Cities are microcosms of the world’s environmental issues. By 2030, one billion people are expected to be urban residents in China, and some three quarters of global emissions to come from cities. The issues impacting a urban sustainability are numerous: land use layout, public transit, and resource usage, to name a few. With over a hundred cities hosting a population of 1 million or more, China has to consider these issues on an unprecedented scale.

Our guest, Chenzi Yiyang, helps show us the path forward for how cities can become sustainable – by balancing development and environmental protection. Chenzi has worked on addressing urban issues with several international NGOs and development agencies. She tours us through what an ideal city would look like (spoiler alert: it doesn’t exist, yet). However, Chinese cities are making strong efforts to develop various eco-city and low-carbon city programs to create scalable solutions to urban sustainability issues. Chenzi breaks down this complicated problem and guides us through the key elements of greening Chinese cities.