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With high-speed urbanization and strict requirements on energy conservation and environmental protection, eco-city has become the priority of urban development in China. Governments of all levels promote various eco-city planning schemes within a short term, but most schemes are characterized by randomness and subjectivity. To solve the lack of scientific pre-implementation evaluation for eco-city planning and improve eco-city construction quality, a systematic analysis is conducted in this study from three dimensions, namely, eco-city planning scheme, operating mechanism, and guarantee measures. A 3D evaluation model for eco-city planning is constructed through index selection. Schemes are ranked comprehensively with the distance measure method, and projection analysis is performed with the four-grid evaluation screen. Finally, the 3D evaluation model is applied to evaluate eco-city planning for Shenzhen, Chongqing, and Weifang. Results show that the model can be used to evaluate eco-city planning schemes effectively and comprehensively and offers targeted optimization suggestions in accordance with the evaluation results. Construction of the 3D evaluation model of eco-city planning based on the distance measure to determine the reasonability of eco-city planning reduces the institutional and social costs of eco-city planning practices.

In recent years, a great deal of work has emerged on eco-cities in China. Specifically, writers have discussed the role of the entrepreneurial state in the construction of eco-cities and have noted the role of these cities in the production of high-end real estate and new forms of capital accumulation and land acquisition. Whilst this chapter supports these arguments, we argue that the emergence of eco-cities in China is tied up with broader socioeconomic and cultural discourses and discourses of governance. We explore these ideas through a qualitative investigation of an eco-city known as the North Lake (Beihu) Ecological New Town (NLENT) located in the city of Jining, Shandong province. Specifically, this project, which involved the collection of documents, photographs and 20 semi-structured interviews, aims to understand the role that discourses of class, taste and consumption play in the fashioning of Chinese eco-cities. In exploring discourses of ‘green conduct’, this chapter also seeks to understand the role of eco-cities in the governmental fashioning of Chinese subjects and bodies. In this regard, this chapter suggests that whilst new forms of green development have played a part in urban expansion, new green real estate zones such as the NLENT have a powerful role to play in the construction and shaping of Chinese identity and behaviour.

Changes and transformations experienced today have created alternative lifestyles in cities. Many life concepts try to find solutions to environmental problems, so much so that this section focuses on smart eco-city concept, which is one of the trending city initiatives of the last century and is expected to become more popular each day. In the chapter, firstly, information about the concepts of eco-city and smart city is given and then what is meant by the concept of smart eco-city is discussed. Next, smart eco-cities have been tried to be explained with application examples. Finally, the chapter emphasizes the importance of ecological cities blended with technology for the sustainability of living spaces and offers implications for future research.

The rationality of the selection and application of policy instruments in current policy schemes for promoting the development of low-carbon eco-cities in China is examined and, in view of existing problems, effective suggestions for scientifically and reasonably organizing and designing policy instruments are proposed, which is of great significance to optimize the policy system for the development of low-carbon eco-cities in China and thereby promote sustainable urban development.

In the study, using 117 policy documents focusing on the development of low-carbon eco-cities issued by the Chinese central government as well as the relevant ministries and commissions between 2010 and 2019 and comprehensively adopting bibliometric and content analysis methods, the contents of policy documents are quantitatively analyzed from three dimensions: policy instrument, policy area and policy target.

The study finds the following. Ecological environment and low-carbon development are the focus of policy attention. Policy-promulgating institutions have formed a core subnetwork, that is, an “iron triangle.” There exists a structural imbalance in the use of policy instruments, and the distribution of policy instruments in different policy areas exhibits significant differentiating characteristics. Driven by different policy targets, the proportion of the policy instrument types adopted by the government is constantly changing. According to these findings, suggestions are put forward to optimize China's low-carbon eco-city development policy.

(1) A three-dimensional policy analysis framework is conducted from the perspective of policy instrument, which is innovative in theory. (2) This paper finds the selective utilization rationality and evolution rule of China's low-carbon eco-city development policy instruments. (3) Recommendations on optimizing China's low-carbon eco-city development policies are discussed systematically, which plays a theoretical guiding role in optimizing the development policies of low-carbon eco-cities in China.

With the development of science and technology, the acceleration of urbanization, and the increasing prominence of eco-environmental problems, how to coordinate the relationship between economic development and the natural environment becomes a research hotspot for related research institutions at home and abroad. Thus, we conducted research on the planning framework of the circular economy eco-city. We introduced the theoretical basis of circular economy and eco-city; analyzed the current situation of Wafangdian from the aspects of economy, environment, and society; and established the eco-city index evaluation system based on circular economy. We also employed principal component analysis to confirm the weighting of each index, evaluated the economic situation of Wafangdian using the sum of the weightings, analyzed the economic development status of the city from 2011 to 2015, and identified the advantages and disadvantages to the cycle of economic development in Wafangdian. Finally, we provided several suggestions on the circular economy in the construction of the Wafangdian eco-city from large, medium, and small hierarchies. Practices have shown that research on the planning framework of the circular economy eco-city has a positive effect on the sustainable development of humans and nature.

The aim of this paper is to analyze conceptual specificities and practical applications of Chinese eco-cities. The eco-cities, promoted by the government, reflect the combined pressure of urbanization and environmental protection in China.

In addition to literature and documentary material, the study is based on the experience of a Western architectural company which has participated in eco-city projects in China. This experience has been mapped via interviews in the company and among its partners and governmental stakeholders.

This study examines in detail the contents and practical applications of the Chinese eco-city concept. It illustrates and categorizes eco-city projects and analyzes the specificities of the urbanization in China as a driver for the development of eco-cities. Similarities and differences with the corresponding concepts, like smart cities, are discussed.

The eco-city concept is an important expression of sustainability concerns in China. New insights about its practical applications help to understand the specificities of environmental issues in developing economies, and comparison with the corresponding Western discussions helps to foster international collaboration in the sustainability context.

Rough estimations of water gain through greywater reuse and rainwater harvesting together with energy recovery from wastewater generated from a fictitious eco-city of population 100,000 located in Istanbul, Turkey form the main framework of the study. As such, the highly important concept of water–energy nexus will be emphasised and domestic wastewater will be partly considered for water recycling and the rest for energy recovery. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Distribution of daily domestic water consumption among different household uses and the population in the residential area are the two governing parameters in the practical calculation of daily wastewater generated. Therefore, domestic wastewater will be initially estimated based on population, and in turn, the amount of greywater will be found from the per cent distribution of water use. After segregation of greywater, the energy equivalency of the rest of the wastewater, known as blackwater, will further be calculated. Besides, the long-term average precipitation data of the geographical location (Istanbul) are used in determining safe and sound rainwater harvesting. Harvesting is considered to be only from the roofs of the houses; therefore, surface area of the roofs is directly taken from an actual residential site in Turkey, housing the same population which is constructed in four stages. Similarly, the fictitious eco-city in Istanbul is assumed to be constructed in a stage-wise manner to resemble real conditions.

The water consumption of the fictitious eco-city ABC is considered as 15,000 m³/day by taking the unit water consumption 150 L/capita.day. Therefore, total water savings through on-site reuse and reuse as irrigation water (9,963 m³/day) will reduce water consumption by 64 per cent. Minimum 40 per cent water saving is shown to be possible by means of only greywater recycling and rainwater harvesting with a long-term average annual precipitation of 800 mm. The energy recovery from the rest of the wastewater after segregation of greywater is calculated as 15 MWh/day as electricity and heat that roughly correspond to electricity demand of 1,300 households each bearing four people.

A fictitious eco-city rather than an actual one located in Istanbul is considered as the pilot area in the study. So far, an eco-city with population around 100,000 in Turkey does not exist. An important implication relates to rainwater harvesting. The amount of safe water to be gained through precipitation is subject to fluctuations within years and, thus, the amount of collected rainwater will highly depend on the geographical location of such an eco-city.

The study covering rough calculations on water savings and energy recovery from domestic wastewater will act as a guide to practitioners working on efficient water management in the eco-cities, especially in those that are planned in a developing country.

Practising water–energy nexus in an eco-city of population 100,000 regarding water savings and energy recovery from wastewater forms the originality of the study. Sustainable water use and energy recovery from wastewater are among the emerging topics in environmental science and technology. However, safe and sound applications are lacking especially in the developing countries. Guiding these countries with practical calculations on both water gain and energy recovery from wastewater (blackwater) is the value of the work done. Moreover, Istanbul is deliberately selected as a case study area for various reasons: its annual rainfall represents the worlds’ average, it is one of the most crowded megacities of the world that supply water demand from the surface water reservoirs and the megacity has not yet significantly increased wastewater reuse and recycling practices.

The Sino‐Singapore Tianjin Eco‐city Project, the agreement of which was signed in 2007, is an important milestone that would further cement ties between Singapore and the People's Republic of China (PRC). The Eco‐city Project will be used to showcase the latest green technologies adopted in buildings with a view to reducing the adverse effects of global warming, carbon emissions, and climate change; leading in the process to sustainable facilities. The purpose of this paper is to examine the institutional compliance framework for transferring environmental sustainability regulations from Singapore to China.

The paper examines the current environmental sustainability regulations that are already in place in Singapore, with a view to possibly transfer these regulations as well as the supporting green technologies, codes and practices to the joint Sino‐Singapore Eco‐city Project in the PRC. The study proposes an understanding of the institutional compliance framework to facilitate this transfer.

There are existing statutory provisions within the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) in the PRC that encourage the use of solar and renewable energy with a view to fostering sustainable construction, including provisions dealing with water pollution. However, beyond these generic areas, it appears that statutory provisions within the MEP do not institutionalize the same level of details that can be found in Singapore relating to the conceptualization, design and construction of sustainable facilities. Hence, transfer of such provisions from Singapore to the Tianjin Eco‐city Project can be facilitated through an understanding of the institutional compliance framework from the Chinese side.

The environmental sustainability regulations that are already in place in Singapore will be examined in the paper. The study explains the reasons why these regulations were implemented in Singapore, and the framework within which such provisions may be transferred to the Tianjin Eco‐city Project.

The paper observes that while the legal systems in both Singapore and the PRC may be different, it would be strategic and expedient for the Chinese partners in the Eco‐city joint project to familiarize themselves with the environmental sustainability regulations within Singapore's jurisdiction with a view to possibly adopting them in the PRC through the institutional compliance framework.

Singapore is probably the first and only country in the world to enact building regulations pertaining to environmental sustainability with attendant inputs from an appropriate Code for Environmental Sustainability of Buildings and the Green Mark Scheme. The successful completion of the Tianjin Eco‐city Project could provide a role model for further development of Eco‐cities in the world, leading to greater emphasis to be placed on sustainable facilities anchored on the institutional compliance framework.

Cities and the tourism industry are closely related. Cities are destinations that serve for the welfare of the people and the tourists visiting the city. The tourism sector, on the other hand, uses the environmental and sociocultural resources of the cities, ensures that these resources are transferred to the future by protecting them, and contributes to the economic development of the cities by creating employment. Several urban models have been created within this framework to make urban tourism viable. Eco-city tourism is one of these urban design concepts. Eco-city tourism aims to protect cities from sociocultural, economic, and environmental factors while promoting their growth. Eco-city tourism, which includes a number of practices such as prevention of pollution, protection of biological diversity, consumption of renewable energy, production of local products, employment, and protection of cultural values, is easily implement in cities in an integrated manner with smart technological systems. Smart building and smart energy systems for energy saving, mobile applications, Wi-Fi, big data, Internet of Things (IoT), and cloud computing are among the smart technological systems used in the tourism sector.

The purpose of this paper is to examine social sustainability effectiveness of eco-cities through the case of Masdar City’s strategy for urban sustainability in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Using a case study approach, the paper is an exploratory, qualitative analysis, which investigates the social, environmental and economic performance of Masdar City, a purported carbon-neutral, zero-waste urban development.

Though Masdar City substantively contributes to innovation in sustainable urban development within environmental and economic contexts and has been effective in capital circulation in green technology markets, the impetus as a commercially driven enterprise is most evident. Successful sustainable urban development requires greater consideration for the social imperative.

Eco-city mega-projects, such as Masdar City, have the potential to fuse achievements in innovation, technology and economic enterprise with the social imperative of functional urban habitats.

Eco-cities are of increasing interest given the growing need for sustainable, energy-efficient living. This paper contributes through a novel case study, exploring how the concept of the eco-city has been developed and understood in the Masdar City context and discusses successes and deficits in its strategic implementation.