Regional Air Quality Management in China: A Case Study in the Pearl River Delta

Abstract

The current jurisdiction-based environmental management paradigm is deficient to address China's growing regional air pollution problems. Based on the foreign management experiences, the “1+N” regional air quality management mode with Chinese characteristics is proposed, which combines the bottom-up and top-down management features among superior and local governments, to cope with the regional air pollution. Several crucial principles are discussed accordingly. In the case study in Pearl River Delta (PRD) region, the PRD Regional Air Quality Management Committee and the Center of Regional Atmospheric Science are carefully designed and are now serving as decision-making body and scientific support agency, respectively. The encouraging practice in the PRD region yields important hints for China's regional air pollution control policy making.