There is widespread recognition — among policy-makers, business communities, and scholars — of the importance of improving environmental policy and management in China. Environmental concerns in China have triggered the publication of a number of books on the subject. However, very few books offer an in-depth case study of the environmental challenges in Shanghai.

This book aims to explore the extent to which Shanghai has managed to cope with water supply as well as water quality control challenges in terms of its sociopolitical and economic development since 1990, with a special reference to the impact of social actors on water policy. The book focuses on the contributions from each actor in water policy — the most influential actor being the Shanghai government, private companies, environmental NGOs, Shanghai citizens, and international development agencies. The Shanghai water sector, in the recent few years, has been diversified through interactions between the Shanghai government and the newly emergent social actors. Consequently, water policy in Shanghai is influenced by multilateral interactions between these actors with their diverse interests and goals. The book will demonstrate the ways in which these actors in the Shanghai water sector have co-evolved through interactions to formulate a new mode of water policy reflecting the diverse interests of the social actors.

Contents:

• Political Economy and Water in Shanghai
• Theoretical Framework
• Institutional Reform in Shanghai Water Policy
• Development of Civil Movements
• Private Sector Participation
• Impacts of International Development Agencies