Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book provides an overview of the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emission challenges facing China and the national and local policies and programs being used to address the issue of GHG emissions and control. It explores the low carbon city concept and its development in China. The book examines the relationship between urban form and GHG emission at a macro level. The focus is on comparison of cities with monocentric spatial structures and those with polycentric structures in terms of their emission production levels. It reports on some of the results from the household surveys from two of the case-study cities Wuhan and Xian with regard to what the respondents personally considered to be the best ways of creating more sustainable, low carbon cities.