ABSTRACT
This chapter is the general introduction of this book. It presents the main research question in this book: What is the nature and what are the causes of strategies applied by local governments during environmental conflicts concerning the planning, construction, and operation of industrial plants in urban China from 2007 to 2013? This book is potentially interesting for scholars of governance and environmental issues around the world as it provides insights into how environmental conflicts are governed in a Chinese context and into how the “China paradox” can be explained. This book is of methodological interest as well, as it provides ideas about how to employ three case study strategies in one book: single case study, comparative case study, and qualitative comparative analysis (QCA). Last but not least, this book is of relevance to decision makers in China. It offers answers about how environmental conflicts should be governed and the best practices for this.
