Lock in low carbon urbanization

Forward-looking planning and revised evaluation criteria for government officials are needed to ensure greener growth

Industrial and population concentration in the course of China's rapid urbanization has fostered new points of economic growth, but it has also increased energy use and taken a heavy toll on the environment. So how the world's largest developing nation advances the next phase of urbanization is a pressing question.

The central conferences on economic and rural work in December reiterated the country's commitment to green and low carbon development made at the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in November, and low carbon development will be a defining feature of China's urbanization in the coming years. At the heart of this must be lower carbon cities.