Shenzhen City, established as “New Town”[1] in 1979, was the first Special Economic Zone and opening-up window of China. In the past 35 years, the city has witnessed a continuous and amazingly fast economic development. In 2014, the per capita GDP of Shenzhen exceeded 24,000 USD while the total population was approaching 11 million. On the other hand, since 2010, Shenzhen has put more and more great efforts into low-carbon city construction. Clear and achievable goals were set up and all kinds of effective measures indented to reach these goals were taken, including the foundation of a carbon trading system in 2013.
[1] “New Town”: planned city/ planned city development