Eco-transformation of industrial parks in China

Abstract

During the past three decades, China has achieved impressive economic development. However, the pollution and resource depletion that accompanied China's rapid industrialization have led to severe environmental issues, such as ecosystem degradation, groundwater contamination and smog, which have turned into visible crises. In China, industrial parks were initiated in the 1980s, aiming to attract foreign investment and to increase export. Most of these were manufacturing bases which lacked environmental planning or management. In these early stages, these parks were mainly dominated by manufacturing companies who process materials into products with low added-value. Local authorities sought sheer GDP growth without considering energy efficiency or environmental cost. While these industrial parks have immensely contributed to China's GDP, the scale, intensity and arrangement of these industrial activities have jeopardized the ecological security and health of local communities. It is therefore imperative to transform China's industrial parks and apply the principles of eco-industrial parks (EIPs). This thesis aims to improve the understanding of the features of an EIP system and its mechanisms, in order to provide tailored policy intervention. Our central research question has been: How can industrial parks be eco-transformed in China? To answer this central research question, we have addressed a set of sub questions that have guided our theoretical and empirical research. These include: 1) How has the research on EIP evolved? 2) What elements are required to frame the analysis of EIP? 3) How can the key activities that influence changes of EIP system be structured? How can the process of the system development be tracked over time? 4) What policy instruments can stimulate the emergence of viable EIPs in China? How can the effects of policy instruments be evaluated? 5) What is the future of mature EIPs? We first create a systemic and quantitative image of the evolution of this research field through bibliometric and network analysis. Furthermore, an analytical framework is established by the theoretical synthesis of EIP's features from system and evolutionary perspectives, and the frameworks of institutional analysis. The framework allows analysts to structure empirical research and systematically analyze an EIP's development, aiming at generating insights to diagnose current EIP policies or make new ones. Moreover, we conduct empirical research in three Chinese EIPs: Tianjin Economic-technological Development Area, Dalian Development Area, and Suzhou Industrial Park. We adopt several methods to evaluate the system performance steered by different policy instruments, which provides insights of the cause-and-effect mechanisms of EIP development. We believe that the lessons learned from these cases can demonstrate a profile of China's EIP development.