93
T. Mino and K. Hanaki (eds.), Environmental Leadership Capacity
Building in Higher Education, DOI 10.1007/978-4-431-54340-4_6,
© The Author(s) 2013
Abstract As cities in the GPRD develop, they go through an environmental transition
associated with changes in the type of environmental challenge. With its growing
economic power, China is playing an important role in the global economy, although
the prosperity of the cities seems to have come with certain hurdles: social inequality and environmental deterioration. In response to such transaction, we have examined the GPRD’s urban development, including urban formation, industry relocation,
economic development, social inequality, and biodiversity conservation for a better
quality of life (QOL). As a catalyst for sustainable urbanization, environmental
leadership—where the urbanization process can be in harmony with the urgency for
the economic development and sustainable future of the city—was explored. The
holistic framework of activity theory was also applied within the area of sustainability to arrive at an inclusive structure for environmental leadership.
Keywords Environmental leadership development • Quality of life • Sustainable
urban development
6.1 Introduction
The Greater Pearl River Delta (GPRD) is a megacity region in southern China, as
shown in Fig. 6.1 . It includes nine municipalities, which are major component cities
of the GPRD in Guangdong Province, and two special administrative regions: Hong
Kong and Macao. Currently, the GPRD has a population of over 50 million and
Chapter 6
Environmental Leadership Development
Based on Activity Theory for Sustainable
Urban Development in the Greater Pearl
River Delta, China
Kyoungjin J. An
K.J. An (*)
Asian Program for Incubation of Environmental Leaders (APIEL),
Department of Urban Engineering , Graduate School of Engineering,
The University of Tokyo , 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656 , Japan
e-mail: ankj@env.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp
T. Mino and K. Hanaki (eds.), Environmental Leadership Capacity
Building in Higher Education, DOI 10.1007/978-4-431-54340-4_6,
© The Author(s) 2013
Abstract As cities in the GPRD develop, they go through an environmental transition
associated with changes in the type of environmental challenge. With its growing
economic power, China is playing an important role in the global economy, although
the prosperity of the cities seems to have come with certain hurdles: social inequality and environmental deterioration. In response to such transaction, we have examined the GPRD’s urban development, including urban formation, industry relocation,
economic development, social inequality, and biodiversity conservation for a better
quality of life (QOL). As a catalyst for sustainable urbanization, environmental
leadership—where the urbanization process can be in harmony with the urgency for
the economic development and sustainable future of the city—was explored. The
holistic framework of activity theory was also applied within the area of sustainability to arrive at an inclusive structure for environmental leadership.
Keywords Environmental leadership development • Quality of life • Sustainable
urban development
6.1 Introduction
The Greater Pearl River Delta (GPRD) is a megacity region in southern China, as
shown in Fig. 6.1 . It includes nine municipalities, which are major component cities
of the GPRD in Guangdong Province, and two special administrative regions: Hong
Kong and Macao. Currently, the GPRD has a population of over 50 million and
Chapter 6
Environmental Leadership Development
Based on Activity Theory for Sustainable
Urban Development in the Greater Pearl
River Delta, China
Kyoungjin J. An
K.J. An (*)
Asian Program for Incubation of Environmental Leaders (APIEL),
Department of Urban Engineering , Graduate School of Engineering,
The University of Tokyo , 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656 , Japan
e-mail: ankj@env.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp