Changing Cities: Climate, Youth, and Land Markets in Urban Areas
of its development strategy. According to Hangzhou’s Twelfth Five-Year Plan, the city’s comprehensive low-carbon plan comprises the economy, buildings, transportation, lifestyles, the environment, and society. This is what the city calls its “six-in-one” strategy, in which these six key elements of low-carbon development together create a multifaceted whole. Some of the elements of the six-in-one strategy are worth elaborating. The economic component of Hangzhou’s strategy is exemplified by its industrial park project, for which the city formed a partnership with a Singaporean cleantechnology company. The industrial park will be tailored to clean energy and renewable energy businesses, taking advantage of the clustering effect of low-carbon industries. Green transportation programs in Hangzhou are among the most advanced in the nation. Public transit is responsible for more than half of the total traffic volume. In 2008, the city introduced a public bicycle program covering most urban areas in its jurisdiction. The local government supplies some 50,000 bicycles, which are available at no or very low cost, depending on usage. The city now has 2,150 bicycle rental and return service points, which are used by an average of approximately 172,000 people per day (Hangzhou Municipal Government 2011). Another element in Hangzhou’s low-carbon development strategy is ecotourism. Hangzhou has historically been known as a city of natural beauty. Its most famous tourist attraction is West Lake, located in the center of the city. The vast number of tourists attracted to West Lake has made it difficult to conserve the lake. The government addressed this challenge by developing a number of other tourist attractions in order to absorb tourism demand and direct tourist flows away from the lake. These new attractions are scattered across the metropolitan area, and most make a feature of the city’s ecological integrity. This strategy is meant to ensure the sustainability of tourism in Hangzhou while providing more attractions for visitors. Similar to the case of Shanghai, Hangzhou’s low-carbon development encompasses a wide range of areas. The engagement of multiple sectors will likely further consolidate Hangzhou’s fame as the city of natural beauty in China. However, the policies’ effect on urban poverty is somewhat mixed. For example, one of the renewable energy programs, “Sunny Rooftop,” is limited to high-end, low-height residential units. Furthermore, the low-carbon plan has stepped up efforts to segregate poor neighborhoods, under the pretext of “functional specialization.” Specifically, the city has designated | 30 |