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Abstract
Due to rapid urbanization, industrialization and motorization, a large number of Chinese cities are affected by heavy air pollution. In order to explore progress, remaining challenges, and sustainability of air pollution control in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region after 2013, a mixed method analysis was undertaken. The quantitative analysis comprised an overview of air quality management in the BTH region. Semi-structured expert interviews were conducted with 12 stakeholders from various levels of government and research institutions who played substantial roles either in decision-making or in research and advising on air pollution control in the BTH region. The results indicated that with the stringent air pollution control policies, the air quality in BTH meets the targets of the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan. However, improvements vary across the region and for different pollutants. Although implementation has been decisive and was at least in parts effectively enforced, significant challenges remained with regard to industrial and traffic emission control, and national air quality limits continued to be significantly exceeded and competing development interests remained mainly unsolved. There were also concerns about the sustainability of the current air pollution control measures especially for industries due to the top-down enforcement, and the associated large burden of social cost including unemployment and social inequity resulting industrial restructuring. Better mechanisms for ensuring cross-sectoral coordination and for improved central-local government communication were suggested. Further suggestions were provided to improve the conceptual design and effective implementation of respective air pollution control strategies in BTH. Our study highlights some of the major hurdles that need to be addressed to succeed with a comprehensive air pollution control management for the Chinese mega-urban agglomerations.
Highlights
Air pollution in China is a major concern and it is causing a large public health burden and serious economic losses
The aims of this study are to provide a better understanding of the obstacles, problems and risks of the air quality control plan in the BTH region, and to make suggestions on what can be further improved in the near future to make air pollution control strategies more effective and sustainable in China
In the first stage we identified four major themes: (1) the interviewees’ interpretation on the air pollution control process; (2) industrial emission control; (3) traffic emission control and (4) air pollution control collaboration
Summary
Air pollution in China is a major concern and it is causing a large public health burden and serious economic losses. According to a recent report, exposure to ambient air pollution has contributed to a death toll exceeding 1.6 million in mainland China, with a total economic loss equivalent to 10.9% of GDP in 2013 [1]. Since 2013, fine particulate matter (PM2.5 , particulate matter with a mean aerodynamic diameter of 2.5 μm or less) exposure has become the fifth leading cause of death in China, and some. 2013 (totalling around 3 weeks with hazardous pollution levels in December 2012 and January 2013, covering up to one quarter of China’s land area and affecting up to 600 million people) drew mounting attention internationally, and from the Chinese public [4]. The Chinese government launched a series of ambitious laws and policies to prevent the further deterioration of air quality, and intended to initialise an “improvement phase” in air pollution control in China [5].
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