Books in the Urban Sustainability series

This book explores the relationship between pedestrians/cyclists¿ mode and route choice to/from metro/railway stations and the micro-level (street-scale) built environment in a second-tier city in China. More specifically, it investigates how the street-scale built environment influences pedestrians/cyclists¿ mode choice and route choice behavior and examines user preferences for the micro-level built environment around metro stations. The focus on a second-tier city is motivated primarily to expand the set of Chinese cities where the effects of the built environment on pedestrian/cyclist mode and route choice have been studied. Results demonstrate the effects of the street-scale built environment on pedestrian flows. The effects are higher for the main road, which is directly connected with the metro station. The findings of this book are expected to support the design of preferred walking/biking built environments around a metro station. This book appeals to urbanists, planners, engineers, policy makers, and those interested in a wide-ranging overview of slow/green transportation and built environment promotion. These methods not only help to understand the quantitative relationship between built environment design and travel behavior but also support the evaluation and assessment of built environment design in urban planning projects. It reduces the gap in our understanding of the quantitative relationship between the micro-level built environment and pedestrians/cyclists¿ transportation mode and route choice around the metro station. Both stated choice data and revealed choice data were used. An extended set of micro-level built environment attributes was developed. Besides the widely studied transportation-related factors, street-level built environment factors were studied using quantitative methods.

This book offers a fresh perspective on the historical, economic, and cultural foundations of capitalism, cities, and climate change. By exploring the intersection of urbanization, consumerism, and colonialism, the book sheds new light on the origins and development of the economic system that has shaped our world today. What sets this book apart is its unique approach, which challenges conventional wisdom and offers new insights into the complex relationships between culture, politics, and economics. The book is intended for readers interested in the history and evolution of capitalism and its impact on society, as well as those interested in climate change and urbanization. The content level is accessible for general readers, yet sophisticated enough to appeal to scholars and researchers. The two most important features of the book are its fresh perspective on the history of mercantilism and its examination of the economic landscape of cities and climate change. By reading this book, readers gain a deeper understanding of the complex relationships between urbanization, colonialism, and economic policies, and their impact on contemporary society.

This book provides an institutional interpretation of state-facilitated gentrification in Chengdu, an emerging central city of China. It generalizes the three aspects of institutional changes in the cultural, economic and social spheres that have thus far directed the operation of gentrification in the transitional economy: the creative destruction of consumption spaces, the spatial production of excess, and the unequal redistribution of spatial resources to low-income residents. The interactions of state and society, are examined in navigating the institutional changes and forming the Chinese distinctions of gentrification. The author argues that these three aspects of institutional changes characterize gentrification in Chengdu as a transformative force of development led by the state and capitalists and championed by middle-class consumers. This gentrification mode periodically catalyzes new spaces and collective cultures, which then necessitate the stimulation of new consumption behaviors and the formation of new consumer classes, at the expense of the spatial demands for the even larger number of low-income residents. However, in the context of China's unique state-society relations, some low-income groups may also ride the wave of social transformation. The author suggests that this type of gentrification integrates into not the essence of uneven geographical development in a capitalist society, but China's unique model of urbanization and development, which is often state-driven, innovative and even involuted so as to sustain continuous growth. Though the research is focused on urban China, this book also contributes to methodological issues on gentrification research on a global scale. It is skeptical both of the structural explanation and of the revelation of unsorted differences; instead, it aims to generate midrange regularities of gentrification in Chinese cities. Institutional change is treated as an intermediary that, on the one hand, responds to the global trends and, on the other hand, adapts to local preconditions. Mixed methods, including statistical and spatial analysis, institutional analysis, and an extensive ethnographic study, are used to investigate gentrification from a structural perspective, a historical perspective, and as a grounded process within the locality.

This book for the first time thoroughly investigates the extent of economic and institutional integrations and the underlying governance reshuffling process of Chinäs city-regionalism. By using the Shenzhen-Dongguan-Huizhou sub-region (SDH) in southern China as an empirical case, this book provides convincing evidence that Chinäs city-regionalism is essentially a state-orchestrated and institution-based process. Perspectives from ¿market-industry-infrastructure¿ and multi-level governance (MLG) have been provided to systematically examine Chinäs city-regionalism. This book has essentially made a definitive contribution to Chinäs regional governance. Methodologically, it shows how Chinäs city-regionalism can be examined through a problem-solving and case-by-case paradigm, through building a bridge between an empirical slogan and an inclusive theoretical term for institutional integration and through MLG and its integrative approaches in China. Exhilarating findings are presented using extensive tables, graphs, and maps along with the integration of quantitative and qualitative methods. Undergraduates, graduates, and researchers who are interested in Chinäs city-regionalism and regional governance would be the readership of the book, and officers from different levels of government as well as policymakers will find the book inspiring.

This book aims to explore how sustainability transitions can be explored in current and future cities and how research and policy approaches can be applied to change urban life as we know it, hence aligning the two thematic of urban science and future science, for achieving deep decarbonization. On this, the discourse on philosophy, ethics, and morality appertaining to sustainable cities and urban transitions, across disciplines, are also welcomed as it provides a deeper understanding of humanity in future scenarios.Chapter 08 is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

Since 2014, and the start of the New-type Urbanization Plan (NUP), we see a turning point in the sustainability agenda of China. One of the main indicators is greening cities and the built environments, which will be covered holistically in this edited book. From the perspective of green infrastructure, in particular, the book approaches key areas of ¿forest city development¿, ¿sponge city program¿, ¿green roofing¿, ¿nature-based solutions¿, ¿urban farming¿, ¿eco-city development¿, etc. This is the first time that such important areas of research come together under the perspective of green Infrastructure. The results would be beneficial to policymakers, practitioners, and researchers in China and across the globe. The comprehensive set of findings from this book will benefit other countries, as we aim to highlight some of the best practices of the current age.The main aim of the book is to put together an excellent group of scholars and practitioners from the field, focusing on the topic of ¿Green Infrastructure in Chinese Cities¿. In doing so, we aim to cover some of the key ¿best practices¿ for sustainable urbanism. Divided into four parts, the book covers four key areas of (1) Policy Interventions, (2) Planning Innovation, (3) Design Solutions, and (4) Technical Integration. In doing so, we cover an array of best practices related to green infrastructures of various types and their impacts on cities and communities in China.We expect the book to be a valuable resource for researchers in the areas of sustainability, urbanism, urban planning, urban geography, urban design, geographical sciences, environmental sciences, landscape architecture, and urban ecology. The book covers essential factors such as policy, regulations, and programs (in Part 1), planning paradigms and their impacts on urban development (in Part 2), integrated design solutions that suggest sustainable urbanization progression (in Part 3), and technical knowledge that would be utilized for the future development of green infrastructure practices in China and beyond. Lastly, this edited book aims to provide a collaborative opportunity for experts and researchers of the field, who could contribute to the future pathways of sustainable urbanization of China. Lessons extracted from these contributions could be utilized for other contexts, which will benefit a wider group of stakeholders.

The scope of this book is to map Chinäs city clusters and their individual directions for the national-level strategies in line with the 2060 carbon neutrality plan. Since China announced the carbon neutrality plan in autumn 2020, no study has looked at the role of city clusters in achieving this long-term plan. Hence, this study is believed to be the first attempt to explore this important topic from the city cluster perspective. It explores the challenges, opportunities, and directions of all 19 city clusters, allowing readers to have a clear picture of Chinäs historical and ongoing progress, as well as the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. In a short time, Chinäs city clusters have helped boost regional economic development, infrastructure development, trade and business, and better urban¿rural integration. With enhanced coordination of connection and transport networks in and between the city clusters, we see a growing number of initiatives beyond just the initial economic strategies. The dual approach of top-down policies and infrastructure systems and bottom-up governance and investments has helped China consider urban¿rural development strategies and regional sustainable development. These factors are essential to be explored from the city cluster perspective and in line with Chinäs sustainable development and carbon neutrality directions. Hence, the book covers these points holistically, ensuring that regional planning and development are favored in the face of uneven urbanization trends.We anticipate this book to be a valuable resource for local governments and authorities, urban planners and practitioners, developers, and urban researchers. While the focus is on Chinäs city clusters, we believe there are similar examples elsewhere. Hence, lessons learnt from this book could apply to other countries, regions, and subregions. Lastly, the book aims to put regional sustainable development at the heart of longer-term strategies and plans, such as the case of Chinäs carbon neutrality plan.

Green Infrastructure and Urban Sustainability: The evolution of best practices in China.- Policy Intervention on Green Infrastructure in Chinese Cities.- Urban Forest Planning and Policy in China.- Analysis of Policy and Regulatory Landscapes for Green Roof Implementation in China.- Examine the Green Infrastructure Policy Intervention Under the Case of Sponge City Program.