Low carbon eco-city: New approach for Chinese urbanisation

• China is under the great pressures in the environment and natural resources in its urbanisation.
• China is meeting these challenges by adopting the concept of the low carbon eco-city.
• The concept of low carbon eco-city was widely accepted but with different meanings to the idea.
• This paper critically analyses the Chinese low carbon eco-city development, viewing it as a process.

Chinese urbanisation is occurring rapidly but faces great challenges due to its large population, the continuing level of rural–urban migration, the shortage of resources to support the present development and the urbanisation model. One result is that China is the world's largest carbon emitter. The application of low carbon eco-city development should be contribute to the solution in addressing these challenges. This paper attempts to explore the low carbon eco-city initiatives in China. By analysing critically the problems which impact upon such an environmentally friendly development model, including government policy, social value and delivery mechanisms, this paper suggests that despite problems in implementing such a model, the low carbon eco-city model must be the mainstream approach to Chinese urbanisation and industrialisation.