Perceptions of Quality of Life and Pollution among China's Urban Middle Class: The Case of Smog in Tangshan

After decades of rapid economic development, China is facing severe environmental problems. In particular, smog in urban areas has recently attracted a great deal of scientific and media attention both domestically and internationally. Our focus in this article is on public perceptions of smog in th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The China quarterly (London) 2018-06, Vol.234, p.340-356
Main Authors: Li, Xiaoyue, Tilt, Bryan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Air pollution
Air quality
Carbon dioxide
Children & youth
Cities
Climate change
Coal
Consciousness
Economic development
Economic problems
Environmental degradation
Environmental impact
Environmental protection
Environmental quality
Families & family life
Family roles
GDP
Gross Domestic Product
Health status
Mass media
Middle class
Outdoor air quality
Perceptions
Personal health
Pollution control
Public opinion
Qualitative research
Quality of care
Quality of life
Quantitative analysis
Residents
Smog
Social classes
Special section: Human Dimensions of Air Pollution in China
Urban areas
Urban population
Well being
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Summary:After decades of rapid economic development, China is facing severe environmental problems. In particular, smog in urban areas has recently attracted a great deal of scientific and media attention both domestically and internationally. Our focus in this article is on public perceptions of smog in the northern city of Tangshan, which is routinely ranked as one of the urban areas with the worst air quality in the nation. In this article, we present the results of qualitative interviews and quantitative surveys with 341 urban residents. We examine how these residents perceive and weigh the importance of various aspects related to quality of life, including their experience with air pollution. Study participants considered environmental quality an issue of lower priority than many others; however, they surprisingly ranked it over economic concerns such as jobs and income. Their responses suggest that, for many urban residents, environmental problems like smog are fundamentally linked to basic quality of life concerns such as physical health and family well-being. We interpret our findings in the context of literature on the rise of China's middle class, the rise of environmental consciousness, and the role of gender in mediating perceptions of pollution and family health. We also consider the implications of these findings for the control and remediation of air pollution in China today. 经过数十年迅猛的经济发展, 中国当下面临极其严重的环境问题。尤其是近些年中国的城市雾霾引起了国内外学者和媒体的广泛关注。这篇文章探讨了生活在中国北方城市唐山的人们对于雾霾污染的公众意识。在这篇文章中, 作者总结了定性访谈和 341 份城市调查问卷的分析结果, 介绍了唐山的城市居民如何认识和权衡生活质量相关的几个方面, 包括他们自身对于雾霾的经验和认知。被调查居民认为环境质量相较其他几项生活质量相关的方面并不在优先考虑之列, 然而却优先于经济考量,比如说比工作和家庭收入。被调查居民的回答反映出对于很多城市居民来讲, 环境问题很大程度上和对于最基本生活质量的忧虑息息相关, 包括身体健康以及家庭和睦。此文章引用了中国中产阶级的崛起, 环境意识的苏醒, 以及性别在影响环境相关的公众意识的作用为框架阐述研究成果, 同时作者认为此篇研究成果对于以后中国更好的控制和改善大气污染具有实践性的意义。
ISSN:0305-7410
1468-2648
DOI:10.1017/S0305741017001382