This electronic thesis or dissertation has been downloaded from the King’s Research Portal at https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/ Environmental Awareness In China A Reflection on Chinese Urban (Eco) tourism Experiences Shen, Zhen Fen Awarding institution: King's College London The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without proper acknowledgement. END USER LICENCE AGREEMENT Unless another licence is stated on the immediately following page this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ You are free to copy, distribute and transmit the work Under the following conditions: Attribution: You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). Non Commercial: You may not use this work for commercial purposes. No Derivative Works - You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work. Any of these conditions can be waived if you receive permission from the author. Your fair dealings and other rights are in no way affected by the above. Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact [email protected] providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 04. Oct. 2021 This electronic theses or dissertation has been downloaded from the King’s Research Portal at https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/ Title: Environmental Awareness In China: A Reflection on Chinese Urban (Eco) tourism Experiences Author: Zhen Fen Shen The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without proper acknowledgement. END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ You are free to: Share: to copy, distribute and transmit the work Under the following conditions: Attribution: You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). Non Commercial: You may not use this work for commercial purposes. No Derivative Works - You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work. Any of these conditions can be waived if you receive permission from the author. Your fair dealings and other rights are in no way affected by the above. Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact [email protected] providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Environmental Awareness In China: A Reflection on Chinese Urban (Eco)tourism Experiences A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Geography. Department of Geography, King’s College London, the United Kingdom. BY Zhen Fen SHEN 06. 2013 Abstract The central purpose of this thesis is to explore broader issues related to Chinese environmental awareness through examining a new form of tourism - urban (eco)tourism in China. More specifically, the thesis focuses on investigating two parallel themes: Chinese (eco)tourists’ attitudes towards nature/the environment and how political-economic conditions shape environmental practices as exemplified by two selected case studies. This is undertaken through examining two very different contemporary experiences of urban (eco)tourism: Shen Zhen Wetland Park and Hong Kong Wetland Park, and by applying three different conceptual approaches: Chinese cultural/religious influences on nature (‘Chinese Philosophy’), Western approaches to modernity (Disneyisation and Ecological Modernisation). Disneyisation, Ecological Modernisation and ‘Chinese’ models of nature are not usually associated with research on environmental awareness. Combining these approaches suggests that research can stimulate researchers and policy professionals to explore the value of combining and comparing different conceptual models of nature and the environment, to better understand underlying forces of environment-related behaviour and practices. II Acknowledgements There are many people to whom I am eternally grateful for helping to bring this thesis to fruition, and I would like to thank everyone who has assisted me in the various stages of this PhD thesis. My profound thanks go to my main supervisor, Professor Michael Redclift, who inspired me to undertake this research in the first place. His expertise and support helped me to make this thesis a reality, a tiny but valuable contribution to the literature. I am also grateful to my second supervisor, Professor Raymond Bryant, for his insightful and invaluable inputs to my work. I would like to acknowledge my great gratitude and special thanks to Professor Paul Forster of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology who provided enlightening and constructive comments and suggestions during the final stage of this thesis. I would also specially thank Mr. Raymond Sweetman of King’s College London for his kindness to spend uncountable hours precisely editing this thesis. I owe a debt of gratitude to all interviewees and participants who assisted me during my fieldwork in Hong Kong and Shen Zhen in 2010. While it is not possible for me to thank them all individually here, I wish to express my deepest appreciation of the time and effort that they devoted to me. In particular, many thanks managers and employees at the Tourism Department of OCT and Shen Zhen Wetland Park who spent much of their precious time patiently answering my lists of questions and who provided great assistance for me to conduct research at Shen Zhen Wetland Park. III Also a big acknowledgement is owed to staff members at Hong Kong Wetland Park who provided me with valuable data for analysis. A Chinese saying says that ‘a person cannot survive without friends’. I am hugely grateful to all my friends who offered various kinds of help and support during all the stresses of these years. Thanks to Chris Cockel, Fang Boran, Fang Chuanqin, Isabelle Cheng, Jia Tao, Lau Yuet Mui, Peng Cheng, Peng Xiaozhong, Stuart McNee, Wang Jianlong, Wei Jiaqi, Wei Yiran, and Zeng Bo. Finally, on a more personal note, this thesis would not have been completed without the unconditional love and understanding from my parents and my brothers. They provided enormous support to me on all the decisions that I have made, and helped me through all the challenging times in my life - thank you! IV Abbreviations ACE (Advisory Council on the Environment) AFCD (Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department) ArchSD (Hong Kong Government’s Architectural Service Department) China-MAB (Chinese National Committee for Man and the Biosphere Programme) CNTA (China's National Tourism Administration) ECC (Environmental Campaign Committee) ECF (Environment and Conservation Fund) ECP (Australian Eco Certification Program) EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) ELC (Environment Liaison Centre) GOV (The Central People’s Government of the People’s Republic China) GTA (Green Tourism Association) HKPSG (Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines) HKTA (Hong Kong Tourist Association) HKTB (Hong Kong Tourism Board) HKWP (Hong Kong Wetland Park) IAAPA (International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions) MCL (Mighty city Company Limited) NDRC (National Development and Reform Commission Republic of China) NED (Nature and Ecology Department), NGOs (non-governmental groups) OCT (Overseas Chinese Town Group) OCT East (Overseas Chinese Town Group East Resort) SASAC (State Assets Administration Committee) SCT (Costa Rican Sustainable Tourism Certification) SDU (Sustainable Development Unit) SEAS (Canadian Saskatchewan Ecotourism Accreditation System) SEPA (State Environmental Protection Administrative) SPC (State Planning Committee) SSEZ (Shenzhen Special Economic Zone) SSIO (State Council Information Office) SUSDEV21 (Sustainable Development for the 21st Century) SZEO (Shenzhen Environment Outlook) SZPL (Shen Zhen Urban Planning, Land and Resources Commission) SZWP (Shen Zhen Wetland Park) UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) VIM (Visitor Impact Management) VISTOUR (Visitor and Tourism Study for Hong Kong) WCED (World Commission on Environment and Development) V WDI (Works Digest Issue) WED (World Environment Day) WWFHK (World Wide Fund for Nature Hong Kong) VI Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................ II Acknowledgements ......................................................................................... III Abbreviations .................................................................................................... V Chapter One: Introduction ............................................................................ 14 1.1.Ecotourism, ‘Chinese Philosophy’, Disneyisation and Ecological Modernisation ........................................................................................... 17 1.2.Linking ‘Chinese Philosophy’, Disneyisation and Ecological Modernisation ........................................................................................... 31 1.3.Research objectives and questions ..................................................... 34 1.4.Significance of the research ..............................................................