As China has moved towards sustainable development, policies for wind energy have undergone
rapid changes over the past two decades in this country. However, although wind energy is
capable of making a significant contribution to more sustainable energy systems, it has yet to
reach its full potential. There remain significant gaps in knowledge about how and why public
policies may effectively facilitate the achievement of sustainability in general and with regard to
specific sector-based initiatives.
The objective of this study is to bridge this knowledge gap by studying governance for
sustainable development with particular reference to wind energy policies in China. This study
focuses on the role of Chinese provinces in facilitating the sustainability transition. It proposes a
conceptual framework that adopts a policy capacity approach to understanding the sustainability
transition process. Policy capacity is defined in this study as the ability to identify, assimilate and
utilize resources both inside and outside the formal state apparatus to facilitate the policy-making
process. The conceptual framework, which comprises three building blocks – context, process
and outcomes – suggests that the interactions between provinces and other stakeholders are the
factors that facilitate or constrain policy capacity.
A comparative study of the evolution of wind energy policies in three provinces, Xinjiang,
Shanghai and Guangdong is presented. The aim of the analysis is to provide a better
understanding of the mechanisms that explain whether – and how – provinces represent a key
actor in the policy capacity building process.
The key findings are first, that while the Chinese provinces may differ in their governing modes,
a common feature was that they were in a unique position to strengthen policy capacity through
their interactions with the wider society both within and outside the state. Second, the
conceptualization of the conducive and inhibitive mechanisms of policy capacity building
suggests that there were important conducive conditions for policy capacity building found in the
provinces in the form of resources (such as local leadership and trust), structures (such as social
ties and bridging structures) and dynamics (such as market dynamics and double-loop learning).
However, the provinces’ potential to enhance policy capacity was not fully utilized because of the
presence of a set of inhibitive conditions that constrained the efforts. Third, through the
conceptualization of the embeddedness of the policy capacity building process, this study reveals
that contextual factors, at both the local and national levels, were the key to explaining why
provinces differed in their response to the sustainability transition.
This study concludes by suggesting that the sustainability transition needs to envision a new
governance approach that places more attention on the role of Chinese provinces, to release and
activate the enormous capacity in provinces that could in turn strengthen the central government’s
own policy capacity for the sustainability transition. / published_or_final_version / Kadoorie Institute / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:HKU/oai:hub.hku.hk:10722/174361 |
| Date | January 2010 |
| Creators | Mah, Ngar-yin, Daphne., 馬雅燕. |
| Publisher | The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong) |
| Source Sets | Hong Kong University Theses |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | PG_Thesis |
| Source | http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B47300097 |
| Rights | The author retains all proprietary rights, (such as patent rights) and the right to use in future works., Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0 Hong Kong License |
| Relation | HKU Theses Online (HKUTO) |
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