Effectiveness of Chinese Regulatory Planning in Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change: Comparative Analysis Based on Q Methodology

Abstract

With cities considered the main source of carbon emissions, urban planning could mitigate and help adapt to climate change, given the allocation and regulation of public policies of urban spatial resources. China’s regulatory planning remains the basis for building permission in the original urban and rural planning, and the new territorial spatial planning systems, determining the quality of urban plan implementation. Comprehensive regulatory plans effectively reduce carbon emissions. This study employs Q methodology to compare and analyze urban planners’ and practitioners’ perceptions of China’s regulatory planning in climate change mitigation and adaptation. The findings show that while regulatory planning is key, potential deficiencies include the gaps between regulatory from master plans, capacity shortages of designations and indicators, and unequal rights and responsibilities of local governments. However, mandatory indicators in regulatory planning, especially “greening rate,” “building density,” “land use type,” and “application of renewable energy technologies to the development of municipal infrastructure” could effectively mitigate climate change. “Greening rate” is the core indicator in regulatory planning since it provides empirical evidence for the “green space effect”. This study indicates that local customization of combined regulation of greening rate and green spaces could help mitigate and help China adapt to climate change.

Synergistic control of air pollution and heat waves in the urban built environment: Challenges and opportunities

“…Territorial spatial planning is policy-oriented and mandatory, and it is the basic basis for all kinds of urban development and protection construction activities. 35 In 2022, several cities in China unveiled the first draft of the Territorial Spatial Master Plan, signalling a gradual replacement of the urban and rural planning system with a territorial spatial planning system. This undertaking has brought about a significant transformation in the planning system, planning object content and implementation approach.…”

In-situ noise attenuation effect of urban vegetation landscaping in typical residential communities along the elevated Metro overpass

“…The greening rate is the significant indicator in urban design appliable for multiple scales, since it provides quantitative evidence for the green space effect (Yin et al, 2021). Sites with higher green rates can effectively improve the urban microclimate conditions (ZöLch et al, 2016).…”

A Critical Analysis of the Challenges of Collaborative Governance in Climate Change Adaptation Policies in Bandar Lampung City, Indonesia

“…It is widely accepted that, as a novel model of governance and public policy implementation, collaborative governance has the potential to generate innovative problem solving with the consent of the collaborators and may even be able to generate value and practical innovation in the area of public service quality improvement [1,2]. China, for example, has implemented a greening rate policy and established green spaces to aid in climate change adaptation [3]. It is not a stretch to state that this model later becomes the go-to option for a wide range of policies in many countries and regions, including the climate change adaptation policy in Bandar Lampung City, Indonesia.…”