Sustainable Urbanism in Sweden and China (2013)
Undergraduate: Matthew Ryan
Faculty Advisor: Nina Martin
Department: Geography
The need for sustainable urbanism is becoming ever more acute as nonrenewable resources dwindle and pollution continues to cause environmental and human health problems. The world¿s cities are only growing, and so a proactive strategy for creating an environmentally friendly city is critical. In this paper, two case study nations will be analyzed to see how their plans for sustainable urbanism are being carried out, followed by a discussion on the potential drivers and inhibitors of their respective progress towards the goal of hosting sustainable cities. Sweden and China have seen varying success in this respect due to differences in economic and social pressures. Sweden, with its wealthy and sustainably-minded citizenship firmly based in an ¿information sector¿ economy, is keenly interested in sustainability both at home and abroad. China has a late-stage industrial economy and is experiencing the growing pains of a booming economy. The mass influx into cities this causes is driving a quantity versus quality, GDP-focused growth pattern that has become environmentally unviable, forcing the Chinese government¿s hand in the sustainable world. These two very different paths to sustainability lead to a common goal but with unique sets of challenges confronting each nation.