instead refrain from it, and c) the person’s _perceived_ behavioral control, meaning how easy or difficult she or he would find it to perform the behavior (Ajzen, 1991). Of course all individuals are different and the features of their viewpoints and attitudes cannot be easily generalized. Using the example of sustainable urban planning, previous research shows that personal preferences, norms, and values individuals perceive shape their behavior and the kind of environment they want to live in. While local leaders and urban planers might not personally hold the same preferences and beliefs, they face pressure to develop urban plans that fit with the dominant vision of a “desirable, modern city” (see _Box 9_ ).

# **5. Strategies to Overcome Barriers**

This section reviews recent innovations and experiments that can provide a better understanding of how to address existing institutional and socio-cultural and behavioral barriers in China. First, past and ongoing experiments in China are reviewed followed by a brief introduction to some best-practice international examples. Finally, a number of policy options are summarized for general discussion.

# _5.1 Local innovations and experiments in China_

# _(a) Experiments to improve China’s green planning system and policy instruments_

Chinese planners and local governments have recently begun to address some of the unanticipated and undesirable consequences of China’s target-based green planning system. With the aim of selecting more appropriate planning targets, the Ministry of Environment ordered 74 cities to apply PM2.5 standard and publish daily records on PM2.5 by year-end 2012. Moreover, there are also increasing efforts to improve environmental governance across provincial borders to ensure complete ecosystems are protected. For example, in 2013 the EPBs in Shanghai, Zhejiang, Anhui and Jiangsu Provinces initiated the “Yangtze River Delta trans-boundary environmental pollution emergency response plan”. Under this new crossborder cooperation, provincial governments committed themselves to share environmental protection resources and jointly investigate and address cross-border pollution incidents (China Environment Org, 2013). While it is too early to tell whether signing such an agreement will actually result in measurable improvements, the new response plan signals the awareness among local leaders of the need to improve cooperation across cross-provincial borders.

There are also efforts underway to improve target allocation, implementation, and verification processes. For instance, in Jiangsu, negotiations between municipal governments and provincial authorities were initiated in order to change the existing “one size fits all” allocation method for forest coverage targets to a more differentiated target allocation approach. Some localities have also begun to incorporate feedback mechanisms in order to allocate targets more fairly by, for instance, posting preliminary targets on their website and inviting responses from subordinate cadres as well as the public. In order to avoid cyclical implementation behavior among cadres observed at the end of the 11<sup>th</sup> FYP period, in the 12<sup>th</sup> FYP more emphasis has been placed on achievement of annual targets instead of accumulated five-year targets. Finally, some progress is being made in improving target verification. For instance, in order to avoid local governments reporting energy savings from companies that have gone bankrupt, upperlevel governments are required to present active business licenses for companies with reported energy savings.

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