The Chinese sustainable
urban development market

Introduction

What is sustainable development?

In 1987, the Brundtland report defined sustainable development as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. At the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, three “pillars” were introduced: environmental, social and economic.

China’s ecological footprint

The ecological footprint of a population is all the areas of land and water necessary to produce the resources consumed and assimilate its waste in a continuous manner, with each environment having its limits. While China now has an ecological footprint that is lower than the global average, it is nevertheless constantly growing, in large part due to urbanization (1.2 ha in 1993, 1.6 ha in 2003, 2.2 in 2010 – source: Global Footprint Network). In this context, considering the sustainable urban development (SUD) of the future is increasingly essential.

1/ The key dimensions of sustainable urban development:

The three levels of regulation

The issue of sustainability arises at all levels of interaction between people and their environment. A sustainable urban development strategy in China must therefore distinguish between at least three levels of regulation:

intra-urban: at this level the sustainable city is a city that must provide its inhabitants with a healthy urban environment. Regulation therefore aims to ensure air and water quality and to improve the systems for waste treatment, recycling, etc.
interaction with adjacent ecosystems: the sustainable city respects its surrounding environment and makes use of it in a measured way. It is therefore essential to regulate incoming flows (food, water, etc.) and outgoing flows (waste, wastewater, etc.), and urban expansion (development of suburban areas).
global: no city is sustainable by itself. A sustainable urban development strategy must therefore take account of the ecosystems of other parts of the planet which support the city. The city’s impact must therefore be considered at the level of the entire planet (global warming, atmospheric pollutants, acid rain, etc.).

Key sustainable urban development approaches for China:

increase the concentration of cities: the current urban transition is giving rise to profound changes in the appearance and organization of Chinese cities. Since the sustainable city is a concentrated city of average size, the current refurbishment and modernization works provide a unique opportunity to increase the density of Chinese cities and reduce their ecological footprint.
develop public transport infrastructures: according to certain forecasts, in 2015 China will have 70 million motorcycles, 30 million heavy goods vehicles, and over 100 million cars. Developing clean urban transport is therefore essential. In addition to reducing congestion in cities, it would also improve air quality. Many efforts have already been made by the Chinese government in this respect.
reinforce water treatment: water is a core element of the sustainable city. The urban development strategy must ensure ground permeability in cities, while developing wastewater treatment and the re-use of treated water.
improve governance: reinforce a system of governance in order to provide the institutional framework required for urban transition, in fiscal, legal and technical terms. This entails, among other things, greater control of law enforcement and increased participation by civil society.

2/ Chinese government policy

While the challenge is considerable, the Chinese government has shown great political will in recent years, particularly evident in the appearance of “sustainable development” as an objective in its five-year plans and the adoption of a national climate change program.

Progress in 2010

Within the framework of the National Plan for Economic and Social Development, 33.3 billion CNY were invested by the Chinese government in 2010, to achieve fixed goals in terms of conservation and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), a budget increase of 140% compared with the previous year. Projects promoting “low energy” products have also been implemented - in particular with the commissioning of 30 million air conditioning units and a million low energy vehicles - low energy pilot projects in cities and provinces, and investment projects in respect of clean technologies.

Considerable progress has also been made in the field of wastewater treatment and waste recycling. In 2010, the daily wastewater treatment capacities increased by 19 million cubic meters, reaching a rate of 76.9% for retreatment in urban areas. In terms of waste, 72.5% of urban waste is now processed safely.

With the same aim of sustainable urban living, the Chinese government is making efforts to increase social justice both within cities and between the regions. In 2010, the number of city dwellers covered by a basic pension scheme reached 256.73 million, exceeding the targets set.

Sustainable development: a priority of the twelfth five-year plan.

Despite the great progress made, these efforts are still insufficient and much remains to be done in the area of sustainable urban development, hence the priority given to this issue in the twelfth five-year plan. The urban development strategy integrated into the twelfth plan gives greater importance to human development and the quality of urban life.

In its report of March 2011, the National Commission for Development and Reform sets out a list of priorities for 2011:

Intensify the efforts to balance development between the city and rural areas, therefore between the different provinces;
Actively but prudently encourage urbanisation;
Reinforce energy conservation, reduce GHG emissions, ensure environmental and ecological protection;
Increase the contribution of science and technology to improving the quality and energy efficiency of growth;
Develop a circular economy;
Make development more coordinated and sustainable.

Author:
M. César Castelain
Service de coopération et d’action culturelle

Sources:
http://french.china.org.cn/french/249774.htm
http://chine.aujourdhuilemonde.com/lempreinte-ecologique-de-la-chine-double-depuis-les-annees-1960
http://www.cstb.fr/fileadmin/documents/actualites/communiques_dossiers_presse/DP232_06_06_PDF.pdf
FNI Report 5/2009: Sustainable Urban Development and the Chinese Eco-City. Concepts, Strategies, Policies and Assessments, May Hald Rapport de la NDRC sur l’application du plan national de développement économique et social de 2010 et projet de plan national pour 2011, 4ème session du 11ème Congrès national du peuple 5 mars 2011

Water and air pollution, energy management and energy security were already key environmental concerns in the eleventh plan. The twelfth plan continues along these lines and adds a priority: climate change.

At the invitation of the AFD (French Development Agency) in Paris last June, Mr Dai Yande, (Energy Research Institute, NDRC) presented the goals of the twelfth plan (for 2015 compared with 2010) especially in terms of energy efficiency:

Reduce the energy intensity of the economy by 16%
Reduce the carbon intensity of the energy mix by 17%
Achieve a rate of 11.4% of renewable energies in primary energy consumption
Reduce pollution by 8 to 10% depending on sources

and recalled the target of GHG reduction by 80% by 2050!

The development of exchanges between French and Chinese local authorities, experts and industrialists should make it possible to respond to these future challenges.