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Dr. Kevin Lo is Assistant Professor of Geography at Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU), Associate Director of David C. Lam Institute for East-West Studies (LEWI), and Distinguished Overseas Professor at the Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Kevin is a human geographer with expertise in the interdisciplinary fields of environmental studies, energy studies, development studies, urban studies, rural studies, regional studies, and China studies. He has won several major competitive grants from the Research Grants Council (RGC) of Hong Kong, including the Early Career Scheme (ECS) and the General Research Fund (GRF), and has published in many leading journals, including Global Environmental Change, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Energy Policy, Energy for Sustainable Development, Environmental Science & Policy, Cities, Habitat International, and Journal of Rural Studies. In 2017, he found the Journal of Asian Energy Studies, an international peer-reviewed journal dedicated to interdisciplinary research on all aspects of energy studies in Asia. In 2019, he established HEAVEN (Health, Environment and Vulnerability Exploration Network), a collective of world-leading researchers aiming to conduct transdisciplinary research on environmental health.
The optimization of rural land-use through land consolidation has become an indispensable part of reform in China, significantly impacting rural settlements and their residents. Given the growing social problems due to land consolidation, this study proposes a new land consolidation approach that involves helping rural residents relocate from small settlements to vacant properties in large settlements through a homestead exchange mechanism. We argue that this targeted approach can achieve land-use optimization, without the negative impacts of the conventional approach to land consolidation. To evaluate our idea empirically, we conducted a case study in Jilin Province. The simulation estimated that our approach could increase the effective amount of arable land by 1046.66 km2 and the average size of rural settlements by 51.9%, while decreasing the number of rural settlements by 44.6%. Therefore, our approach can achieve the objective of land-use optimization, despite the highly complex context and varying degrees of rural fragmentation and hollowing.
Jing Li; Kevin Lo; Pingyu Zhang; Meng Guo. Reclaiming small to fill large: A novel approach to rural residential land consolidation in China. Land Use Policy 2021, 109, 105706 .
AMA StyleJing Li, Kevin Lo, Pingyu Zhang, Meng Guo. Reclaiming small to fill large: A novel approach to rural residential land consolidation in China. Land Use Policy. 2021; 109 ():105706.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJing Li; Kevin Lo; Pingyu Zhang; Meng Guo. 2021. "Reclaiming small to fill large: A novel approach to rural residential land consolidation in China." Land Use Policy 109, no. : 105706.
This study examines how rural development in China shapes new trends in population migration. Using first-hand, village-level data from Zhejiang—an economically developed province in China—we investigated the patterns and influencing factors of population migration between rural and urban areas. We conceptualized three types of migration in rural areas: rural out-migration, rural in-migration, and rural return-migration. First-hand data were collected from 347 villages. The results show that although rural out-migration remains the dominant form of migration, rural in-migration and return-migration are also common, and the latter two are positively correlated. Further, we found evidence to support the conclusion that rural economic, social, and spatial development encourages rural in-migration and return-migration but does not have a significant impact on rural out-migration. Therefore, it is foreseeable that rural in-migration and return-migration will become increasingly common in China.
Weiming Tong; Kevin Lo. Back to the Countryside: Rural Development and the Spatial Patterns of Population Migration in Zhejiang, China. Agriculture 2021, 11, 788 .
AMA StyleWeiming Tong, Kevin Lo. Back to the Countryside: Rural Development and the Spatial Patterns of Population Migration in Zhejiang, China. Agriculture. 2021; 11 (8):788.
Chicago/Turabian StyleWeiming Tong; Kevin Lo. 2021. "Back to the Countryside: Rural Development and the Spatial Patterns of Population Migration in Zhejiang, China." Agriculture 11, no. 8: 788.
The cross-sectional study reveals an inverted-U relationship between housing prices and migrant integration. Migrant integration initially increases with housing price appreciation but starts to decrease as rising house prices pass a turning point. Various robustness and variation tests have been conducted to show that the inverted-U relationship is reliable.
Shangguang Yang; Danyang Wang; Kevin Lo. An inverted-U relationship between house prices and migrant integration. Cities 2021, 103375 .
AMA StyleShangguang Yang, Danyang Wang, Kevin Lo. An inverted-U relationship between house prices and migrant integration. Cities. 2021; ():103375.
Chicago/Turabian StyleShangguang Yang; Danyang Wang; Kevin Lo. 2021. "An inverted-U relationship between house prices and migrant integration." Cities , no. : 103375.
Understanding the dynamics of vegetation responses to climate change can provide important information for environmental management. The Qilian Mountain Nature Reserve in Northwest China, a high-altitude mountainous region that is of critical ecological importance, has been affected by drastic climate change. However, the response of vegetation to climate change in this area has not been established. This study aims to address three unanswered questions. First, what is the relative importance of temperature and precipitation change in driving regional vegetation change? Second, how does this vegetation–climate relationship manifest itself across different timescales (e.g., seasonal)? Third, what is the spatial heterogeneity of the vegetation–climate relationship? Based on MODIS data and daily meteorological data from 41 stations within and adjacent to the reserve, we used Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition (EEMD), Theil-Sen median trend analysis, the Mann-Kendall nonparametric test, and Pearson correlation analysis to study the evolution of temperature, precipitation, and the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). The key results are as follows: (1) during 1985–2019, the temperature in the reserve has increased by an average of 0.048 ℃/a, with the largest average annual increases occurring in spring (0.069 ℃) and summer (0.056 ℃); (2) during the same period, precipitation in the reserve increased by an average of 1.17 mm/a, with the largest annual increases occurring in autumn (0.669 mm) and summer (0.545 mm); (3) during 2001–2019, the NDVI increased by an average of 0.004/a; an average annual increase was experienced in all seasons, although the largest increase occurred in summer; (4) there is a statistically significant positive correlation (0.619) between the NDVI and temperature at the annual scale; (5) in contrast, the correlation between the NDVI and precipitation is weaker and not statistically significant (0.368), which indicates that temperature is the dominant factor affecting vegetation changes in the reserve; (6) there exist seasonal differences in the vegetation–climate relationship. The positive correlation between NDVI and temperature is strongest in spring whereas the positive correlation between NDVI and precipitation is strongest in summer; (7) the vegetation–climate relations demonstrate a degree of spatial heterogeneity driven by variability in climate factors and ecosystems. The value of this research is that it analyzes the response characteristics of vegetation to climate change using multiple methods and at multiple scales, providing a useful reference for understanding vegetation changes and their response to climate change in high-altitude mountain regions.
Xiang Gao; Xingxing Huang; Kevin Lo; Qianwen Dang; Ruiyang Wen. Vegetation responses to climate change in the Qilian Mountain Nature Reserve, Northwest China. Global Ecology and Conservation 2021, 28, e01698 .
AMA StyleXiang Gao, Xingxing Huang, Kevin Lo, Qianwen Dang, Ruiyang Wen. Vegetation responses to climate change in the Qilian Mountain Nature Reserve, Northwest China. Global Ecology and Conservation. 2021; 28 ():e01698.
Chicago/Turabian StyleXiang Gao; Xingxing Huang; Kevin Lo; Qianwen Dang; Ruiyang Wen. 2021. "Vegetation responses to climate change in the Qilian Mountain Nature Reserve, Northwest China." Global Ecology and Conservation 28, no. : e01698.
Based on a review of COVID-19 research from an environmental health perspective, this study theorizes the interdependence of the society, environment and health, and presents an integrated framework for environmental health problems arising due to COVID-19. Five guiding principles are proposed for conducting environmental health research, including employing a transdisciplinary approach, embracing complexity and uncertainty, addressing vulnerability, boosting resilience and promoting sustainable development. This study propagates that the pandemic could be an opportunity for sustainable transformation, wherein visionary leadership that facilitates sustainability policies based on environmental health science is required. This study can serve as a consolidated guide for professionals and stakeholders who conduct environmental health research in this challenging field.
Xi Yang; Kevin Lo. Environmental health research and the COVID-19 pandemic: A turning point towards sustainability. Environmental Research 2021, 197, 111157 .
AMA StyleXi Yang, Kevin Lo. Environmental health research and the COVID-19 pandemic: A turning point towards sustainability. Environmental Research. 2021; 197 ():111157.
Chicago/Turabian StyleXi Yang; Kevin Lo. 2021. "Environmental health research and the COVID-19 pandemic: A turning point towards sustainability." Environmental Research 197, no. : 111157.
Balancing the relationship between rural development and the protection of water resources is a challenging undertaking. This study develops a coupling coordination degree (CCD) model to examine the non-linear interaction between rural development and water environment in the 11 prefectures of Gansu, northwestern China. There are three key findings. First, economic development is the key driver of rural development, whereas social development has relatively little impact. For the water environment subsystem, improved water efficiency has been the key contributor, whereas environmental carrying capacity is secondary. Second, the CCD increased steadily in the studied period, which suggests that the relationship between rural development and water environment has gradually changed from antagonistic to mutually beneficial. However, this change is not occurring rapidly and in fact shows signs of slowing. Third, the complex spatial differences of the CCD are related to the level of economic and social development, the process of urban–rural integration, and regional natural conditions. The findings of this study have great significance for further quantitative analysis of the interaction and mutual feedback mechanism between the rural economy and the water environment in China and support evidence-based policymaking.
Xiang Gao; Ke Wang; Kevin Lo; Ruiyang Wen; Xiaoting Mi; Kuanmei Liu; Xingxing Huang. An Evaluation of Coupling Coordination between Rural Development and Water Environment in Northwestern China. Land 2021, 10, 405 .
AMA StyleXiang Gao, Ke Wang, Kevin Lo, Ruiyang Wen, Xiaoting Mi, Kuanmei Liu, Xingxing Huang. An Evaluation of Coupling Coordination between Rural Development and Water Environment in Northwestern China. Land. 2021; 10 (4):405.
Chicago/Turabian StyleXiang Gao; Ke Wang; Kevin Lo; Ruiyang Wen; Xiaoting Mi; Kuanmei Liu; Xingxing Huang. 2021. "An Evaluation of Coupling Coordination between Rural Development and Water Environment in Northwestern China." Land 10, no. 4: 405.
International cooperation has become an important element of urban climate experimentation, particularly in developing countries. Using the Sino-German Eco-Park in Qingdao as a case study, we argue that while multilevel governance and international cooperation are often discussed separately, these two governance tendencies are in fact both important to China’s urban climate experimentation. In particular, Chinese multilevel governance enables bilateral cooperation by (re)shaping the national vision at the local level and resolving potential conflicts or contradictions. It also allows local and foreign intermediaries to coordinate and match resources among different interests and actors. The effectiveness of multilevel governance in eco-city projects is conditioned by intermediary institutions’ resources and capabilities. Effectiveness also depends on maintaining the attention of national governments to the eco-city projects. Thus, the cooperative form, the actors’ attributes, and the resources mobilised by actors are three important factors that affect the outcomes of international eco-city projects.
Minsi Liu; Kevin Lo. Governing eco-cities in China: Urban climate experimentation, international cooperation, and multilevel governance. Geoforum 2021, 121, 12 -22.
AMA StyleMinsi Liu, Kevin Lo. Governing eco-cities in China: Urban climate experimentation, international cooperation, and multilevel governance. Geoforum. 2021; 121 ():12-22.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMinsi Liu; Kevin Lo. 2021. "Governing eco-cities in China: Urban climate experimentation, international cooperation, and multilevel governance." Geoforum 121, no. : 12-22.
This study provides a conceptual framework of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) as a top-down project of cross-border governance (CBG). It examines the CBG theory and articulates the practices and challenges. It also reviews the energy collaboration between Hong Kong and Guangdong with the aim of situating the GBA project within a historical frame. This review highlights the importance of the building of institutions for achieving effective cross-border governance. It also shows that, for the regional energy cooperation of the GBA, while there is a shift towards environmental governance, attention on renewable and low-carbon energy remains weak. We present three key recommendations for the cross-border energy collaboration in the GBA in the context of China’s ambitious goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2060: (1) the development of a common electricity market, (2) the development of cross-border cooperation in technological innovation, and (3) the development of a unified carbon trading market.
Jingping Liu; Kevin Lo; Daphne Mah; Meiyu Guo. Cross-Border Governance and Sustainable Energy Transition: The Case of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Current Sustainable/Renewable Energy Reports 2021, 8, 101 -106.
AMA StyleJingping Liu, Kevin Lo, Daphne Mah, Meiyu Guo. Cross-Border Governance and Sustainable Energy Transition: The Case of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Current Sustainable/Renewable Energy Reports. 2021; 8 (2):101-106.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJingping Liu; Kevin Lo; Daphne Mah; Meiyu Guo. 2021. "Cross-Border Governance and Sustainable Energy Transition: The Case of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area." Current Sustainable/Renewable Energy Reports 8, no. 2: 101-106.
Kevin Lo. Toxic politics: China’s environmental health crisis and its challenge to the Chinese State. Environmental Politics 2020, 30, 487 -488.
AMA StyleKevin Lo. Toxic politics: China’s environmental health crisis and its challenge to the Chinese State. Environmental Politics. 2020; 30 (3):487-488.
Chicago/Turabian StyleKevin Lo. 2020. "Toxic politics: China’s environmental health crisis and its challenge to the Chinese State." Environmental Politics 30, no. 3: 487-488.
With the national push for an ecological civilization under way, Chinese environmental governance is becoming more authoritarian as the central government exerts a stronger control over the enforcement of environmental policies. In this paper, I examine how the ecological civilization project has become a key driver of change in extractive regions, constituting new eco-politics of extractive governance that can be characterized by heightened authoritarian environmentalism, with the Central Environmental Inspection Team as a particularly important mechanism through which the centralization of environmental governance is achieved. I argue that the ambitious environmental goals of an ecological civilization are achieved by sacrificing the interests of extractive communities. As these vulnerable communities are highly dependent on their extractive industries and often face significant diversification difficulties, the eco-civilization project has devastating local socioeconomic impacts and are likely to accelerate structural decline and population shrinkage if not promptly addressed through external support. I argue that this constitutes a form of environmental injustice, where environmental policies impose unfair burdens on disadvantaged individuals and communities. In particular, extractive communities bear the greatest burden of both environmental exploitation and environmental protection. Achieving socially just environmental sustainability should be an important aspect of ecological civilization.
Kevin Lo. Ecological civilization, authoritarian environmentalism, and the eco-politics of extractive governance in China. The Extractive Industries and Society 2020, 7, 1029 -1035.
AMA StyleKevin Lo. Ecological civilization, authoritarian environmentalism, and the eco-politics of extractive governance in China. The Extractive Industries and Society. 2020; 7 (3):1029-1035.
Chicago/Turabian StyleKevin Lo. 2020. "Ecological civilization, authoritarian environmentalism, and the eco-politics of extractive governance in China." The Extractive Industries and Society 7, no. 3: 1029-1035.
The Chinese government has pursued rural land consolidation under the Building New Rural Communities (BNRC) initiative. The consolidation projects aim to address the hollowing village problem, improve the living standards of rural dwellers, and promote urban-rural integration. Rural villages with small populations and poor infrastructure are merged into a centralized rural community, and their inhabitants are resettled. The newly vacated buildings are then converted to agriculture land, which allows cities to expand under the “no net loss” land-use policy. Despite the significance of the initiative, both in terms of the scale of operation and the impacts on the affected households, there are few empirical studies that scrutinize this form of rural restructuring. Drawing on data collected via surveys and interviews, this paper examines the processes of land consolidation and its impacts on villagers. From a development-as-modernization perspective, we outline three main processes of land consolidation: village mergers and resettlement, land circulation to rural cooperatives, and rural industrial development. Overall, the effects of land consolidation on the livelihood of resettled villagers are positive. This system generally improves housing and living conditions through increased levels of off-farm employment and income, but there are a number of barriers that may hinder a villager’s ability to find different employment. Housing and neighborhood characteristics have significant effects on the life satisfaction of villagers.
Weiming Tong; Kevin Lo; Pingyu Zhang. Land Consolidation in Rural China: Life Satisfaction among Resettlers and Its Determinants. Land 2020, 9, 118 .
AMA StyleWeiming Tong, Kevin Lo, Pingyu Zhang. Land Consolidation in Rural China: Life Satisfaction among Resettlers and Its Determinants. Land. 2020; 9 (4):118.
Chicago/Turabian StyleWeiming Tong; Kevin Lo; Pingyu Zhang. 2020. "Land Consolidation in Rural China: Life Satisfaction among Resettlers and Its Determinants." Land 9, no. 4: 118.
The governance of energy consumption in China is of environmental significance from the standpoints of preventing local air pollution and global climate change. At the heart of China’s energy governance system is the energy conservation target responsibility system (ECTRS). This article examines this important governance instrument from three key aspects. First, it explains the role of the ECTRS in China’s authoritarian yet decentralized governance system. Second, it traces the development of the ECTRS over the last decade, with a specific focus on the reforms introduced in the 13th 5-Year Plan (2016–2020), particularly the energy caps. Third, it analyzes the limitations of the ECTRS and provides a policy outlook in the context of growing domestic and international interests in energy conservation.
Kevin Lo. Governing energy consumption in China: a comprehensive assessment of the energy conservation target responsibility system. Energy Transitions 2020, 4, 57 -67.
AMA StyleKevin Lo. Governing energy consumption in China: a comprehensive assessment of the energy conservation target responsibility system. Energy Transitions. 2020; 4 (1):57-67.
Chicago/Turabian StyleKevin Lo. 2020. "Governing energy consumption in China: a comprehensive assessment of the energy conservation target responsibility system." Energy Transitions 4, no. 1: 57-67.
International cooperation has played a major role in climate governance. With a particular focus on China, this study develops a comparative framework to understand three pathways to international cooperation on climate change: multilateralism, bilateralism and transnationalism. Drawing on cooperation theory, we compare the three pathways in terms of their leaders, organisations, bargaining process, agreement, and enforcement efforts, and analyse their comparative strengths and limitations. We suggest that, given the ever-increasing difficulties and uncertainty experienced in climate multilateralism, the government should pay more attention to developing climate bilateralism and transnationalism in order to leverage the benefits of international cooperation on climate governance.
Minsi Liu; Kevin Lo. Pathways to international cooperation on climate governance in China: a comparative analysis. Journal of Chinese Governance 2020, 6, 417 -434.
AMA StyleMinsi Liu, Kevin Lo. Pathways to international cooperation on climate governance in China: a comparative analysis. Journal of Chinese Governance. 2020; 6 (3):417-434.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMinsi Liu; Kevin Lo. 2020. "Pathways to international cooperation on climate governance in China: a comparative analysis." Journal of Chinese Governance 6, no. 3: 417-434.
Large-scale rural land appropriation and displacement, driven by the unprecedented urban growth currently experienced in China, has created millions of land-lost peasants who live in the city but remain culturally, socially and institutionally rural. The situation has attracted growing attention in the literature because of its negative social impact, but relatively few studies have addressed how land-lost farmers adapt to urban ways of life and what factors influence their life satisfaction. In this paper, we investigate the predictors of livelihood adaptation and life satisfaction of land-lost farmers from a land appropriation case in the city of Changchun, Northeast China. The results show that, five years after the appropriation, livelihood adaptation remained very difficult and life satisfaction was poor among the resettlers. Furthermore, marginalised groups, such as those who were older, less educated and from smaller families, and those with lower pre-displacement income were less likely to have a higher income level after resettlement, resulting in a lower level of life satisfaction. Women also had lower life satisfaction than men. The study highlights an urgent need to improve China’s unjust land appropriation policy with a particular focus on attending to the needs of marginalised groups.
Weiming Tong; Liyuan Zhu; Kevin Lo. Livelihood adaptation and life satisfaction among land-lost farmers: Critiquing China’s urbanisation-driven land appropriation. Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series 2019, 46, 149 -161.
AMA StyleWeiming Tong, Liyuan Zhu, Kevin Lo. Livelihood adaptation and life satisfaction among land-lost farmers: Critiquing China’s urbanisation-driven land appropriation. Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series. 2019; 46 (46):149-161.
Chicago/Turabian StyleWeiming Tong; Liyuan Zhu; Kevin Lo. 2019. "Livelihood adaptation and life satisfaction among land-lost farmers: Critiquing China’s urbanisation-driven land appropriation." Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series 46, no. 46: 149-161.
Experimentation has emerged as an important strategy of climate governance, and China, with a distinctive experiment-based policy process, is a leading example of a state-led and coordinated approach to low-carbon experimentation. Through a case study of the photovoltaics poverty alleviation (PVPA) initiative—an ambitious and experimental programme that explores the synergy between renewable energy and sustainable development by using photovoltaics to generate income for impoverished households and communities—this paper critically examines this top-down mode of experimentation from a multi-level perspective based on Heilmann's experimentation under hierarchy framework. Drawing from empirical evidence collected over two years from a PVPA pilot, we show that China's multi-level approach to experimentation requires dynamic mechanisms that enable not only the adaptation of national-level models to specific locations but also the incorporation of local implementation lessons in national policymaking. The resulting experimental governance thus extends from a combination of top-down mechanisms of control, local responses, and the broader contradictions that emerge from their interactions.
Kevin Lo; Vanesa Castán Broto. Co-benefits, contradictions, and multi-level governance of low-carbon experimentation: Leveraging solar energy for sustainable development in China. Global Environmental Change 2019, 59, 101993 .
AMA StyleKevin Lo, Vanesa Castán Broto. Co-benefits, contradictions, and multi-level governance of low-carbon experimentation: Leveraging solar energy for sustainable development in China. Global Environmental Change. 2019; 59 ():101993.
Chicago/Turabian StyleKevin Lo; Vanesa Castán Broto. 2019. "Co-benefits, contradictions, and multi-level governance of low-carbon experimentation: Leveraging solar energy for sustainable development in China." Global Environmental Change 59, no. : 101993.
Village hollowing is a growing policy problem globally, but accurately estimating housing vacancy rates is difficult and costly. In this study, we piloted the use of power consumption data to estimate the vacancy rate of rural housing. To illustrate the method used, we took power consumption data in 2014 and 2017 in an area of rural China to analyze the change in housing vacancies. Results indicated that the rural vacancy rates were 5.27% and 8.69%, respectively, while underutilization rates were around 10% in 2014 and 2017. Second, there was significant spatial clustering of vacant rural housing, and the hotspots were mainly distributed in western mountainous areas, whereas villages near urban areas had lower vacancy rates. Third, rural vacancies increased from 2014 to 2017. Compared with other methods, our method proved to be accurate, very cost-effective and scalable, and it can offer timely spatial and temporal information that can be used by policymakers to identify areas with significant village hollowing issues. However, there are challenges in setting the right thresholds that take into consideration regional differences. Therefore, there is also a need for more studies in different regions in order to scale up this method to the national level.
Jing Li; Meng Guo; Kevin Lo. Estimating Housing Vacancy Rates in Rural China Using Power Consumption Data. Sustainability 2019, 11, 5722 .
AMA StyleJing Li, Meng Guo, Kevin Lo. Estimating Housing Vacancy Rates in Rural China Using Power Consumption Data. Sustainability. 2019; 11 (20):5722.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJing Li; Meng Guo; Kevin Lo. 2019. "Estimating Housing Vacancy Rates in Rural China Using Power Consumption Data." Sustainability 11, no. 20: 5722.
Kevin Lo. Politics of Renewable Energy in China, by ChenGang. Published by Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham, UK, 2019, 176 pp, ISBN: 978‐1‐78811‐814‐9. Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics 2019, 63, 940 -942.
AMA StyleKevin Lo. Politics of Renewable Energy in China, by ChenGang. Published by Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham, UK, 2019, 176 pp, ISBN: 978‐1‐78811‐814‐9. Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics. 2019; 63 (4):940-942.
Chicago/Turabian StyleKevin Lo. 2019. "Politics of Renewable Energy in China, by ChenGang. Published by Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham, UK, 2019, 176 pp, ISBN: 978‐1‐78811‐814‐9." Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics 63, no. 4: 940-942.
The Low-Carbon Pilot (LCP) program in China is an important national initiative aiming to facilitate climate experimentation. Thus far, 87 local governments have become climate pilots and are tasked with developing innovative climate solutions with the hope that these innovations can be applied nationally. The LCP adopts a uniquely Chinese approach to policymaking that is characterized by both bottom-up experimentation and top-down control and has been described as a success in the official discourse. However, using two case studies from Guangdong and Jilin, we show that there could be significant variation in performance and willingness to conduct experimentation among the climate pilots. The presence of variation suggests that the top-down steering mechanisms of the LCP are not conducive to climate experimentation and have the unintended consequences of encouraging risk-averse behaviors. We further show that local factors – leadership support, communities of practice, and alignment of interests – are important factors enabling success.
Kevin Lo; He Li; Kang Chen. Climate experimentation and the limits of top-down control: local variation of climate pilots in China. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management 2019, 63, 109 -126.
AMA StyleKevin Lo, He Li, Kang Chen. Climate experimentation and the limits of top-down control: local variation of climate pilots in China. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management. 2019; 63 (1):109-126.
Chicago/Turabian StyleKevin Lo; He Li; Kang Chen. 2019. "Climate experimentation and the limits of top-down control: local variation of climate pilots in China." Journal of Environmental Planning and Management 63, no. 1: 109-126.
Daphne Ngar-Yin Mah; Guihua Wang; Kevin Lo; Michael K.H. Leung; Peter Hills; Alex Lo. Barriers and policy enablers for solar photovoltaics (PV) in cities: Perspectives of potential adopters in Hong Kong. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 2018, 92, 921 -936.
AMA StyleDaphne Ngar-Yin Mah, Guihua Wang, Kevin Lo, Michael K.H. Leung, Peter Hills, Alex Lo. Barriers and policy enablers for solar photovoltaics (PV) in cities: Perspectives of potential adopters in Hong Kong. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. 2018; 92 ():921-936.
Chicago/Turabian StyleDaphne Ngar-Yin Mah; Guihua Wang; Kevin Lo; Michael K.H. Leung; Peter Hills; Alex Lo. 2018. "Barriers and policy enablers for solar photovoltaics (PV) in cities: Perspectives of potential adopters in Hong Kong." Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 92, no. : 921-936.
Choices regarding mode of travel have an evident effect on environment pollutants and public health. This paper makes a significant contribution by examining the differences between low-carbon and non-low-carbon travel mode choices during shopping trips, and how socio-economic characteristics impact individual travel behavior based on data gathered from a questionnaire conducted in Shenyang, China. The study found that, firstly, low-carbon travel modes were more common than non-low-carbon travel modes for shopping, and the average travel distance by non-low-carbon modes was a little longer than that of low-carbon modes. Secondly, suburban and wholesale specialized commercial centers attracted more residents travelling longer distances by non-low carbon modes, especially private car, compared to regional commercial centers in inner city areas. Thirdly, strong relationships between car ownership, gender, monthly income, and travel mode choices were identified in a binary logistic regression model. This study thus highlights the importance of sustainable transportation policies to advocate low-carbon travel modes and reduce carbon emissions.
Jing Li; Kevin Lo; Meng Guo. Do Socio-Economic Characteristics Affect Travel Behavior? A Comparative Study of Low-Carbon and Non-Low-Carbon Shopping Travel in Shenyang City, China. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2018, 15, 1346 .
AMA StyleJing Li, Kevin Lo, Meng Guo. Do Socio-Economic Characteristics Affect Travel Behavior? A Comparative Study of Low-Carbon and Non-Low-Carbon Shopping Travel in Shenyang City, China. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2018; 15 (7):1346.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJing Li; Kevin Lo; Meng Guo. 2018. "Do Socio-Economic Characteristics Affect Travel Behavior? A Comparative Study of Low-Carbon and Non-Low-Carbon Shopping Travel in Shenyang City, China." International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 15, no. 7: 1346.