Transitioning beyond the Economic-environmental Trade-off in the City of Hangzhou

Abstract

This research uses the concept of to develop further the field of urban transformation and sustainability. Empirically, we document and conceptualize the experience of a Chinese industrialized city, Hangzhou, in overcoming the economic-ecological trade-off common in declining urban environments. We analyze Hangzhou's large-scale green initiative by examining the political, entrepreneurial and environmental rationale behind the initiative, the distinctive organizational capability that enables its implementation, and the initiative's economic and ecological impact on the city. We propose and elaborate the concept of ambidexterity in the making and two sets of enabling mechanisms to explain how such a unique capability is formed and functions to afford an urban government to actualize its green aspirations into an ecological reality, while simultaneously fostering entrepreneurialism and further economic development.