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Yongdong Shen is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages, University of Oslo. His research focuses on civil society development and local policy implementation in China. Currently, he is conducting research on the interaction between local authorities and the public in China under the project on “Airborne: Pollution, Climate Change, and Visions of Sustainability in China”.
Protest against Industrial Air Pollution: A Case from Hangzhou City, China
Air pollution has become one of the biggest environment problems in China, causing severe health risks. Residents, especially those living in big cities, are battling air pollution. Their demands for clean air have forced authorities in many Chinese cities to make a decision—shut down the industrial plants responsible for the pollution, or permit them to continue operating to sustain GDP growth. This essay seeks to shed light on how community residents take action to ensure healthy urban habitats through examining the “Warm Home” community’s protest against industrial air pollution in the city of Hangzhou.
