A commentary in today’s China Daily outlines the focus of the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC). Sustainability was at the center of this large gathering that sets the course for the country for the next five years.
The following quote from this piece serves to represent China’s “Harmonious Society” concept as a step beyond sustainable development:
“A harmonious society examines more or less the same relations as sustainable development, but from a more positive viewpoint. Sustainable development looks at a country’s development in isolation and with heavy emphasis on ecology. The concern of a harmonious society is not sustainability in the distant future and intergenerational fairness, which many people will find too abstract and far away. A harmonious society is here and now, and is therefore much more appealing to the masses and more operational. In that respect, a harmonious society transcends sustainable development. It is socialism with Chinese characteristics.”
The article further states that the Harmonious Society comes with a toolbox that has a “scientific outlook on development.” The overall planning that’s described here closely mirrors the holistic spatial planning that V1 Magazine promotes.
The western press has become infatuated by the large-scale sustainable development efforts that China has undertaken of late. It’s clear that the scale and scope of such projects will only grow over the next five years and beyond.
The key for world economies will be to tap into this trend and create market-driven sustainable development initiatives of their own that can see beyond short-term gains. The beauty of this new competitive landscape is that we all win.
