IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jlands/v14y2025i6p1225-d1673386.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Are We Satisfied with the Achievements of New Eco-City Construction in China? A Case Study of the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City

Author

Listed:
  • Xuan Sun

    (Zhou Enlai School of Government, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China
    Laboratory of Digital City Governance, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China)

  • Tao Sun

    (School of Humanities and Social Science, Harbin Institute of Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China)

  • Jingchuan Hou

    (School of Architecture and Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA)

  • Zhuoruo Yue

    (Zhou Enlai School of Government, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China
    Laboratory of Digital City Governance, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China)

  • Xiaomeng Li

    (Management Committee of the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City, Tianjin 300480, China)

Abstract

With the goal of sustainable urbanization, eco-cities have garnered significant global attention in recent decades. Unlike eco-city renovation or renewal, the construction of a new eco-city represents a comprehensive urbanization process that integrates environmental sustainability with livability. To evaluate the outcomes of new eco-city construction in China, this study employs a dual approach combining objective achievements and residents’ subjective satisfaction to systematically examine the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City. The analysis encompasses five dimensions: environmental amenity, life safety, residential functionality, traffic capability, and economic well-being, with the relative weights of specific indicators determined through the entropy method, expert scoring, and analytic hierarchy process. The findings reveal that based on objective indicators, the eco-city’s overall performance nearly doubled during its first phase of development, with life safety showing the most notable improvements. However, subjective assessments revealed that overall resident satisfaction remained below 70%, with residential functionality receiving the highest rating. The annual progress of the eco-city did not consistently align with residents’ needs, and no clear correlation was found between the eco-city’s current state and public sentiment. For sustainable development, the eco-city must address its shortcomings and better cater to residents’ demands across various dimensions through targeted and effective strategies.

Suggested Citation

  • Xuan Sun & Tao Sun & Jingchuan Hou & Zhuoruo Yue & Xiaomeng Li, 2025. "Are We Satisfied with the Achievements of New Eco-City Construction in China? A Case Study of the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City," Land, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-22, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:14:y:2025:i:6:p:1225-:d:1673386
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/14/6/1225/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/14/6/1225/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mouratidis, Kostas & Yiannakou, Athena, 2022. "What makes cities livable? Determinants of neighborhood satisfaction and neighborhood happiness in different contexts," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    2. Ian Bailey & Federico Caprotti, 2014. "The Green Economy: Functional Domains and Theoretical Directions of Enquiry," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 46(8), pages 1797-1813, August.
    3. Giles-Corti, Billie & Lowe, Melanie & Arundel, Jonathan, 2020. "Achieving the SDGs: Evaluating indicators to be used to benchmark and monitor progress towards creating healthy and sustainable cities," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 124(6), pages 581-590.
    4. Linjun Xie & Ali Cheshmehzangi & May Tan-Mullins & Andrew Flynn & Tim Heath, 2020. "Urban Entrepreneurialism and Sustainable Development: A Comparative Analysis of Chinese Eco-Developments," Journal of Urban Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(1), pages 3-26, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Yu-Chuan Chen & Yung-Ho Chiu & Tzu-Han Chang & Tai-Yu Lin, 2023. "Sustainable Development, Government Efficiency, and People’s Happiness," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 24(4), pages 1549-1578, April.
    2. Javier García López & Raffaele Sisto & Javier Benayas & Álvaro de Juanes & Julio Lumbreras & Carlos Mataix, 2021. "Assessment of the Results and Methodology of the Sustainable Development Index for Spanish Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-29, June.
    3. Houljakbe Houlteurbe Dagou & Asli Pelin Gurgun & Kerim Koc & Cenk Budayan, 2025. "The Future of Construction: Integrating Innovative Technologies for Smarter Project Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(10), pages 1-29, May.
    4. Winfried Osthorst, 2020. "Tensions in Urban Transitions. Conceptualizing Conflicts in Local Climate Policy Arrangements," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-17, December.
    5. Andrea Cecchin & Roberta Salomone & Pauline Deutz & Andrea Raggi & Laura Cutaia, 2021. "What Is in a Name? The Rising Star of the Circular Economy as a Resource-Related Concept for Sustainable Development," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 1(1), pages 83-97, June.
    6. Lidia Greco, 2023. "A just transition: Insights from the labour unions of a steel locality (Taranto, Italy)," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 44(4), pages 1127-1148, November.
    7. Abbas Ziafati Bafarasat & Ali Cheshmehzangi & Ania Ankowska, 2023. "A set of 99 healthy city indicators for application in urban planning and design," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(3), pages 1978-1989, June.
    8. Aurel Pera, 2020. "Assessing Sustainability Behavior and Environmental Performance of Urban Systems: A Systematic Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-19, September.
    9. Saba Alnusairat & Jenan Abu Qadourah & Rawan Khattab, 2023. "Assessing the Future City Post COVID-19: Linking the SDGs, Health, Resilience, and Psychological Impact," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-24, January.
    10. Catalina Nicolás-Martínez & María Concepción Pérez-Cárceles & Prudencio José Riquelme-Perea & Carmen María Verde-Martín, 2024. "Are Cities Decisive for Life Satisfaction? A Structural Equation Model for the European Population," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 174(3), pages 1025-1051, September.
    11. Francisco Tomatis & Luisa F. Lozano-Castellanos & Oscar L. García-Navarrete & Adriana Correa-Guimaraes & Maria Sol Wilhelm & Ouiam Fatiha Boukharta & Diana A. Murcia Velasco & José E. Méndez-Vanegas, 2022. "Evaluation of Urban Sustainability in Cities of The French Way of Saint James (Camino de Santiago Francés) in Castilla y León according to The Spanish Urban Agenda," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-19, July.
    12. Ma, Baolin & Li, Yongxin & Zhou, Bo & Jian, Yaode & Zhang, Cheng & An, Jin, 2025. "The green development mechanism of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei coordinated development strategy in China: Novel evidence of green finance," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    13. Ali Cheshmehzangi & Andrew Flynn & May Tan-Mullins & Linjun Xie & Wu Deng & Eugenio Mangi & Weixuan Chen, 2021. "From Eco-Urbanism to Eco-Fusion: An Augmented Multi-Scalar Framework in Sustainable Urbanism," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-22, February.
    14. Ping Lu & Xuan Yang & Zhou-Jing Wang, 2018. "Fuzzy Group Consensus Decision Making and Its Use in Selecting Energy-Saving and Low-Carbon Technology Schemes in Star Hotels," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-18, September.
    15. Jooho Park & Yasushi Honda & Sayaka Fujii & Satbyul Estella Kim, 2022. "Air Pollution and Public Bike-Sharing System Ridership in the Context of Sustainable Development Goals," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-13, March.
    16. Shaojun Chen & Emmanuel Bosompem Boadi & Gouqing Shi & Ebenezer Impriam Amponsah & Regina Naa Amua Dodoo & Tinashe Mangudhla, 2023. "The Nexus Between Resettlement and Quality of Life of Mining-Induced Migrants in Ghana: A PLS–SEM Approach," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 170(1), pages 223-244, November.
    17. Yusheng Yang & Shuoning Tang, 2025. "Examining Residents’ Perceptions and Usage Preferences of Urban Public Green Spaces Through the Lens of Environmental Justice," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(6), pages 1-24, March.
    18. Kędra, Arleta & Maleszyk, Piotr & Visvizi, Anna, 2023. "Engaging citizens in land use policy in the smart city context," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    19. Nada Denona Bogovic & Zvonimira Sverko Grdic, 2020. "Transitioning to a Green Economy—Possible Effects on the Croatian Economy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-19, November.
    20. Ze Liu & Ruonan Wang & Ziteng Liu, 2022. "Research on the Satisfaction Degree Characteristics of Residential Public Resources under Lockdowns for Pandemic Prevention and Control: A Case Study in the Changchun," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-19, April.

    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:jlands:v:14:y:2025:i:6:p:1225-:d:1673386. 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.