerns.

Personal development influences individual pro-environmental behaviours and performances toward sustainability through people’s initiatives. When combined with cultural development which influences personal development by providing moral impetus and a positive social environment for pro-environmental behaviour development, they compose an important soft power basis for sustainability transitions. The attitudes and lifestyles of local people influence their concrete actions in decision-making and daily behaviours, while bridging the gaps between knowledge and practice is the key challenge for pro-environmental behaviour development. This is consistent with Leiserowitz et al. (2006)’s argument that people’s concrete behaviours are often incommensurate with their values as trade-offs have to be made. In this context intellectual capital, as a main source of knowledge and experience, is conducive to pro-environmental behavioural adaptation in both administrative decisions and daily life by promoting knowledge, motivation and commitment of stakeholders. This 152 could be enhanced by policy interventions through education, training, information dissemination and talent introduction strategies, supplemented with improved social environment and environmental infrastructure that provide mental supports and practice channels for people’s pro-environmental behaviour development.

8.1.5 Urban Transitions toward Sustainability in North-western China

The analytical findings accompanied with policy evolution in the context of north-western China synthesised the insights that could be drawn upon to contribute to strategies and implementation of urban sustainability transitions. The policy-based urban environmental management from national planning to local implementation (Figure 2.11) is consistent with the hierarchical governance system of China. Thus the implementation of environmental policies at the multi-levels of national macro- control, local governance and enterprise adaptation are reacting with each other (Figure 7.1). Jinchang City’s endeavour to create urban models of “Five Cities”- in a decentralised planning regime has been working as the major and most effective approach in implementing the environmental policies and strategies by integrating diverse departments and stakeholders from governments to local residents. However with regard to the critical gaps in achieving urban sustainability, the study found that the challenges in terms of institutional constraints, economic development modes, innovation and intellectual capital deficiencies, public participation in both decision-making and behavioural changes have been impeding the extensive and radical changes toward urban sustainability.

The study argues that urbanisation, combined with improved environmental management, can contribute to urban transitions towards sustainability. Favourable changes of urban environment can be facilitated by optimising material flow pattern, adopting cleaner production and better urban design directed towards reducing negative environmental impacts. Given the challenges of translating strategies into actions, these transitions are largely relying on improved governance and decision making, science-based policies, enterprise and public initiatives leading to economic transformation and environmental renovation. This is specially the case if human factors are considered. Such factors play crucial roles in the transition towards sustainability. In particular, enhanced governance and public participation are two key factors for improving decision-making and strategy implementation (Figure 7.8). The adaptive responses of multiple stakeholders and their interactions could generate both intellectual and social capital necessary for developing innovative solutions for urban problems (Figure 7.9). This requires the government to lead and organise the urban transitions by promoting participatory approaches and building a platform for co-creative decision-making with multi- stakeholders (Figure 7.3). Moreover, the transition requires integrated management rather than just 153 knowledge of specific indicators or single aspects of sustainable issues. Regarding this, an integrated decision-making and regulatory system (Figure 7.10), with characteristics of government-led, environment-adaptive, strategies combined and multi-faceted, is needed to facilitate urban transitions. This involves a more flexible and cross-level synthesis of institutional reform, technological innovation, economic transformation, environmental improvement, social and behavioural changes, and intellectual capital management. These elements and the integration of different forms of capitals suggest principal pathways for both planning strategies and implementation of urban transitions.

The transition toward urban sustainability is aligned with China’s new identity of harmonious development on its path of achieving “ecological civilisation” and the “Chinese dream”, which provides Jinchang City and many other cities the opportunity to innovate and develop. Jinchang City could utilise its advantages of specialty industries and innovative measures of environmental renovation to reform its traditional development mode and develop new industries that accompany an image of sustainability. This transition depends on the effective local adaptations and innovative strategies appropriate to the local reality. Given the disparity of the social-economic and environmental patterns between the south-eastern and north-western regions in China, necessary adaptive management for cities in north-western China particularly highlighted the importance of conceptual change, economic transformation and intellectual capital management. This will require enhanced investment in education and research, and developing infrastructure beyond current levels. Jinchang City could be a model of how the industrial cities in north-western China have the potential to achieve sustainable development altering its intrinsic unsustainable features.

These conclusions are important for China where the development of north-western cities has to date been resource-exploitation orientated. A more complete model that involves significant development of the tertiary sectors is necessary for harmonious development and social stability. This is potentially achievable given the municipal surplus associated with cities like Jinchang. The study recognised that there is no standard template for all cities, but many common strategies and behaviours can be applied to most cities in north-western China and many other parts of the world with similar environment- society-economy considerations.

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8.2 Integrated Discussion

This study argues that a transition to urban sustainability is possible through improved planning and regulation that is informed by the optimisation of material and energy flows, linked with a broader understanding of how urban systems function. The study has verified that a mixed methodology that utilises material flow analysis to understand the metabolism of cities (in terms of its inputs and outputs), combined with qualitative inquiry of human response, helps in the understanding of complex urban systems. As an industrial city in which the processes of industrialisation, urbanisation and modernisation are interactive and mutually supportive, Jinchang provided a case study of how humans change and adapt to an urban environment. It has revealed how cities, heavily dependent on resource-based industries, might enhance local living conditions by reducing the environmental externalities associated with the status quo. Urban transitions toward sustainability can be facilitated through improved urban governance systems and adaptive strategies, informed by complex urban systems understanding.

As the world has been exploring the trajectories of achieving sustainable development, this study confirmed that cities should and can play a vital role in facilitating sustainability transitions. Sustainable urban systems represent a dynamic balance between economic, environmental and social benefits. Urban sustainability transition means considering the three-pillar system holistically in a cultural context and finding solutions that support development for all. The urban systems are the beginning of an inevitable transition, with increasing contributions from economic development, capital accumulation, technological advancement, urban infrastructure construction, public involvement, and various theories and practices of sustainable development.

The traditional ways of urban development and management cannot fit well with the trend of urban sustainability. In addition, there are few effective initiatives and structural transformations that could decisively shift urban development in the direction of sustainability. However, there are a great many opportunities for tackling urban problems and challenges; the key is to systematically understand the urban systems and solve the urban problems in an integrated and dynamic management system. With regard to facilitating urban transitions toward sustainability, the study verified that a diversified economic base, improved resource utilisation and environmental condition, accompanied with sensible planning, governance and investment, would greatly facilitate urban sustainability transitions. This creates valuable knowledge on how to manage such changes. It also demonstrated the value of facilitating urban sustainability transitions through sophisticated urban management that employs technical, environmental and social approaches. 155

Regarding the city as an environment based social-economical system, the urban sustainability transitions need to adopt a broader perspective and systematically structured management rather than a simple collection of single projects. Accordingly, integrated perspectives, approaches and management involving multiple actors are necessarily important to understand and explore the real- world solutions (McCormick et al., 2013). Complex environmental management cannot be achieved through a single action but must be addressed with adaptive solutions at multi-level perspectives (Cash et al., 2006; Dendler, 2012; Geels, 2011; Smith et al., 2010). This process of developing integrated and specific strategies involves continuous exploration of complementary and competing pathways by drawing on the merits of a variety of models.

In this process of integration and innovation, the role of government is the key in planning and governance and it is particularly important in promoting collaboration and balancing interests among stakeholders. It is not an easy task for the resource-based cities to achieve successful economic transformation only relying on the market and segmented self-adjustment of enterprises. Solutions lie in government-facilitated models of management that benefit from the government’s advantages in comprehensive planning and resource mobilisation. In a system where the governance and decision- making mechanisms are fragmented, the government is particularly essential in making overall planning and coordinating multi-level decisions. More importantly, the government needs to enhance its capability of strategic decision-making to dominate the direction and key approaches of urban development, supported by a broader public engagement in local decisions. In doing so, knowledge must be captured so that it can be applied elsewhere.

8.3 Future Research

This study has demonstrated how the urban systems could be understood and how the urban environmental management system could be improved for sustainability transition. Further research could be conducted on how to understand and address the issue of urban sustainability transition in multi-scales and cross-levels from local, national and global perspectives (UN-HABITAT, 2008; HABITAT III, 2016). To build a platform with comprehensive and applicable indicators to trace the performance of urban development and management, in particular more social indicators associated with public responses could be developed, recorded and evaluated. This could implant a public participation component that involves local residents to provide timely grass roots information. Thereby, further decision-making could draw lessons from these experiences by identifying the successful, the ill-conceived and those which failed. From a technical perspective, more specific research in urban transportation, building, landscape, resource and waste management could be 156 enhanced particularly in practical fields, such as eco-building, green transportation, clean energy and sustainable waste management. In doing this, public hearing and participation could be encouraged in projects design and implementation to promote sustainability in extended social systems. In addition, promoting experience exchange and resources integration in a wide range of fields is a research subject (knowledge management) in itself that contributes to innovation and a broad vision.

8.4 Final Remarks

Instead of a destination, the transition to sustainability refers to a transformative shift of changing mindsets toward sustainability. Sustainability nowadays is defined as a set of suitable conditions where humans can exist; to this end, there are ongoing activities in system modelling and analysis using various methods to contribute to a sustainable future. This study demonstrates that urban environmental management is a complex process that requires a systematic and comprehensive understanding of the urban systems. Urban transitions toward sustainability can be facilitated through integrated decision-making and regulatory systems that are informed by urban systems understanding linked with public knowledge from multi-perspectives. For China this transition is dependent on economic, environmental and social transformations in the Chinese cultural and political context, in which government is the key to lead and facilitate this process. Achieving sustainable development is not a utopian vision. It will be a complicated long march. While research on urban sustainability has made much progress in the last decades, much research can still be done to refine the theories, frameworks and approaches that may deepen both academic debate and practical application. Successful urban sustainability transitions in the rapidly industrialising cities of China have significant implications for many cities in China and worldwide. A possible future of sustainability can only be made probable by endeavours reflecting the integrated complexities that have marked this study. I offer no dogmatic answers but a hopeful vision.

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APPENDICES Appendix A. Interview Running Sheet

INTERVIEW QUESTIONNAIR

Research title: Enhancing the Understanding of Urban Systems for Sustainability Transition: A Study of Urban Environmental Management in the Natural Resource-Based Industrial City of Jinchang, China Organisation: The University of Queensland, Australia Main investigator: Ying Li

Name______Age______Gender______Occupation______Educational Background______Years Lived in Jinchang______If migrant, from where______

Q1: How do you understand sustainable development? Prompts Have you ever heard of the term of sustainable development? If yes, can you remember when did you notice this term for the first time? Do you have some ideas why this term was proposed? How important are these issues? Resource depletion Climate change Long-term development Future generations Are you aware of the resource and ecological crisis? (Rising fuel price, desertification, etc.) Did this idea of sustainable development affect your life, perception or behaviours? If yes, could you give some examples? Q2: What is your opinion on harmonious society in China? Prompts How do you evaluate the policy of constructing harmonious society? Is there any contribution of harmonious society for long-term development? If yes, how? How do you see the relationship between sustainable development and harmonious society? How do you evaluate the implementation of this policy in Jinchang? Could you give some detailed examples? How this policy changed your life or other people’s life as far as you know? Q3: How do you evaluate the status of Jinchang in western cities of China? Prompts Economic situation Environmental condition Urban construction The standard of living of the urban residents What are the advantages living in Jinchang compared with large cities in east China? (Life pressure, living cost, housing, traffic, etc.) 185

Q4: How do you evaluate the urban environment in Jinchang? Prompts How the air quality in Jinchang, and how does it vary? (compared with cities nearby and the situation in last decades) Is there any change of air quality in different time? (daytime and evening, working and rest time, or others) How have you affected by the air pollution? In what way? Do you have any physical discomfort or mental persecution caused by air pollution? What are the symptoms? How do you evaluate the sources of air pollution? Did the amount of pollutants emission decrease or increase in your personal feeling? Q5: How about the economic development of Jinchang? Prompts How much the industry is important for the economic development of Jinchang? Do you know the industrial development is heavily based on natural resources? If yes, is it sustainable to continue the previous mode of industrial production? Why? Do you think the economic development in Jinchang can confront the risk of resources depletion and shortage in the future? How do you see the relationship of pollution control and economic development? Do you think whether pollutants control would constrain the economic growth? Have you considered how internalisation of environmental costs might benefit both industrial enterprises and local residents? If an economic transformation is necessary, could you suggest some solutions for the transformation of economic development? Q6: How do you see the rapid urban sprawl of Jinchang? Prompts Do you think Jinchang City is expanding quickly? How do you view this phenomenon? How do you see this phenomenon? Advantages and disadvantages? How do you see an increase in the amount of housing every year? Do you think the infrastructure construction catching up with the speed of urban sprawl? If not, could you give some examples? Is there idle or abandoned construction land around your living spaces or workplaces? How do you see the impacts of urban sprawl on the local environment? Q7: What is the role of government urban development? Prompts Environmental protection, pollutants control, legal system Economic development support and regulation Land use and urban planning, infrastructure construction Guiding sustainable urban development Public hearings Social education Q8: What is the role of industrial enterprises in urban development? Prompts Industrial production Pollutants control and reduction Resource use efficiency, waste disposal and recycling Social and environmental responsibility

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Q9: How urban residents response to the urban environment? Prompts How to measure the social progress in your opinion? What is the most important measure gauge? How do you weigh the importance of economic development and environmental protection? Which do you think is more important for the long-term development of Jinchang? Why? Do you care about the information about the nature and environmental protection? Do you satisfy with the urban conditions in Jinchang? Which aspects need to improve? How do you evaluate local residents’ awareness of environmental protection? Do you often protect the environment consciously? Like what? Will you respond positively to environmental policy or participate into the environmental protection activities? Have you done that before? For urban environmental protection, what would you like to do? And what you have done? For some unpractised unimplemented behaviours, can you explain, what is the reason for the disconnection between your knowledge and practice? Consumption habit (how often do you shopping, how to choose goods, do you bring your own shopping bags) Travel mode choice (which way of travel do you often choose?) Resource use and waste disposal methods Q10: Can you describe a model of sustainable city for Jinchang? Prompts Is it possible to achieve sustainable development in Jinchang? Do you wish your descendants continue to live in Jinchang? Why? Could you describe a desirable image of Jinchang City on your personal preferences?

Q11: Is there any other urban problems crucial for sustainable development of Jinchang? Prompts What are they? Why they are important? Q12: Closing Question Is there anything else you would like to add?

Thanks for your participation!

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Interview Running Sheet (Chinese Version)

采访问卷

研究标题：加强城市系统向可持续发展转变的理解：关于中国资源型工业城市金昌市城市环境管理的调查研究

研究者: 李颖（澳大利亚昆士兰大学博士生）[email protected]

姓名______年龄______性别______职业______教育背景______在金昌生活的年限______如果从别的城市移居到金昌，从何处______

问题 1: 你如何理解可持续发展？  您听说过可持续发展这个术语吗？  如果听说过，您是否记得您在什么时候第一次听说？  您认为可持续发展为何提出？  您认为可持续发展理念是否对您的生活，观念和行为产生了影响？  如果有，您能举几个例子吗？问题 2: 您对于建设和谐社会有何看法?  您如何评价构建和谐社会这一政策？  您认为和谐社会对于城市的长期发展有何贡献？  您认为可持续发展和和谐社会之间有何关联? 他们有何共同之处？  您认为构建和谐社会这一政策在金昌贯彻落实得如何？您能举几个例子嘛？  据你所知，这一政策有没有改变或影响您和您周围人的生活？如何改变？问题 3: 您如何评价金昌市在中国西部城市中的地位和状态？  您认为金昌市是一个繁荣的城市吗？为什么？  经济状况，环境状况，城市建设，居民生活水平  与其他东部城市相比，您认为居住在金昌的优势有哪些？劣势？  试探：生活压力，生活成本，居住，交通问题 4: 您如何评价金昌市的空气质量？  您认为金昌市的空气质量如何？有何变化？  与附近城市相比，与过去相比  不同时间段，空气质量有何变化？  白天和晚上，工作时间和非工作时间，其他  您有收到空气污染的影响吗？通过何种方式？  您有任何因为空气污染而造成的身体不适或者精神烦扰吗？有何症状？  您如何评价空气污染的源头？

188

问题 5: 您认为金昌市的经济发展情况如何？  工业对于金昌市现在和将来的经济发展有多重要？  您知道工业的发展对于自然资源有很强的依赖性吗？可持续否？  您认为金昌市的经济发展可以抵御未来资源短缺的危机吗？  您对于经济转型有何建议？  您有考虑到经济发展的环境成本吗？例如，环境污染  您是否认为控制污染物排放会限制经济发展？  您是否考虑过，将环境成本纳入日常生活中可能有利于当地居民和工业企业的发展？问题 6: 您如何看待金昌市的城市建设情况？  您是否认为金昌市在快速地越变越大？  您如何看待这个现象？利弊？  您如何看待每年大量的新增住房？  您认为城市基础设施建设与城市扩张速度相符吗？  您居住或工作的附近有没有闲置或废弃的建设用地？  您认为快速的城市扩张会对城市和周边环境造成威胁，还是有助于区域环境的改善？问题 7: 您认为政府在领导城市发展中起着什么作用？  政府如何响应城市环境退化和城市对于重工业的依赖？  环境保护，污染物控制，法律体系，经济发展支持和管理，土地利用和城市规划，基础设施建设，可持续型城市发展指引，公众听证，社会教育问题 8: 您认为当地工业企业在城市发展中起着什么作用？  主要的当地企业如何响应城市环境退化和城市对于重工业的依赖？  工业生产，资源开采，资源利用效率，污染物控制和减排，废物处理和循环，社会和环境责任问题 9: 城市居民如何响应城市环境问题？  您认为应用何种方式评价社会进步？  您如何权衡经济发展和环境保护的重要性？  哪一个对于金昌市长期的发展更重要？为什么？  您如何看待自然环境和环境保护的重要性？  您如何评价当地居民的环境保护意识？  您从事过什么涉及环境保护的活动？  您愿意为城市环境保护做些什么？  对于一些您想从事但是没有实施的环保行为，是什么原因阻止了您从事此行为？问题 10: 您认为金昌市有可能实现可持续发展吗？  您能描述一种金昌市理想的可持续发展型城市模式吗？  您认为 50 年或更久后的金昌市会不会依然或者更加繁荣？为什么？  您希望您的子孙后代都继续生活在金昌吗？为什么？问题 11: 您认为还有其他什么影响金昌市可持续发展的城市问题吗？  什么问题？他们为什么重要？问题 12: 您还有其他想补充的内容吗？

感谢您的参与和配合！

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Appendix B. Participant Information Sheet

RESEARCH PARTICIPANT INFORMATION SHEET

Dear Participant, This research is about urban sustainability in the industrial city of Jinchang. The purpose of the research is to understand local peoples’ feelings to urban environmental conditions and their responses to urban problems such as air pollution, urban growth, and economic growth. The aim is to include human responses in an evaluation of urban environmental systems and urban management. The benefits of this research could contribute to the improvement of urban environmental conditions and achieve sustainable development of Jinchang. You are asked to join this research because your experiences, activities and knowledge of various aspects of urban management in Jinchang. If you agree to take part in this activity of interview, you will be asked to answer and discuss some questions which will take about 60 minutes giving your ideas related to the urban issues mentioned above. The interview questions I will raise cover aspects of your feelings, perceptions, daily activities, and wishes related to urban environment and development. This will allow you to discuss these matters with me and to share your knowledge, experiences and views that you think are relevant. You and your position will not be identified to any person. Also you are free to withdraw at any stage of this activity. Your valuable time to participate into the research would be appreciated. This study adheres to the Guidelines of the ethical review process of The University of Queensland, Australia. Whilst you are free to discuss your participation in this study with the main investigator, if you would like to speak to an officer of the University not involved in the study, you may contact Dr Annie Ross, the Ethics Officer on +61 3365 1450; or +61 3365 6084; or [email protected]. We hope you enjoy this conversation,

Ying Li A/Prof Bob Beeton Dr Thomas Sigler Dr Anthony Halog

Main investigator Principle Supervisor Supervisor Supervisor

[email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

190

Participant Information Sheet (Chinese Version)

研究参与者信息表

研究标题：加强城市系统向可持续发展转变的理解：关于中国资源型工业城市金昌市城市环境管理的调查研究

研究机构：澳大利亚昆士兰大学

主要研究者：李颖

各位参与者，

本研究的目的在于探讨如何实现资源型工业城市金昌的城市可持续发展。本调研着重于了解金昌市当地居民对于城市环境状况的感受以及对于特定城市问题的响应，例如，空气污染，城市扩张，经济发展。此外，本研究的目标是将人类响应包括到城市系统评价和城市管理中，帮助于改善城市环境和实现金昌市的可持续发展。

本调研邀请您的参与因为涉及您的经验，活动，以及城市管理方面的各方面知识。如果您同意参与本次调研采访，您将被要求回答和讨论一些关于城市环境和可持续发展的问题。这将花费您大约 60 分钟的时间。采访的问题将涉及您的感受，观念，日常生活，以及个人意愿。采访的过程您可以和我一起讨论您认为相关的任何问题，分享您的经验，知识和意见。

您的身份和职位将不会被任何人知道。此外，您有自由在任何阶段退出调研活动。万分感谢您花费时间参与到本项研究中。

本次调研严格遵守澳大利亚昆士兰大学的伦理审查指导方针。您可以自由地与研究者讨论这项研究。如果您希望与没有参与本项研究的大学人员沟通，您可以联系负责伦理审查的安妮. 罗斯博士（Dr Annie Ross）联系电话：+61 3365 6084 或电子邮件：[email protected]

希望您享受此次谈话，感谢您的参与！

李颖

主要研究者鲍勃.比顿托马斯.西格莱尔安东尼.哈劳格

[email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

191

Appendix C. Participant Consent Form

PARTICIPANT CONSENT FORM

Dear Participant, As a participant in this research, this form is required as confirmation of your informed consent to participating in this research. You agree to participate in this activity and understand that you may withdraw at any time without penalty. You and your position will not be identified in the project or to any other person. All responses will be coded and will contribute to the pooled data of the research team, so no individual responses will be made available. I ______hereby agree to be involved in the above research project as a participant. The researcher has explained to me in language I can understand and I have read and/or understood the information is the “Research Participant Information Sheet” and I understand the nature of the research and my role in it.

Signature of Participant Date

Ying Li A/Prof Bob Beeton Dr Thomas Sigler Dr Anthony Halog

Main investigator Principle Supervisor Supervisor Supervisor

[email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

192

Participant Consent Form (Chinese Version)

知情同意书

研究标题：加强城市系统向可持续发展转变的理解：关于中国资源型工业城市金昌市城市环境管理的调查研究研究机构：澳大利亚昆士兰大学主要研究者：李颖

各位参与者，

本知情同意书作为您同意参与本研究的证明。您同意参与这次调查活动，并且明白，您可以在任何时候退出参与。

在本研究中，您的身份和职位将不被标记或者告知任何他人。所有的信息将被编码最终汇总到研究小组的数据库中统一使用。

本人______兹此同意参与上述调查研究。研究人员已向我解释本次研究的内容，我已阅读或了解“研究参与者信息表”，我明白此研究的性质和我所扮演的角色。

签名日期

李颖

主要研究者鲍勃.比顿托马斯.西格莱尔安东尼.哈劳格

[email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

193

Appendix D.

Sustainability from a Chinese Cultural Perspective: The Implications of Harmonious Development in Environmental Management40

Abstract

Sustainable development has broad consensus in environmental science and policy discourse, but its implications differ in specific cultural contexts. This article articulates sustainable development from a Chinese cultural perspective by tracing ideas from Chinese traditional culture and exploring China’s concept of harmonious development with emphasis on environmental management. Ideas that resemble sustainable development are not new to Chinese culture, but have roots in ancient Chinese thoughts, which in turn influence current governance and policies. Notably, Chinese traditional philosophies such as Confucianism, Taoism, Legalism, and Yin–Yang contain philosophies fundamental to sustainable development. As a distinct local discourse, such concepts were well interpreted and understood in the ancient meaning of harmony, giving China unique sustainability perspectives with institutional implications for policies of harmonious development and environmental management. Currently, China is driven to create a new national identity of harmonious development that involves Chinese traditional philosophies and values in its modern administration. The slogans “harmonious society” and “Chinese dream” reflect this new way of responding to the world with the aspiration to achieve cleaner growth, personal prosperity, and social stability. The Chinese and Western roots of sustainable development are conceptually, ideologically, and historically different, and this paper articulates how the convergence of the two underlies contemporary international debates.

Keywords: Sustainable development; Chinese traditional culture; Harmony; Harmonious development; Institutional evolution; Environmental management

1 Introduction

An emerging trend in sustainability research involves implementing and experimenting with sustainable development pathways in Asia (Berkhout et al. 2010; Tseng et al. 2013; Bai et al. 2010).

40 Li, Y., Cheng, H., Beeton, R.J.S., Sigler T., and Halog, A., 2015. Sustainability from a Chinese cultural perspective: the implications of harmonious development in environmental management. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 18, 679-696. DOI: 10.1007/s10668-015-9671-9 194

However, few researchers have attempted to understand the Western conceptualisation of sustainability in the context of Chinese culture. We seek to contribute to this by considering how the shift in world economic power to East Asia will determine the future of “sustainable development” as a multi-dimensional and culturally determined framework for development (Geels 2011).

The Chinese economy has become one of the dominant economies of the world (World Bank 2014). Today China’s rapid development has been anchored by policy expressions using the traditional Chinese administrative methodology of slogans to reflect developed policy. Though “New China” has radically altered many aspects of socio-economic development since 1949, its development- oriented slogans reflect ancient traditions of Chinese public administration. Chinese traditional governance and public administration is based on the belief of “divine right” (君权神授 jun quan shen shou) (Eberhard 2013; Zhang 2002). In New China, the central organs of the party have assumed this authority and the obligation associated with it. In fact the separation of powers doctrine, that is a theme in Western democratic thought, is the antithesis of Chinese tradition (Jiang et al. 2013; Feng 2010). A central thesis of this paper is that modern China can only be understood when research is underpinned with this historical context.

In the context of human-environmental relations, how the natural (and supernatural) worlds are mediated by the state becomes important (Riva et al. 2004). As we ultimately argue, China’s deep political and environmental histories reveal that modern concepts such as sustainable development can be found to have roots in ancient Chinese thinking and current policies. These concepts revolve around “harmonious development” reflecting a way of Chinese thinking that is being blended with new approaches from the developed world to deal with issues of environmental management at local, national, and global scales.

This paper is framed by China’s dramatic economic growth accompanied by significant environmental decline, such as water pollution, smog, and climate change concerns. As millions of Chinese people have escaped from relative poverty, environmental degradation has escalated to a national-scale priority (Tie and Cao 2009; Chan and Yao 2008). Though new technologies, platforms (e.g. Weibo), and interventions have been used to deploy recent society-environment interactions, we contend here that this in fact represents the convergence and arguably the hybridisation of Chinese and Western philosophies and cultural settings that influence developmental policies. As such, does China offer an alternative developmental model for the world?

195

2 Cultural Power and Sustainable Development

Cultural influences are significant in effecting collective action in individuals (Nye 2004). This is a fundamental determinant of human’s relationship with nature. At one extreme is the desire to fully manipulate the natural systems, with disastrous consequences (Diamond 1997; Layzer 2012), at the other end is a mediated and harmonious relationship of humans with nature.

2.1 Evolution of Sustainable Development in Western Cultural Domains

Although harmony with nature has had strong ethical advocates in Western contexts since the mid- nineteenth century (Callicott 1989; Nash 1989; Katz et al. 2000; Marsh 1965), it was the coining of the terms sustainability and sustainable development in 1980 by IUCN, UNEP and WWF (1980) and their subsequent development WCED (1987), Caring for the Earth (IUCN et al. 1991) and the adoption of the Millennium Development Goals by the UN (2011), that have fuelled the integration of economy, society and environment as a exponentially growing area of Western scholarship (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1 The number of publications using specific words of ‘sustainab*’ in topics from 1985 to 2015 Data was provided by G.B. Witt (pers. comm.) derived from the “Web of Knowledge™” database. Note that ‘sustainab*’ using an asterisk allows for a search of both sustainable and sustainability.

This recognition of economic and ecological stresses creating natural limitations has seen developmental doctrines around the world to become increasingly linked to resource conservation and environmental protection with socio-economic development (Daly 1993; Smith 2011; Hopwood

196 et al. 2005). The concept of sustainable development is emblematic of this, especially if resource use and waste disposal capacity exceeds the carrying capacity of the earth (Grooten 2012; Wackernagel et al. 2002).

This integration of scientific research with governance contributes to improve sustainable management of the complex human-nature systems (Beeton and Lynch 2012). Recent multidisciplinary attempts to couple human and natural systems to achieve sustainable solutions involved transitions from resource conservation and environmental protection to social progress in a cultural context (Hopwood et al. 2005; Todorov and Marinova 2011). The view that sustainability “must take root in the consciousness and cultures of society” (Calder et al. 2002) is increasingly accepted but most work has focused in a cultural context that is Western. This begs the question, “what about its application in New China”?

2.2 Culture as Soft Power in China

Chinese culture has been evolving for thousands of years, and has not been impervious to outside influences demonstrating internal integration and external adaptation (Triandis 1996; Pan et al. 2012). There is no brand new culture or institution in Chinese civilization. Consistent with this, the main theme of management philosophy in New China has been a mix of traditional Chinese culture as the core with modern Western management (Fan 1998; Zhang 2010). The widespread adoption of traditional cultural values and philosophies which has been inherent in the ancient Chinese state is now redeployed as part of the communist political project in various forms (Yang 2012). Most recently, this has taken the form of “soft power” (Nye 2004), in contrast to what has been a more militant and domineering “hard” approach (Zhang 2010). Soft power has been considered as a core concept in the Chinese cultural development framework. This concept was captured by the intellectuals and converted into “a new way to conceptualise and exercise power” (Wang and Lu 2008). Former President Hu (2007) stressed the importance of stimulating cultural innovation as part of the country’s “soft power”. The cultural development dimension in the current Chinese administration is a manifestation of “soft power”, which could be regarded as part of China’s comprehensive national power (Zhang 2010).

Soft power in China is interpreted as “using power softly” (Zhang 2010). In Chinese philosophy, there is a strong relationship between soft power and a harmonious world. Confucianism, the dominant Chinese ideology for over 2,000 years, advocates leading by moral authority rather than force (Denecke 2010). Cultural power forms Chinese values and the way of living with the natural 197 world. On the other hand, “hard power” is the legalistic tradition, exemplified by the first Emperor of Qin (259 BC – 210 BC), which is also a recurring theme especially around dynastic changes when power was being consolidated (Peerenboom 2002).

Soft power is important in the context of the Chinese Government and Communist Party of China (CPC)’s approach to environmental problems as it provides a culturally acceptable adjunct to regulation and places it in an acceptable Chinese cultural context.

3 Thoughts of Harmony as the Essence of Emerging Thinking on Chinese Sustainability

From an outside perspective, Chinese culture has always maintained its independence and has resisted much of the Westernisation that has accompanied globalisation. The ancient philosophy of harmony in China underlies what has more recently been a pragmatic focus on sustainable development. Although parts of its ideas resulted in some negative impacts on Chinese social construct and governance system, such as the complexity of the interpersonal relationship of “Guanxi” (Chen et al. 2011), the thoughts of harmony has been reflecting an aspirational foundation of contemporary Chinese society and culture together with a pragmatic response to the environmental costs of China’s phenomenal industrial development since 1978.

3.1 Chinese Traditional Philosophies

Chinese traditional philosophies contributed to norms of harmony (和 he), morality (德 de), ritual (礼 li) and benevolence (仁 ren) (Shambaugh 2011). They cover the domain of human activities from state government to self-cultivation, theoretical construction to practice and the macro view of nature and humans as a whole to individual initiative. All of these philosophies amalgamated to form the characteristics of Chinese society (Song 2001).

Three principal philosophical systems of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism coexist, inheriting and respecting the spirits of each other. Founded during the Warring States Period (475 BC – 221 BC), Confucianism has had great influences on Chinese culture, social progress and management philosophy. Its management ideology ranges from moral education, self-cultivation, organization management, to world management as a whole (Lin and Chi 2007). The thought of harmony between humans and nature is the basic foundation of Confucianism’s ecological view, which advocates ideas

198 of cherishing life, being kind to all creatures, respecting the discipline of nature, and rationally utilising natural resources (Tian and Tan 2009). Taoism describes the origin, form and change of the universe with the idea of “law of nature (天道 tian dao)”. According to this, all creatures are from nature and there is no God or Lord of all, as Taoism advocates “following nature (顺其自然 shun qi zi ran)” and “no-action (无为 wu wei)” (Cao 2008). Developed in China since the Han Dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD), Buddhism also contains rich ecological ethics thoughts of which the basic ideas focus on “holism, self-denying doctrine, view of life value, pure land view, and daily ecological practices” (Yan 2011).

Since the Han Dynasty, Confucianism and Neo-Confucian traditions have dominated the Chinese traditional culture, and this can be traced to the current political and economic lives of Chinese people. Contrary to Confucianism’s benevolent government and Taoism's intuitive development, Legalism represents classical Chinese governance that emphasises strong rules against infractions (Schafer 1967). Typically, this approach accompanies dramatic change that is infrequent but historically significant.

3.2 Spirit of Chinese Culture on Harmony (和 he)

The core value of Chinese traditional culture could be conceived of as “peace is most precious (以和为贵 yi he wei gui)” or “harmony without uniformity (和而不同 he er bu tong)” (Wang 2007; He and Zou 2005). The word “harmony” in Chinese culture derived from “和” (he) that has the meaning of moderate, coordinated and reconciled. In philosophy, harmony represents unity in diversity, a development status of different perspectives living together in an orderly and vigorous manner (Zhu 2010). Confucianism values harmony above all else, believing that harmony is the highest ideal in conflict resolution (Feng 2010). It also has the idea of finding the appropriate way to solve problems at the lowest cost. The fundamental spirit of Chinese traditional culture could be summarised as: “harmony and moderation (和与中 he yu zhong)”, “more spirit less material (崇德利用 chong de li yong)”, and “coordination of humanity and nature (天人协调 tian ren xie tiao)”, and “integration and freedom (融合自由 rong he zi you)”(Zhang 2003).

The Book of Changes (易经 I-Ching or 周易 Zhou yi), an ancient masterpiece in the history of Chinese civilisation, has been widely accepted and has brought great inspiration to the culture of harmony by advocating universal peace and harmonious relationships (Tian 2007). It encourages people to gradually cultivate a harmonious spiritual state, persist in a virtuous kind, create a harmonious

199 political situation, and maintain a living environment of harmony with nature (Tang 2005). There are collections of thoughts relating to harmonious ideas in I-Ching, which include, the ideology of integrity and harmony in the notion of “keeping the balance of Yin and Yang (阴阳之谓道 yin yang zhi wei dao)” from the view of the universe; the supreme ideal of harmony as “harmony without partiality ( 和而不偏 he er bu pian)” from the perspective of governance which includes the interpersonal harmony between officials and public; and the harmony of mind and body known as “continuous self-renewal and development (自强不息 zi qiang bu xi)” from the view of individual initiative (Cui and Jiang 2007; Xiang and Zhang 2010; Dai 2006).

3.3 Relations between Humans and Nature

The relationship between humans and nature and the social relationships among peoples are two basic relations of the cultural nature of human development (Rogof 2003). The philosophies of Confucianism, Taoism and Yin-Yang have rich philosophical thoughts on the relationship between humans and nature, including the association of humans with nature, the integration of knowledge and morality, the unity of universal laws and knowledge specification, and the conjunction of “inevitability” principle and “ought to be” judgement (Zhao 2009).

3.3.1 Respecting and Loving Nature

Love and respect for natural values are embedded within many traditional ethical influences. Confucianism states that “the wise likes water, and the kind likes mountain (智者乐水，仁者乐山 zhi zhe yue shui, ren zhe yue shan)” (Yang 1980). The characteristics of water imply continuity, equality, politeness and knowing its destiny, while the mountain represents accepting all things, which teaches people to learn from nature. On one hand, Confucius advocates, “know the rule of nature”, meaning that humans should understand and grasp the diverse rules controlling the development of all creatures. On the other hand, they should “respect the rule of nature”. This respect is not like religious worship, but the learning of accumulated human experiences of nature. From his perspective, human beings should know first and then respect (Meng 2005). Similarly, another famous Confucian scholar, Xunzi, proposed his perspective in a naturalistic ideology saying, “there is a rule for all the creatures to live and grow harmoniously on the earth (万物各得其和以生，各得其养以成 wan wu ge de qi he yi sheng, ge de qi yang yi cheng)”(Gao 2003).

200

3.3.2 Utilising and Sustaining Nature

Many statements that refer to the harmony between human beings and nature in Confucian ideology focus on the quantity and time of this relationship (Zhou 2008). In terms of quantity, it means that humans should be moderate without being lavish. As Confucius says, “fishing with rod instead of net and shooting flying birds instead of sleeping birds (子钓而不网，弋不射宿 zi diao er bu wang, yi bu she su)” (Yang 1980). The concept of allowing the population of creatures to multiply is consistent with the principle of sustainable development. Xunzi proposes the concept of resources conservation stating “do not cut off the woods when they are growing (草木荣华滋硕之时，则斧斤不入山林 cao mu rong hua zi shuo zhi shi, ze fu jin bu ru shan lin)”(Gao 2003). Mencius warns people not to over- exploit resources to guarantee their future utilisation saying “pay attention to the season and quantity of resources and use them wisely (食之以时，用之以礼，财不可胜用也 shi zhi yi shi, yong zhi yi li, cai bu ke sheng yong ye)” (Yang 1960). All these ancient ideologies advocate controlling human desire to utilise nature rationally.

3.3.3 Harmony between Humans and Nature

Living harmoniously with nature was a well-established concept in ancient China, also a fundamental issue of cultural direction. Early in the Spring and Autumn Period (770 BC – 475 BC) and the Warring States Period (475 BC – 221 BC), Taoists suggested establishing a harmonious relationship between humans and nature and indicated this status of coexistence conformed to the purpose and rule of nature (An 2008). The ancient ideology of “heaven-human unity (天人合一 tian ren he yi)” has fully reflected the integrated value of this relationship (Zhang 1985). In accordance with modern geography, the “heaven” and “earth” in ancient China could be interpreted into “climate” and “land” which comprise the natural environment. The outstanding thoughts about the relationship between humans and the natural environment, rely on the recognition of natural environment restriction, active adaptation to the natural environment on the premise of this restriction, and pursuit of harmony between humans and natural environments (Fang and Mu 2005).

From the Confucian view, the three interactive elements of heaven (atmosphere/climate), earth (environment) and humans (society) unify the world (Zeng and Liu 2002). It puts humans between the heaven and the earth, like a bridge to connect two sides. In Confucianism, harmony is the basis for everything as well as an important ethical principle, which has put an end to the difference between heaven and the earth and permitted all creatures to secure their ecological rights. Based on this, Dong Zhongshu (179 BC – 104 BC), a famous Confucian in the Han Dynasty, escalated the meaning of 201

“harmony” from a natural order to the level of ideal moral state and suggested that “the biggest virtue is harmony” (Zeng and Liu 2002).

The notion of “harmony between humans and nature” is not only a philosophical, but also an ecological and economic ideology. Although the word "ecology" does not appear in the literature of ancient China, Chinese civilization has a continuous history of recognizing ecological principles (Jiang 2004). In Chinese philosophy, the natural system consisting of the five basic elements (五行 wu xing) of metal, wood (living organisms), water, fire (energy), and earth (nutrients and land), maintain the balance of ecological systems by supporting and controlling one another. This dynamic balance is used to describe the interrelationships of basic phenomena within the natural systems (Xiao 2012; He 2011). Similarly, the concept of Yin-Yang balance is used to describe how seemingly disjunct or opposing forces are interconnected and independent in the natural world, and give rise to each other in turn. Many natural dualities, like dark and light, female and male, low and high, are viewed as manifestations of Yin and Yang. As Kohn (1993) states, “Yin and Yang embody each other in harmony and engender manifold transformations”.

Ancient Chinese ideas about harmony and balance do differ in their ontological and epistemological foundations from modern ecological and sustainable theories, but they share the common basis of systems thinking and evolutionary theories. Sustaining nature is a basic spirit of Chinese philosophy and has evolved as “harmony”. The philosophies of harmony could be summarised as combining heaven, earth and people into one, and handling their relations with the idea of living harmoniously with nature and other people, which has the variety of expressions and understandings (Fig. 2).

Fig. 2 Chinese traditional philosophies of harmony

202

4 Shaping of Chinese Sustainable Development

Contemporary Chinese society and the modern Chinese state have merged ancient and recent development philosophies, particularly as environmental issues have grown more acute in the past few years.

4.1 Institutional Implication of Harmony in China

The nature of China’s institutional development links contemporary socio-economic thinking with the Chinese thoughts leading to the concept of “New China”. Since the 1920s, the Chinese management elite has been informally, and more recently formally, exposed to sophisticated management training where ancient Chinese understandings and knowledge have been blended with Marxist-Leninist thinking and Western management philosophy (Shambaugh 2008; Schram 1963). The Party School of the CPC is an institution dedicated to this process. Consequently, the relationship between the ruling party of CPC and the government is the fundamental political relationship in China. The ruling status of the party is achieved through the leadership of the organs of state power with the ruling principle of “control overall, coordinate all” (Wang 2009). The idea of revolution is concentrated on the concept of "struggle", while the idea of ruling puts much emphasis on the concept of "harmony" (Dong 2009).

The influence of Chinese culture derived from Confucianism and other philosophies is magnified by the leaders in the group. Since the advent of New China, the cultural and social changes are defined in accordance with the succession of leaders. Successive leaders used slogans to call for social movements and deliver ideas (Liu and Li 2011). This is historically consistent as the Chinese are fond of their literary culture and concluding the essential meaning into a few words as slogans. The generation process of slogans also shows the transition of ruling ideas of the CPC and social changes. Table 1 outlines the main slogans and related movements, institutional changes and the focus of environmental management since China adopted the policy of “reform and opening up” around 1978. Each slogan and movement added to or changed the principal pathway of institutional change.

Institutions are the sum of regulations and political rules, while leadership is the key to the institutional change (Lieberthal and Oksenberg 1988; Zheng 2003). Each leader’s thoughts on management and social control vary. However, all of them are orientated towards a kind of harmony both inside the Party and the country. At different stages, the institutional pursuit of harmony has had different themes. Former President Hu’s “harmonious society” and “scientific outlook on 203 development” are examples of displacements that changed the main objective of policy from economic development to social development. Currently, the administration is using the “Chinese dream” proposed by President Xi as the main institutional guideline with the intention of achieving a great renaissance of the Chinese nation by linking each person’s specific interests with the interests of the state and nation as a community (Wan and Xie 2013). Rayner and Howlett (2009) demonstrate the relationship between the high- and program-levels of the policy elements in an integrated strategy. With this interpretation, each “Five-Year Plan” can be regarded as a high-level policy guide, while shutting down companies responsible for pollution is an example of the program-level policy implementation. The high-level governing policies, such as the “harmonious society” or “harmonious development” and “Chinese dream”, are the principles that link the general concepts and concrete goals.

204

Table 1 New China’s Policy evolution and its related slogans, movements, institutional changes and environmental management

Slogan Time Movements Institutional changes Environmental management

建设中国特色 To build socialism with Deng provided the nature of the Open and Foundation of Chinese economic policies 1982 社会主义 Chinese characteristics. Reform. reform.

205 4.2 Building a Harmonious Society

China’s former President Hu put more emphasis on resolving social problems by advocating scientific governance and proposing the thought of building a “harmonious society (和谐社会 he xie she hui)” (Zheng and Tok 2007). Consequently, “harmony” became the value orientation for building “socialism with Chinese characteristics”. The objective of building a harmonious society is based on the traditional Confucian concepts of benevolent governance, which is considered to be a return to the long-established faith (Yang 2008). The main contents of a harmonious society comprise democracy and the rule of law, fairness and justice, honesty and amity, vitality, stability and order, and harmony between humans and nature (Guo 2005). Recently, China has cooperated with the World Bank and worked out the strategy of “China 2030: building a modern, harmonious and creative society” to further accelerate the transition for China’s sustainable future (World Bank 2014).

The latest guideline of the “Chinese dream” is based on an amalgam of sustainable and harmonious development. The “Chinese dream” could also be interpreted as a “harmonious and happy dream” in Mandarin (Friedman 2012). It represents a hope that “marries people’s expectations of prosperity with a more sustainable China”, and gives a new expression and approach for Chinese sustainable development (Friedman 2012). From this point of view, the “Chinese dream” is a dream of sustainability and prosperity for both individual lifestyle and the nation, which can be achieved through advanced green techniques, moderate consumption and harmonious society (Liu 2012). Underpinning this is the enabling condition of good governance.

4.3 The Influence of Harmonious Development on Sustainable Development in China

In the context of Chinese culture, sustainable development and harmonious development have many points in common. Li et al. (2015)’s research on public perception about sustainable development and harmonious development in China reveals that there is a common view that they are closely linked, mutually promoted and complementary to each other. Harmonious development could be simply understood as the Chinese iteration of sustainable development, but with a distinct lineage, traceable to millennia of historical development.

206 Harmonious development considers both material and spiritual dimensions. The material level of harmonious development is sustainable development, while the spiritual level refers to interpersonal harmony. From the common view that the spiritual requirement is higher, sustainable development could be regarded as the prerequisite of harmonious development. At the same time, social harmony is essential for sustainable development to promote stable economic and cultural development. Confronting this philosophical problem is difficult, there is no absolute sequence of sustainable development and harmonious development but a simultaneous and contemporary progression. This poses special problems for a traditionally centralised and prescriptive governance system.

People-oriented thought has always been an essential part of Chinese culture. Many traditional ideas attach great importance to the role of people and they continue to be crucial in the modern governance system. Therefore, harmonious development places more emphasis on the tangible qualities of people’s lives.

4.4 Chinese Sustainability Adaption in Environmental Management

The perspective of sustainability provides useful ethical boundaries within which to pose questions about the environment and the use of knowledge for environmental decision-making and governance. To meet current and future environmental issues, Chinese sustainability and environmental management has been progressively developed.

In 1983, the second National Environmental Protection Conference confirmed environmental protection as a fundamental national policy that needs long-term persistence and proposed three main policies: putting prevention first and combining prevention with control, polluters are responsible for pollution control and strengthening environmental management (Fu et al. 2007; He et al. 2012). After the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED 1992) a Chinese version of Agenda 21 was developed. This incorporated environmental protection into the annual and medium-term plans of national economic and social development (Wang et al. 2008). China’s Agenda 21 attached great importance to the sustainable utilisation of resources and environmental protection, and considered environmental protection as an inevitable component of sustainable development. In accordance with the commitment to UNCED, the Chinese government issued “ten measures to China’s environmental problems” in 1992. The first measure was “implementing sustainable development strategy” and the first Five-Year Plan on environmental protection was worked out in 1996 (Fu et al. 2007). In 2004, the SEPA announced a blacklist of the 10 most polluted cities to draw local attention to urban pollution and discourage their environmental irresponsibility (Zhang 2007).

207 In the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-2010), China set ambitious goals to reduce major pollutant emissions with special emphasis on SO2 emission. By 2010, the total emission of SO2 declined by about 14% from the level of 2005 (Schreifels et al. 2012; Li et al. 2014). The latest 12th Five-Year Plan (2011- 2015) further strengthened the efforts to cut down the water and energy consumption intensity per unit of GDP (Friedman 2012).

These measures recognised that environmental protection in China has rejected the previously held idea of developing first and treating the pollution later (Zhang 2007), and evolved from a re-active to a pro-active strategy (He et al. 2012). It also emphasised that development must involve environmental planning to achieve economic, social, and environmental benefits at the same time. In addition, China has been dedicating to build countrywide harmonious development, demonstrated by the South-to-North water diversion project and the harmonious development between south-eastern and north-western regions, which not only focus on the socio-economic cooperation but also permeate into the field of resource coordination and environmental rehabilitation.

Currently, every newly-built, modified and improved project in China must have an environmental assessment. Only if environmental requirements are met and confirmed by a government acknowledged expert will the project be approved. The government will force factories with heavy pollution and energy consumption to invest in environmental protection input or close them directly. For instance, in Linzi District, one of the famous chemical industry cities in China, the local government closed over 1,000 small factories in 2010 and the sulphur dioxide decreased dramatically in the following three years (Cheng 2013). Recently, the serious smog including PM2.5 in large areas has refocused people’s attention on environmental problems, and many cities have started to publish daily environmental statistics. These data embarrass polluted city administrators and push them to make changes. This is a change from the GDP-oriented approach in the past, and environmental indicators are now used in the final assessment of the local administrative officers seeking promotion.

Based on China’s experience in environmental management, it can be demonstrated that monetary penalties cannot solve environmental problems because they do not provide sufficient incentive to control emissions (Lin 2013). Therefore, China’s 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-2010) linked environmental performance to local government officials’ due diligence as an approach in local pollution control and sustainable development, which suggests the failure to meet environmental standards would lead to criticism or demotion of responsible officials (Li 2013; Liu et al. 2012; CPC 2006). The approach of making officials responsible is taking hold. In 2005, the Director of SEPA resigned due to the water pollution in Songhua River (Wang and Tian 2005). Similarly, the Director

208 of the local Environmental Protection Bureau of Baoding in Hebei province resigned because of the lax enforcement of several paper companies’ emission in 2006 (Pang and Xu 2006). Correspondingly, officials who succeeded in implementing environmental improvement have been promoted. In 2012, the articulation of the “Chinese dream” strengthened this approach to policy and regulation. This is reflected in the new environmental protection law proposed for 2015, which requires that officials should resign if the pollution is not under control (China Environmental Protection Net 2014). With this kind of assessment of officials, local government is placed under more pressure to pay attention to environmental protection.

5 Conclusion

Industrialisation and its economic implications have allowed many societies to accumulate considerable wealth. This surplus allows a transition to sustainable development, in theory at least. Such an opportunity does not exist for developing countries trying to adopt sustainable development. In fact, the precepts of sustainable development may often challenge cultural practices in developing countries. Is it possible for developing countries to redefine and evolve their culture, to adapt to green thresholds and move quickly in the direction of global sustainability? The answer is probably no if current models persist. Solving the sustainable development problem is not just an economic and environmental issue, but also a cultural one that requires new thinking to enter the mix.

The transition towards sustainable development has become a societal framework that is shaping contemporary development around the world. Sustainable development is a way to modify and improve the current socio-economic paradigm to achieve better intra- and intergenerational development and environmental improvement. Though this concept originated from Western culture for the purpose of mitigating a looming environmental crisis, the ideas of sustainability have parallels in Chinese traditional culture in which the concepts of sustainable development are best understood as harmonious development. In the Chinese context, we argue that sustainability is a contemporary variant which is built on Chinese traditional philosophies – a confluence of multiple traditions that date back nearly five millennia. The primary implication of this is that it allows modern Chinese governance systems to align with sustainable development.

China, as the world’s most populous country, has learnt from Western experiences and developed to a position on sustainability that merges the traditional philosophies of harmony with established cultural practices. Though it clashes with concepts inherent in Western culture, harmonious development is being redefined to become a conduit to gain acceptance of a form of sustainable

209 development in Chinese society. The trends in China suggest that the next revolution could be the application of the same level of social and economic investment in environmental governance that we have seen in industrialisation. This is harmonious development with a strong environmental overlay. Such powerful thinking as the “Chinese dream” coupled with the rise of BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India and China) and proposals for new financial intuitions, suggest that the harmonious development model warrants serious consideration in World thinking. In China today, Western constructs of sustainable development are intangible, while harmonious development and its articulation in “Chinese dream” is a culturally acceptable way of facilitating China’s development. It is aligned with the economic and political circumstances in the world while driving environmental improvement without compromising China’s governance system.

Acknowledgments

We acknowledge the School of Geography Planning and Environmental Management of University of Queensland and China Scholarship Council for their financial supports. We thank R. M. Beeton for her copy edit. We also would like to give our thanks to the editor and reviewers for their critical and valuable comments that have led to the improvement in this paper.

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215 Appendix E.

Modelling the Transition toward Urban Sustainability: A Case Study of the Industrial City of Jinchang, China41

Abstract

Sustainable urban development is a fundamental discourse for cities in industrialising nations. This is particularly so for new industrial cities in rapid developing countries where local residents and ecological systems have been significantly impacted by economic growth. In this paper, we draw upon the case of Jinchang City (north-western China) to demonstrate how the transition toward urban sustainability can be understood and facilitated. By using an urban metabolism model combined with qualitative social research and policy analysis to understand the urban systems, this research verifies that urban sustainability requires good governance, policy and planning, as well as the participation of local enterprises and residents. This can be built on the notion of urban metabolism that identifies changes and suggests adaptive responses, which when combined with informed public understanding can create adaptive changes in the physical, economic and social dimensions of the city. In particular, such change is predicated upon the rapid development of appropriate human capital that can be employed to monitor and evaluate the functioning of the urban systems, facilitate innovation and build a diversified economy. The rapidly growing cities in north-western China provide a model of how new industrial cities have the potential to be significant actors in the transition toward global sustainability. Specifically this research suggests how necessary environmental improvements for north-western China can be achieved and a model for the developing world can be created.

Keywords: Urban sustainability; Urban transition; Industrial cities; Material flows; Cleaner production; Human response

1. Introduction

Rapid urbanisation around the world associated with intensive resource and energy consumption, waste generation, and environmental degradation calls for a transition toward more sustainable models of urban development (Giddings et al., 2005; Girardet, 1999; UN, 2002). Although cities have made great contributions to economic welfare, improvements to living conditions, and social progress,

41 Li, Y., Beeton, R.J.S., Sigler T., and Halog, A., 2016. Modelling the transition toward urban sustainability: a case study of the industrial city of Jinchang, China. Journal of Cleaner Production, 134, 22-30. DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.10.053 216 the growth of cities has also generated significant challenges to biophysical systems that potentially threaten human health and long-term development (Bettencourt and West, 2010; Dye, 2008; Galea and Vlahov, 2005; Leon, 2008; Moore et al., 2003; Shen et al., 2012). Often, however, the environmental externalities and impacts on human health are marginalised in favour of economic concerns (Matus et al., 2012a). The UNEP’s ten-year framework of programs on sustainable consumption and production (10YFP) calls for improved systems of economic, industrial and environmental management involving integrated systematic change (Cohen et al., 2013; Tseng et al., 2013). This challenge is global, but China in particular offers researchers opportunities to test innovative systemic changes (Matus et al., 2012b; McMichael, 2011). Many of China’s large and newly emerging small to medium sized cities have reached crisis levels in terms of pollution and related health hazards (Chen et al., 2012; Economy, 2005; Gong et al., 2012; Kan et al., 2012). Moreover, given the consumer-oriented lifestyle aspirations of China’s emerging middle classes (Reusswig, 2010), urban sustainability must be addressed at this critical juncture.

Cities engaged in heavy industry typically evolve over time from a focus on rampant development with significant environmental costs and human impacts, to a restoration phase and finally to maturity. This final phase may be one of contractions as de-intensified production is often linked to a remediated natural urban environment and the emergence of a service based local economy. Historically this process has been a long and complex one, and a focus on how it occurs has wider implications for cities worldwide.

This research draws upon one specific case from northwest China. However it is indicative of a greater transition toward sustainability in rapidly industrialising cities with chronic pollution problems. This paper explores the possibilities of accelerating this transitional process in a natural resource‐based industrial city of Jinchang, focussing on resource consumption, economic growth, environmental factors, industrial transformations and social transitions. In particular, inquiry tools are involved in discovering the interaction between human and biophysical urban systems. By synthesising quantitative modelling of an urban metabolism and a qualitative inquiry of human responses, this research examines urban problems and suggests strategies to promote better urban transitions with integrated biophysical and social perspectives.

217 et al., 1998; Parkin, 2000; Stilwell and Larcombe, 1980). Giddings et al. (2005) recognised that “the overriding objective of urban sustainability is to achieve a high quality of life for the whole community within a socio-economic framework that minimises the impact of the city on the local and global environment”. The sustainable future requires multi-level and multi-actor transitions from physical to institutional, from government to community, and from public to private (Dendler, 2012). To explore the factors influencing the operation of urban systems, Willis (2005) identified people, urban form, communication, legislation, and public investment as key issues. This research accepts Zhang’s (2006) synthesis, which contended that urban structure and function need to be improved constantly at the micro-level to achieve urban sustainability.

To this end, we hypothesise that a transition to urban sustainability is possible through improved planning and regulation that is informed by the optimisation of material and energy flows, linked with broader public understanding of how urban systems function. The resolution of our hypothesis depends upon understanding the urban physical systems of material and energy flows and how they interact with human perceptions and activities.

In this study, we treat cities as sinks of resources and energy and sources of waste and pollution (Goodland et al., 1992; Rogers, 1997). Addressing this pattern of material consumption and waste generation establishes a framework for the design of and transition towards sustainable cities for achieving healthy, favourable and attractive urban environments. The concept of an urban metabolism (Girardet, 1992; Wolman, 1965) characterises the city as a ‘black box’ in which materials, resources and energy flow into urban systems, and after material production and consumption in the city, waste and pollutants flow out to surrounding environment (Doughty and Hammond, 2004; Girardet, 1999; Goodland et al., 1992; Rogers, 1997). A circular metabolism on the other hand introduces high rates of material recycling and reuse as an effective way to improve urban sustainability (Beatley, 1999; Girardet, 1992; Huang and Hsu, 2003). We see cities as socialised urban environments rather than natural ecosystems (Harper, 2004; O'Sullivan, 2007; Stevenson, 2010). Consequently, the development of cities is closely related with the development of human society that is determined by human culture, technology, perceptions, attitudes and behaviours (Berger and Luckmann, 1967; Buttle, 1986; Carley et al., 2013). Most notably among these are the political and governance systems that are operating in the society. In China these are in a state of flux (Li et al., 2015), but nonetheless are crucial for change implementation to be effective.

218 2. Study area

The study focusses on Jinchang, a key industrial city in north-western China. Jinchang City was chosen for its strong industry-based economy coupled with chronic air pollution issues that stem directly from its industrial base. Jinchang has the worst air pollution in China, and was ranked in the top 10 most polluted Chinese cities overall in 2004 (People's Daily, 2004). Founded in 1959, Jinchang became a prefecture-level city in 1981. The city is located on a major ore deposit in the eastern part of the Hexi Corridor and Gobi desert. It is referred to as China’s “Nickel Capital” as a major source of non-ferrous metals, such as nickel and platinum, accounting for nearly 90% of China’s total production. Jinchuan Group Co., Ltd (JNMC) is the dominant state-owned enterprise in Jinchang City. The JNMC engages in mining, smelting and material processing. These activities support Jinchang’s economy by contributing 60-70 per cent of fiscal revenue of the city (Jinchang Daily, 2011; JNMC, 2014).

Jinchang is bounded by the Gobi desert to the north and west and fragmented farming areas in the south and east. The urban area has annual temperature ranging from -23 to 38°C, annual average precipitation of 139mm, evaporation of 2,094mm, and persistent winds from northwest (Jinchang Municipal Government, 2012a). Due to the region’s biophysical and climatic properties, land degradation, and decreasing underground water, airborne dust is a serious problem that aggravates the industrial pollution generated by smelting (Derbyshire et al., 1998; Ma et al., 2010).

3. Research framework and methods

This study applied DPSIR (Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response) as a conceptual framework for urban sustainability research; in particular it identifies the key urban issues together with urban material flows and human responses in Jinchang City (Fig. 1). The structure of the DPSIR framework recognises that human activities create pressures on natural resources and the environment; this generates impacts on the quantity and quality of the natural environment and humans, and then the community responds to these changes through regulations, policies, planning, awareness and individual behaviours (Ness et al., 2010; Zhang et al., 2002). Based on the causal relationship between human activities with the natural, social and environmental changes, the model assumed that appropriate responses can reduce or prevent negative pressures and impacts (Bidone and Lacerda, 2004; Giupponi, 2007; OECD, 2004). In this research, the phases of pressure (P) and state (S) explain the urban biophysical systems changes, where material flow analysis (MFA) was used as the major approach to model the urban metabolism (Kovanda et al., 2012; Sahely et al., 2003; Schandl and

219 West, 2012). Impact (I) and response (R) reflect human perspectives and responses in the context of certain urban environments.

Driver: State: Pressure: Economic development Air pollution Excessive natural resource use Urbanisation Resource depletion Extensive land use Social progress Urban form

Impact: Response: Human sickness Perception, attitude, behavior, Environmental degradation regulation, investment, new urban Economic growth limitation form and planning policy measures Inadequate infrastructure and services Fig. 1 Conceptual framework of DPSIR applied to Jinchang City for modelling the transition toward urban sustainability. Source: adapted from Smeets and Weterings (1999), Carr et al. (2007) and Ness et al. (2010)

Several groups of scholars have investigated how sustainable urban development can be achieved using a material input-output analysis based on both human and biophysical input variables (Goldstein et al., 2013; Huang and Hsu, 2003; Kovanda et al., 2012; Li et al., 2010; Schandl and West, 2012). Goldstein et al. (2013) provided a meta-analysis of available data from different cities to demonstrate that urban metabolism and material flow analysis models can be effective approaches to study urban issues. They go on to demonstrate that this can be enhanced when social data are included.

Our hypothesis is that a transition to urban sustainability is possible through improved planning and regulation that is informed by the optimisation of material and energy flows, linked with broader public understanding of how urban systems function. This is addressed by adopting an integrated approach using mixed methods (Robson, 2011), which is consisted of an empirical study of the interactions between humans and urban systems drawing upon a variety of data sources supplemented by in-depth interviews of informants from civil society and government.

We utilised MFA of inputs and outputs to analyse the complex systemic changes of urban physical system. Specified environmental and economic indicators were selected to circumscribe the urban metabolism in terms of material flows. This constituted the P and S components of the DPSIR framework. Using MFA results, the sustainability of the urban system was evaluated, using techniques of structural decomposition analysis and decoupling analysis to provide basic information of the urban condition and to enhance future outcomes by applying research outcomes to policymaking. Quantitative data for the analysis were collected from multiple sources including official government reports, Jinchang statistical yearbooks, Chinese statistical yearbooks, production

220 records of local enterprises and environmental statistics reports. When the results from the modelling were available, additional data were collected on policies that could be utilised in explaining changes observed in the material inputs and outputs variables. This provided an empirical basis for understanding the interaction between the urban environmental-physical systems and social- economic systems.

Subsequently, a qualitative inquiry using semi-structured interviews utilising formal questions with open ended responses and follow up inquiries (Robson, 2011) was conducted in Jinchang City across four targeted groups, including 12 government officials, 10 enterprise managers, 13 factory workers and 15 non-factory local inhabitants. The objective of the interviews was to understand human perspectives and responses to the urban situation and its associated problems; specifically the informants’ attitudes, behaviours and social norms were targeted (Wengraf, 2001; Yin, 2009). Each group covered a variety of informants with diversified occupations, ages and educational backgrounds. A questionnaire was designed to establish a comprehensive view of how local communities felt about and responded to certain urban problems, and to establish their suggestions for improving decision- making strategies aimed at achieving urban sustainability in Jinchang. The interviews, each lasted approximately one hour, were conducted in Chinese and the interview records were translated into English for analysis. Sensitive meanings in Chinese were left as original expressions. Interview data were coded and analysed in NVivo 10 (QSR International) software with all informants labelled as symbols to keep their identities confidential. The results of qualitative inquiry were used to triangulate understanding of urban systems and human responses, discover the role of different stakeholders, identify sustainability challenges and suggest strategies for involving human factors in decision- making.

4. Modelling urban systems through MFA

Material flows of input-output analysis together with specified indicators of urban socio-economic activities were used to model the urban metabolism of Jinchang City. Variations in material inputs (MI) and material outputs (MO) were analysed through the urban system between 1995 and 2010. The results from the modelling exercise were followed by evaluations of urban sustainability through structural decomposition analysis and decoupling analysis to provide basic information for environmental assessment and to guide the urban transition. This was then evaluated against public perceptions from the interview data.

221 4.1. Composition of inputs and outputs

Four basic accounts constituted material inputs: metal and industrial minerals, energy, construction materials and biomass. Each account was composed of many detailed components capturing industrial, construction and household activities plus material/energy consumption by all sectors in the city. For instance, energy consumption included coal, coke, diesel, petrol, heavy oil and electricity. All elements were measured and expressed in units of tonnes, and energy consumption is expressed in terms of tonnes of coal equivalent. The material flows of outputs focussed on the waste and pollution generated from urban systems. The outputs consisted of solid waste, air and water pollutants, and industrial products. The material outputs of air pollutants, especially SO2 and dust were given particular attention, as air pollution is a prominent urban problem in Jinchang City. It is also the most common environmental problem in China’s industrial cities and similar cities around the world (Grimmond, 2007; Hardoy, Mitlin, & Satterthwaite, 2013).

4.2. Changing trends in material inputs

Based on the calculation of material flows, MI showed a continuously increasing trend from 1995 to 2010 (Table 1). The total MI doubled from 25.16 to 53.02 tonnes per capita and most increase can be accounted during the period of 2005-2010 when the city has experienced massive urban construction and industrial expansion. Industrial metals and minerals contribute about half of the total MI throughout the studied period. Energy consumption was the second major component, which shared about 40% of the total MI. Construction materials and biomass accounted for the remaining 10%.

4.3. Variations in material outputs

Between 1995 and 2010 MO and MI were highly correlated (R2 0.968), showing a strong positive correlation between the two variables. The whole period presented a scenario of high MI and high MO, reflected by an average growth rate of 7.51% per year for MI and 9.06% growth rate for MO. At the same time, the industrial products showed an exponential growth trend with an average annual growth rate of 17.22%, and an amount increased from 0.42 to 2.58 tonnes per capita. Solid waste was the major component of MO. It increased from 22.94 to 49.74 tonnes per capita with an exponential increase from 2003. The intensified mining, smelting, and construction wastes accounted for most of the increase in solid waste. However, the amount of solid waste showed a decreasing trend with respect to MI from 2006. Combined with the rapid growth of industrial products, this indicated that the material use efficiency had significantly improved.

222 Contributing to Jinchang City’s substandard air quality, SO2 emission accounted for 60-75% of total air pollution during 1995-2010. The changes in SO2 emission were closely related to the scale of industrial production and the pollution control measures adopted by the local enterprises. Throughout the period, the SO2 emission showed three distinct stages: rapid decrease (1995-1999) followed by rapid increase (2000-2001), and then a gradual but persistent decline (2002-2010). The heaviest SO2 emissions were before 2001, with annual SO2 emission usually higher than 1.0 tonne per capita. After

2001, the SO2 emission progressively decreased from 0.9 to 0.4 tonnes per capita while the urban population increased from 134.7 to 202.4 thousands and industrial production increased dramatically

(Jinchang Bureau of Statistics, 2012). The changing trends of SO2 emission and industrial products demonstrated effective pollution control and SO2 recycling. The conversion of SO2 into sulphuric acid increased from 92.5 to 1,704.8 thousand tonnes between 1995 and 2010. In addition, the capacity for industrial dust removal has been greatly enhanced in order to meet the standards of smoke emission. However, the increasing number of private cars has seen the NOX emission to rise quickly from 2008.

223

Table 1. Material inputs and outputs in Jinchang City (Units: tonnes per capita)

Material Inputs Material Outputs

Industrial Year Construction Total Industrial Solid Sulphur Nitrogen Water Total minerals Energy Biomass Dust materials inputs products waste dioxide oxide pollutions outputs and metals

1995 19.78 19.31 3.42 0.46 42.97 0.42 22.94 1.29 0.47 0.04 0.10 25.16

1996 22.05 20.71 3.41 0.48 46.65 0.47 24.79 1.42 0.44 0.04 0.10 27.15

1997 23.24 21.92 3.41 0.49 49.06 0.40 26.82 1.35 0.41 0.04 0.10 29.02

1998 23.01 20.82 3.76 0.52 48.12 0.41 29.00 0.96 0.38 0.04 0.10 30.79

1999 24.02 22.52 4.66 0.59 51.78 0.46 30.91 0.71 0.36 0.04 0.10 32.48

2000 24.57 27.25 5.12 0.62 57.57 0.52 32.64 0.91 0.33 0.04 0.09 34.44

2001 27.54 20.94 5.29 0.66 54.43 0.71 34.17 1.05 0.30 0.05 0.09 36.28

2002 26.27 18.58 5.70 0.70 51.26 0.86 34.83 0.90 0.27 0.05 0.08 36.91

2003 27.87 20.54 5.76 0.73 54.90 1.08 34.10 0.85 0.23 0.06 0.08 36.33

2004 29.96 18.42 7.46 0.77 56.59 1.28 39.91 0.80 0.19 0.12 0.07 42.30

2005 29.38 17.76 6.77 0.80 54.70 1.51 40.73 0.73 0.16 0.12 0.07 43.24

2006 33.34 19.13 7.06 0.83 60.37 1.79 44.72 0.57 0.15 0.10 0.05 47.34

2007 36.20 24.35 7.51 0.89 68.95 2.06 44.82 0.53 0.15 0.08 0.06 47.64

2008 37.07 21.61 8.20 0.95 67.83 2.18 48.22 0.47 0.15 0.12 0.05 51.14

2009 37.76 29.94 8.56 1.01 77.27 2.68 49.65 0.47 0.14 0.12 0.06 53.07

2010 34.29 28.90 8.60 1.07 72.86 2.58 49.74 0.44 0.11 0.15 0.05 53.02

224 4.4. Sustainability evaluation of urban systems

By applying structural decomposition analysis, this study attempted to explain the variation in material flows (Rose and Casler, 1996; Su and Ang, 2012). Material flows were decomposed into the three independent variables of population, social wealth and technological progress to measure the contribution of these variables to material flows. The results showed that the technological progress exerted a positive effect by restraining both material consumption and waste generation. However, increases in population and social wealth led to even more material consumption, which led to a general trend of increasing MI and MO. The structural decomposition analysis demonstrated that technological progress played a positive role in promoting transition towards sustainability from the perspectives of cleaner production, circular economy, resource conservation, waste reduction and environmental improvement. The stress came from the growth of the urban population, as well as the expanded production and increased household consumption. The relationship between these is conceptually presented in Fig. 2, where the three factors of population, social wealth and technological progress exert impacts on environment through influencing urban material flows in direct and indirect ways. The conclusion to be drawn is that apart from the continuing technological innovation, the transformation of economic growth and the ways people live become important foci of the transition in achieving urban sustainability.

Population Technological progress Social wealth (+)

Material input (+) (+) (-) (+)

Cleaner Household production (+) consumption

(+) (-) (+) Material output Resource Conservation (+)

Environmental (+) (-) Waste generation improvement Fig. 2 Causal loop of urban material flow systems derived from MFA Note: (+) refers to positive feedback, (-) means negative feedback

We tested to see if urban sustainability is achievable in the context of increasing economic growth and optimising material flows where material consumption is reduced and pollution are eliminated. This involved employing decoupling analysis to measure the relationship between economic growth and material flows (OECD, 2002; UNEP, 2011). Our approach was based on the models of Tapio

225 (2005) and Vehmas et al.’s (2003) decoupling methods. The results showed that the economic growth of Jinchang City has not strongly decoupled from material inputs and outputs, meaning that Jinchang’s economy is dependent on material consumption and waste generation.

From 1996 to 2010, the relationship between economic growth and material inputs experienced many forms of decoupling. However, weak decoupling dominated, demonstrating improving material use efficiency. Strong decoupling only occurred when decoupling economic growth from SO2 emission, especially after 2002, which indicated an absolute reduction in SO2 emissions while the economy was continuing to grow. Strong decoupling suggested a remarkable urban environmental improvement from the perspective of air pollution control. However, despite these positive changes, Jinchang still cannot escape its reliance on a great amount of material consumption, which indicates a lack of sustainability consistent with the use of non-renewable resources.

5. Human perception and responses

While the relationship between economic growth and material flows are relatively straightforward, the impacts on the local population are not. The residents of Jinchang are clearly aware of the acute environmental issues. However, how to remedy them and the residents’ capacity to catalyse change remains a problem. Clearly local residents’ views on urban issues are essential to clarify urban problems and identify opportunities for urban initiatives. As the results indicate, local residents’ attitudes, feelings and behaviours towards certain urban issues can improve understandings of urban problems and suggest pathways for achieving solutions. Building on the results of interviews and observation in Jinchang, we found that human perceptions and responses are important inputs to in urban decision-making and management. This demonstrated the value of bottom-up participatory approaches for urban sustainability transitions (Fraser et al., 2006; Warburton, 1998).

5.1. Economic performance and transformation

Although Gansu province is the poorest region in China, Jinchang’s economic performance is anomalous due to its critical role in mining and non-ferrous metallurgy, and the city enjoys income levels that are above the Chinese average (Jinchang Municipal Government, 2012b; NBSC, 2011). However, Jinchang’s richness in mineral resources is also the source of its greatest issues. One local inhabitant clearly stated a recurring theme, which is that “The city is just like a ‘tent city’, where a bunch of people came here for mining and making money. There is no superiority and sustainability

226 of its economy. The way of economic development is like digging and selling one’s own baby”. It revealed some people’s concern of resource availability and their pessimistic views on the long-term prosperity of Jinchang. Several informants mentioned the tragedy of ‘Ghost cities’ and expressed their anxiety for radical economic transformation. However, hopes exist and most informants believed that it is now at the crucial point of transformation to promote cleaner production, circular economy, and economic sustainability. Some informants argued that it is necessary to seriously think about what to do now to confront resource depletion in the next decades of years. They also mentioned that efforts to sustain the economic development must be implemented when the economy is at its peak. In addition, the difficulty in balancing economic growth and environmental protection has been seen as major challenge to the transition towards urban sustainability, which is consistent with Matus et al’s (2012b) statement that the competing priorities of economic growth and environmental protection are a crucial barrier to innovation.

5.2. Urban construction and expansion

Urban construction in Jinchang has been fast and furious, and a majority of informants stated that the urban area is expanding too quickly and incompatible with the population and economic scale of the city. The “blind expansion” of the city and replicated construction were considered to be the two critical factors causing rapid urban sprawl. Consequently, urban infrastructure was reported as lagging behind the expansion of city. In addition, the huge amount of construction material consumption and waste generation have further aggravated the urban environmental burden. Giving the priority of improving on how the city functions and urban environment, informants commonly believed the position of Jinchang is, in the Chinese context, a “small city”, where more urban construction works should focus on regenerating old areas rather than building new ones. One enterprise manager argued that “urbanisation is not reinforced concrete and roads, but the improvement of well-functioning eco-social-system, where development, human life and environment are operating interactively in a virtuous cycle system”. In addition, some informants suggested that it is sensible to retrieve money from “mad” real estate construction into industrial innovation in order to sustain economic development. Many informants also believed that the current political system and poor governance were to blame for poorly designed urban development.

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5.3. Environmental dilemma and renovation

Jinchang City is well known for its serious industrial pollution, which is exacerbated by the city’s natural conditions. In some informants’ view, the local environment is not suitable for human living. The harmful gas emitted from factories has been threatening the health of local residents for decades. It was reported by informants that chronic rhinitis and pharyngitis, respiratory diseases and lung diseases have become the common diseases due to the air pollution. However, the informants indicated that most local residents have no capacity to change the situation so they endure it. Some factory workers admitted that they have no choice because they have to rely on the dirty industries to survive. Thus, the local government has been expected to promote environmental improvement by making sensible decisions and enforcing rigid rules regarding pollution control.

Meanwhile, most informants agreed that the environmental condition has obviously improved over recent years. This is consistent with the results of our MFA analysis. According to informants, JNMC has made great efforts in pollution control in the last decade in order to meet governmental requirements and promote enterprise development. As the MFA results showed, SO2 emission decreased dramatically. This was also the result of the upgrading of industrial production systems to reach the standards of smoke emission, in particular by adopting techniques to convert SO2 into sulphuric acid. In addition, JNMC has been actively participating and cooperating with local government in urban environmental construction. Examples include building a mine park, the eastern lake, remediating the black river and reconstructing a community ecological environment. One informant said that “I am very proud that the city is very clean and the street construction is beautiful”. Most informants felt that the air quality has improved in recent years, at least during the day, as some informants reflected that sometimes the factory emits the pollutants at night. This revealed that there is an amount of pollution not captured in the quantitative analysis but reported by the informants through their personal feeling. In addition, the local municipality has recently adopted new urban planning approaches to guide the industrial area development moving southeast (the prevailing downwind area) and the residential area expansion towards north. There is a consensus that the separation of industrial and residential area has significantly reduced the daily impact of air pollution on human health, and makes it possible for the factory workers to keep away from intensive pollution after hours.

The interview about peoples’ environmental awareness also revealed that there is an increasing grassroots awareness of environmental protection among local residents. However, a few informants asserted they have very good personal environmental habits. It indicated that there is a gap between 228 peoples’ thoughts and actions. As the informants reflected that people’s behaviour is not only following their thoughts but is also strongly influenced by their lifestyles and habits. It also could be significantly influenced by the social environment which is related to the urban green facilities and is consistent with the public sense of social responsibility. One informant stated that “sometimes I ride a bicycle instead of driving, but cannot insist on it for a long period because the public opinion casts negative impacts on our behaviours. I have even been mocked as stingy because of not driving”.

6. Transition towards sustainability

As the MFA and the interview data reflect, Jinchang City’s transition toward sustainability faces the challenges of being a resource-based city, the constraints of entrenched systems, and the influence of decisions made by local government and enterprises. The transition involves industrial transformation and reconstruction, urban ecological renovation, urban form and function optimisation, political and management philosophy reform, and social value and behavioural changes. Such development is inevitable and necessary, and it is possible to manage resource depletion and environmental degradation at the same time as maintaining social progress.

6.1. Industrial transformation to diversification

The introduction of cleaner production and alternative new industries (following the notion of circular and green economies) was seen by many informants as the appropriate way to break away from high dependency on material inputs and outputs, which is also a pathway for the sustainable development of industrial cities. In this context, dematerialisation and efficiency improvement become the priorities in the process of industrial transition to reform the material flow pattern, and this has been demonstrated as feasible by the contribution of the technological development progress in this study.

It is impossible to eliminate economic decline by only relying on the natural development of a resource-based city, therefore planning guidance and policy support with the larger frames of reference are necessary. The economic transition requires that local industrial enterprises make efforts in rational exploitation and resource utilisation, updating existing technology and equipment, adopting cleaner production and circular economy principles and techniques, and extending the industrial supply chains to extend the industry’s life by adding more value to final products. Supportive government policies and investment are necessary to find ways to resist the temptation of

229 short-term interests and try to balance the exploitation of natural resources and promotion of alternative forms of economic development.

With respect to urban development, economic transformation calls for active renovation and diversification of the variety of industries. Adhering to the strategy of being a strong industrial city, Jinchang needs to promote new industrialisation processes that add value consistent with its comparative advantage. To improve economic development vitality and reduce the dependence on JNMC, it is important for Jinchang to develop the non-public economy, promote the rapid development of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and foster new economic growth points, such as developing characteristic agricultural systems that are suitable for north-west China. Moreover, regionally coordinated development and cooperation with neighbouring counties and cities could be effective way to address the long-term resources crisis the traditional industries, emerging industries and specialised industries should be dynamically integrated. While the complexity of economic restructuring, politics and policy-making is challenging the industrial transformation, the direction of economic development should shift towards an efficient, circular, clean, eco-friendly and diversified development. An improved governance and decision-making system would facilitate this.

6.2. Dynamic urban form

Optimised urban form could contribute to promote lower energy consumption and less pollution (Breheny, 1992; Jabareen, 2006). Jinchang has to address these issues, and also faces the pressures of water shortage, the consequences of historic desertification, and a poorly planned original urban layout. Current changes in construction practices are directed at a resource-saving and environmental- friendly city that combines urban planning with environmental conservation planning. In Jinchang this particularly involves the separation of urban and industrial spaces in a manner consistent with the prevailing winds removing pollution from living areas. At the same time the positioning of the green barrier between the prevailing winds and the urban area should help mitigate to the dust problem (Jinchang Daily, 2014). Such modifications to urban form are possible because of abundant land availability. This modification of Jinchang’s urban layout is partially addressing the issues identified in the MFA, the location of Jinchang City in a degraded landscape and the observations of informants. These actions have the potential to improve environmental conditions in the populated areas. These developments are resonant with China’s endeavours to build a “harmonious society” (Li et al., 2015), something frequently referenced by informants.

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6.3. Innovation in governance and decision-making system

Consistent with the public’s opinion, the government should play a critical role in promoting the urban transition towards sustainability. Governments are deemed to be responsible for making strategic decisions on urban development in accordance with the national policies as well as the public’s demands. However, one informant mentioned that, “the government is currently economy- kidnapped”. These dynamics of industrial and political interests might help or hinder transformations to sustainability. Hence, there is an urgent need for innovation in political achievement evaluation and governance decision-making systems in order to set adaptive policies and catalyse urban sustainability transitions (Roseland and Connelly, 2005; Tang et al., 2014). The government is expected to make efforts to proactively identify urban transition points, set realistic goals, promote economic transformation and diversification, assign responsibilities, and facilitate strategy implementation sequentially.

An increased involvement of research institutes and agents into the innovation framework could facilitate the implementation of theoretical research and adaptive strategies for greater sustainability outcomes in industrial cities (Fig. 3). The collaboration and synergies of key stakeholders should be enhanced by sharing their intentions, knowledge and interests in environmental decision-making. The opportunities exist for government to build a platform and organise the relationship network among different stakeholders to jointly promote coordinated economic, social and environmental sustainability, and mobilise community activities in environmental protection and developing sustainable lifestyles. The intervention of the special agent of industrial association is beneficial to facilitate information exchange, provide service and assist the collaboration in industrial restructuring (Cheng, 2013). The enhanced interactions between policy-makers and researchers could promote the transfer of research outcomes to decision-making. The value of public knowledge contributes to resolving complex environmental and social problems by involving problem solving and social learning at all levels of urban life (Seyfang and Haxeltine, 2012). Most informants reflected that the scarcity in human capital is the main reason hindering the innovation of local ideas and technology. Jinchang, in common with all of north-western China, needs to increase its emphasis on human capital cultivation and attraction by improving the allocation of incentives and preferential policies.

231

External contacts

Government

Research External contacts Local residents Agents External contacts institutes

Enterprises

External contacts

Fig. 3 An innovation framework of multi-stakeholder cooperation

6.4. Sustainable society

The transition towards sustainability involves multi-level reforms to promote innovation and improve governance of both the economy and environment; it also engages people and their lifestyles into the consideration of a sustainable society which comprises one of critical basic elements for urban sustainability. A sustainable society spreads the concepts of harmonious and long-term development to local communities, which promotes environmental protection, green living and travel, moderate consumption and healthy lifestyle (Carley et al., 2013; Hackett, 2011; Roseland, 2012). For example, it encourages living patterns to increase the efficient utilisation of resources and energy. To achieve such transition, appropriate policies and public infrastructure could help to change people’s attitudes toward sustainable lifestyle from “should do” to “must do”, bridge the gap between their thoughts and actions, and facilitate public adoption of sustainable behaviours.

7. Conclusion

We hypothesised that a transition to urban sustainability is possible through improved planning and regulation that is informed by the optimisation of material and energy flows, linked with broader public understanding of how urban systems function. This study has verified that a mixed methodology that utilises material flow analysis to understand the metabolism of cities (in terms of its inputs and outputs), combined with qualitative inquiry, helps in the understanding complex urban systems. In addition, Jinchang City has revealed how cities heavily dependent on resource-based 232 industries might enhance local living conditions through reducing the environmental externalities associated with the status quo. Urban transitions toward sustainability are achievable through improved urban governance systems and adopting adaptive strategies, informed by urban metabolism modelling, understanding meteorological patterns and their interactions with human perceptions and activities.

We argue that favourable changes can be achieved by optimising material use, adopting cleaner production and better urban design directed towards reducing negative environmental impacts. Given the complexity and challenges of translating strategies into actions, these transitions are largely relying on improved governance and decision making, science-based policies and enterprise initiatives leading to transformations. This is specially the case if human factors are considered. Such factors play crucial roles in the transition towards sustainability and public participation involving human responses to technological insights are essential to improved decision-making.

Achieving sustainable development goals will require further changes on multiple fronts. These include adjustments in human behaviours, technological development and established industrial and planning practices. In particular, this study suggested that the extent of human capital development, local technological innovation together with bio-economic, biophysical, industrial and business systems is possible. This will require investment in education, research and development infrastructure beyond current levels. These conclusions are important for China where the development of north-western cities has to date been resource-exploitation orientated. A more complete model that involves significant development of the tertiary sector is necessary for harmonious development and social stability. This is achievable given the municipal surplus associated with cities like Jinchang. We recognise that there is no standard template for all cities, but many common strategies and behaviours can be applied to most cities in north-western China and many other parts of the world with similar environment-society-economy considerations. Jinchang City is possibly one of the most polluted cities in the world and if sustainability can be achieved there, it is achievable anywhere. The fundamental strategy is for policies to go beyond the foundation resource industries and build more diversified societies with enriched human capital and economic opportunities. This is consistent with Dendler (2012)’s model and contributes to the important dialogue about the future of north-western China.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to express our thanks to the School of Geography, Planning and Environmental management of the University of Queensland for the financial support provided for the fieldwork of this research. Many thanks to all the interview participants for their support and insights. We also thank the Journal editors and reviewers for their comments that have led to the improvement in the paper.

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Appendix F.

Evaluating Urban Sustainability Potential based on Material Flow Analysis of Inputs and Outputs: A Case Study in Jinchang City, China42

Abstract

Many cities are facing environmental challenges with rapid urbanisation and industrialisation. It is critical to evaluate this new urban reality and its sustainability potential to generate appropriate solutions for a sustainable future. The urban metabolism framework is commonly applied to understand appropriate strategies to achieve sustainability for urban systems. In this study, material flow analysis was applied in conjunction with specific socio-economic indicators to model urban metabolism and evaluate appropriate urban metabolism changes for Jinchang City, China between 1995 and 2014. Structural decomposition analysis and decoupling analysis were used to explain and evaluate the sustainability potential of Jinchang City. Changes in material consumption and the waste generation of Jinchang City indicated a long-term unsustainable trajectory, evidenced by continuously increasing material inputs and outputs. We also found a significant reduction in air pollution, with declining sulphur dioxide emissions and dust; all are indicators of improvement in air quality. What is of special note is that industrial production was concurrently greatly increasing. These indicators suggest a positive improvement in sustainability beyond simple incrementalism. The study showed that MFA techniques can be used as valuable tools for understanding urban metabolism, evaluating urban sustainability, and suggesting strategies for the timely addressing of urban sustainability issues. This strategy is important in the face of China’s increasing industrial capacity.

Keywords: Material inputs and outputs; Urban metabolism; Urban sustainability; Decoupling; Industrial city; North-western China

1. Introduction

Economic, social and environmental sustainability is a critical problem facing China’s industrial cities. Pollution loads are a particularly intractable problem and the need for solutions is imperative (Chen et al., 2013; Kan et al., 2004; Tie and Cao, 2009). In this context, Jinchang City in north-western

42 Li, Y., Beeton, R.J.S., Halog, A. and Sigler T., 2016. Evaluating urban sustainability potential based on material flow analysis of inputs and outputs: a case study in Jinchang City, China. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 110, 87-98. DOI: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2016.03.023 239

China presents an excellent case study for building better models for urban development in a new rapidly growing and heavily industrialised city. Jinchang is facing many of the same developmental challenges as other industrial cities in China and the new world typified by the BRICS43 consortium, but a combination of natural conditions and the lucrative nature of the local metals industry make the issue of sustainability particularly acute in Jinchang rendering it an appropriate BRICS case study. This study provided opportunities to gain a better understanding on the application of material flow analysis in urban dynamic systems and examined the potential for innovative changes. Such changes are imperative for economic, environmental and social reasons in China and in other similar geographical contexts.

The urban metabolism framework is increasingly looked upon to derive viable solutions to urban issues seen in many contexts. The concept of urban metabolism considers the city as an ecosystem and describes the city using a ‘metabolism’ model and an analogy into which energy and material flow, undergo various forms of conversion and consumption, and are then discharged to useful products, waste or emitted as pollutants to the surrounding environment (Wolman, 1965; Girardet, 1992; Ioppolo et al., 2014). Using a meta-analysis of available data from five radically different cities, Goldstein et al. (2013) demonstrated that, despite poor data availability, urban metabolism models can be useful approaches to urban sustainability issues. Significantly, they concluded that this approach can be further advanced with the inclusion of socio-economic data. This builds on two themes from Ness et al. (2010, 2007) comprehensive framework for evaluating sustainability. These are economy-wide material flow analysis (MFA) based on regional flows and non-integrated environmental pressure indicators.

In this paper we demonstrate that progress towards urban sustainability can be evaluated using these approaches. To complement the quantitative evidence, we added factors that show social, political and infrastructure changes in the urban environment of Jinchang City. In doing so we built upon the framework of urban metabolism (Kennedy et al., 2011; Niza et al., 2009; Kemp and Housing, 1997; Liang and Zhang, 2011; Wolman, 1965) by applying MFA (Huang and Hsu, 2003; Li et al., 2010; Kovanda et al., 2012; Schandl and West, 2012), while concurrently integrating social-economic factors into the analysis. Our purpose was to explain changes in urban metabolism and to understand the interaction between urban metabolism and human social-economic activities. This paper commences with an analysis of material inputs (MI) and material outputs (MO) in the Jinchang urban

43 Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa 240 system, this was then further expanded using the tools of structural decomposition and decoupling analysis that introduce social-economic factors.

1.1. Study area

Jinchang City (134 km2) is an economically significant industrial city located near the centre of the great arc of the Yellow River (Huanghe) and north of the Qilian Mountains in western China. Jinchang is a major source of non-ferrous metals for China. It is located on a major ore deposit and mined materials are processed on site along with ore from surrounding areas. The Jinchang municipality (8,896 km2) surrounds the city. It has areas of desert to the north and west and arid farming and some irrigation areas to the south and east. Over recent decades, the semi-desert area of the Jinchang municipality (mean annual rainfall 139.8mm) has been degraded through over grazing and intensive water exploitation (Liu and Diamond, 2005; Wang and Cheng, 2000; Luo et al., 2005; Wang et al., 2003). Consequently, the loess soils and the strong prevailing north-westerly winds, combined with industrial pollution, form a reactive clay dust resulting in poor urban air quality.

Since the discovery of an extremely rich non-ferrous metal deposit in 1959, Jinchang City has enjoyed social and economic growth. The city is one of China’s most important mineral mining areas accounting for nearly 90% of China’s total production of nickel and platinum. The city’s abundant nickel and PGM44 ore reserves rank it third in the world. Its copper reserves rank second in China. The city is China’s largest producer of nickel, cobalt and the PGM group of metals. The area also has a significant minerals refining infrastructure. The Jinchuan Group Co., Ltd (JNMC) (a province- owned enterprise) is a local monopoly enterprise in Jinchang City, which controls all large-scale nonferrous mining, smelting and processing. Since Jinchang City’s initial development, JNMC has managed its development and associated industrial production and infrastructure as an integral whole. In the present day JNMC still plays a dominant role in supporting Jinchang City’s economy.

1.2. Data sources and research methods

Material Flow Analysis (MFA) can be used as a tool to understand urban metabolism and its underlying mechanisms. Its sophisticated analysis of inputs and outputs supports decision-making in both materials and environmental management (Ioppolo et al., 2014; Hendriks et al., 2000; Decker et

44 The platinum group metals (PGMs) are six transitional metal elements that are chemically, physically and anatomically similar. PGMs include The platinum group elements (PGE) comprise platinum (Pt), palladium (Pd), iridium (Ir), osmium (Os), rhodium (Rh) and ruthenium (Ru) 241 al., 2000). The theory of MFA provides specific measurable indicators which, when combined with socio-economic activities, can be applied to better understand the processes underlying sustainability. MFA of input-output has limitations in rough classification and brief analysis of the system, and neglects intra-relation between variables. However, it has the advantage of studying both the overall amounts and directions of material flows throughout the system (Bao et al., 2010).

1.2.1. Data sources

Data on MFA were collected from the Statistical Yearbook of Jinchang City (population, economic development, urban construction, energy, resource use and environmental condition), a compilation of statistical records of JNMC (mining, imports, production, marketing, resource use and supply, waste generation), environmental statistical reports and environmental monitoring records were obtained from the environmental protection bureau of Jinchang City. In addition some data were taken from the official reports and network databases, such as the China environmental quality report. National data and provincial data were also used to estimate knowledge gaps for Jinchang City.

Social-economic indicators were adopted to reflect the urban economic change and the development of social wealth. GDP was used to represent changes of economic growth. GDP per capita was applied as an indicator for social wealth. Although the concept of social wealth covers diverse domains relating to quality of life, the economic factor is crucial in influencing other aspects of social wealth. In this research, the reliability of some environmental records and GDP reported by the government is disputable, due to their limitations in reflecting the real condition. However, they are still widely used as being recorded frequently, consistently and comparably. To triangulate our results, some qualitative data was collected from interviews and archives (e.g. local chronicles of Jinchang) as complementary information offsetting the deficiency in data reliability.

1.2.2. Methodological procedure

Structural decomposition analysis (SDA) is widely used to explain changes in the dependent variable by decomposing it into several independent variables, in order to measure the contribution of each independent variable to the dependent variable over time (Rose and Casler, 1996; Rose and Chen, 1991). The method of SDA is often applied in input-output analysis in the field of energy consumption and emissions (Su and Ang, 2012; Hoekstra and van den Bergh, 2003; Han and Lakshmanan, 1994; Li et al., 2010; Lin and Polenske, 1995). This research applied SDA in the material analysis of inputs and outputs to explain the changes in MF in Jinchang City, where the indicators of material flows 242 were decomposed into the three explanatory variables of population, social wealth and technological progress (Eq. (1)).

퐺퐷푃 푀퐹 MF = 푃 × × 푃 퐺퐷푃 Eq. (1) Structural decomposition of MF GDP (MF refers to MI and MO, as measures for pressure on natural environment; P is population; means P MF GDP45 per capita, as a proxy for the social wealth; represents material inputs or outputs per GDP as a GDP standard for technological progress)

Decoupling models are widely used methods to analyse economic activities and their dependence on material consumption (Ru et al., 2012). The decoupling concept has evolved from the field of physics into the social and economic fields to represent the relationship between economic growth and environmental pressure (Carter, 1970; Falb and Wolovich, 1967). The OECD (2002) has defined the term “Decoupling” as “breaking the link between ‘environmental bads’ and ‘economic goods’. Subsequently decoupling analysis has become an effective tool to identify the sustainability of economic development by measuring the decoupling status between economic growth and environmental pressures (Ru et al., 2012; Zhang, 2000; Andreoni and Galmarini, 2012; Ren and Hu, 2012; Liang, 2010).

The decoupling model uses a “flexible concept” to reflect the decoupling relationship between variables and in so doing overcomes the dilemma of selecting a base period. In this research, the elasticity value of “T” is used to indicate the decoupling relationship between material flows and economic growth. The value of “T” equals the percentage change of material flow divided by the percentage change of GDP in a specific period (Eq. (2)).

% ∆MF 푇 = 푀퐹,퐺퐷푃 % ∆GDP Eq. (2) Elasticity value of decoupling GDP from MF ( 푇푀퐹,퐺퐷푃 represents the decoupling elasticity between material flow and economic growth; ∆MF and ∆GDP refer to the changes of material flow and GDP respectively)

Tapio (2005) and Vehmas et al. (2003) s’ (2003) decoupling model recognised eight decoupling states that could be used to measure decoupling status. Decoupling status in a given period depends on the value “T” (T<0, 0≤T<0.8, 0.8≤T≤1.2, or T>1.2) and the changing trend of MF and GDP (∆MF >0 or <0, ∆GDP >0 or <0). The three basic states are decoupled, coupled and negatively decoupled. In a

45 All indicators referring to GDP in this paper are real GDP (measured in RMB yuan) which are calculated at constant prices with 1995 as the base. 243 certain period, when the growth rate of resources consumption or environmental pressure indicators is less than the rate of economic growth, the situation is considered to be in a state of relative decoupling or weak decoupling. When the resources consumption or the environmental pressure is decreasing and the economy keeps growing at the same time, absolute decoupling or strong decoupling occurs.

1.3. Review of MFA and its application in studying urban systems

MFA can be traced back for a century (Fischer-Kowalski, 1998). From the 1950s, MFA began to spread worldwide as a research tool and the concept and application of MFA has developed continuously (Table 1). It has been applied at various scales: global, national, regional, industrial and temporal. The application of MFA started in the social and economic domains but is increasingly being used to understand the complex interactions that material flows have with the natural environment. MFA is recognised as an alternative quantitative research direction in the exploration of social metabolism and the interrelation of human activities and nature (Xia, 2005; Kovanda et al., 2012; Ayres and Simonis, 1994; Voet et al., 2004). The principles of MFA are based on the law of conservation of matter, regardless of the forms that the actual material flow takes (Lin et al., 2006). The accounting framework of MFA thus provides a base for decision-making. The indicators of MFA build the background information of interrelationship and changes in biophysical and socioeconomic systems (Fischer-Kowalski et al., 2011; Kovanda et al., 2012; Hashimoto and Moriguchi, 2004). Table 1 summarises the history of MFA as a technique.

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Table 1 Timeline of predominant MFA research Time Country or Organization Content 1920s- U.S. (Leontief, 1951) Input-Output Economies 1930s 1960s U.S. (Fischer-Kowalski, 1998) Society’s Metabolism 1970s U.S. (Krasner, 1978) Raw Material Investment and Material Policy 1970s- Material Balance, Industrial Metabolism, Analysis of U.S. (Ayres 2002) 1980s Pollutant Pathways U.S. (Wernick and Ausubel, 1995), Japan (Environment Agency Japan, 1992), Austria 1990s Comprehensive Nationwide MFA of Economic Systems (Steurer, 1992), Germany (Schütz and Bringezu, 1993) European Commission 1996 Platform of “Coordinate Accounts” www.conaccount.net German Wuppertal Institute Material Flow Account 1998 (Schuetz and Bringezu, 1998) Ecological Rucksacks (ER), Hidden Flow (HF) Nationwide MFA of Industrial Economy World Resource Institute (WRI) The Weight of Nations: (Adriaanse and Bringezu, 1997; Matthews 2000 Italy (Marco et al., 2000), Denmark (Gravgaard, 2000), and Bringezu, 2000) Finland (Muukkonen, 2000), Sweden (Isacsson et al.,

2000), U.K. (Schandl and Schulz, 2000) EUROSTAT (Statistical Office of the Economy-wide Material Flow Accounts and Derived 2001 European Communities) Indicators: Methodological Guide (EUROSTAT, 2001) Stockholm Environment Institute 2002 MFA and Ecological Footprint of York (Barrett et al., 2002) MFA as A Tool for Analyses of Society-Nature Sustainable Europe Research Institute 2003 Interrelationships (Hinterberger et al., 2003; Decker et al., 2000) Material Flow through Urban System Economy-wide Material Flow Accounting “A Compilation 2007 EUROSTAT (Weisz et al., 2007) guide” Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML) Dynamic MFA to Support Sustainable Built Environment 2008 (Hu, 2008) Development Application of MFA in Economic systems (Xu and Zhang, 2007; Schandl and West, 2012; Chen and Qiao, 2000; Wang et al., 2005; Liu et al., 2009) 2000- China MFA Based on Urban Systems (Huang and Hsu, 2003; Zhang and Yang, 2007; Warren- Rhodes and Koenig, 2001; Zhang et al., 2009)

Vitousek (1997) and Hossay (2006) pointed out that human activities have significantly changed the structure and function of the earth’s systems, and urban systems are a fundamental component of change within a greater global system. This study likened the city as having a “metabolism”. MFA treats the urban system as a whole in the analysis with the material inputs, examining storage and outputs. Fig. 1 describes this relationship. As the diagram indicates, the impact of human activities on the environment depends to a large extent on the quantity and quality of resources and material flows into the urban system, as well as the waste flows out from the system (Rogers, 1997). The former disturbs natural systems and causes environmental degradation, and the latter contributes to

245 environmental pollution and influences human health (Badcock, 2002). For a city a circular metabolism is more desirable. In such a case both material inputs and waste outputs are efficiently used and reduced (Doughty, 2004). The study of the relationship of input and output provides an understanding of the urban system in this sense, and can be considered a regional sustainable development index, providing a basis for understanding its sustainable development prospects.

Solar Energy

Ecosystem

INPUT OUTPUT

Food Reduced Pollution Environmental Environmental Disturbance Energy Urban Product Pollution System

Goods Sink + Source Money

People People

Recycling Heat Loss

Fig. 1. The circular metabolism of cities Source: adapted from Goodland et al. (1992), Doughty and Hammond (2004), Girardet (1999) and Rogers (1997)

2. Material flows of inputs and outputs

2.1. Composition of material inputs and outputs

This research took the urban system of Jinchang as the main object, where the material inputs into the city included four major components: metals and industrial minerals, energy consumption, construction materials and biomass (predominantly from the surrounding farming areas). Metals and industrial minerals were composed of total mining minerals, imported metal materials and chemical materials. Energy consumption consisted of coal, coke, heavy oil, diesel oil, petrol and electricity (the energy consumption is measured by coal equivalent tonnes). Construction materials comprised both industrial and urban construction materials and biomass was mainly comprised of crops and timbers. The materials extracted from the finished products and waste for reuse were not calculated as annual material inputs because the model of input-output focused on the materials flowing through the boundary of urban system. From this data and urban population, the material inputs per capita in Jinchang City were calculated (Table 2). From 1995 to 2014, the consumption of industrial minerals 246 and metals and energy comprised more than 85% of total MI, with the share of 49.27(±6.58)% and 38.44(±8.89)% of total MI respectively over the period (Fig. 2). While the share of construction materials showed an increasing trend from 7.95% to 12.96%.

Table 2 Composition of material inputs in Jinchang City Unit: tonnes per capita Industrial minerals Year Energy Construction materials Biomass Total inputs and metals 1995 19.78 19.31 3.42 0.46 42.97 1996 22.05 20.71 3.41 0.48 46.65 1997 23.24 21.92 3.52 0.49 49.17 1998 23.01 20.82 3.76 0.52 48.12 1999 24.02 22.52 4.66 0.59 51.78 2000 24.57 27.25 5.12 0.62 57.57 2001 27.54 20.94 5.29 0.66 54.43 2002 26.27 18.58 5.70 0.70 51.26 2003 27.87 20.54 5.76 0.73 54.90 2004 29.96 18.42 7.46 0.77 56.59 2005 29.38 17.76 6.77 0.80 54.70 2006 33.34 19.13 7.06 0.83 60.37 2007 36.20 24.35 7.51 0.89 68.95 2008 37.07 21.61 8.20 0.95 67.83 2009 37.76 24.61 8.56 1.01 71.94 2010 40.88 23.96 8.60 1.07 74.51 2011 39.97 22.65 8.95 1.10 72.67 2012 41.04 22.36 9.42 1.14 73.95 2013 42.72 23.58 11.49 1.25 79.05 2014 46.57 24.64 10.80 1.37 83.38

Over the studied period, the MI increased continuously except the years 1998 and 2001. The reduction of MI in these two years was the result of decline in energy consumption by introducing more efficient production systems. Since 2006, the MI showed a faster and increasing trend. During the period of 2005-2014, the average annual growth rate of MI reached 8.57%, which was 1.17 higher than the average rate of the whole period. Fig. 2 indicated this shift, with sharp increases occurring after 2006, corresponding with China’s enhanced investment in heavy industries and the rapid urban expansion during this period.

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20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4

2 Material Inputs / Millions tonnes Millions / Inputs Material 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013

Industrial minerals and metals Energy Construction materials Biomass

Fig. 2. Composition and changes of material inputs in Jinchang City

The MI and MO in Jinchang City were linearly correlated with a correlation coefficient of 0.991 between 1995 and 2014. The whole period presented a scenario of high MI and high MO. During this period, the MI increased with an average growth rate of 7.40% per year, while the MO increased with an average growth rate of 8.35% per year. The material outputs consisted of mainly industrial products, solid waste, water pollutants and air pollutants. The main industrial products included nickel, copper, cobalt, platinum, gold, silver and titanium (Table 3). Solid waste, including industrial solid waste and domestic waste, accounts for than 90% of MO. The air pollutants were composed of three major pollutants, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and dust (which included industrial dust and wind- borne loess dust), in which SO2 emission accounted for 63.51-75.28% of total air pollution (0.44- 1.35 tonnes per capita) during the studied period.

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Table 3 Composition of material outputs in Jinchang City Unit: tonnes per capita Industrial Solid Sulphur Nitrogen Water Total Year Dust products waste dioxide oxide pollutions outputs 1995 0.42 22.94 1.29 0.47 0.04 0.10 25.26 1996 0.47 24.79 1.42 0.44 0.04 0.10 27.25 1997 0.40 26.82 1.35 0.41 0.04 0.10 29.12 1998 0.41 29.00 0.96 0.38 0.04 0.10 30.88 1999 0.46 30.91 0.71 0.36 0.04 0.10 32.58 2000 0.52 32.64 0.91 0.33 0.04 0.09 34.54 2001 0.71 34.17 1.05 0.30 0.05 0.09 36.37 2002 0.86 34.83 0.90 0.27 0.05 0.08 36.99 2003 1.08 34.10 0.85 0.23 0.06 0.08 36.40 2004 1.28 39.91 0.80 0.19 0.12 0.07 42.38 2005 1.51 40.73 0.73 0.16 0.12 0.07 43.31 2006 1.79 44.72 0.57 0.15 0.10 0.05 47.40 2007 2.06 44.82 0.53 0.15 0.08 0.06 47.70 2008 2.18 48.22 0.47 0.15 0.12 0.05 51.20 2009 2.68 49.65 0.47 0.14 0.12 0.06 53.13 2010 2.58 49.74 0.44 0.11 0.15 0.05 53.07 2011 3.02 51.83 0.45 0.08 0.14 0.05 55.58 2012 3.25 53.63 0.47 0.06 0.12 0.05 57.58 2013 3.85 53.83 0.47 0.06 0.12 0.05 58.38 2014 2.90 54.30 0.45 0.06 0.12 0.04 57.87

2.2. Variations in the components of material inputs

The consumption of industrial minerals and metals comprised the major component of the MI (more than half) due to Jinchang City’s dependency on the non-ferrous metallurgy industries. Between 1995 and 2014, the consumption of industrial minerals and metals increased from 2.29 million tonnes (46.57 tonnes per capita) to 10.80 million tonnes (34.29 tonnes per capita) with the increasing economic scale of JNMC. Meanwhile, the importation of metal ores from surrounding areas for smelting and fabricating increased from 4.65 thousand tonnes (0.04 tonnes per capita) to 693.62 thousand tonnes (2.99 tonnes per capita). The increase in imported metal ores demonstrated Jinchang City’s enhanced cooperation with other resource supply partners to make Jinchang City a metal ore processing hub and maintain the inventory of local mineral resources according to the local policy of husbanding local resources.

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Over the period, the energy consumption increased from 2.24 million tonnes (19.31 tonnes per capita) to 5.71 million tonnes (24.64 tonnes per capita) of coal equivalent. The share of industrial mineral and metals of total MI kept increasing, while the share of energy consumption steadied around 15- 30%. The decreasing trend of energy consumption per industrial mineral and metals showed that the industrial production has been becoming more efficient. Nevertheless, energy has been another dominant factor influencing the operation of Jinchang City apart from mineral resources. The increase in energy consumption was the result of an expanded production, but also reflects the shift toward a consumer society.

Between 1995 and 2014 the consumption of construction materials increased from 396 thousand tonnes (7.95% of total MI) to 2.51 million tonnes (12.96% of total MI), which represented both rapid industrial and urban construction (Fig. 3). Between 2001 and 2004, the consumption of industrial construction materials doubled from 420.93 thousand tonnes to 834.61 thousand tonnes, suggesting a great investment in industrial production. The consumption of construction materials for urban construction was growing with two leaps in 1999 and 2007, which reflected two stages of intensive urban construction. Since 2007, the new urban planning proposed to separate the industrial and residential spaces, which reflected accelerating urban construction in the northern area of Jinchang City. Accompanying this the local government and JNMC made intensive efforts cooperatively to improve water treatment, store reclaimed water and transform a “black river” that drained the area adjacent to the mine site into parklands (Gan, 2014). These works required a great amount of consumption of construction materials.

1,600

1,400

1,200

1,000

800

600

400 Thousands tonnes Thousands 200

1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 Consumption of Construcion Materials / Materials Construcion of Consumption

Industrial construction materials Urban construction materials

Fig. 3. Consumption of construction materials in Jinchang City

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In addition, the MI of biomass showed an upward trend during this period. Due to the natural geographical characteristics and limited arable lands in the Jinchang municipality, the production of crops and timbers was relatively low. Thus the MI amount of biomass was far below that of other MI in Jinchang City.

2.3. Material outputs of industrial products and solid waste

Both industrial products and solid waste increased between 1995 and 2014. Industrial products increased rapidly from 48,147 tonnes (0.42 tonnes per capita) to 890,928tonnes (3.85 tonnes per capita), with an average annual growth rate of 17.59%. From 2000, the growth rate of industrial products accelerated showing an exponential growth trend and an expanded production capacity. During the studied period, total solid waste, including industrial solid waste and domestic waste, increased from 2.66 million tonnes (22.94 tonnes per capita) to 12.59 million tonnes (54.30 tonnes per capita) (Fig. 4).

180 14

160 12 140 10 120

100 8

80 6 60 4

40 Solid waste / Millions tonnes Millions / waste Solid

Pollutions / Thousands tonnes Thousands / Pollutions 2 20

1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013

Sulphur dioxide Nitrogen oxide Dust Water pollutions Solid waste

Fig. 4. Changes of main pollutants and wastes in Jinchang City

The growth in industrial solid waste was the result of industrial expansion in mining and smelting, while the domestic waste was contributed to by construction waste and household waste. The increasing trend in solid waste can be divided into three stages, with average annual growth rates of 8.72% in 1995-2003 and10.14% in 2003-2012, and the growth rate slowed down in 2013 and 2014. This trend is linked to the large scale investment in Jinchang’s heavy industries.

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The indicator generated by dividing MO of solid waste by total MI reflected the general material use efficiency, which fluctuated frequently between 1995 and 2014 (Fig. 5). With the increasing of total MI, the output of solid waste increased even faster and reached its peak in 2005 and 2006. After 2006, the solid waste began to decrease with respect to the total MI. The trend of solid waste changes respective to the total MI indicated that the solid waste increased rapidly with the MI in the early stages of economic development which showed an extensive industrial production with low efficiency of material use. However, the solid waste emission stabilised with a tendency to decline from 2006. Similarly, the MO of solid waste per unit of industrial products output decreased from

70.84 to 13.97 during the studied period. SO2 emission per unit of industrial product outputs also declined from 3.34 to 0.12. Evaluating the MO of solid waste and SO2 emission with respect to total MI and industrial products showed that the material use efficiency has improved significantly with the maturation of industrial activity and technological progress.

0.80 y = -0.001x2 + 0.0306x + 0.4776 R² = 0.7841 0.75

0.70

0.65

0.60

Solid waste / Total inputs Total / waste Solid 0.55 Solid waste per unit of MI 0.50 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013

Fig. 5. MO of solid waste per unit of MI in Jinchang City

2.4. Air pollution and control

Controlling and ultimately reducing air pollution is a critical element of enhancing sustainability in Chinese cities. In Jinchang City, industrial minerals and metals are derived from the multi-metal sulphide ore deposits. The smelting of nickel and copper and power generation emitted large amounts of SO2 and consequently have become the predominant pollutant in Jinchang, accounting for 60-75% of total air pollution between 1995 and 2014. To mitigate this, JNMC built two sulphuric acid plants to absorb the SO2 in early 1987, which increased the recycling rate of SO2 from 4% to 74% (JNMC, 2011). In the next decades, more environmental projects were put into operation successively.

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Throughout the whole studied period, the SO2 emission dropped (Fig. 4). The changes in SO2 emission could be divided into three stages during this period.

Stage I, from 1995 to 1999, was a period of fluctuation. The SO2 emissions increased from 149.50 thousand tonnes (1.29 tonnes per capita) in 1995 to 170.30 thousand tonnes (1.42 tonnes per capita) in 1996, and then decreased sharply to 90.90 thousand tonnes (0.71 tonnes per capita) by 1999. The changes of SO2 emission in 1996 and 1997 were consistent with the output of industrial products. In 1996, the second phase of the environmental projects were put into operation. The chemical plant of

JNMC began to absorb the SO2 emitted from the flash furnaces in the nickel and copper smelting plants, and the production of sulphuric acid exceeded 10 thousand tonnes per year. Between 1998 and

1999, the output of industrial products increased, but the SO2 emission kept decreasing. One of the reasons for this significant decline of SO2 emission was changes in ore quality which has different sulphur contents. More importantly, in 1998, the JNMC imported new converters to use in Nickel and copper smelting to absorb SO2, and the sulphuric acid chemical plant underwent a five-month overhaul and reconstruction to increase its capacity of SO2 absorption (JNMC, 2011). As a consequence, not only the product yield increased, but the SO2 emission reduced. From then on, the environmental protection work focusing on SO2 emission reduction, became a priority for institutionalised management.

Stage II, between 2000 and 2005, the SO2 emission increased again to 141.30 thousand tonnes (1.05 tonnes per capita) in 2001 and then stabilised at a high level of 120-130 thousand tonnes until 2005.

The annual average SO2 emission during this period was 128.20 thousand tonnes (0.86 tonnes per 3 capita), and the annual average SO2 concentration value in urban area was 0.149mg/m , which exceeded by 48% the Standard III for “Ambient Air Quality Standards (GB 3095-2012)”46. The direct reason for the heavy emission in this period was the enhanced production according to the “Bigger and Stronger” development strategy of JNMC (Research Office of Jinchang Municipal Government,

2006). The product yield continued to increase at a faster rate from 2000 and the SO2 emission increased simultaneously. Moreover, the less investment in pollutant control equipment in the past decades led to massive concentration levels of SO2 emission, which aggravated the air pollution between 2000 and 2005. Because of the severe air pollution, Jinchang was listed as one of the ten most polluted cities in China in 2004 (People's Daily, 2004).

46 The “Ambient Air Quality Standards” of PRC National Standard is developed for the implementation of the “Environmental Protection Law” and the “Atmospheric Pollution Prevention Act” of PRC. The standard is released in 1982 and amended in 1996, 2000 and 2012. The latest version is GB 3095-2012. According to the “Ambient Air Quality 3 Standards”, the Standard for SO2 concentration in urban area is that: Standard I: no more than 0.02mg/m ; Standard II: no more than 0.06mg/m3; Standard III: no more than 0.10mg/m3. 253

40% higher than the Standard II. During this period, the decline in final SO2 emission was offset by the additional amount of pollutants because of the increased MI and products. The amount of emission reduction in Stage III is probably underestimated by the newly increased amount of emission, which means the SO2 emission must have increased in the absence of improved SO2 reduction technology.

Total MI has nearly doubled between 2006 and 2014, whereas the SO2 emission showed slight fluctuations at the same time. That means the control of SO2 emission not only reduced the SO2 emission from the existing production but also effectively restrained the new SO2 emission from the enlarged production. Although the urban air pollution problems still exist, the capacity for SO2 reduction has increased significantly. Apart from the construction of desulphurisation facilities in smelting and industrial coal-fired boilers, the approaches of technological innovation and industrial restructuring are the key issues that need long-term efforts to improve the urban air quality.

Apart from SO2 emission, Nitrogen oxides (NOx) and dust are the two other major air pollutants. NOx emission was stable at less than 10 thousand tonnes between 1995 and 2003 (Fig. 5). After that, it experienced a slight upsurge between 2005 and 2007. From 2008, the emission of NOx increased substantially, which reflected the improvement in household income and the associated increase in private cars in Jinchang City. While the adoption of clean energy and emission control techniques for motor vehicles reduced the NOx emission per vehicle, this positive influence was offset by the rapid growth of car ownership from 2008. In addition, dust declined continuously from 54.66 thousand tonnes (0.47 tonnes per capita) to 13.80 thousand tonnes (0.06 tonnes per capita) during the studied period. This corresponded with rapid environmental improvements involving extensive tree planting and ground stabilisation around the urban area to reduce ambient dust, and the utilisation of industrial dust removal techniques in both production processes and winter heating systems to meet the national standards of smoke emission.

3. Structural decomposition of material flows

SDA was applied to understand the drivers that have contributed to changes in MI and MO. The SDA results of MF in Jinchang City (Table 4) showed that between 1995 and 2014, the variables of 254 population and GDP per capita increased simultaneously with average annual growth rates of 3.72% and 5.94% respectively. Both MI/GDP and MO/GDP decreased by 2.26% and 1.40% at the same time, showing that the technological progress in MI was more significant than that in MO. The results indicated that the technological progress played a role in restraining the rapid growth of MI and MO. However, the positive effect was offset by the growth of population and social wealth.

Table 4 Average annual growth of variables by structural decomposition analysis Unit: %

Period MI MO Population GDP/cap MI/GDP MO/GDP

1995-2014 7.40 8.35 3.72 5.94 -2.26 -1.40 1995-2000 8.68 9.12 2.51 1.18 4.79 5.22 2001-2005 4.10 10.04 5.17 17.82 -15.99 -11.19 2006-2010 9.83 8.01 3.71 5.56 0.33 -1.33 2011-2014 6.41 5.72 3.46 -1.28 4.18 3.51

255 was not obvious, the waste discharges and pollutant emissions have substantially declined, which indicated an improved urban environment

4. Decoupling economic growth from material flows

In this research, the material flows of MI, MO and SO2 emission were the three major environmental indicators used to explore the relationship between economic growth and material flows. Based on the ∆GDP and ∆MF between 1996 and 2014, the results of decoupling analysis were calculated as indicated in Table 5 and Fig. 6.

Table 5 Decoupling economic growth from material flow factors a Decoupling GDP Decoupling GDP Decoupling GDP

Year from MI from MO from SO2 emission T Status T Status T Status 1996 0.778 WD 0.734 WD 0.850 EC 1997 -1.244 SND -1.515 SND 0.346 WND 1998 0.198 WND -3.575 SND 13.122 RD 1999 1.158 EC 0.906 EC -2.784 SD 2000 1.329 END 0.825 EC 2.971 END 2001 -0.215 SD 0.622 WD 1.402 END 2002 0.029 WD 0.621 WD -0.647 SD 2003 0.849 EC 0.267 WD -0.010 SD 2004 0.452 WD 1.209 END -0.008 SD 2005 0.124 END 0.489 WD -0.287 SD 2006 0.785 WD 0.732 WD -0.997 SD 2007 1.065 EC 0.203 WD -0.333 SD 2008 0.113 WD 1.592 END -1.375 SD 2009 0.588 WD 0.423 WD 0.114 WD 2010 1.046 EC 0.696 WD 0.170 WD 2011 0.273 WD 0.763 WD 0.538 WD 2012 0.509 WD 0.628 WD 0.694 WD 2013 0.470 WD 0.109 WD -0.075 SD 2014 0.740 WD -0.075 SD -0.292 SD a In Table 5 and Table 6, WD represents weak decoupling, SD represents strong decoupling, RD represents recessive decoupling, EC represents expansive coupling, RC represents recessive coupling, END represents expansive negative decoupling, SND represents strong negative decoupling and WND represents weak negative decoupling.

256

Expansive Negative Decoupling △MF T>1.2 △ △ MF>0, GDP>0 Expansive Coupling 2000 0.8≤T≤1.2 2000 △MF>0, △GDP>0 Strong Negative Decoupling T<0 2004 △VOL>0, △GDP<0

1997 Weak Decoupling 2004 0≤T<0.8 1997 △MF>0, △GDP>0

2008 1997 2013 2004 Weak Negative Decoupling 1998 △GDP 0≤T<0.8 △MF<0, △GDP<0 2008 2002

2006 Recessive Coupling Strong Decoupling 0.8≤T≤1.2 1999 T<0 △MF<0, △GDP<0 △MF<0, △GDP>0 1998 Recessive Decoupling T>1.2 △MF<0, △GDP<0

Decoupling GDP from MI Decoupling GDP from MO Decoupling GDP from SO2 emission

Fig. 6. Decoupling economic growth from material flow factors in decoupling framework

During the studied period, the relationship between economic growth and MI experienced many forms of decoupling, which indicated an unstable decoupling relationship. Between 2001 and 2014, weak decoupling became more frequent, which means that the increasing rate of MI was less than that of GDP and the economic growth was using less resources. The expansive coupling and expansive negative decoupling suggested that the resource use efficiency was relatively low and the value of resources were not being fully reflected.

The decoupling status between economic growth and MO has changed several times during the studied period with weak decoupling occurring frequently. The decoupling status between economic growth and MO was mostly located in the first and second quadrant (where △ MF>0) in Fig. 6, as the MO kept increasing throughout the studied period. In 1997 and 1998, the MO increased while the GDP decreased at the same time, creating strong negative decoupling and environmental pressures became more obvious. Since 2001, the weak decoupling of economic growth from MO became

257 normal, indicating the economic growth was being achieved while generating less waste and exerting less environmental pressure.

Decoupling of economic growth from SO2 emission differed greatly from that for MI and MO. From

1996 to 2014, more than half of the results of decoupling GDP from SO2 emission were distributed in the fourth quadrant where the GDP increased and the SO2 emission decreased simultaneously (Fig.

6). From 1996 to 2001, the relationship between economic growth and SO2 emission experienced frequent changes, which presented an unstable decoupling trend because of the fluctuation of both

GDP and SO2 emission in this period. Since 2002, the strong decoupling showed that economic growth can be absolutely decoupled from pollutant emissions thus alleviating environmental pressure.

The results of decoupling analysis in multiple periods showed the strong decoupling only occurred in the relationship between economic growth and SO2 emission (Table 6). It could be a scenario that the strong decoupling first happens in SO2 emission and the others would decouple later.

Table 6 Decoupling GDP from MF in multiple periods Decoupling GDP Decoupling GDP Decoupling GDP

GDP and SO2 emission was strongly decoupled in this period. In 2001-2005, the results of decoupling

GDP from MI, MO and SO2 emission were all shown to be weak decoupling. The economy experienced a rapid expansion and resource utilisation has also improved. The transition from expansive coupling in 1996-2000 to weak decoupling in 2001-2005 suggested the economy was developing to a sustainable direction. Meanwhile, due to the rapid industrial development and the limited SO2 absorption capacity of the environmental equipment at this time, the state of decoupling

GDP from SO2 emission turned into weak decoupling. In 2006-2010, the continuous status of weak decoupling indicated the dependence of economic growth on resource-based industrial growth. The strong decoupling of GDP and SO2 emissions occurred because of the enhanced capacity for 258 capturing SO2 as sulphuric acid. Although economic growth was not absolutely decoupled from MI and MO, it has broken away from SO2 emission. Compared with the period 2001-2005, the economic development situation during in 2006-2010 was on a trend to being sustainable. This involved technological progress and industrial restructuring directed at improving resource use efficiency and economic growth mode. In 2011-2014, the relationship between economic growth and SO2 emission showed weak decoupling due to the small increase in SO2 emission during this period. It suggested that environmental initiatives and techniques need to be enhanced continuously with the industrial production.

5. Discussion

Our results demonstrated that the urban metabolism of Jinchang City was dominated by material consumption and waste generation which is not likely to change in the foreseeable future. However, over the nearly 20 years for which data was available, the application of MFA with associated analysis techniques, as underpinned by the urban metabolisms literature, allowed for the understanding of the concrete drivers of degradation in the face of increasing production, with the enhancement of sustainability as the desired outcome.

The relationships between GDP and MI/MO experienced many shifts and tended to be weakly decoupled, indicating overall enhanced material/energy efficiency. While the GDP increased with a simultaneous reduction of SO2 emission suggested improved environmental sustainability, this was however confounded by demographic shifts, as SDA showed that the technological progress had restrained the rapid increase of both MI and MO to some extent. This was offset by population growth and an increase in social wealth. These changes reflected investment in pollution control, industrial technological progress and urban economic structural adjustment. They also demonstrated the value of the approach for measuring progress towards achieving a more sustainable city through sophisticated urban management that employed social, environmental and fiscal tools.

Notwithstanding this progress, our data also demonstrated a ‘perverse’ outcome where improvement in social wealth is followed by an increase in air pollution due to higher levels of vehicle ownership and use which is correlated with the increase of household income and private car popularity. Undeniably, Jinchang City’s economy relies heavily on mining and minerals processing; this presents authorities with a complex conundrum as it directly challenges urban sustainability. However, with innovative investment, adoption of cleaner production and a circular economic model, linked to an economic structure adjustment, improvement has been demonstrated to be possible. Components of 259 total air pollution have decreased dramatically accompanied with expanded industrial production, economic growth and household consumption, and improvements in water quality, water reuse and urban ecological construction have been significant (Jinchang Municipal Government, 2014). At the same time, the social wealth has increased by several-fold. Collectively this suggests much progress has occurred in the urban economy, society and environment, which further indicates that urban sustainability is potentially achievable.

With regard to achieving sustainability, there were results that support the conclusion that improved resource utilisation and environmental condition, accompanied with sensible governance and investment, will facilitate urban sustainability transitions. This involves thoughtful use and handling of raw and processed materials aimed at changing the pattern of high material inputs and high emission. It also requires infusing the ideas and techniques of process integrated cleaner production and eco-industry into the existing industries, thus improving industrial activities to become more resource-efficient and eco-effective by shifting the established trajectory of linear procedures into a circular mode (McDonough and Braungart, 2002; Dunn and Bush, 2001; Sarkar, 2013). In addition, fostering and developing alternative industries are necessary to reduce economic dependence on heavy industry while achieving a stable decoupling of the urban economy from material consumption and pollution. All these need to be supported by sensible governance and investment in technological progress, economic structural adjustment and enhanced environmental protection.

This study verified that MFA tools can be used in urban systems to track changes, identify existing weaknesses and evaluate urban sustainability potential with regard to local realities. The case study in this typical high-material/energy-costing industrial city has wider implications for other cities, and is meant to be indicative of a greater transition toward sustainability in rapidly industrialising cities with chronic pollution problems. The paper provided a basis for further research of urban transitions towards sustainability, such as industrial and energy structure optimisation, urban economic transformation, sustainable community and society construction. It also addressed the need to build a better understanding of and models for urban development in north-western China, and in rapidly industrialising regions of the world more generally. The solutions for urban sustainability require integrated perspectives, approaches and management involving multiple actors. This study contributes to the scientific understanding and evaluation of urban biophysical systems and its sustainability potential that could generate adaptive solutions and strategies.

260

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the School of Geography Planning and Environmental Management of University of Queensland and China Scholarship Council for their financial supports. Many thanks to all the participants for their help in data collection. We also thank the editor and the anonymous reviewers for their critical and valuable comments that have led to the improvement in this paper.

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