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[ScienceDirect, via Biblio-SHS] Auteur : Wanxin Li, Jieyan Liu, Duoduo Li Paru dans : Journal of Environmental Management, Volume 98, 15 May 2012, Pages 65-72 Abstract By comparing three cases of environmental activism in China, our paper answers the following three questions about public participation in environment protection in China: (1) what are the drivers for public participation, (2) who are the agents leading the participation, and (3) do existing laws facilitate public participation? We find heightened public awareness of environmental degradation and increasing anxieties over health and property values drive people to fight for more political space to influence decisions that have an impact on the environment. Despite the promises one finds in the letter of Chinese laws, Chinese society lacks a meaningful institutional framework to allow public participation, even in the area of environmental protection. The Chinese government mainly passively responds to public demands on an ad hoc basis, with no institutional commitment for engaging the public on environmental issues. This is unfortunate, because public policies without adequate public input are doomed to be clouded by illegitimacy. Highlights ► The public fights for more political space to influence environmental decisions. ► A concern for health and property values drives public environmental participation. ► Public participation has not yet been well institutionalized in China. ► The Chinese government passively responds to public demands on an ad hoc basis.

For more than three decades China has achieved remarkable success in economic development, but its rapid growth has resulted in considerable damage to the natural environment. In 1998, the World Health Organization reported that seven of the ten most polluted cities in the world were in China. Sulfur dioxide and soot produced by coal combustion fall as acid rain on approximately 30 percent of China's land area. Industrial boilers and furnaces consume almost half of China's coal and are the largest sources of urban air pollution. In many cities, the burning of coal for cooking and heating accounts for the rest. At the same time, since the beginning of economic reform in the late 1970s, the government has paid considerable attention to environmental problems, particularly in terms of regulatory responsibility and enforcement at the local government level. China passed the Environmental Protection Law for trial implementation in 1979, and in 1982 the constitution included important environmental protection provisions. Since then, various laws and policies have been put in place to address China's current and future urban environment. The 2010 World Exposition in Shanghai provided evidence that the Chinese government views its environmental problems as a priority. The green construction of the facilities for the Expo and particularly of the Chinese Pavilion reflected the emphasis the government has placed on protecting and improving the environment through new technologies. In addition, China's "eco cities" have also been recognized worldwide for advances in urban sustainability, such as Tianjin, Shenzhen, and Wuxi.

Summary China has seen the largest human migration in history, and the country's rapid urbanisation has important consequences for public health. A provincial analysis of its urbanisation trends shows shifting and accelerating rural-to-urban migration across the country and accompanying rapid increases in city size and population. The growing disease burden in urban areas attributable to nutrition and lifestyle choices is a major public health challenge, as are troubling disparities in health-care access, vaccination coverage, and accidents and injuries in China's rural-to-urban migrant population. Urban environmental quality, including air and water pollution, contributes to disease both in urban and in rural areas, and traffic-related accidents pose a major public health threat as the country becomes increasingly motorised. To address the health challenges and maximise the benefits that accompany this rapid urbanisation, innovative health policies focused on the needs of migrants and research that could close knowledge gaps on urban population exposures are needed.

Thématiques 2 et 3 [ScienceDirect, via Biblio-SHS] Auteur : Heiko J. Jahn Paru dans : Public Health Forum, Volume 20, Issue 2, June 2012, Pages 27.e1-27.e4 Public Health und Stadtentwicklung Summary Chinese megacities pass through rapid change, coined by fast economical and population growth. This leads to impaired governability and the necessary infrastructural measures, to protect the environment, cannot keep up with this developments. This results in substantial health threatening pollution. Existing laws and regulations should be implemented of all governmental levels from the central government down to the city sub-district level to improve urban health.

[ScienceDirect, via Biblio-SHS] Auteur : Shuxiao Wang, Jiming Hao Paru dans : Journal of Environmental Sciences, Volume 24, Issue 1, January 2012, Pages 2-13 Abstract This article analyzed the control progress and current status of air quality, identified the major air pollution issues and challenges in future, proposed the long-term air pollution control targets, and suggested the options for better air quality in China. With the continuing growth of economy in the next 10-15 years, China will face a more severe situation of energy consumption, electricity generation and vehicle population leading to increase in multiple pollutant emissions. Controlling regional air pollution especially fine particles and ozone, as well as lowering carbon emissions from fossil fuel consumption will be a big challenge for the country. To protect public health and the eco-system, the ambient air quality in all Chinese cities shall attain the national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) and ambient air quality guideline values set by the World Health Organization (WHO). To achieve the air quality targets, the emissions of SO2, NOx, PM10, and volatile organic compounds (VOC) should decrease by 60%, 40%, 50%, and 40%, respectively, on the basis of that in 2005. A comprehensive control policy focusing on multiple pollutants and emission sources at both the local and regional levels was proposed to mitigate the regional air pollution issue in China. The options include development of clean energy resources, promotion of clean and efficient coal use, enhancement of vehicle pollution control, implementation of synchronous control of multiple pollutants including SO2, NOx, VOC, and PM emissions, joint prevention and control of regional air pollution, and application of climate friendly air pollution control measures.

Luciano Cessari, Elena Gigliarelli In: Progress in Cultural Heritage Preservation Lecture Notes in Computer Science Volume 7616, 2012, pp 369-377 Abstract Climate change have impacts on many sectors: land use, housing, transportation, public health, water supply and sanitation, solid waste, food security, and energy. This article presents the results of the project SECHURBA, financed by European funds, whose purpose was to examine the potential of environmental protection and sustainability in historic cities, documenting barriers and prospects of various historical communities with diversity in Europe. Critical objectives which were achieved, such as 'Historic Community Climate Change Strategies', assessment tools, route maps to intervene in areas such culturally sensitive, are under implementation in historic urban areas in Popular Republic of China. Through the application to some typical towns and villages in the Chinese province of Zeijang the outcomes of SECHURBA will developed to outline a set of actions and tools that will call 'Historic Cities Regeneration by Climate Change Strategies'. Online at: http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-3-642-34234-9_37?LI=true