Resource use in the Chinese building sector : foundations for analyzing urban transition

Thesis: S.M. in Technology and Policy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology and Policy Program, 2014.

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Accuardi, Zachary A. Campbell
Other Authors: John E. Fernández.
Format: Thesis
Language:eng
Published: Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2014
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/89973
_version_ 1826212726809034752
author Accuardi, Zachary A. Campbell
author2 John E. Fernández.
author_facet John E. Fernández.
Accuardi, Zachary A. Campbell
author_sort Accuardi, Zachary A. Campbell
collection MIT
description Thesis: S.M. in Technology and Policy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology and Policy Program, 2014.
first_indexed 2024-09-23T15:37:11Z
format Thesis
id mit-1721.1/89973
institution Massachusetts Institute of Technology
language eng
last_indexed 2024-09-23T15:37:11Z
publishDate 2014
publisher Massachusetts Institute of Technology
record_format dspace
spelling mit-1721.1/899732019-04-11T13:10:23Z Resource use in the Chinese building sector : foundations for analyzing urban transition Accuardi, Zachary A. Campbell John E. Fernández. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Technology and Policy Program. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering Systems Division. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Technology and Policy Program. Engineering Systems Division. Technology and Policy Program. Thesis: S.M. in Technology and Policy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology and Policy Program, 2014. Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis. Includes bibliographical references (pages 149-162). Around the world, people are moving to cities in order to become wealthy, especially in developing countries undergoing socio-economic transition. This will dramatically change the way that society consumes resources, in terms of both materials and energy. We will need to better understand how resource use changes as development happens in order to focus efforts to reduce that resource use. China is undergoing this transition as it enters the global stage, and with global implications for resource use. The building sector in China is especially resource-intensive, fundamentally driven by the country's urbanization, and plays a prominent role in the Chinese economy, making it a good candidate for the study of how systems adopt sustainable practices. I approach this problem in two ways. The first is quantitative, using k-means statistical clustering on longitudinal resource use data from Chinese statistical yearbooks, in order to identify and compare transitions across provinces in China. In comparing the evolution of the building sector across provinces, my analysis suggests that development pathways are more distinct than discrete development stages. I identify two development pathway 'types' in China. The first is an urban path taken by Beijing, Shanghai, and Tianjin -- the three most heavily urbanized provinces. All other provinces follow a general business-as-usual path, though I also identify sub-pathways to further differentiate between the other 27 provinces. These development typologies are one means of quantitatively operationalizing the abstract notion of transition. Identifying such pathways may highlight opportunities for learning between provinces within the same path, and one could apply similar methods to other scales of analysis (e.g. urban or national). My second approach is qualitative, driven by interviews conducted primarily in Beijing with various stakeholders in the Chinese building sector. In this analysis, I discuss the particularities of the actors and processes involved in Chinese real estate development, identify opportunities for and barriers to reduced life-cycle energy use in buildings, and describe three distinctive and ongoing sustainability experiments with the potential for significant resource use reductions. This research emphasizes the need for integrated approaches to both research and practice in approaching sustainability transitions, and provides a set of complementary frameworks for their analysis. by Zachary A. Campbell Accuardi. S.M. in Technology and Policy 2014-09-19T21:32:00Z 2014-09-19T21:32:00Z 2014 2014 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/89973 890129676 eng M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 170 pages application/pdf a-cc--- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
spellingShingle Engineering Systems Division.
Technology and Policy Program.
Accuardi, Zachary A. Campbell
Resource use in the Chinese building sector : foundations for analyzing urban transition
title Resource use in the Chinese building sector : foundations for analyzing urban transition
title_full Resource use in the Chinese building sector : foundations for analyzing urban transition
title_fullStr Resource use in the Chinese building sector : foundations for analyzing urban transition
title_full_unstemmed Resource use in the Chinese building sector : foundations for analyzing urban transition
title_short Resource use in the Chinese building sector : foundations for analyzing urban transition
title_sort resource use in the chinese building sector foundations for analyzing urban transition
topic Engineering Systems Division.
Technology and Policy Program.
url http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/89973
work_keys_str_mv AT accuardizacharyacampbell resourceuseinthechinesebuildingsectorfoundationsforanalyzingurbantransition