Green industry development and urban sustainability transitions in China's latecomer cities: The case of Dezhou

Gibbs, David; Yu, Zhen

Abstract

Under the discourse of sustainability transitions, cities that lag in industrialization and urbanization face the dual challenge of economic development and decarbonization. Developing green industries has offered an ideal pathway for latecomer cities as it could bring both economic benefits and environmental wellbeing through local production and consumption of green innovations. Latecomer cities also enjoy several latecomer advantages with the opening of green windows of opportunity. The interest alignment between active green entrepreneurs and motivated local government has resulted in dozens of successful green industry development stories in China’s latecomer cities, accompanied by certain urban regime changes in many cases. However, green industry development is subject to changes in the external landscape, entrepreneurs’ strategies, and local supporting environments, leading to diverse development outcomes. To what extent and how green industry development can influence urban sustainability transitions remains an underexplored issue. Using the rise and fall of the solar water heater industry in Dezhou as a case, this chapter revisits the role of green entrepreneurs and local governments in green industry development and discusses the dynamic relationship between green industry development and urban sustainability transitions in China’s context.

Citation

Gibbs, D., & Yu, Z. (2023). Green industry development and urban sustainability transitions in China's latecomer cities: The case of Dezhou. In F. Zhang, & F. Wu (Eds.), Handbook on China's Urban Environmental Governance (355-368). Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781803922041.00032

• Online Publication Date: Dec 14, 2023
• Publication Date: Nov 24, 2023
• Deposit Date: Jan 23, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: May 25, 2024
• Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
• Pages: 355-368
• Series Title: Handbooks of Research on Contemporary China
• Book Title: Handbook on China's Urban Environmental Governance
• Chapter Number: 22
• ISBN: 9781803922034
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4337/9781803922041.00032
• Keywords: Green industry; Urban sustainability transitions; Latecomer cities; Interest alignment
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4523162
• Contract Date: May 16, 2023