The Necessity and Governance Model of Developing Low Carbon City in China

In response to global warming and climate change,low carbon development has been adopted by many countries as the strategic development method,which aims at reducing the carbon footprint of human development both in economic aspect and in social improvement aspect. Multiple cities all over the world and international organizations are promoting the development of low carbon city. With the dramatic speed of urbanization and industrialization in China,experience of low carbon city (LCC) development would make contribution to theoretical exploration both on new city development and on urban planning theory; it is also a opportunity to find new economic development growth paths towards modernization and sustainable development. LCC can also stimulate the advantageous potentials of cities and provide a opportunity for China to achieve a leaping development towards low carbon model. This research starts with historical review of low carbon city,provides definition of LCC based on low carbon practices all over the world and specific features of Chinese development,analyzes principles and features of LCC development,and puts particular emphasis over the governance and institutional framework for low carbon city development,which is a government-market-public collaboration and interaction model based on the historical and development feature of the city. This research tries to provide theoretical basis for low carbon city research.