The Peking University–Lincoln Institute Center for Urban Development and Land Policy (PLC) recently co-organized a daylong discussion about climate and energy as part of the Beijing Forum, an annual international academic event co-sponsored by Peking University, the Beijing Municipal Commission of Education, and the Korea Foundation for Advanced Studies.  

The “Pathways to Decarbonizing the Planet of Cities” subforum featured scholars and policy makers from China and other countries, including Professor A. Michael Spence of New York University, recipient of the 2001 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, and Dr. Jun Ma, cochair of the G20 Sustainable Finance Working Group. Jointly organized with Peking University’s School of Urban and Environmental Sciences and Energy Research Institute, the conference was livestreamed in both Chinese and English, attracting nearly 8,000 viewers.  

Spence delivered a keynote speech on carbon, energy, and urbanization, exploring the relationship between carbon reduction and economic growth and assessing current opportunities in the realms of energy and global collaboration. “While the challenges are enormous, there is an increasing array of low-cost, widely available, powerful tools and technologies available now, and there will be more to come,” he said. “That give us some hope that we can actually achieve” climate objectives. 

Spence also analyzed potential challenges related to implementing climate regulations and commitments. At the international level, he used China and India as examples to argue that the appropriate paths and timelines of emissions goals should vary according to the pace of each country’s growth and development. He stressed the importance of transferable, cross-border technologies and finance for global climate success.  

“We’ve got huge challenges, we’ve got mechanisms in the form of carbon trading, we’ve got commitment from people, and we’ve got powerful tools,” Spence concluded. “I think the big question mark is the level of international cooperation that’s going to accompany this, and it’s starting to look like it’s moving in the right direction.” 

Dr. Zhi Liu, director of the PLC, moderated a roundtable discussion with panelists including climatologist Jean-Pascal van Ypersele, professor of Environmental Science at the University of Leuven, Belgium, and former vice chair of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change; Prof. Jun Fu, academic Dean of the Institute of South-South Cooperation and Development of Peking University; Ma, who is also codirector of the Macro and Green Finance Lab of the National School of  Development at Peking University; and Spence. 

During the discussion, Spence analyzed the effects of past energy policy implementations and proposed that climate change and economic development should be considered as a whole. Ypersele described the positive outcomes of the COP26 meeting in Glasgow, including awareness of the urgent need to take action, the formulation of carbon trading market standards, international compensation mechanisms, and the responsibilities and willingness of developed countries to invest in climate change adaptation. Director Jun Ma discussed the development of green finance on a global scale, pointing out that China’s green investment scope includes decarbonization projects, environmental protection projects, and various biodiversity-related projects. Professor Jun Fu discussed the unique challenges that China faces in decarbonization, including the respective structures of its energy sector, which relies heavily on coal, and its government. The guest speakers agreed that they were cautiously optimistic that the world could meet the goal of limiting the rise in global temperatures to 1.5 degrees. Jun Fu recommended an approach swiftly endorsed by the other panelists: “Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.” 

At the conclusion of the subforum, Liu noted that he believed the world is paying more attention to climate change and carbon neutrality, but the road ahead is still difficult. The day’s discussions shed more light on the path toward urban carbon neutrality, he added. “I feel a bit more optimistic and hopeful,” he noted at the end of the roundtable, “and I hope that our audience comes away with a bit more optimism and more hope about our future planet of cities.”  

Shenmin Liu is a Research Analyst with the Land and Water Conservation Program and China Program at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.

Image: Participants in the Beijing Subforum roundtable included, clockwise from top left, Dr. Zhi Liu, director of the Peking University-Lincoln Institute Center for Urban Development and Land Policy; Professor Jun Fu, dean of the Institute of South-South Cooperation and Development of Peking University; Nobel-winning economist A. Michael Spence of New York University; Professor Jun Ma of Peking University, cochair of the G20 Sustainable Finance Working Group; and climatologist Jean-Pascal van Ypersele of the University of Leuven, Belgium, a former vice chair of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Credit: PLC.

Two hours east of the bustling metropolitan area of Shenzhen, China, a new city is taking shape in Guangdong Province. Formally known as the Shenzhen-Shanwei Special Cooperation Zone (SSSCZ), this 180-square-mile area is a national demonstration project that’s becoming something of a living laboratory for urban design, spatial planning, and land policy.

Initially established 12 years ago through a collaboration between Shenzhen, population 17 million, and the much smaller locality of Shanwei, population 500,000, the SSSCZ is located within the municipal boundaries of Shanwei. Home to about 80,000 people who live in scattered farming and fishing villages, the coastal area has been identified by the national government as a place that can accommodate industrial and residential overflow for Shenzhen, where developable land is extremely limited and expensive. The goal is to develop about 52 square miles of the area by 2035, when the population of the new city is expected to reach 1 million.

The Lincoln Institute recently helped organize a “Training the Trainers” course that included a field trip to the SSSCZ. One of the first Lincoln Institute programs to be held in person since the start of the pandemic, the course was organized jointly by the Peking University–Lincoln Institute Center for Urban Development and Land Policy (PLC) and Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, and was designed to enhance the knowledge and skills of the participants in spatial planning and land policy. In addition to the SSSCZ field trip, participants attended lectures by prominent scholars and PLC specialists and took part in simulations aimed at finding land policy solutions.

“Part of the goal of the workshop was to brainstorm ways to design spatial policy for the area, and figure out how to pay for the costs,” said Shenmin Liu, a research analyst with the Lincoln Institute who helped organize the course. “We introduced land value capture tools and asked students to think creatively about the possibilities.”

The 37 participants, primarily young scholars, practitioners, and doctoral students from universities, research institutions, and planning institutions across China, met with local planners in the SSSCZ and learned about plans for the area. Those plans include developing a local harbor into a transportation hub and attracting companies involved in artificial intelligence, robotics, or other high-tech industries. Shenzhen already has firm footing in the technology sector, as the home of global companies including Tencent and Huawei.

The field trip helped the participants learn about the challenges of land policy reform in the context of a new spatial planning framework adopted in China, as well as the newly amended Land Administration Law. The latter requires better compensation for villagers whose land is taken for development, which should give farmers a fairer deal—but attaches higher costs to China’s rapid urbanization.

While the group was on site, Professor Shouying Liu of Renmin University delivered a lecture on land policy reform in China at the Office of the Administration Committee of the SSSCZ, attracting an audience of leaders and officials from various government agencies active in the cooperation zone in addition to the course participants. During the course, speakers also explored topics including land policy issues in the SSSCZ; spatial planning theory and practice; natural resource management and spatial planning; land value capture; property taxation; and smart-city development. Lincoln Institute President George W. McCarthy and Chair and Chief Investment Officer Kathryn J. Lincoln delivered virtual remarks.

Finally, the course introduced the methodology of gaming simulations for planning and land policy decisions, using the SSSCZ as a real-world case. The participants divided into five groups and took part in role-playing land use negotiations, then came up with various proposals to address the difficult land policy issues facing the SSSCZ. The gaming simulation methodology was first introduced to China by Dutch scholars through two training courses organized by the PLC and the Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School in 2018.

Each year, the Peking University–Lincoln Institute Center for Urban Development and Land Policy (PLC) offers a weeklong “Training the Trainers” course, with the goal of convening scholars and practitioners who can use the knowledge they gain to inform and develop materials for use in graduate and continuing education programs. The subject of the course varies, often targeting needs relevant to current policy reforms. Learn more about the PLC and its programs. 

Katharine Wroth is the editor of Land Lines.

Photograph: Training the Trainers course participants learn about urban planning strategies and challenges in China’s Shenzhen-Shanwei Special Cooperation Zone. Credit: Shenmin Liu.