Abstract
AbstractChina had accredited 320 Eco‐Communities and 72 Model Cities by 2009. This paper uses these ‘sustainable places’ and their neighbors to examine spatial variations in sustainability performance and possible causes of such variations. Data were collected through personal interviews of 186 provincial and local environmental officials and researchers, in addition to review of governmental publications. This paper finds a regional divide in sustainability performance between China's Eco‐Provinces and other provinces and between ‘sustainable places’ and other communities. Geography, governance and income are important in understanding the divide. The conventional wisdom following the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) is inadequate for understanding the regional divide in sustainability performance. Sustainability studies need to be expanded to pay more attention to geography and governance, not just income. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.
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