Towards Developing a New Model for Inclusive Cities in China—The Case of Xiong’an New Area

Abstract

Along with unprecedented urbanization in the last few decades, cities have experienced rapid social and economic transformation in China. A major challenge facing urban authorities in the immediate future is how to plan and govern cities such that they can serve as inclusive systems where everyone is enabled and empowered to fully participate in and contribute to socioeconomic life. A first step towards realizing this is to conceptualize an integrated framework that allows analysts and decision-makers to delineate, evaluate, and guide the development of these cities towards inclusiveness. In this study, we conducted a conceptual analysis of urban inclusiveness and then proposed a multidimensional framework for the evaluation of inclusive development. This is followed by the presentation of the case of Xiong’an, for which inclusive development indicators (IDIs) were selected. By comparing the state before the establishment of Xiong’an with its current development progress, and analyzing the area’s management structure and policy measures, the inclusive development challenges are identified. Subsequently, suggestions are given on how to direct Xiong’an toward higher levels of inclusiveness, including offering equal access to public services and employment opportunities, preserving environmental health and sustainable use of natural resources through waste recycling, and encouraging public participation in decision-making to bring higher levels of inclusion within reach.

Match Circular Economy and Urban Sustainability: Re-investigating Circular Economy Under Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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“…In recent years, the inclusive city as a concept has increasingly shifted to the centre of the academic debate and insights and conceptualizations for inclusive growth, inclusive urban design, evaluation of urban inclusiveness and policy frameworks covering a host of aspects of inclusive urban development have emerged. Some authors have made dedicated efforts to establish conceptual frameworks of inclusive urban development by means of quantitative approaches and mathematical models (Ianchovichina and Lundström 2009;Martinelli et al 2015;Dyer et al 2017); others have placed particular emphasis on different areas within the broader field of sustainable urban development, such as inclusive economic growth, spatial accessibility, cultural diversity and social cohesion (Dempsey et al 2011;Ding et al 2015;De Vita and Oppido 2016;Gupta and Vegelin 2016); yet another group has focused on policy outcomes and policy impacts from the perspective of public policy and policy analysis (Bunnell 2019;Liu and De, Li F等 2020). In addition, inclusion has aroused growing interest in combination with smart city development, since technological innovation in the urban environment which excludes large segments of society can be seen as a moral liability.…”