Abstract
Chang I-C. C., Leitner H. and Sheppard E. A green leap forward? Eco-state restructuring and the Tianjin–Binhai eco-city model. Regional Studies. China has experienced a remarkable explosion of designated eco-cities since the year 2000, with Tianjin–Binhai becoming the best-practice model. Embedded in broader political economic changes, shifting multi-scalar regimes of environmental governance have shaped this efflorescence. Applying eco-state restructuring, this paper argues that eco-city construction became a new strategic project after the 2000s, driven by central state-driven model cities and assessment initiatives. This also led to a very different kind of ‘best practice’ eco-city model: Tianjin–Binhai, a China–Singapore collaboration in which greenness is manufactured rather than adapted. Notwithstanding significant implementation problems, Tianjin–Binhai's status as best practice persists, raising questions about what it means to claim eco-city status.
Highlights
With 230 ecological and 133 low-carbon cities, China presents itself as the global leader in ecological urbanization
When local actions are seen as insufficiently coordinated, the central state reasserts control over the parameters that lower tiers of the government should comply with (ZHOU et al, 2012), as in the development of ecocity-related indicator systems and model cities to align local initiatives with central-state environmental governance priorities
With respect to overall environmental governance goals, HE et al (2012, pp. 34–35) identify four challenges: The rapid rate of economic growth, the ongoing greater influence that economic policy institutions assert over environmental policy institutions, the downscaling of political autonomy and the political weakness of civil society
Summary
ISSN: 0034-3404 (Print) 1360-0591 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/cres. Eco-State Restructuring and the Tianjin–Binhai Eco-City Model. To cite this article: I-Chun Catherine Chang, Helga Leitner & Eric Sheppard (2016): A Green Leap Forward?
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