Cross-border ecological cooperation in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area: Pattern, characteristics and challenges

Xiwen Liu; Zhenjie Yang; Lue Li

doi:10.24294/jipd.v8i8.5131

Home - JIPD - Volume 8 - Issue 8

Submit to JIPD

Journal Browser

Volume | Year

Issue

• Current lssue

View All

News and Announcements

View All

Cross-border ecological cooperation in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area: Pattern, characteristics and challenges

Xiwen Liu

Zhenjie Yang

Lue Li

Journal of Infrastructure Policy and Development 2024, 8(8), 5131; https://doi.org/10.24294/jipd.v8i8.5131

Submitted：10 Mar 2024

Accepted：15 Apr 2024

Published：16 Aug 2024

Download PDF(324.23KB)

Cite

XML

Abstract

Cross-border ecological cooperation is always a challenging issue. Ecological cooperation in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area has its own uniqueness as it is cross-border cooperation under “One Country, Two Systems”, which is different from multinational cooperation or regional collaboration within one country. This paper analyses the cooperation documents of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, official reports and academic literature, and then summarises the unique pattern of ecological cooperation in the Greater Bay Area under “One Country, Two Systems”. It outlines four characteristics: different priorities in ecological management of each side, case by base cooperation, government-dominated cooperation with low public participation, and huge institutional gap between three sides. This article also identifies several problems and causes: lack of common ecological targets for each side and effective cross-border regulative measures, cumbersome coordination in cross-border cooperation. Finally, four feasible recommendations have been put forwarded: creating new institutional arrangements under the context of “One Country, Two Systems”, establishing the efficient decision-making platform for the inter-city cooperation, introducing the market-based resource allocation, and encouraging public participation in ecological monitoring.

Keywords

References

Bernauer, T., & Moser, P. (1996). Reducing pollution of the river Rhine: The influence of international cooperation. The Journal of Environment & Development, 5(4), 389–415.

Blatter, J. (2003). Beyond hierarchy and networks: institutional logics and change in transboundary spaces. Governance: An international. Journal of Policy, Administration, and Institutions, 16(4), 503–526.

Blatter, J. (2004). ‘From Spaces of Place’ to ‘Spaces of Flows’? Territorial and Functional Governance in Cross-border Regions in Europe and North America. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 28(3), 530–548.

Breslin, S. (2000). Decentralisation, globalisation and China’s partial re-engagement with the global economy. New Political Economy, 5(2), 205–226.

Brunet-Jailly, E. (2022). Cross-border cooperation: A global overview. Alternatives, 47(1), 3–17.

Brunswicker, S., Priego, L. P., & Almirall, E. (2019). Transparency in policy making: A complexity view. Government Information Quarterly, 36(3), 571–591.

Bujdosó, Z., Dávid, L., Remenyik, B., & Tóth, G. (2011). Connection between tourism and regional development on the Hungarian-Croatian border. Central European Regional Policy and Human Geography, 1(2), 27–40.

Cai, L. (2019). Research on Collaborative Governance Mechanism in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area—from the Perspective of Institutional Collective Action. Academic Research Journal, 1, 56–63.

Chamusca, P. (2024). Territorial Cooperation and Cross-Border Development: The Portuguese Dynamics. Social Sciences, 13(2), 108.

Cheng, Q., Zeng, B., & Li, Q. (2022). Transformation of Regional Spatial Coordinative Development of the Guangdong- Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area in the Lens of Media Interaction Process. Tropical Geography, 42(3), 409–421.

Dieperink, C. (2000). Successful international cooperation in the Rhine catchment area. Water International, 25(3), 347–355.

Dür, A., & De Bièvre, D. (2007). Inclusion without influence? NGOs in European trade policy. Journal of public policy, 27(1), 79–101.

Evens, T., Donders, K., & Afilipoaie, A. (2020). Platform policies in the European Union: Competition and public interest in media markets. Journal of Digital Media & Policy, 11(3), 283–300.

Fowlie, M., & Muller, N. (2019). Market-Based Emissions Regulation When Damages Vary across Sources: What Are the Gains from Differentiation? Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, 6(3), 593–632.

Fu, B., Huang, G., Zhang, H., & Zhang, J. (2023). Strengthening ecological protection and green development in Pearl River Basin to support construction of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Bulletin of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, 38(10), 1440–1446.

General Affairs Office of Foshan Municipal People’s Government. (2023). the Foshan Municipal People’s Government on Issuing the Foshan Carbon Peak Implementation Plan (Chinese). Available online: https://www.foshan.gov.cn/gkmlpt/content/5/5776/post_5776323.html#38 (accessed on 18 February 2024).

General Affairs Office of Guangzhou Municipal People’s Government. (2023). the General Office of the Guangzhou Municipal People’s Government on Issuing the Guangzhou Green Space System Plan (2021–2035) (Chinese). Available online: https://www.gz.gov.cn/gkmlpt/content/9/9224/post_9224694.html#12624 (accessed on 18 February 2024).

General Affairs Office of Guangzhou Municipal People’s Government. (2017). Implementation Plan for Controlling Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Guangdong Province During the 13th Five-Year Plan Period (Chinese). Available online: https://www.gd.gov.cn/gkmlpt/content/0/146/post_146048.html#7 (accessed on 18 February 2024).

General Affairs Office of Zhuhai Municipal People’s Government. (2023). Zhuhai Carbon Peak Implementation Plan (Chinese). Available online: https://zhsme.org.cn/policy/getTextPolicyByTextPolicyId?textPolicyId=cd9b4ed9-2018-4803-81b0-a3143941db9b (accessed on 18 February 2024).

Gou, D., Gong, Q., Chen, A., et al. (2022). A review of ecological coordination governance strategies in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Ecological Science, 41(2), 249.

Guangdong Province Government. (2022). The Guangdong Provincial Develop green finance to support carbon peak action (Chinese). Available online: https://www.gd.gov.cn/zwgk/wjk/qbwj/ybh/content/post_3972447.html (accessed on 2 February 2024).

Guangdong Provincial Department of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) Government Environmental Protection Department, Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) Government Transport Bureau. (2012). Regional Cooperation Plan on Building a Quality Living Area (Chinese). Available online: https://www.epd.gov.hk/epd/sites/default/files/epd/tc_chi/resources_pub/publications/files/qla_plan_chi.pdf (accessed in 20 February 2024).

Hooper, B., & Kramsch, O. (2004). Cross-border governance in the European Union. Routledge.

Hopkinson, L., & Stern, R. (2003). One Country, Two Systems, one smog cross-boundary air pollution policy challenges for Hong Kong and Guangdong. China Environment Series, 6(6), 19–36.

Jiangmen Municipal Financial Supervision and Administration Bureau. (2023). Implementation Plan for Jiangmen City to Develop Green Finance to Support Carbon Peak Action (Chinese). Available online: https://www.jiangmen.gov.cn/jmjrj/gkmlpt/content/2/2971/post_2971098.html#5850 (accessed on 20 February 2024).

Kim, S. K., van Gevelt, T., Joosse, P., & Bennett, M. (2022). Transboundary air pollution and cross-border cooperation: Insights from marine vessel emissions regulations in Hong Kong and Shenzhen. Sustainable Cities and Society, 80, 103774.

Kucera, J., Chlapek, D. (2014). Benefits and risks of open government data. Journal of Systems Integration, 5(1), 30.

Lazdinis, M., Angelstam, P., & Pülzl, H. (2019). Towards sustainable forest management in the European Union through polycentric forest governance and an integrated landscape approach. Landscape Ecology, 34, 1737–1749.

Leibfried, S., & Pierson, P. (1995). European social policy: between fragmentation and integration. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution.

Li, C., Ng, M. K., Tang, Y., & Fung, T. (2022). From a “world factory” to China’s Bay Area: a review of the outline of the development plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Planning Theory & Practice, 23(2), 310–314.

Li, H. (2024). Research on the Cross-boundary Data Transfer within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Science of Law Journal, 3(1), 95–99.

Li, L. (2017). Thinking on the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Tropical Geography, 37(6), 757–761.

Liu, C., Lin, S., Jiao, X., et al. (2019). Problems and Treatment Countermeasures of Water Environment in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Acta Scientiarum Naturalium Universitatis Pekinensis, 55(6), 1085–1096.

Liu, J., Lo, K., Mah, D., & Guo, M. (2021). Cross-border governance and sustainable energy transition: the case of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Current Sustainable/Renewable Energy Reports, 8, 101–106.

Mao, Y. (2018). Study on the Coordinated Development and Institutional Innovation in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. South China Journal of Economics, 37(12), 129–139.

Markandya, A., Arto, I., González-Eguino, M., & Román, M. V. (2016). Towards a green energy economy? Tracking the employment effects of low-carbon technologies in the European Union. Applied energy, 179, 1342–1350.

Matlovičová, K., Matlovič, R., & Vlčková, V. (2015). Religiosity in Slovakia After the Social Change in 1989. In: Brunn, S. D. (editor). The Changing World Religion Map Sacred Places, Identities, Practices and Politics. Springer. pp. 1031–1045.

Meulbroek, C., Peck, J., & Zhang, J. (2023). Bayspeak: Narrating china’s greater bay area. Journal of Contemporary Asia, 53(1), 95–123.

National Development and Reform Commission of the People’s Republic of China. (2017). Framework Agreement on Deepening Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Cooperation in the Development of the Greater Bay Area (Chinese). Available online: https://www.bayarea.gov.hk/filemanager/sc/share/pdf/Framework_Agreement.pdf (accessed on 20 February 2024).

Pirard, R. (2012). Market-based instruments for biodiversity and ecosystem services: A lexicon. Environmental Science & Policy, 19–20, 59–68.

Ratti, R. (1993) Strategies to Overcame Barriers: From theory to practice. In: Ratti, R., Reichman, S. (editors). Theory and practice of transborder cooperation. Helbind & Lichtenhahn, Basel and Frankfur/Main. pp. 23–49.

Reed, M. S., Vella, S., Challies, E., et al. (2018). A theory of participation: what makes stakeholder and public engagement in environmental management work? Restoration Ecology, 26, S7–S17.

Richards, J. P., & Heard, J. (2005). European environmental NGOs: Issues, resources and strategies in marine campaigns. Environmental Politics, 14(1), 23–41.

Scherer, R., & Schnell, K. D. (2002). The strength of weak networks. Development and current situation of cross-border cooperation in the Lake Constance region (German). In: Jahrbuch des Föderalismus. Baden-Baden. pp. 502–518.

Scherer, R., & Zumbusch, K. (2011). Limits for successful cross-border governance of environmental (and spatial) development: the Lake Constance Region. Procedia—Social and Behavioral Sciences, 14, 101–120.

Standing Committee of Guangdong Provincial People’s Congress. (2024). the high quality development of Guangdong’s manufacturing industry, and accelerate new industrialisation (Chinese). Available online: https://www.cnbayarea.org.cn/policy/policy%20release/policies/content/post_1225658.html (accessed on 30 January 2024).

The Development and Reform Commission of Guangdong Province. (2023). Accelerating the Innovation and Development of the Hydrogen Energy Industry in Guangdong Province. Available online: https://www.bayarea.gov.hk/en/resource/mainland-policies-measures-20231030b.html (accessed on 20 February 2024).

The Environmental Protection Department of Hong Kong. (2014). Cooperation agreement on regional air pollution control and prevention. Available online: https://www.epd.gov.hk/epd/english/news_events/press/press_140903a.html (accessed on 30 January 2024).

The Environmental Protection Department of Hong Kong. (2022). Hong Kong Environmental Report 2012-2022. Available online: https://www.epd.gov.hk/epd/sites/default/files/epd/sc_chi/resources_pub/policy/files/ehk_report_2012-2022_chi1.pdf (accessed on 24 February 2024).

The Environmental Protection Department of Hong Kong. (2023). Air Quality Statistics (Chinese). Available online: https://www.epd.gov.hk/epd/sc_chi/environmentinhk/air/data/aq_stat.html (accessed on 28 February 2024).

The Environmental Protection Department of Hong Kong. (2023). Waste Reduction and Recycling Information Booklet. Available online: https://www.wastereduction.gov.hk/sites/default/files/resources_centre/Green_Office_and_Property_Management-Waste_Reduction_and_Recycling_Information_Booklet.pdf (accessed on 28 February 2024).

The Macao Environmental Protection Bureau. (2023). Macao Environmental Protection Plan (2021–2025) (Chinese). Available online: https://www.dspa.gov.mo/richtext_plan.aspx?a_id=1637805032 (accessed on 29 February 2024).

The National Development and Reform Commission. (2009). Outline of the Plan for the Reform and Development of the Pearl River Delta. Available online: https://policy.asiapacificenergy.org/sites/default/files/The%20Outline%20of%20the%20Plan%20for%20the%20Reform%20and%20Development%20of%20the%20Pearl%20River%20Delta%20%282008-2020%29%20%28EN%29.pdf (accessed on 12 February 2024).

The Shenzhen Municipal People’s Government. (2023). the Shenzhen Carbon Peak Implementation Plan (Chinese). Available online: https://www.sz.gov.cn/gkmlpt/content/10/10865/post_10865082.html#20044 (accessed on 31 January 2024).

The State Council. (2019). Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (Chinese). Available online: https://www.bayarea.gov.hk/filemanager/sc/share/pdf/Outline_Development_Plan.pdf (accessed on 18 February 2024).

Verweij, M. (1999). A watershed on the Rhine: Changing approaches to international environmental cooperation. GeoJournal, 47, 453–461.

Wang, F., Chen, X., Zhou, X., & Lin, K. (2021). Discussion on the Countermeasures for Ecosystem Conservation and Restoration of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Forest and Grassland Resources Research, 2, 11–16.

Wang, J., Chandra, K., & Du, C. (2021). Assessing the Potential of Cross-border regional innovation Systems: A case study of the Hong Kong-Shenzhen region. Technology in Society, 65, 101557.

Wang, Y. (2018). Retrospect and Prospect of Cooperation on Environmental Governance for Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Journal of HIT (Social Science Edition), 20(1), 117–126.

Wu, J. (2021). Research on the Synergetic Development of Urban Agglomeration in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area under the Framework of “One Country, Two Systems”. Southwestern University of Finance and Economics.

Xinhua News Agency. (2023). Hong Kong and Shenzhen cooperate to establish sister wetland relationship (Chinese). Available online: https://www.gov.cn/xinwen/2023-01/05/content_5735203.htm (accessed on 30 January 2024).

Xu, D., & Ma, L. (2020). Restrictive factors and promoting approaches on collaborative ecological environment governance in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Geographical Research, 39(9).

Yang, C. (2005). Multilevel governance in the cross-boundary region of Hong Kong-Pearl River Delta, China. Environment and Planning A, 37(12), 2147–2168.

Yang, C. (2006). The geopolitics of cross-boundary governance in the Greater Pearl River Delta, China: A case study of the proposed Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge. Political Geography, 25(7), 817–835.

Yang, W., & Ye, H. (2023). Identification of ecological networks in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area based on habitat quality assessment. Acta Ecologica Sinica, 43(24), 10430–10442.

Yang, Z., Lin, Z., Li, L., & Lin, F. (2022). Comparison Between the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Cooperation and the European Union and the San Francisco Bay Area Under the Background of One Country, Two Systems. Hong Kong Journal of Social Sciences, 58, 1–31.

Zhang, X., Shen, J., & Gao X. (2021). Towards a comprehensive understanding of intercity cooperation in China’s city-regionalization: A comparative study of Shenzhen-Hong Kong and Guangzhou-Foshan city groups. Land Use Policy, 103, 105339.

Zheng, F., & Zhang, X. (2014). An independent third party evaluates the overall performance of the government: a review of the “Guangdong Experiment”. Academic research, (8), 31–36.

Zheng, J., Xie, B., & You, X. (2023). Evolution of Habitat Quality and Its Influencing Factors in the Different Terrain Gradient of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area from 1980 to 2020. Economic Geography, 42(8), 41–50.

Zhou, L., Luo, H., Zhu, L., et al. (2019). Study on the Ecological Civilization Co-construction Mechanism of the Guangdong-Hongkong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Chinese Journal of Environmental Management, 11(6), 28–31.

Zhou, Y., Shan, Y., Liu, G., & Guan, D. (2018). Emissions and low-carbon development in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area cities and their surroundings. Applied Energy, 228, 1683–1692,

Zhou, Z., & Zhang, L. (2022). Sustainable waste management and waste to energy: Valuation of energy potential of MSW in the Greater Bay Area of China. Energy Policy, 163, 112857.

Zumbusch, K., & Scherer, R. (2015). Cross-Border Governance: Balancing Formalized and Less Formalized Co-Operations. Social Sciences, 4(3), 499–519.

Previous
article in this issue

Next
article in this issue