Green and low-carbon-oriented urban redevelopment: the transformation of urban governance in China

Given the central government of China’s greater attention on the concept of green development and the construction of ecological civilization in recent years, the redevelopment of existing neighbourhoods in inner-city areas has undergone a significant transformation to accommodate to these national strategies, promoting green and low-carbon and eventually achieving the policy goal of ‘Common Prosperity’. However, by reviewing the existing government documents, initiatives and policies on green and low-carbon-oriented urban (re)development, this chapter finds that the current version of green and low-carbon-oriented urban (re)development is inadequate, as it has continued to be blind to the socioeconomic, spatial and environmental disparities between different cities and between different communities within a city and ignored the situations of the marginalized population. The chapter therefore argues that the conventional governance mechanism would be a stumbling block that impedes cities to solve poor environmental conditions and socioeconomic polarization, and green and low-carbon-oriented urban (re)development involves institutional and governance reform in China. The chapter suggests that in their pursuit of green and low-carbon-oriented urban (re)development, governments at different levels need to reconstitute the mode of governance and refine the development values.