How to move from conflict to opportunity in the not-in-my-backyard dilemma: A case study of the Asuwei waste incineration plant in Beijing

Abstract

Environmental Not-In-My-Backyard (NIMBY) conflicts pose significant challenges to environmental sustainability and governance capacity, particularly in transition economies like China. However, existing literature has largely overlooked the potential for transforming environmental NIMBY conflicts into opportunities, leaving a gap in our comprehension of the underlying mechanisms facilitating such transformations. Building upon the traditional conflict transformation theory, we develop a theoretical framework of Environmental NIMBY Conflict Transformation (ENCT) specifically tailored to environmental NIMBY conflicts. To validate and enrich ENCT empirically, we employ the theory-testing process tracing approach, utilizing the case study of the Asuwei waste incineration plant as a representative case of the successful transformation of an environmental NIMBY conflict. Our findings reveal that intricate environmental NIMBY conflicts are not inherently destructive, but rather, when approached with suitable strategies, they possess the potential to be transformed into opportunities. Furthermore, environmental NIMBY conflicts can undergo transformation through the underlying mechanisms of five main categories: actor transformation, structure transformation, mode transformation, issue transformation, and situation transformation. In addition, we further link the relationship between conflict and opportunity from ten subcategories. These insights are expected to encourage environmental regulators to adopt conflict-shifted perspectives when dealing with potential environmental justice movements, thereby improving the effectiveness of environmental governance.