Low carbon eco-city: New approach for Chinese urbanisation

Chinese urbanisation is occurring rapidly but faces great challenges due to its large population, the continuing level of rural urban migration, the shortage of resources to support the present development and the urbanisation model. One result is that China is the world's largest carbon emitter. The application of low carbon eco-city development should be contribute to the solution in addressing these challenges. This paper attempts to explore the low carbon eco-city initiatives in China. By analysing critically the problems which impact upon such an environmentally friendly development model, including government policy, social value and delivery mechanisms, this paper suggests that despite problems in implementing such a model, the low carbon eco-city model must be the mainstream approach to Chinese urbanisation and industrialisation. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.