Indexed by:Essay collection

Document Code:JCPC2023_0173

First Author:Wenjian Pan*

Journal:Global Cleaner Production Conference Abstract Book

Place of Publication:China

Discipline:Engineering

First-Level Discipline:Urban and Rural Planning

Document Type:C

Page Number:G1.03

Key Words:Low Carbon City, Sustainable Development Goals, Urban Governance, Shenzhen

Date of Publication:2023-11-09

Abstract:A report by IEA (2022) illustrates that the built environment accounted for 40% of global carbon emission, indicating an urgent need to reflect on current development modes and seek regeneration-oriented approaches to achieve the sustainable development goals. The construction of low-carbon cities (LCC) or de-carbonisation rehabilitation are prevailing approaches to mitigating emerging ecological risks. After two decades’ practices, China has entered a critical era of de-carbon transitional development. In 2020, China put forward the “double carbon” scheme which aims to achieve peak carbon dioxide emission in 2030 and carbon neutrality in 2060 for the country. However, existing attempts at LCCs still encounter barriers to achieving “low-carbon” goals. These obstacles might range from inappropriate site selection, absence of a combination of local innovative technologies, high costs, to exclusion of local communities. Reviewing existing LCC practices in China over the past two decades, this study summarises their common characteristics across the social, economic, and environmental dimensions, and compares the specific problems encountered in pursuits of “low-carbon” objectives. Further, this study specifically takes the Sino-Dutch Shenzhen International Low Carbon City as a case study. Initiated in 2012, the project has run for a decade and is now at a transitional stage in which it is integrating into the city’s urban renewal policies and adapting to emerging socio-ecological challenges. However, the direction of development in the near future are not yet clear, and an effective assessment system is still being debated and explored. In this context, this study traces this pioneering LCC experiment’s decision-making, planning, and constructing processes and evaluates its impacts on local communities and the whole city through archival research, in-situ site survey, and interviews with key stakeholders. Findings of the study should provide insights into more effective low-carbon development and transition in China and other regions with similar situations globally.

Links to published journals:https://www.elsevier.com/events/conferences/all/global-cleaner-production-conference