Research on Urbanization and Low-Carbon Development in China

Abstract

Urbanization, industrialization and modernization well complement one another. In light of economic development, urbanization meets the demands of industrial production for labor, infrastructure, industrial chain, and low cost transport. On the other hand, rising urban population would spark a number of social issues, including traffic jams, shortage in educational and medical resources, environment pollution, and especially climate change, which has triggered worldwide concern. As one of the world’s largest carbon emitters, China will bear the dual impact of accelerated urbanization and the obligation of vast emission reductions for a long time to come. This chapter centers on the challenges of low carbon development during urbanization, providing thorough diagnoses of the characteristics and interactions of urbanization and carbon emissions, exploring the way urbanization impacts carbon emissions, performing research on the regional differences of how urbanization affects carbon emissions, and the size and pattern of future Chinese cities, thus providing theoretical support to the urbanization strategies and policies for energy conservation and emissions reduction that accommodate low-carbon development.