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The course of urban environmental management (UEM) development in China is reviewed and analysed in this paper. The current situation that exists in the field of urban environmental management is also analysed from the aspects of the legislation, environmental policies, economic incentives and market mechanisms, technical instruments and environmental education and public participation. Further, this paper highlights the problems in China's UEM and puts forward some suggestions according to the existing characteristics of UEM in China.

In urbanising regions, urban sprawl and infrastructure cause profound alterations of natural habitats. Initial decisions on urban expansion and major infrastructure investments are often made on a strategic level where the long-term development of a region is determined. For these types of decisions a strategic environmental assessment can be prepared. However, the lack of an adequate conceptual and methodological framework can pose a major problem for the prediction of impacts, not least concerning biodiversity. This paper will highlight the need for effective methods for biodiversity analysis at landscape and regional levels, with reference to the long-term urban development of the Stockholm and Mälaren regions. Problems of habitat loss, fragmentation and other impacts related to large-scale urbanisation and infrastructure developments will be addressed. GIS-based methods focusing on predictive ecological modelling will be discussed in a scenario context. The implementation of such methodologies in the strategic environmental assessment process would allow a better integration of biodiversity in planning and decision-making, further promoting a sustainable planning system.

Ibn Khaldūn’s in-depth analysis of civilizational development and dynamics encapsulates the socio-economic impact caused by the shift from a migratory society to a sedentary society in human history. This shift is a precursor to and reflects the process of urbanization and city living in modern life. Indeed, today’s economists, sociologists and policy makers are familiar with the problems of urbanization vis-à-vis social and economic imbalances as a result of decaying cities and neglected rural areas. The problems of urbanization are aggravated by globalization but there is little development in the understanding of the nature and impact of urbanization in the context of globalization. All indications are that the problems associated with urbanization has not only been unresolved but has worsened due to globalization. Furthermore, the emergence of cities and mega-cities around the globe together with the attendant socio-economic and political upheavals suggests a need to revisit urbanization economics. This paper attempts to contribute to fulfilling this need by drawing from Islamic scholarship with specific reference to Ibn Khaldūn’s ideas regarding civilizational dynamics. Specifically, we will leverage on a conceptual and historical approach to revisit Khaldūnian key-concepts relevant to the socio-economic impacts resulting from urbanization. This would further inform us about the dynamics of urbanization as a globalized phenomenon impacting upon the global economy and our understanding of urbanization economics.

China's planned urbanisation drive has been a major engine of growth for domestic consumer market over the past decades. With economic growth supported by an affluent consumer class, Chinese government aims to turn the country into a wealthy world power. As China evolves into a majority urban country, it present a number of challenges to the continuing rural population, who have been confronted with significant changes in demographic structures, employment opportunities, lifestyles and standards of living, accessibility and rural culture. This chapter summarises the implications of urbanisation process of rural villages in China. Furthermore, we discuss the government policies targeting to address these issues.

In an urban area, the rainwater runoff model differs greatly from the model before its urbanisation with a significant increase in surface runoff as a key phenomenon or performance due to many elements that influence the runoff model. Without a development plan taking into account of all these relevant elements and having the plan enforceable and implemented, urban rainwater mess with rainwater flood as the centre would appear in the relevant city particularly big ones. This paper analyses causes leading to the mess triggered by rainwater (including but not limited to stormwater) especially during the rainy season in China, where 62% of 351 sample cities had suffered from the mess during the period from 2008 to 2010. Lack of a long-term and stable urban development plan that considers all potential environmental impacts of rainwater in a holistic way and/or its unenforceability are the keys leading to the mess. There is a necessity to develop a plan for sustainably integrated urban rainwater management and have it legally binding for the area under urbanisation/re-urbanisation to prevent the mess and/or the urbanised area to eliminate the mess. For having it done, China has to learn lessons from developed countries.