Evidence-informed urban health and sustainability governance in two Chinese cities.

Helen Pineo,Susan Michie,Catherine Willan,Melanie Crane,Michael Davies,Nici Zimmermann,Qiyong Liu,Joanna Hale,Yanlin Niu,Ke Zhou

doi:10.5334/bc.90

Abstract

Sustainable development is best supported by intersectoral policies informed by a range of evidence and knowledge types (e.g. scientific and lay). Given China’s rapid urbanisation, scale and global importance in climate mitigation, this study investigates how evidence is perceived and used to inform urban health and sustainability policies at central and local levels. Well-informed senior professionals in government/scientific agencies (12 in Beijing and 11 in Ningbo) were interviewed. A thematic analysis is presented using deductive and inductive coding. Government agency participants described formal remits and processes determining the scope and use of evidence by different tiers of government. Academic evidence was influential when commissioned by government departments. Public opinion and economic priorities were two factors that also influenced the use or weight of evidence in policymaking. This study shows that scientific evidence produced or commissioned by government was routinely used to inform urban health and sustainability policy. Extensive and routine data collection is regularly used to inform cyclical policy processes, which improves adaptive capacity. This study contributes to knowledge on the ‘cultures of evidence use’. Environmental governance can be further improved through increased data-sharing and use of diverse knowledge types.

Highlights

Rapid urbanisation in China has coincided with increasing global public awareness of the health impacts of environmental pollution, alongside growing attention to the climate crisis
An overview of the health and sustainability evidence and governance structure described by participants is followed by three themes regarding the role of government priorities, the public and barriers in evidence generation and use
4.1 ENVIRONMENT AND HEALTH EVIDENCE AND GOVERNANCE SYSTEM This section reports foundational information regarding participants’ descriptions of the overarching governance system for environmental health in China, the routes through which evidence informs governance and the types of evidence described by participants

Summary

Introduction

Rapid urbanisation in China has coincided with increasing global public awareness of the health impacts of environmental pollution, alongside growing attention to the climate crisis. Through Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11, cities are called upon to be ‘safe, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable’ through the provision of suitable housing and transport, whilst reducing environmental impacts and promoting community participation, among other targets (United Nations Economic and Social Council 2016). In this new urban focus, scholars have called attention to the complexity of the factors affecting sustainability and health in cities (Gatzweiler et al 2018) and the potential for policy instruments that support co-benefits for social, economic and environmental outcomes (Dora et al 2015). There is a body of work on how scientific evidence can be leveraged to support healthy, equitable and sustainable urban development policies

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Discussion

Conclusion