Category Archives: Media

“Smarter Than Car”

“ Smarter Than Car ” is an organization founded in 2007 to promote urban mobility by using bicycles.

Source: CyclingAtlas, October 17, 2012. Youtube

Silently flowing through the streets and lanes of China’s cities, an ephemeral army of cyclists pedal their bicycles and tricycles to earn a living.

These men and women work hard, moving heavy loads in all kinds of weather conditions to make deliveries, sell products and services, find and collect recyclables, move furniture and other goods, and clean up the streets. They are the survivors of the fast-eroding Kingdom of the Bicycle.

The fact that motor vehicles were hard to come by before the economic reforms meant that cycle power prevailed in China. Cycling was used for many functions and jobs that otherwise would have been motorized. However, the use of pedal power for jobs was largely confined to official functions since labor controls were strict and even street vendors and other informal workers had a hard time avoiding sanctions. In terms of bicycle ownership, up to the mid-1970s most Chinese were not earning enough to purchase a bicycle, even when there were bikes available.

The Golden Age of cycling in China was the 1980s. Economic and market reforms had greatly improved the purchasing power of the average Chinese and industrial modernization allowed production to boom. However, Chinese were not wealthy enough to afford cars or other motorized transport and so the bicycle was the most popular vehicle. This was when individual and private use of bicycles floured along with cycling for livelihoods and trades. Foreigners reported extensively on the “floods” of cyclists in Chinese cities in the 1980s.

Despite the significant decline in bicycle ridership in China since the 1980s, bicycles are still ubiquitous in cities. While bicycles are primarily used for commuting, shopping and other utilitarian purposes, there are also a bewildering variety of cycle-based livelihoods and trades that have survived, many of which make use of customized tricycles. Cycling for leisure, health, sport and entertainment is increasing rapidly. But the question remains as to whether the cycling livelihoods of China can survive the changes in bicycle culture, urban fabric, technology and cost of living.

Interview with Liman Zhao, founder of Smarter Than Car.

Jacqueline Nivard

Jacqueline Nivard, Centre d'études sur la Chine moderne et contemporaine

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Two wheels good, four wheels bad?

Source: D J Clark & Zhang Yuchen ( chinadaily.com.cn), 2012-10-10

An estimate from the city government in 2009 suggested that the number of bicycles in Beijing was around 13 million. But over the past 15 years the number of those bicycles being used for journeys on the streets of Beijing has dropped by more than half. In contrast, the number of cars on Beijing’s streets has increased fivefold in the same period, adding an additional 4 million vehicles to the city’s 1,400 km of roads. In this video, China Dailyreporter Zhang Yuchen goes out into the streets on a bike to find out what challenges the local government faces in getting more people back on to their bikes.

Watch the video

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Jacqueline Nivard

Jacqueline Nivard, Centre d'études sur la Chine moderne et contemporaine

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Second hand cars in China


Source:FinancialTimesVideos, 2012, May 3.

At the moment, China’s car buyers usually purchase new vehicles, but a market for used cars is starting to develop. The FT’s Patti Waldmeir visits a luxury second hand car market to investigate.

Jacqueline Nivard

Jacqueline Nivard, Centre d'études sur la Chine moderne et contemporaine

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Should China revisit the 1994 fiscal reforms?

  • Speaker: Dr Ehtisham Ahmad
  • Chair: Professor Athar Hussain

Recorded on 9 June 2011 in Thai Theatre, New Academic Building.

Does China need to conduct another “fundamental rethink” of the fiscal system as in 1993/4? The 1994 reforms have served the country well, but are inadequate in relation to the needs of local governments, and the stage of development that China now finds itself at. In particular, spending assignments that were not addressed in 1994 need to be tackled, along with own-source revenues to lead to greater sub-national responsibility and accountability, as well as levels of investment needed to maintain sustainable employment opportunities. A comprehensive reform is suggested, including revisiting tax and spending assignments, furthering domestic resource mobilization, as well as a redesign of transfers, budget systems, and development of local and municipal financing mechanisms.

Listen the conference on LSE website

Jacqueline Nivard

Jacqueline Nivard, Centre d'études sur la Chine moderne et contemporaine

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Is a green economy possible? The growth dilemma of China

SEI Senior Research Fellow Karl Hallding presents “Is a Green Economy Possible? The Growth Dilemma of China” at the Sida-hosted Development Talks on 17 September 2012.
The Development Talks Green Economy meeting was held with international top scientists and practitioners from WRI, UNEP, UNDP, IIED, SEI, EfD, World Bank and many more to discuss Inclusive Green Growth, next steps and implications for Global Development and Development Cooperation after the Rio Summit 2012.
Credit: Sida Length: 19:16 Source : Stockholm Environment Institute

Jacqueline Nivard

Jacqueline Nivard, Centre d'études sur la Chine moderne et contemporaine

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China’s carbon emission trading

Publication of China’s carbon emission trading: an overview of current development, by SEI’s Guoyi Han, Marie Olsson and Karl Hallding, and David Lunsford, founder of the Hong Kong-based consultancy Energy Environment Solutions. The key question raised in the report is: can carbon trading succeed without a mature free-market economy ?

Karl Hallding, member of the scientific committee of UrbaChina,  heads Stockholm Environment Institute’s China Cluster and has extensive experience from international co-operation with China on environment and sustainable development since the mid 1980s.

Jacqueline Nivard

Jacqueline Nivard, Centre d'études sur la Chine moderne et contemporaine

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Hospitality to ghosts, in China and elsewhere; the problem of being human

26 May 2010, 2p.m.-4p.m.

Stephan Feutchwang (London School of Economics), Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity, Göttingen Institute Colloquium and member of UrbaChina. His current research interests include re-introducing the long term in a comparative approach to civilisations defined as spreads and mixtures with many centres, not as cultures that clash.

Video on  Vimeo.

Jacqueline Nivard

Jacqueline Nivard, Centre d'études sur la Chine moderne et contemporaine

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Interview with Prof. Ma Zhong

Interview with Pacific Leadership Fellow, Dean and Professor at the School of Environment and Natural Resources, Renmin University, People’s Republic of China, Ma Zhong. The interview took place on November 29, 2011 at the Center of Emerging and Pacific Economies (EmPac) and was conducted by IR/PS Assistant Professor of Environmental Economics, Junjie Zhang.

Prof. Ma Zhong’s institution “the School of Environnement and Natural Resources at Renmin University  is a member of the UrbaChina project. Prof. Ma Zhong’s team, together with Chinese fellows from AAESR (Anhui Academy of Environmental Science Research ) and  European colleagues from ICS (Instituto de Ciencias Sociais) and ISIS (Istituto di Studi per l’Integrazione dei Sistemi), explore the sustainability dimension of urban infrastructures and service requirements, focusing on the topics of environment and health.

Source: Vimeo,  Ma Zhong, Interview,  November 29, 2011, Center of Emerging and Pacific Economies (EmPac). Interview conducted by IR/PS Assistant Professor of Environmental Economics, Junjie Zhang.

Sebastien Goulard

Ph.D. in political science (EHESS, Paris); M.A. in social sciences (EHESS, Paris); M.A. in international relations (IRIS, Paris), B.A. (Hons) in international political studies (ESE - Nottingham Trent University)

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