Sustainable Cities in Asia

With Asia’s cities undergoing unprecedented growth in the 21st century, lauded the ‘urban century’ by many, Sustainable Cities in Asia provides a timely examination of the challenges facing cities across the continent including some of the projects, approaches and solutions that are currently being tested. This book uses numerous case studies, analysing topical issues ranging from city cycling in India, to green spaces in China, to the use of community-led energy generation projects in post-Fukushima Japan. Containing contributions from an international team of scholars, it also takes a multi-disciplinary approach and draws on examples from a wide range of countries, including China, India, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates. Ultimately, by providing a comprehensive discussion of the broader debates around the shape of sustainable urbanism, it demonstrates that Asia is one of the most active regions in terms of the development of sustainable city strategies. Tackling the contemporary issues of key importance for sustainability, such as property markets, migration and transport, this book will appeal to students and scholars of Urban Geography, Sustainability, Environmental Studies and Asian studies.

Preface, Simon Joss and Robert Cowley Introduction, Li Yu and Federico Caprotti SECTION I: THE SUSTAINABLE CITY IN ASIA 1. Unlocking urban trajectories: planning for environmentally just transitions in Asia, Caren Levy, Adriana Allen, Vanesa Castán Broto and Linda Westman 2. The story does not remain the same: multi-scalar perspectives on sustainable urban development in Asia and Hong Kong, Federico Cugurullo 3. Does the Asian property market work for sustainable urban developments?, Fatih Eren 4. Migration and urbanization in contemporary Asia: addressing urban inequalities and promoting social sustainability, Megha Amrith 5. Let’s Focus on connections: reading Chinese eco-cities from a relational, multi-scalar perspective, I-Chun Catherine Chang SECTION II: CHALLENGES AND REGIONAL PERSPECTIVES 6. Green as urban spectacle in China, Xuefei Ren 7. Property-led urban growth, institutional change and urban sustainability: the case of China in an international perspective, Yunqing Xu 8. The impacts of high-speed rail on Shanghai’s suburban communities: social sustainability and environmental justice, Shuping Zhang and Zhu Qian 9. The Kathputli Conundrum: slum redevelopment and the institutionalisation of unsustainability, Anubhav Pradhan 10. Sustainable cities in South Asian countries: a politico-cultural perspective, Dillip Kumar Das 11. Buying (into) sustainability: technocratic environmentalism in Abu Dhabi, Surajit Chakravarty 12. Songdo: the hype and decline of world’s first smart city, Seungho Yoo 13. Challenging the eco-city: residents’ perceptions of social sustainability in Tianjin Eco-City, China, Federico Caprotti and Ziyue Gong SECTION III: SHAPING THE SUSTAINABLE CITY IN ASIA 14. Sustainable community development in Taipei, Taiwan, Yung-Jaan Lee 15. Can mega events lead to sustainable urban development? The case of Beijing and Guangzhou, Yawei Chen and Lu Wang 16. A changing cultural narrative of citizenship, urbanism and cycling in Indian cities, Linda Carroli and Mirko Guaralda 17. A difficult birth: creating Seoul, the 21st century sustainable city, Sofia T. Shwayri 18. Changing approaches to community participation for social sustainability: neighbourhood planning in Singapore and Seoul, Im Sik Cho 19. Low carbon communities, energy policy and energy democracy in Japan, Thomas Feldhoff 20. Smart City strategies towards sustainable transformation of China’s industrial parks: the experience of Suzhou Industrial Park, Suzhou, China, Joon Sik Kim and Xiangyi Wang 21. ‘Sustainable’ urban habitats in Shanghai, Tyler Rooker 22. The transnational search of Chinese eco-city projects: historical legacies, authoritarian political operations, and socio-economic dynamics, Shiuh-Shen Chien 23. Urban transformation and city branding in the Greater Pearl River Delta, Martin de Jong, Yawei Chen, Miaoxi Zhao and Haiyan Lu

Federico Caprotti is Associate Professor in Human Geography at the University of Exeter. Li Yu is Reader in Planning at Cardiff University and Director of the UK–China Research Centre for Eco–Cities and Sustainable Development.