Projects
Projects: Projects for Investigator |
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| Reference Number | ES/N010698/1 | |
| Title | Eco-Urbanisation: promoting sustainable development in metropolitan regions of China | |
| Status | Completed | |
| Energy Categories | Other Cross-Cutting Technologies or Research(Demographics) 5%; Other Cross-Cutting Technologies or Research(Energy Models) 5%; Not Energy Related 85%; Other Cross-Cutting Technologies or Research(Environmental, social and economic impacts) 5%; |
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| Research Types | Basic and strategic applied research 100% | |
| Science and Technology Fields | SOCIAL SCIENCES (Town and Country Planning) 50%; ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES (Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences) 50%; |
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| UKERC Cross Cutting Characterisation | Sociological economical and environmental impact of energy (Environmental dimensions) 20%; Sociological economical and environmental impact of energy (Other sociological economical and environmental impact of energy) 20%; Systems Analysis related to energy R&D (Other Systems Analysis) 60%; |
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| Principal Investigator |
Professor C Wong No email address given Environment, Education and Developmen University of Manchester |
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| Award Type | Standard | |
| Funding Source | ESRC | |
| Start Date | 01 January 2016 | |
| End Date | 31 December 2018 | |
| Duration | 36 months | |
| Total Grant Value | £555,475 | |
| Industrial Sectors | ||
| Region | North West | |
| Programme | Newton | |
| Investigators | Principal Investigator | Professor C Wong , Environment, Education and Developmen, University of Manchester (99.996%) |
| Other Investigator | Mr RP Kingston , Environment, Education and Developmen, University of Manchester (0.001%) Dr A Barker , Environment, Education and Developmen, University of Manchester (0.001%) Professor MW Baker , Environment, Education and Developmen, University of Manchester (0.001%) Mr NEN Pinto , Environment, Education and Developmen, University of Manchester (0.001%) |
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| Web Site | ||
| Objectives | This study aims to deepen our understanding of the dynamic interactive processes between urban development, resource consumption, and environmental impacts, and to identify innovative practices and effective strategies to manage and plan for sustainable urbanisation in China. The research team adopts the simple term, 'eco-urbanisation' to emphasise on the importance of the ecological and environmental aspect of urbanisation. There are 6 key objectives:(1) To develop a robust conceptual framework to capture the key variables of urban development and their interactive effects on resource consumption and environmental impacts and to identify the key characteristics of a 'well-being' oriented sustainable future in the context of rapid urbanisation in China.(2) To map the different approaches and institutional frameworks adopted internationally in promoting sustainable transition pathways and to examine, in-depth, the inherent cultural and institutional structures in China and the UK to identify key factors and barriers affecting the transition/reform towards more effective planning and management approaches and different modes of experimentation towards urban sustainability.(3) To examine data availability, collection and sharing practices and the use of metrics and indicator systems and different types of mathematical models to assess and measure the complex interactive effects on synergies and conflicts between different activities of the urban community and its environment.(4) To quantify the levels of resource consumption and environmental impacts in relation to the activities associated with urban development via the case study of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei metropolitan region. The methods used will be informed by state of the art theoretical and methodological approaches.(5) The challenges of the case study area as identified in the modelling and assessment exercise will then be addressed by examining different strategic and regulatory planning measures and best international practices in mitigating, adapting and managing urban growth in a sustainable manner.(6) To synthesise the findings to inform the development of a 'well-being' oriented sustainable urban management framework to manage and plan for the relationship between inputs, processes, outputs, and impacts of urban growth; this will shed light on international academic and policy debates on the planning and management of rapid urban growth beyond the Chinese context. | |
| Abstract | The introduction of the 'National New-type Urbanisation Plan' by the Chinese government in March 2014 will result in the construction of 30 million units of housing, with associated public amenities and infrastructure, over the next seven years. As the urban form and associated infrastructure are not locked in yet, this rapid development presents challenges and opportunities to move towards a new type of urbanisation that is financially and environmentally sustainable. This international collaborative project aims to significantly advance our understanding of both the theoretical and practical understanding of the dynamic interactive processes between urban development, resource consumption and environmental impacts. It will employ state-of-the-art methodological approaches to an embedded case study of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Metropolitan Region (BTHMR), encompassing not only China's capital city, but also representing one of the very largest and fastest growing regions within the country and beyond. An important aspect of the project is to address the pressing policy need in China to manage the anticipated increases in urbanisation in a more human-centred and environmentally sustainable way, dealing with issues around energy use/CO2 emissions, urban-rural inequalities and related 'eco-urbanisation' challenges. This study therefore explicitly focuses on identifying innovative practices and effective strategies to manage and plan for sustainable urbanisation in order to develop a 'well-being' oriented sustainable urban management framework to shape future research and policy on planning and managing rapid urban growth within and beyond China. All this calls for the development of a model of eco-urbanisation management that is multi-scalar, addresses complex, interrelated multi-processes and, crucially, can only be effective through a multi-layered 'meta-governance' approach incorporating multi-actor engagement and partnership.Our research design adopts the simple term, 'eco-urbanisation' to emphasise the importance of the ecological and environmental aspect of urbanisation. This proposed study, therefore, aims to fill identified research gaps through four main contributions: (1) integrating community level surveys on consumption patterns and other quantitative analysis into the modelling approaches at city and regional levels to take into account the behavioural patterns of individuals; (2) experimenting with the coupling of dynamic modelling approaches, e.g. agent-based models, cellular automata, to simulate stochastic behaviours at multiple scales (households, firms, environmental systems, and districts); (3) generating more robust ecological performance measures of urban development, supported by web-based visualisation toolkits, to encourage policymakers and planners to integrate eco-environmental analysis into their decision-making processes; and (4) informing the design of an integrated policy framework that is flexible and deliverable for urban ecological environment management. Our research team draws on the complementary academic and professional expertise related to climate change, environmental science, environmental assessment, economics, spatial planning, land use analysis, urban growth, indicator and policy monitoring, and GIS and quantitative modelling across the four partners: The Institute of Geographic Sciences & Natural Resources Research and The Research Centre for Eco-Environmental Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Fudan University and The University of Manchester. This joint team possesses the technical, theoretical and analytical skills to advance the methodological, theoretical and policy understanding of the dynamic interactive processes between urban development, resource consumption, and environmental impacts, as well as the capability to develop innovative approaches and strategies to manage and plan for sustainable urbanisation in China and beyond | |
| Publications | (none) |
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| Final Report | (none) |
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| Added to Database | 19/12/17 | |
