Essay about The Search for Low Carbon Cities in China

The rapid economic growth in China has led to the destruction of forests, the pollution of water, and the continuous pollution of the air. With the dramatic increase in the population, building production to house the citizens must increase as well at a startling pace as the land fields decrease in order to make space. A decline in land leads to a lack of resources, putting the country into a state of panic. A surge in building production leads to an increase in carbon foot printing, adding to the massive amount of pollution in the environment already. Alternative

“Beijing lie between longitudes 115°25′E and 117°30′E and between latitude 39°26′N and 41°03′N in North China. Specifically, Beijing is located at the eastern edge of the Eurasian continent and belongs to the Bohai sea rim economic circle, with small plain in the south and mountains in the west and north, covering an area of 16,807.8 km2. The city’s climate is a monsoon-influenced humid continental climate.” (Gengyuan Liu et.al., 2011). As the capital city with full of the long history and Chinese traditional culture and one of three economic-centered cities, which are Beijing, Shanghai, Hongkong respectively, in China Beijing has been regarded as one successful city that has

Urban sustainability is the idea that an urban area can be organised without excessive reliance on the surrounding countryside and be able to power itself with renewable sources of energy. The aim of this is to create the smallest possible environmental footprint and to produce the lowest quantity of pollution possible, to efficiently use land, compost used materials, recycle it or convert waste-to-energy, and to make the urban area overall contribution to climate change minimal. Therefore allowing the next generations and future generations to have the required resources without compromising them.

One of China’s best successes has in turn been one of its biggest downfalls. One of the main problems is China’s greatest success which has been its phenomenal economic growth. This is one of the main drivers of the current environmental problems that the country faces. Factories dump pollutants into the air and water. It is difficult to see the Chinese government making the significant sacrifices required to improve their environment if it means slowing down their economic growth.

China's fast-growing economy has attracted worldwide attention; However, what followed was a series of serious environmental problems. For example, since 2014, haze has polluted most big cities in China, especially in the north. Beijing with full of haze lets people associate with London fog of 1952. As the earliest industrialized country, London is one of the first cities in the world that suffer from fog problems. Wifely used of coal for manufactories and families is the main reason to cause the London fog and stimulated the spread of air pollution. China repeats the same mistake that London made. After decades of governance, the environment in London has greatly improved, the UK’s successful experience is worth learning from China. Blindly

All countries want go have growth and often aim to be a Westernized such as the United States or more specifically like New York and London. A city like Beijing is pretty developed and has a “similar” lifestyle as New Yorkers, however there are still significant differences such as the value in taking care of the environment. Pollution has always been a big issue in big cities, but the Western world has noticed that pollution has a bigger impact than just the weather, but it also affects the economy as well. Asian megacities like Beijing have not yet noticed how much of an impact that pollution can cause. The city of Beijing has been haunted by natural hazards such as droughts, floods, and earthquakes (Beckel,

Since the humble beginnings of the American industrial revolution, the urban city has been the pinnacle of rapid development and robust growth. Despite the efforts of notable city planners such as Sir Ebenezer Howard, Peter Calthorpe and Andres Duany the potential of true sustainable development has not been realized by the majority of urban cities. The inevitable question asserts how cities can continue growth and development while corroborating the triple bottom line as a framework for virtually every city.

Over the past few centuries, human society has been engaging in activities that have resulted in excessive carbon dioxide emissions. These excessive emissions have been identified to be detrimental to our health and to the environment. As a result, many efforts have been organized to reduce carbon emissions. An effective effort to control carbon emissions is through legislation. The Obama Administration has been pursuing a new policy: The Clean Power Plan. The successful implementation of this policy would result in changes in regulations, health and infrastructure. As a result, The Clean Power Plan helps illustrate the connection between public policy, public health and urban planning and development.

Many sustainable cities should leave a small ecological footprint. These are the components to calculate an ecological footprint, the amount of crop land used to grow food for human consumption, carbon emissions, grazing land used for livestock, forest required for timber, how much land is used for houses and fishing grounds.

Since the late 1980s, the notion of ‘sustainable development’ has transcended beyond the eminent United Nations report titled Our Common Future, to mainstream dialogue throughout the globe at all scales within government and public spheres. This form of development seeks to balance current environmental, social and economic needs of the population, “without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987, 43). Used interchangeably with ‘sustainability’ (Seghezzo, 2009), the concept has been fastened to a plethora of themes, including that of cities where ‘urban sustainability’ speaks to negligent urban expansion and resource depletion. However, as

In December of 2015, China was faced with a “red alert” for air pollution. In an article from The New York Times titled “Smog So Thick, Beijing Comes to a Standstill,” Edward Wong stated, “For many residents, the red alert...underscored the devil’s handshake that China has made in recent years: the trading of a healthy living environment for breakneck economic growth.” There are many negative consequences of air pollution. Vaclav Smil’s “Environmental Degradation in China,” describes the various problems that China’s environment is facing. Smil explains that “air pollution is a ubiquitous and particularly troublesome problem in virtually all of China’s large cities and industrials areas” (778). China’s polluted air, along with the disappearance of good farmland, forest depletion and water resources, are all areas of concern that Smil brings to attention. These areas should not concern only China’s population, but it should be concerning to everyone around the world. Not only does air pollution have a negative effect on the environment, but it also has negative effects on society, as well. Air pollution can be explained as a social problem since many of these environmental problems are possible ramifications of urbanization. As higher-class individuals make lifestyle choices that directly impact the environment in a negative way, the entire population suffers the consequences. Because of the damaging effects of air pollution, China must develop a way to remain urbanized

China’s 1970 economic reforms boosted the economic output by 11.4% on a yearly basis. The reforms gave authority to the provinces and enabled the market-oriented public enterprises. The economic gains were so great that they accounted for about 33% of the national GDP. Prosperity seemed imminent since the 1970s, but little did the people know that they were on the path that would place them as the world’s most polluted countries and the worlds largest greenhouse gas emitter.

In recent years, China has been experiencing unprecedented economic growth. Chinese prosperity has had negative side-effects, including extreme environmental pollution (Wong, 2014). What researchers call “ambient particulate matter pollution” was the fourth-leading risk factor for deaths in China, contributing to 1.2 million deaths in 2010. Construction, industrial waste and greenhouse gasses are the major contributors to an epidemic that is creating a public outcry for government intervention. The Chinese government and other stakeholders have asserted that air pollution is decreasing and that the main culprits are not large industrial corporations. They point to strict regulations that they claim have been rigidly enforced. However, many foreign governments, environmental groups and activists around the world dispute this assertion. A growing number of Chinese also believe their government is not doing enough to curb environmental pollution. In 2012, the government announced a “war on pollution.” However, the slow reaction to a decades old crisis is a reflection of the power struggle within a government torn between those who believe in economic growth at all costs, and those who believe that these costs are becoming too high. At the heart of the controversy is a complex question: Is the Chinese government properly regulating industry to reduce and control pollution, or are

Cities, sustainability Bai X. and Imura H. (2001) Towards sustainable and water urban water resource management: a case study in Tianjin, China Sustainable Development 9 pp. 24-35. Speers, A. (2007) Water and cities – overcoming inertia and achieving a sustainable future, Chapter 3 in Novotny, V. And Brown, P. R. Cities of the Future London, IWA Publishing, pp. 18-32.

Hong Kong is one of the top financial centers in the world. Thus, the environmental quality of Hong Kong is very important. It is because the environmental quality is indirectly linking to the image of Hong Kong. Moreover, the living standard of Hong Kong residents is also under influencing of the environmental quality. However, Hong Kong is now surviving serious environmental problems. Poor air quality, noise problem and heavy traffic loads are the three important problems of Hong Kong. The members of Hong Kong should try their best to tackle these problems.