Transforming Urban Green Space Governance in China Under Ecological Civilization: An Institutional Analysis

This book addresses the transdisciplinary subject of urban green space governance in Chinese cities through political sciences, organization theory, sociology, and new institutional economics lenses, with urban planning and ecology perspectives as research foundation and the science of climate change on health and wellbeing research background. It captivates readers by bringing answers to: 1) Why are urban green spaces such a highly contested subject in climate mitigation and adaptation, particularly in contexts like Chinese cities? 2) Why is it important to govern urban green spaces as common-pool resources? 3) How to design policies/institutions that can maximize the end objectives such as good health, wellbeing, and climate resilience? 4) What can ordinary citizens gain from caring more about greening their cities and contributing to the process? Besides, the methods used in this research-case-based study - qualitative in-depth interviews and qualitative content analysis using the mainstream qualitative data analysis software MaxQDA, are valuable learning sources, especially for junior graduate students. The book features three in-depth case studies with rich interview and illustration materials and a range of graphics of higher analytical quality. Readers both from research professionals to non-academics with a general cultural interest in geography would find this work instructive and informative.

Jieling Liu holds a Ph.D. in Climate Change and Sustainable Development Policies from the University of Lisbon. Her research interests include nature-based solutions, climate finance, urban health and governance, carbon markets and policies, institutional solutions on common-pool resources and more broadly, institutional change. Once a visiting scholar to the Ostrom Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis (founded by Nobel Economics Laureate Professor Elinor Ostrom), Dr Liu is expert on the subject of sustainable governance of common-pool resources, of which urban green spaces shares highly similar features. Dr Liu also has 8 years of experience in consulting, capacity-building, and policy research for large international research and development financial institutions. Dr Liu also has an academic background in Political Sciences, Journalism, and renewable energies. She is skilled at intercultural communication and sustainability advocacy and commits to accelerating sustainability solutions and collaborations globally.

Franz W. Gatzweiler is a professor at the Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and executive director of the International Council for Science's global program on "Urban Health and Wellbeing: a Systems Approach." He studied agricultural economics at the University of Bonn and the Humboldt University of Berlin in Germany. His doctorate research (summa cum laude) was on the "Nature of Economic Value and the Value of Nature." Now, his interests focus on the science of complex systems, urban, and planetary health. He received stipends and research grants from various German and international research foundations. In 2015, he earned a habilitation (fakultas docendi) for independent teaching and research in the field of resource economics from the Humboldt University of Berlin. Before joining the Chinese Academy of Sciences in October 2014, he wasa senior researcher at the Center of Development Research (ZEF), University of Bonn in Germany.