Abstract: The Chinese government has made increasing vigorous effortsin curbing industrial pollution and coping with rapid urbanisation over thelast two decades. One response has been the Eco-Transformation policy forindustrial areas. This paper defines the Eco-Transformation of industrial areasin China is the state-led sustainable development of industry, society andenvironment in industrial areas (including traditional industrial areas anddevelopment zones), and it has various designation and definitions by differentstate agencies, e.g. the ‘new type of industrialization’, ‘industrialtransformation and upgrading’ or ‘transformation of development mode’. Thispaper aims to analysis the impacts of Eco-Transformation policies andstrategies to industrial areas in the spatial perspective, and also the interacteffects of this spatial restructuring to the environmental protection andsustainable development in industrial areas. Semi-structured interviews of 17peoples from six different organisations (i.e. government sector, governmentalcompany, NGOs, industrial association, private company, planning agency) inChangsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan city megalopolis were undertaken. This paper illustratesthat there are two main stages of spatial restructuring process of industrialareas by the shifting drivers from economical-benefit to environmentalprotection. First stage is the movement of industrial areas from mainlandcities to coastal cities, e.g. Shanghai and Qingdao. But by increasing emphaticof ecological and sustainable, industrial areas are now moving from advancedcoastal cities to developing inland cities, or from city center to suburb orrural areas. At the same time, the distribution mode of industrial areas transfersfrom extensive expansion to a more concentrated mode by the guidance of Eco-transformation,which also changes the spatial development mode of city. The ecologicalqualities in cities is improving by the Eco-Transformation of industrial areas,but there are also some remaining problems need to be further discussed. Therestructuring is increasingly being seen as ‘De-industrialization’ in that lotsof industries have been moved out, does China suppers from the same problems ofdeveloped countries after de-industrialization? And does the spatial transferof polluted industries cause the pollution transfer/expansion? This criticalspatial restructuring analysis of industrial areas in the Eco-Transformationprocess, not only provides a landscape of the efficiency of Eco-Transformationpolicies, but also could offers suggestions and advises to policy-makings.
Key Word: Eco-transformation, Industrial Area, Spatial restructuring,China.
6a. Land use and planning
