Table of Contents

Introduction 1

2 Theorizing sustainable urban transition 9

3 Research design and methodology 32

4 Eco-topia on the blueprint: normative and directive ends of eco and low-carbon new towns 52

5 “Stones of other hills may serve to polish the jade of this one (他山之石，可以攻玉)”: policy mobility and urban transition 66

6 Transitioning towards a low-carbon city: a case in Shenzhen 92

7 Two faces of an eco-city: sustainability transition of a newtown in Zhuhai 107

8 Transition dynamics in the eco and low-carbon new towns 125

9 Conclusion 135

About the Author

Yang Fu is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Public Management, College of Management, Shenzhen University. His research interests are sustainable urbanization and sustainable transition, eco and low-carbon cities, policy mobility, global urban initiatives and urban policies. His research has a transdisciplinary focus covering policies, urban planning and geography; and aims to map the sustainability transition pathways for China’s urbanization.

Xiaoling Zhang is currently the Professor at the Department of Public Policy, City University of Hong Kong. Her research focuses on sustainability science and resource management, and political economics of environmental studies and energy studies. She also works upon dynamics in sustainable urbanization and the eco-city.