Changing Cities: Climate, Youth, and Land Markets in Urban Areas
terms of rigidity and scope. Some large cities have pockets in the urban area under low-carbon development, whereas low-carbon goals in smaller cities typically reach into all areas in the jurisdiction. These differences preclude an overarching definition of a low-carbon city in China. Despite this lack of a standardized definition of what constitutes a low-carbon city, the majority of Chinese cities have set low-carbon goals. According to a study by the Chinese Society for Urban Studies (2011), among the 287 cities in China with municipality status, 276 have proposed low-carbon or ecocity goals. Of these, more than half have begun construction projects in an effort to fulfill these goals, while more than a quarter have specific plans for action in the near future (Yu 2011). According to China’s Twelfth Five-Year Plan, by 2015 the country will establish 100 model cities, 200 model counties, 1,000 model districts, and 10,000 model towns with a green and new energy theme to showcase its achievements in low-carbon development. The five cases selected for analysis in this paper represent some of the most widely discussed low-carbon development projects in China. The Shanghai Post-Expo Area
The Shanghai Post-Expo Area (SPEA) is located in metropolitan Shanghai, 6 kilometers (3.73 miles) south of People’s Square, the center of the city. SPEA covers a total land area of 6.68 square kilometers (2.58 square miles), containing residential, commercial, entertainment, and public zones. The Post-Expo Area was the site of the 2010 World Expo, which attracted 70 million visitors. Shanghai has taken the Expo’s theme of “Better City, Better Life” as a guiding principle for its urban planning since late 2000s. Low-carbon concepts, tools, technologies, and practices were a common thread among the Expo’s exhibitions, and the city is determined to use the Expo’s legacy to promote further reductions in carbon emissions in the local economy. SPEA is the city’s pilot area for the introduction of these low-carbon technologies. SPEA is oriented toward three major uses: conventions and exhibitions, a corporate headquarter zone, and ecotourism, the first two of which are viewed as opportunities to drive Shanghai’s strategic ascendance into the network of global cities. To that end, top-notch office buildings are being constructed in an effort to attract global capital investments. Its claim of carbon emission reductions materializes in the form of cutting-edge green | 28 |