Urban Mobility in China: Transporting China’s 1.3 Billion People

The world’s most populous country continues to develop at a breakneck pace, and even the recent economic slowdown hasn’t hampered the expansion of its extensive transportation infrastructure. Transportation, like much of China, has been completely changed over the past century, especially as China's urban population has exploded. With China's 1st and 2nd tier cities already congested, plagued by e…

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Sustainable Urbanization in China

While COP21 delegates are still on their way home from Paris, the work to develop China's practice of sustainable urbanization continues. In this interview we speak with LendLease China's Managing Director David Nieh to learn more about the need for sustainable cities in China, the challenges they face, and the lessons they can teach others. We hope you enjoy his insights, and feel free…

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China’s Food Waste Challenge

The impact from the sheer level of food waste in China is felt economically, environmentally, and politically: Economically, because farmers and consumers in effect pay for the waste as middlemen, processors, brands, and retailers are able to protect their margins more effectively. Environmentally, as, for every unit of food wasted, China’s precious water resources are wasted while at the…

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How Urbanization will Reframe the Next 25 Years of Sustainability

Sustainability in China has been a topic of many conversations for years now. It is a story that has been about smoggy skies and polluted skies, and as the challenges have grown, calls for a different model suitable to trends of urbanization have grown louder. It is a story that has gained more steam over the last several years as urban residents have become more numerous, grown wealthy, and a…

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Are Chinese Cities Heading for a Water Crisis?

Serious water crisis due to never-ending drought struck São Paulo and, consequently, the city faces a massive problem to quench its 20 million citizens’ thirst. Similar situations are affecting cities around the world, including many Chinese cities. For nearly half a century, the capacity and number of rivers in China have decreased significantly, with a 50% reduction due to the diversion of water…

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Air Pollution in China – Daily and Seasonal Vulnerability

Earlier this week a report by Greenpeace revealed that levels of PM2.5 within China now contribute to more premature deaths than smoking. Figures state PM2.5 accounts for an average of 90 deaths per 100000 people, 20 more than smoking which stands at 70 per 100000. The studied incorporated a review of 31 cities and highlighted the relative danger present in each area. It was noted that despite the…

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The World’s Largest Ever Migration

Over the last 30 years, China has gone through a period of unprecedented economic growth. Much of this economic development has occurred in cities and subsequently, vast waves of rural-urban migration have ensued. As a result, China’s urban population has doubled over the last decade and for the first time in 2011, the percentage of urban residents outweighed those living in rural areas. Such m…

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Have You Ever Wandered Lonely Through the Woods?

From Brandi Carlile “Have you ever”: have you ever wandered lonely through the wood? and everything it feels just as it should you’re part of the life there, part of something good if you’ve ever wandered lonely through the woods How many urban dwellers would say no, that they have never wandered through the woods, and what does that mean for increasing awareness of sustainability? T…

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China’s Eco-Cities Need to Do More than Win Awards

Last month while being interviewed for the New York Times piece China's City of the Future Rises on a Wasteland, I was asked about the importance of planning China's eco-cities... What should be the goal of an eco-city and why are they important to China? To me, this was perhaps one of the more important and interesting questions I have been asked on the topic, a topic I have been interviewe…

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Three Areas Where Social Entrepreneurs Should Focus in China

Following up from my post last week where I said "there is going to be a HUGE market for providing that capacity ", I was asked for a few examples of where I saw opportunities for products / services. 1) Urbanization and migrants With over 200+ cities with more than a million people, and a few hundred million expected to make a move to the city, this is one of the largest opportunities for…

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Urbanization in China Will (Naturally) Increase Per Capita Emission

There was a time where China could legitimately stand up and say that they were "cleaner" than everyone else, and use a per capita statistic to back that information up. Over the years though, it has grown tougher because the audience (1) began adjusting for the fact that China had hundreds of millions of farmers who had 0 footprints, and thus China was able to game the numbers a bit and (2) milli…

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The Future of Connected and Sustainable Cities

With dozens of cities in China urbanizing all at the same time, and at a pace matched at no time by anyone else, making sure cities are planned and built properly is a must. While the term "urban" can mean different things to different people, municipalities of all sizes are and always have been dynamic centers of activity. Cities offer jobs and prosperity, important social interaction, and…

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