Abstract
During the rush hour commute, a haze envelops the whole city, with no trace of the sun; tall buildings nearby are obscured by the smog, and vehicles stuck in the traffic jam snail ahead. In the dusky haze, one can easily develop feelings of depression and even despair. This has been a typical picture of haze in Beijing, the capital of China. Yet it was not until the winter of 2011 that the city began to suffer from constant smoggy and hazy weather, with the air so contaminated that the pollution levels were way off the charts (more details in the chapter by Lin and Guan in this volume). Just as the haze hangs over the city of Beijing and elsewhere in China, environmental pollution looms in the public mind across the nation.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
Bibliography
He, Guizhen, Yonglong Lu, Arthur Mol, and Theo Beckers. 2012. “Changes and Challenges: China’s Environmental Management in Transition.” Environmental Development 3(complete): 25–38.
Li, Wanxin. 2008. “China’s Environmental Regulation and Governance: Ideas, Capacity, Promise and Empowerment.” Public Administration Review [gonggong xingzheng yanjiu] 5: 102–151.
Lo, Carlos Wing Hung and Sai Wing Leung. 2000. “Environmental Agency and Public Opinion in Guangzhou: The Limits of a Popular Approach to Environmental Governance.” China Quarterly 163: 677–704.
Mol, Arther and Neil Carter. 2006. “China’s Environmental Governance in Transition.” Environmental Politics 15(02): 149–170.
Ran, Ran. 2013. “Perverse Incentive Structure and Policy Implementation Gap in China’s Local Environmental Politics.” Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning 15(1): 17–39.
Ren, Bingqiang, Huisheng Shou, and Lisheng Dong. (Forthcoming 2014). “The Urban Environmental Protests in China: Institutional Restrictions and the Internet.” In Lisheng Dong, Hanspeter Kriesi, and Daniel Kübler. (eds.) Urban Mobilization in Contemporary China. Farnham, UK: Ashgate.
Schwartz, Jonathan. 2004. “Environmental NGOs in China: Roles and Limits.” Pacific Affairs 77(1): 28–49.
Sima, Yangzi. 2011. “Grassroots Environmental Activism and the Internet: Constructing a Green Public Sphere in China.” Asian Studies Review 35(4): 477–497.
Sims, Holly. 1999. “One-Fifth of the Sky: China’s Environmental Stewardship.” World Development 27(7): 1227–1245.
Stalley, Phillip. 2009. “Can Trade Green China? Participation in the Global Economy and the Environmental Performance of Chinese Firms.” Journal of Contemporary China 18(61): 567–590.
Stalley, Phillip. 2010. Foriegn Firms, Investment, and Environmental Regulation in the People’s Republic of China. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Yang, Guobin and Calhoun, Craig. 2007. Media, Civil Society, and the Rise of a Green Public Sphere in China. China Information 21(2): 211–236.
Zhang, Kun-min and Zong-guo Wen. 2008. “Review and Challenges of Policies of Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development in China.” Journal of Environmental Management 88(4): 1249–1261.
Editor information
Copyright information
© 2013 Bingqiang Ren and Huisheng Shou
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Ren, B., Shou, H. (2013). Introduction: Dynamics, Challenges, and Opportunities in Making a Green China. In: Ren, B., Shou, H. (eds) Chinese Environmental Governance. Environmental Politics and Theory. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137343680_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137343680_1
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-46853-9
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-34368-0
eBook Packages: Palgrave Political & Intern. Studies CollectionPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)