Tag Archives: sustainable cities

European and Asian sustainable towns

Gaborit

Pascaline Gaborit (ed.) (2014). European and Asian sustainable towns, new towns and satellite cities in their metropolises. Bruxelles: Peter Lang.

In the face of growing needs and problems around urbanization, the sustainable development of cities does not lie only in technology, research and innovation. Sustainable local development also results from a combination of different elements related to the development of social cohesion, the local economy, the environment and culture; also, crucially, it depends on the autonomy of local authorities and the adoption of the most appropriate system of governance. In addition, the urgent need to create better and more liveable cities is now inextricably linked with the integration of environmental principles, in order to prevent the waste of resources and mitigate climate change by restricting CO2 emissions. Within this framework, new strategies have been implemented for the development of ‘New Towns’ or satellite cities.

This publication gathers together contributions from different experts involved in the EAST (Euro Asia Sustainable Towns) project. The contributors originate from India, China, Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, the United States and France, and come from a variety of different backgrounds, including academic researchers, urban planners, architects, political scientists and practitioners.

This book can be ordered through Peter Lang’s website.

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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Green apartments in Nanjing, China

Hu, Hong, Stan Geertman and Pieter Hooimeijer. (2014) Green apartments in Nanjing China: do developers and planners understand the valuation by residents? Housing Studies, 29 (1), 26-43. DOI:10.1080/02673037.2014.848268

The Chinese government promotes green construction as part of the strategy to reduce energy consumption. In practice, green construction can be impeded because various stakeholders valuate green attributes in different ways. This paper uses the analytic hierarchy process to analyse the extent to which developers and planners understand the valuation of green apartment attributes by residents in Nanjing. Results show that buyers of green apartments rank green attributes lower than safety and accessibility, and rank healthy construction materials and comfort much higher than thermal isolation or reduced energy costs. Green developers tend to focus on aspects that define their margin, such as green attributes and locational benefits and overlook the social needs, which are not addressed in building codes and not under their control. They have better understanding of green residents’ priorities with health issues; planners are more familiar with the social needs of residents and lack green marketing knowledge.

Read full text on Taylor&Francis Online (restricted access)

Hu, Hong, Stan Geertman and Pieter Hooimeijer. (2014) The willingness to pay for green apartments: The case of Nanjing, China. Urban Studies. Prepublished January, 7, 2014. DOI: 10.1177/0042098013516686

Faced with the challenge of developing sustainable cities, the Chinese government sets green construction as part of the national strategy to reduce energy consumption. However, the consumer market has shown limited response to such policies. To upscale green building, it is crucial to understand the market demands for green apartments. This article employs a conjoint model to estimate the willingness to pay for green dwellings versus accessibility to metros and jobs and neighbourhood quality by different socio-economic groups in Nanjing, China. Results show that the socio-economic status of homebuyers determines their willingness to pay for green attributes. Only the rich are prepared to pay for green apartments to improve their living comfort. To all, the notion of health is appealing as consumers are willing to pay for an unpolluted environment and for non-toxic construction materials used in buildings in good locations.

Read full text on SAGE Journals Online (restricted access)

Monique Abud

Centre d'études sur la Chine moderne et contemporaine, EHESS, Paris, France

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1st OpenChina-ICT thematic workshop on smart and sustainable cities

The OpenChina-ICT project is very pleased to announce that its first thematic workshop on smart and sustainable cities will be held on May 31, 2013 in Foshan, P.R. China. This event will be organised as a side event of the urbanization workshop co-organised by the JPI Urban Europe and the China Centre for Urban Development on May 30-31, 2013.

The main aim of this event is to bring together policy and main research stakeholders from Europe and China specialized in the smart and sustainable cities topic to foster research collaboration between the two regions and to encourage the emergence of concrete projects. The outcomes will be used to produce a “EU-China Cooperation Plan” presenting the potential for collaboration in ICT research between Europe and China, including a set of recommendations to policy makers on how to better foster collaboration in the future.

An audience of 50 to 70 participants is targeted. The workshop will include a plenary session to give an overview of the status and perspectives of smart and sustainable cities research collaboration between Europe and China, and parallel thematic sessions during which working groups will strive to thoroughly discuss sub-themes and identify short-term cooperation projects.

Location

  • Foshan, Guangdong province, P.R. China

Date

  • May 30-31, 2013

Organization

Website

Contact

 

Monique Abud

Centre d'études sur la Chine moderne et contemporaine, EHESS, Paris, France

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