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Abstract
In contrast to the common dismal view of China's environment, this article highlights local and national sustainability efforts in China and examines the location characteristics of China's Eco-Communities (Shengtai Qu), communities that achieved significant sustainability per the evaluation of the Chinese government. It explores what the Chinese experience implies to the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) concept in the context of nature–society relations and sustainability studies. The research was based on field research in eight Chinese provinces in 2001, 2004, and 2006, in addition to Chinese governmental and academic sources. At the national level, there appeared to be a positive environment–development relationship: The Eco-Communities tended to concentrate in more developed eastern China. The Eco-Communities displayed unique spatial patterns that are strikingly at odds with conventional wisdom, however. They were often found in the periphery of their provinces away from the wealthiest areas, poorer and smaller in economy and population compared to other communities in the provinces. Contrary to the EKC, the findings illustrate that communities can achieve environmental improvement along with economic growth, thus a win–win, nature–society relationship, at early stages of development. Natural resource endowments and environmental governance appear to be more important than development level in determining an area's sustainability. Environment–development research should move beyond the traditional EKC debate to better understand nature–society relations and sustainability.
En contraste con la sombría perspectiva del medio ambiente dominante en China, este artículo resalta los esfuerzos locales y nacionales de sostenimiento en China y examina las características de la ubicación de las ecocomunidades de este país (Shengtai Qu), que han logrado un nivel sostenible significativo de acuerdo con la evaluación del gobierno chino. En él se explora lo que la experiencia china supone para el concepto de la curva ambiental de Kuznets (environmental Kuznets curve, EKC) en el contexto de las relaciones entre la naturaleza y la sociedad y los estudios sobre sostenimiento. La investigación se basó en la investigación de campo que se llevó a cabo en ocho provincias chinas en 2001, 2004 y 2006, y en fuentes gubernamentales y académicas chinas. En el ámbito nacional, aparentemente la relación entre medio ambiente y desarrollo es positiva. Las ecocomunidades tendieron a concentrarse en la más desarrollada región oriental de China, y exhibieron patrones espaciales únicos que, sin embargo, contrastan de manera sorprendente con la opinión convencional. Frecuentemente se encontraron en la periferia de sus provincias lejos de las áreas más acaudaladas; más pobres y de menor tamaño respecto a economía y población en comparación con otras comunidades de las provincias. Contrario a la EKC, los hallazgos ilustran que las comunidades pueden lograr mejoras ambientales junto con un crecimiento económico, y por lo tanto una relación entre la naturaleza y la sociedad mutuamente benéfica en las primeras etapas del desarrollo. La dotación de recursos naturales y la gestión ambiental parecen ser más importantes que el nivel de desarrollo en la determinación del sostenimiento del área. Las investigaciones sobre el medio ambiente y el desarrollo deben superar el debate tradicional de la EKC para entender mejor las relaciones entre naturaleza y sociedad y el sostenimiento.
Acknowledgments
This research was funded by a Development Award and a Research Grant from Southwestern Oklahoma State University in 2000–2001, two University Research Program Grants, five Professional Development Assistance Grants, and two College Research and Creative Assistance Awards from the University of Central Missouri in 2002–2007. The funding enabled me to collect reliable data through field surveys and interviews. I am especially grateful to officials and researchers at various environmental organizations in China for assistance with the data collection; to Clarissa Kimber, Kathy Rankin, and the four anonymous reviewers for thoughtful comments; to editor Karl Zimmerer for persistent encouragement and guidance; and to Keshav Bhattarai, Zane Price, and Mingwei Li for GIS and cartographic assistance.
Notes
aGDP per capita of ¥7,000 in 2001 was the dividing line for more-developed and less-developed regions.
aHigher than State Environmental Protection Administration standards.
1. For a more detailed review of the EKC, refer to CitationStern (2004) and CitationNahman and Antrobus (2005).
2. Field interviews indicate that China's environmental spending figures may have been inflated, as local governments do not always use environmental spending money directly on environmental protection. Japan and the United States spend 3.3 percent and 2.7 percent of their GDPs, respectively, according to the OECD (M. Liu 2006). The United States now spends roughly 2 percent of its GDP on environmental controls, according to the CitationEnvironmental Protection Agency (2003).