Page 353 - Sustainable Cities and Communities Design Handbook

326 Sustainable Cities and Communities Design Handbook

economics and technology as the essential productive forces, along with the
promotion of the interests of the privileged, professional, and entrepreneur
classes, to also include the commercialization of welfare and social security.
The 1970s was the period in which Western capitalism, promoted by the United
Kingdom and the United States, became the norm for over three decades
(Economist, 2009). More significantly what China has witnessed in the past
three decades is an economic growth path based on increasing demand for
energy consumption based on an annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth
of 10%. By the end of 2010, China had outpaced the United States in clean
technology investments (Scientific American, April 5, 2011). According to M. L
Chan, at the end of 2010, China ranked number #1 in clean technology
investments, whereas the United States fell to #3 (Chan, 2010).
By the end of 2008, China ranked fourth in the world in wind turbine
manufacturing and installation with 12 GW of power (Zhen et al., 2009).
Today Chinese companies control over half of the annual US $65 billion wind
turbine market (Rosenberg, 2010). Could China become the #1 economy in the
world, surpassing the United States? (Time, 2011). With its GDP at $5.88
trillion in 2010, China surpassed the former #1 economy, Japan with a GDP of
$5.47 trillion. The GDP per capital of $7518 for the Chinese is much lower
than the $33,828 for the Japanese, but some economists predict that by 2030,
China will have a GDP of $73.5 trillion, compared with those of the United
States of $38.2 trillion and Japan, in third place, of $8.4 trillion. The world
economics has changed. Some Americans are skeptical and fearful of the
Chinese economic challenge. A recent series of meetings in the US Congress
have focused on “China’s energy and climate initiatives” with a subtitle
“successes, challenges, and implications for US policies” (US Congress,
2011). The presentations were varied and gave no conclusions.
During the socialist period [after World War II (WWII)], due to historical
reasons, China took a development course with a commitment and goal by
emphasizing human capacity, economic equality, and balance, thereby mobi-
lizing social and economic resources in pursuit of a self-reliance development
strategy. No matter how the socialist strategy is interpreted and assessed from
today’s perspective, it was historically the only possible option if China
wanted to sustain its economic development, national security, and indepen-
dence. The strategy of self-reliance emphasized the primacy of internally
generated independent development not only at the national level but also at
the provincial, regional, and local levels. The national 5-year plans started
under Mao continue today. These internally generated independent develop-
1
ment plans were reflected in the institutional structure of each unit, where the
multifunctions of party leadership, production planning, medical service, and

1. A unit, in Chinese “Dan Wei,” refers to any functional organization, for example, a ministry, a
university, a company, a factory, etc. A “Dan Wei” was a self-managed “miniwelfare state”
combing supply, demand, and welfare.