Urban sustainability experiments in China: plural approaches for transformation

Urban experiments are known to be critical for generating transformative changes toward sustainability. In China, while state-led projects draw the most attention, grassroots initiatives led by civil society are also emerging and increasingly playing a significant role in driving societal changes. In this chapter, we seek to examine the various sustainability experiments in Chinese cities in terms of their main approaches to realizing transformation. Drawing on existing literature, especially Scoones et al.’s (2020) incisive summary of three main approaches - structural, systemic and enabling - towards transformation, we reveal the plurality of approaches practiced by China’s sustainability initiatives. This is demonstrated by the structural approaches adopted by the eco-city programme, the systemic approaches applied in the sponge city programme, and the enabling approaches implemented by the community garden movement. As these approaches complement each other, we argue for combining structural, systemic and enabling approaches for transformative environmental governance in China.