Analysis of Policy and Regulatory Landscapes for Green Roof Implementation in China

Abstract

Green roofing is a nature-based solution to urban environmental problems and an alternative for urban designers to provide additional spaces for outdoor activities and entertainment under the trend of urban open space reduction. However, several barriers hinder green roofing implementation, including lack of government policy, unsound technological development, high initial cost and long payback period, and individual unwillingness. Governmental policy is the most effective strategy for sustainable initiative implementation by overcoming their barriers. Therefore, this chapter aims to reveal policy and regulatory landscapes for green roofing. In particular, the analysis is conducted in China, a country undergoing rapid urbanisation and severe environmental, economic and social challenges in cities. In particular, this chapter presents an overall picture of policy and regulatory landscapes for green roofing in mainland China across the national, provincial, and city scales, considering mandatory and guiding terms. The analysis indicates that there is no specific national document for roof greening promotion. Nevertheless, in the central government's guide, opinion, notice, and technical standards and specifications, roof greening is advocated in other projects, such as environmental protection, green building, sponge city, and urban landscaping. Roof greening is mostly mentioned for green space or landscape benefits, but other functions have not been particularly defined. Roof greening has been more clearly framed in province-level technical guide/specification, legislated regulations, governmental opinion, provincial plan, and economic support. The results indicate that the provincial policies and regulations are uneven in geographical distribution, mainly in the east part of mainland China. Technical guide/specification is the main approach to promoting green roofs, followed by the legislated specification, governmental opinion, and provincial plan and economic support. However, among the 25 provinces that have suggested green roof implementation, only ten provinces have clarified the specific requirements of intensive and extensive green roofs. In addition, incentives for green roof implementation have been analysed, indicating that urban greening conversion is the most common way to green roofing promotion at both province and city scales, followed by the fiscal subsidies and then awards. City-level incentives are more inspiring, sounder, and more comprehensive than province-level incentives. In addition, the results indicate that while the Urban Greening Ordinance exhibits a strong top-down impact on provincial legislated specifications, the policy and regulatory landscapes for green roof implementation show a strong bottom-up pattern from cities to provinces and then to mainland China. Overall, this chapter is of significance to the understanding of the policy and regulatory landscapes for green roof implementation and provides a reference to the next-step reform of the current policy system.