Eighty percent of Chinese cities are failing to achieve a balance
between economic growth, resource efficiency and sustainable
development, according to a study by Accenture and the Chinese Academy
of Sciences. The joint research, covering 73 cities, also shows that
China’s mid-sized cities are in the best position to achieve that
balance in the future.
The study, published in a report entitled Creating
Prosperous and Livable Chinese Cities, was conducted to help city
authorities benchmark their progress in sustainable development in the
context of China’s urbanization policy agenda. It includes the New
Resources Economy Index, designed by Accenture, China’s first
multi-level indicator of sustainable economic growth applied across such
a large number of cities. In addition to assessing economic performance
against resource efficiency and environmental management, the Index
scores cities’ capacity for future sustainable growth by measuring their
level of infrastructure, technology innovation, and investment on
environmental protection, as well as their institutional and policy
capabilities.
The Index categorizes Chinese cities into four groups. Twenty five
‘Conventional’ cities face the greatest danger, given their
underdeveloped but resource-based economies, high emissions, reliance on
heavy industry and a tendency to ‘grow first, clean up later.’
Beijing and Tianjin are the two mega cities classified as ‘Wealthy,’
along with cities in the Bohai Rim and Yangtze River Delta regions.
These enjoy leading rates of economic growth, but face deteriorating
environments, characterized by rising levels of congestion, smog and
waste, coupled with shortages of water and other resources.
The ‘Balanced’ group of cities achieves strong economic performance,
environmental quality and managed emissions. Smaller cities dominate
this group, but are joined by Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, three
megacities in southern China.
Accenture and CAS regard cities in the ‘Potential’ category as having
the greatest chance of becoming champions of the New
Resource Economy, thanks to the opportunity for strong growth
combined with a lack of existing environmental degradation. They are
dominated by medium-sized cities with populations of 1 to 3 million or
per capita GDP of between 50,000 and 70,000 RMB yuan (US$7,738 and
US$10,833).
“The New Resources Economy is a model for achieving sustainable growth
with less resource consumption and less environmental impact through
innovation in technology, management and institutions,” said Gong
Li, Chairman of Accenture Greater China. “Our analysis shows that a
focus on developing mid-sized cities rather than more megacities
provides the greatest chance of making the New Resource Economy a
reality. We urge the governments, businesses, citizens and social
organizations to work together to contribute to China’s harmonious
urbanization and ecological stewardship.”
The report suggests a range of actions that authorities can take to
position their cities to achieve balanced and sustainable growth. These
levers can be applied in different configurations depending on their
particular local challenges. They include greater investment in and
commitment to:
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Innovation in policy and strategy: Manage common and
conflicting interests through regional and national strategies
covering multiple cities and through integration between departmental
city silos; set national and regional energy efficiency targets and
policies that transform user behavior; diversify funding channels e.g.
with equity investments, municipal bonds and tax reform.
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Innovation in technology: Develop intelligent buildings to
improve energy efficiency; implement smart grids to balance demand and
supply and to automate the maintenance and management of
infrastructure; create Intelligent Transport Systems to improve
traffic flows and incentivize use of public transport; improve
actionable insights by integrating data between silos and applying
analytics.
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Innovation in cross sector and cross regional co-operation:
Foster intercity collaboration on ecological and resource protection;
draw in the private sector into the public sector’s policy making,
planning and financing; Improve energy efficiency through greater
integration between utilities, property developers and building
management companies.
For the mid-sized cities that have the greatest potential to be pioneers
of the New Resource Economy, Accenture and CAS suggest that creating new
sources of green investment and building the infrastructure,
institutional capabilities and technology innovation required for long
term sustainable development will be the priorities.
“China has an opportunity to encourage healthy competition between its
cities as a way to incentivize more sustainable urbanization,” said Peter
Lacy, managing director, Strategy
and Sustainability
Services, Greater China and Asia Pacific. “But competition between
cities should not prevent them cooperating on the development of common
frameworks for technology, governance and financial models within which
they can design specific solutions for their local needs. China’s New
Resource Economy depends on such frameworks that can only be developed
if its governments, businesses and other stakeholders work more closely
together.”
“We’re very pleased to work with Accenture on this long-term research,”
said Shi Minjun, Deputy Director of Chinese Academy of Sciences’
Research Center on Fictitious Economy & Data Science (FEDS). “The New
Resources Economy Index not only reflects the current macro challenges
faced by Chinese cities, but also helps cities assess their own
performance in balancing economic growth, resources efficiency and
capacity for sustainable development. The Index will assist Chinese
cities to make the most of their attributes and work more creatively
within their constraints. We look forward to further discussion with
more Chinese cities and researchers to enrich this assessment model.”
Methodology
The New Resource Economy City Index assesses the performance of cities
in three areas: economic performance: a city’s level of economic
development and capacity for further development; resource and
environmental sustainability: a city’s ability to preserve the
environment, its dependence on natural resources and how efficiently it
uses them; development capacity: the social capacity for a city’s
transformation into a new resource economy, including infrastructure, IT
development, and institutional and management innovation. The indicator
system uses a weighted composite based on a total of 32 performance
indicators. Included in the analysis were 73 of China’s 287 largest
cities at the prefecture level and above, covering 31 provinces,
municipalities and autonomous regions to ensure broad representation.
About Accenture
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and
outsourcing company, with approximately 266,000 people serving clients
in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled experience,
comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions,
and extensive research on the world’s most successful companies,
Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance
businesses and governments. The company generated net revenues of
US$27.9 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2012. Its home page
is www.accenture.com.
About CAS & FEDS
Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) is China’s highest academic
institution in natural sciences and its supreme scientific and
technological advisory body, and national comprehensive research and
development center in natural sciences and high technologies. With over
50,000 staff, CAS has 12 branch offices, over 100 institutes, more than
100 national key laboratories and national engineering research centers,
and 212 field stations throughout the country. The Research Center on
Fictitious Economy & Data Science (FEDS) is one of research institutes
of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. FEDS is dedicated to
interdisciplinary scientific research of the non-productive and green
economy using economic models and data mining technology.
Copyright Business Wire 2013