Green Urbanization Strategy and Pathways towards Regional Integrated Development: Accelerating China’s Green Urbanization Based on Ecological Civilization

The existing urbanization model—whether it is the economic activity carried out in the city or the city’s own organization—is largely a product of the traditional  industrial era. When the traditional development content and modes as the basis of urbanization shift towards a new paradigm of ecological civilization due to unsustainable problems, the corresponding urbanization model must also be redefined and transformed. In the future, the way in which the large agricultural population becomes urbanized and how to achieve green transformation for existing cities are huge strategic problems facing China. To this end, we must think outside the traditional industrial box and look into the ecological civilization framework. Ecological civilization-based green urbanization is the fundamental solution to address the unsustainable development of cities. If the concept of green urbanization under traditional industrialization thinking is more like “building parks in existing cities,” then green urbanization under ecological civilization thinking is like “building cities in (natural) parks.” Creating a prosperous economy without destroying and
making full use of the natural ecological environment means there will be profound changes to the concept and content of development, the organizational logic, and the implications of the regional economy. Starting from the reason why urbanization occurs, this report aims to reveal the internal mechanism behind urbanization, and propose a strategic idea and pathway toward reshaping China’s urbanization based on ecological civilization.

Task Force: Green Urbanization and Environment Improvement Topic: Urban, Infrastructure and Transportation Year: 2020 Phase: Phase VI (2017-2022) Concluded