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Towards adaptive town environmental planning: the experience from Xiamen, China

Luoping Zhang

State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science and Environmental Science Research Centre of Xiamen University; Environmental Science Research Centre, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China lpzhang{at}xmu.edu.cn

Huasheng Hong

State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science and Environmental Science Research Centre of Xiamen University; Environmental Science Research Centre, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China hshong{at}xmu.edu.cn

In China, concern is growing with regard to environmental issues related to the growth of peri-urban towns. Rapid urbanization and the backlog in constructing needed environmental infrastructure have resulted in severe environmental issues for many peri-urban towns, affecting their sustainable development. In Xiamen, a coastal city, town-level environmental planning was proposed in 2003 as an important tool to control pollution and conserve ecosystems. But for environmental planning to work, it needs to be more adaptable to local circumstances and decision-making processes. This paper presents a framework for adaptive environmental management and discusses how it was implemented in Dongfu Town, one of the peri-urban towns around Xiamen. It describes the principles of adaptive peri-urban town environmental planning and how this process integrates information from multiple sources and different stakeholders. This experience shows how science can be integrated into the decision-making process, avoiding both the narrow-minded viewpoints of planners and the natural resource use conflicts among a variety of stakeholders. It also shows how the environmental planning process can propose results that are acceptable to local communities and decision makers, even when they suggest directions that were not in accordance with the public's initial priorities. Finally, it shows that sustainable development of targeted areas can be achieved through well-designed environmental planning.

Key Words: environmental planning • governance • natural resource management

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