Evaluating public participation in Chinese EIA. An integrated Public Participation Index and its application to the case of the New Beijing Airport |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Asian and North African Studies, University Ca'' Foscari Venice, Italy;2. Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics, University Ca'' Foscari Venice, Italy;1. Institute of Biological and Health Sciences, Federal University of Alagoas, Maceió, Brazil;2. Instituto de Geografia, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil;3. School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK;4. Instituto de Pesquisas Ecológicas (IPÊ), Nazaré Paulista, Brazil;1. Netherlands Commission for Environmental Assessment, PO Box 2345; 3500 GH, Utrecht, The Netherlands;2. Environmental Governance, Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands;3. Environmental Governance, Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands;4. Forest and Nature Conservation Policy Group, Wageningen University and Research Centre, Wageningen, The Netherlands;1. Department of Development and Planning, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark;2. Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands;3. Department of Urban and Rural Development, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden;4. Forest and Nature Conservation Group, Wageningen University and Research Centre, Wageningen, The Netherlands |
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| Abstract: | In recent years, China's government authorities have devoted increasing attention to the role of public participation processes in Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). The capacity of these processes to influence decision-making remains widely debated. This paper aims at appraising the institutional rationale informing the implementation of public participation in China's EIA, benchmarking it against three conceptualisations: (1) Normative, based on objectives of empowerment and democratisation; (2) Substantive, where participation is pursued mainly to improve quality of decisions; (3) Instrumental, seeking participation as an instrument to legitimise decision-making processes. The appraisal is carried out by means of a new integrated index (Public Participation Index, PPI), which is applied to a case study representative of latest advancements in EIA public participation practices in China, namely the “New Beijing Airport Project”. Located 46 km south of downtown Beijing, the project was approved in 2014 and it is currently under construction. Results of the PPI application to this case study indicate that, despite progress made in recent years, the implementation of public participation in Chinese EIA still largely responds to an instrumental rationale, with limited capacity for the public to affect decisions. |
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