ABSTRACT
Local governments in China have long embraced the traditional model of development, which emphasizes economic growth without serious consideration for environmental protection. Many local governments—and especially municipal governments—have started to advocate for environmentally sustainable development as a means to a better quality of life, including in areas that are both affluent and poor, large and small. The developing area of political ecology theory stresses that environmental changes can be best explained through the study of actors’ power to access and control resources. Local government officials in China have extensive control in terms of establishing industrial subsidies and policies to decide how to use the local resources in their ruling areas for economic development. After decentralization in the 1980s, local governments enjoyed considerable autonomy and authority in handling their own local resources and affairs, with some even referring to the resulting situation as “Chinese style federalism”. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
