IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v15y2023i6p4842-d1091880.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Consistency between Environmental Performance and Public Satisfaction and Their Planning Intervention Strategies: A Policy Text Analysis of Urban Environmental Planning

Author

Listed:
  • Nan Wu

    (Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai 232001, China)

  • Cunkuan Bao

    (Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai 232001, China
    Shanghai Key Laboratory of Policy Simulation and Assessment for Ecology and Environment Governance, Shanghai 200433, China)

  • Weichun Ma

    (Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai 232001, China
    Shanghai Key Laboratory of Policy Simulation and Assessment for Ecology and Environment Governance, Shanghai 200433, China
    Institute of Eco-Chongming (IEC), No. 3663 Northern Zhongshan Road, Shanghai 200062, China)

Abstract

The Chinese government has been working hard to improve environmental performance. However, considering that public feedback is not always complimentary, there is still room for improvement in its protection work. In China, environmental planning is the dominant direction of the government’s environmental governance. Therefore, an analysis of environmental planning could explain the policy incentives that lead to inconsistent performance and satisfaction, and could enable us to explore how to improve planning to more effectively achieve environmental governance goals. This study classified 37 Chinese cities into four types based on consistency in performance and satisfaction. Taking environmental planning policy as the research object, the planning work arrangements of different cities to improve environmental performance and public satisfaction were analyzed through hand-coding. Our study found that environmental planning in these cities puts more emphasis on basic and engineering arrangements that can effectively improve environmental performance, while work arrangements that involve improving public environmental satisfaction are relatively few. Moreover, (1) cities with high environmental performance and high public satisfaction have made relatively substantial arrangements in improving environmental performance and satisfaction during environmental planning; (2) cities with high environmental performance and low public satisfaction have a certain foundation for environmental governance, but tough governance or high public expectations weaken environmental satisfaction; (3) cities with low environmental performance and high public environmental satisfaction have low environmental performance values due to the huge energy consumption of resources or a lack of pollution disposal capacity; and (4) most of the cities with low environmental performance and low public environmental satisfaction share common geographical and historical environmental problems that make it challenging to considerably enhance public satisfaction and environmental performance in the short term. Based on the above findings, this paper believes that greater environmental governance can be achieved by promoting a change in environmental planning from the existing “elite” planning paradigm to a “participatory” planning model.

Suggested Citation

  • Nan Wu & Cunkuan Bao & Weichun Ma, 2023. "Consistency between Environmental Performance and Public Satisfaction and Their Planning Intervention Strategies: A Policy Text Analysis of Urban Environmental Planning," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-24, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:6:p:4842-:d:1091880
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/6/4842/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/6/4842/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lyu Shun, 2022. "Research on performance evaluation of urban low-carbon management: a case study in Foshan [Strategies for low-carbon green growth and urban management in Korea]," International Journal of Low-Carbon Technologies, Oxford University Press, vol. 17, pages 1207-1215.
    2. Ying Zhou & Weiwei Li & Pingtao Yi & Chengju Gong, 2019. "Evaluation of City Sustainability from the Perspective of Behavioral Guidance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(23), pages 1-17, November.
    3. Ma, Ben & Zheng, Xinye, 2018. "Biased data revisions: Unintended consequences of China's energy-saving mandates," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 102-113.
    4. Cheng, Shulei & Fan, Wei & Chen, Jiandong & Meng, Fanxin & Liu, Gengyuan & Song, Malin & Yang, Zhifeng, 2020. "The impact of fiscal decentralization on CO2 emissions in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    5. Seppe De Blust & Oswald Devisch & Joke Vandenabeele, 2022. "Learning to reflect collectively: how to create the right environment for discussing participatory planning practice?," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(6), pages 1162-1181, June.
    6. Zongfeng Sun & Jintao Li, 2019. "Citizens’ Satisfaction with Air Quality and Key Factors in China—Using the Anchoring Vignettes Method," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-19, April.
    7. Feng Dong & Yuling Pan & Xiaojie Zhang & Ziyuan Sun, 2020. "How to Evaluate Provincial Ecological Civilization Construction? The Case of Jiangsu Province, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(15), pages 1-20, July.
    8. Yingxin Chen & Jing Zhang & Pandu R. Tadikamalla & Xutong Gao, 2019. "The Relationship among Government, Enterprise, and Public in Environmental Governance from the Perspective of Multi-Player Evolutionary Game," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-17, September.
    9. Simon Joss & Frans Sengers & Daan Schraven & Federico Caprotti & Youri Dayot, 2019. "The Smart City as Global Discourse: Storylines and Critical Junctures across 27 Cities," Journal of Urban Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(1), pages 3-34, January.
    10. Wang, Mengmeng & Zhou, Tao, 2023. "Does smart city implementation improve the subjective quality of life? Evidence from China," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    11. Omri, Anis & Omri, Henda & Slimani, Sana & Belaid, Fateh, 2022. "Environmental degradation and life satisfaction: Do governance and renewable energy matter?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    12. Anis Omri & Henda Omri & Sana Slimani & Fateh Belaid, 2021. "Environmental degradation and life satisfaction: Do governance and renewable energy matter?," Post-Print hal-04542645, HAL.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Biao Zhang & Sang Fu, 2023. "Can Farmers’ Satisfaction with Green Production Policies Be Explained by Policy Structure and Policy Implementation? Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-19, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dogan, Eyup & Chishti, Muhammad Zubair & Karimi Alavijeh, Nooshin & Tzeremes, Panayiotis, 2022. "The roles of technology and Kyoto Protocol in energy transition towards COP26 targets: Evidence from the novel GMM-PVAR approach for G-7 countries," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 181(C).
    2. Chuan Li & Liangrong Song, 2022. "Regional Differences and Spatial Convergence of Green Development in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-16, July.
    3. Hu, Kexiang & Sinha, Avik & Tan, Zhixiong & Shah, Muhammad Ibrahim & Abbas, Shujaat, 2022. "Achieving energy transition in OECD economies: Discovering the moderating roles of environmental governance," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    4. Boubaker, Sabri & Omri, Anis, 2022. "How does renewable energy contribute to the growth versus environment debate?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    5. Lina Volodzkiene & Dalia Streimikiene, 2023. "Energy Inequality Indicators: A Comprehensive Review for Exploring Ways to Reduce Inequality," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-28, August.
    6. Kraus, Sascha & Kumar, Satish & Lim, Weng Marc & Kaur, Jaspreet & Sharma, Anuj & Schiavone, Francesco, 2023. "From moon landing to metaverse: Tracing the evolution of Technological Forecasting and Social Change," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    7. Paola Panuccio, 2019. "Smart Planning: From City to Territorial System," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(24), pages 1-15, December.
    8. Xiaojun Zhang & Weiqiao Wang & Yunan Bai & Yong Ye, 2022. "How Has China Structured Its Ecological Governance Policy System?—A Case from Fujian Province," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(14), pages 1-22, July.
    9. Xia, Wanjun & Murshed, Muntasir & Khan, Zeeshan & Chen, Zhenling & Ferraz, Diogo, 2022. "Exploring the nexus between fiscal decentralization and energy poverty for China: Does country risk matter for energy poverty reduction?," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 255(C).
    10. Wenke Wang & Xiaoqiong You & Kebei Liu & Yenchun Jim Wu & Daming You, 2020. "Implementation of a Multi-Agent Carbon Emission Reduction Strategy under the Chinese Dual Governance System: An Evolutionary Game Theoretical Approach," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(22), pages 1-21, November.
    11. Ayoub Zeraibi & Daniel Balsalobre-Lorente & Khurram Shehzad, 2021. "Testing the Environmental Kuznets Curve Hypotheses in Chinese Provinces: A Nexus between Regional Government Expenditures and Environmental Quality," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(18), pages 1-16, September.
    12. Nketiah, Emmanuel & Song, Huaming & Obuobi, Bright & Adu-Gyamfi, Gibbson & Adjei, Mavis & Cudjoe, Dan, 2022. "Citizens' willingness to pay for local anaerobic digestion energy: The influence of altruistic value and knowledge," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 260(C).
    13. Sailian Xia & Daming You & Zhihua Tang & Bo Yang, 2021. "Analysis of the Spatial Effect of Fiscal Decentralization and Environmental Decentralization on Carbon Emissions under the Pressure of Officials’ Promotion," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-21, March.
    14. Yongliang Yang & Yuting Zhu & Xiaopeng Wang & Yi Li, 2022. "The Perception of Environmental Information Disclosure on Rural Residents’ Pro-Environmental Behavior," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-22, June.
    15. Caihua Zhou, 2021. "Game Theory-Based Analysis of Local Governments’ Behavioral Dissimilation in the Third-Party Soil Pollution Control under Chinese-Style Fiscal Decentralization," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-20, April.
    16. Mikołaj Biesaga & Anna Domaradzka & Magdalena Roszczyńska-Kurasińska & Szymon Talaga & Andrzej Nowak, 2023. "The effect of the pandemic on European narratives on smart cities and surveillance," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 60(10), pages 1894-1914, August.
    17. Shao, Shuai & Razzaq, Asif, 2022. "Does composite fiscal decentralization reduce trade-adjusted resource consumption through institutional governance, human capital, and infrastructure development?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    18. Jörg Becker & Friedrich Chasin & Michael Rosemann & Daniel Beverungen & Jennifer Priefer & Jan vom Brocke & Martin Matzner & Adela del Rio Ortega & Manuel Resinas & Flavia Santoro & Minseok Song & Kan, 2023. "City 5.0: Citizen involvement in the design of future cities," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 33(1), pages 1-21, December.
    19. Vahid Javidroozi & Claudia Carter & Michael Grace & Hanifa Shah, 2023. "Smart, Sustainable, Green Cities: A State-of-the-Art Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-28, March.
    20. Zhao, Congyu & Jia, Rongwen & Dong, Kangyin, 2023. "Does financial inclusion achieve the dual dividends of narrowing carbon inequality within cities and between cities? Empirical evidence from China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:6:p:4842-:d:1091880. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.