Research Proposal Presentation Title

Examining Implementation and Impact of the Government's Policy on Beijing's Smog.

Student researchers

Jingyi Cui, Ge Fang, Chenyu Lang, Dan Qiao

What is your research question?

To what extent does government policy affect the level of Smog in Beijing?

Research proposal keywords or concepts

Government policy, Smog pollution level, Sustainable development of atmosphere

How would you summarize your proposed research idea?

In recent years, China's smog problem has affected people's health in the regional air. As Beijing is the capital of China and it has played an exemplary role in actively responding to national prevention and control policies, the main purpose of this study is to collect information about government policies and smoke control effects from environmental protection department staff, and to explore the relationship between government authority and smoke level in Beijing.

Where is the literature gap and how does your proposed research attempt to fill that gap?

In the literature we found, most of the literature data came from the internet survey. Since some people may not think deeply enough about online surveys, the data obtained in this case may lack authenticity. Our reaserch hope to guide people to think deeply through offline interviews, so as to make up for the lack of literature research data.

Why is this gap worthy of research?

The government believes that local public participation is a prerequisite for long-term sustainable development. Understanding the real opinions of the citizen can help the government make corresponding polocies according to it, so as to more actively implement the government policies that are beneficial to the atmoshere.

What future change could this research possibly contribute to, related to sustainability?

Our research may make more people realize the impact of government policies on the sustainable development of the atmosphere, so more people will strictly implement government policies on sustainable development. The government might also launch more effective policies for sustainable development of the atmosphere based on our research conclusion.

What made your group interested in and/or what excites you about your proposed topic?

When people talk about atmospheric pollution, global warming is what most people think of at once. Some other serious atmospheric pollution is gradually being ignored. Smog is one of them, and these suspended particles are hidden in the air can increase the risk of lung and oral cancer, many people resist wearing PM2.5 masks. We hope to help people taking smog and haze seriously through the policies set by government.

References

Jiang, L., Hiltunen, E., He, X., & Zhu, L. (2016). A questionnaire case study to investigate public awareness of smog pollution in China's rural areas. Sustainability, 8(11), 1111. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su8111111

Long, X., Bei, N., Wu, J., Li, X., Tian, F., & Li, X. (2018). Does afforestation deteriorate haze pollution in Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei (BTH), China? Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 18(15), 10869-10879. http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-10869-2018

Xu, P., Chen, Y., & Ye, X. (2013). Haze, air pollution, and health in China. The Lancet, 382(9910), 2067. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(13)62693-8

Seligsohn, D. (2019). comment: Does the establishment of the ministry of environmental protection matter for addressing china's pollution problems? empirical evidence from listed companies. Journal of East Asian Studies, 19(1), 61-64. https://doi.org/10.1017/jea.2019.1

Zhang, X. (2018). The reemerging concern over air pollution in China: The smog of the state’s efforts to guide public opinion. Journal Of Chinese Political Science, 23(4), 519-536. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11366-017-9497-4

Zheng, Z., Li, Y., Wang, H., Ding, H., Li, Y., Gao, Z., & Yang, Y. (2018). Re-evaluating the variation in trend of haze days in the urban areas of Beijing during a recent 36-year period. Atmospheric Science Letters, 20(1), e878. https://doi.org/10.1002/asl.878

Yang, R., Wei, J., Lu, L. & Li, L. (2020). Air pollution and green consumption of consumers in China’s urban areas: A norm activation perspective, Human and Ecological Risk Assessment: An International Journal, 26:7, 1988-2010. https://www-tandfonlinecom.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/doi/full/10.1080/10807039.2019.1646633