A Study On The Patterns And The Countermeasures Of NIMBY In China

Among recent mass incidents occurred in China, there is a class called " NIMBYEvents"("LINBI " is the Chinese name of "Not in my backyard" acronym (NIMBY)in), the cause of which is the construction of facilities associated with the publicfunctions in specific areas by government and related sectors.However, these facilitiesmay have some negative externalities, which could raise opposition of local residentsaffected by these negative externalities.Because of its widespread social impact, prevention and response to NIMBYincidents has become an important research topic in the field of publicadministration. This study is focus on questionsincluding:Whatis the general processand development of NIMBY of events? What are the key factors that influence thedirection and outcome of these events? How is the effectiveness of coping strategies andmeasures generated by government in response to the NIMBY? How does governmentadopt more rational decision-making to prevent and reduce the incidence of NIMBYevent? After NIMBY events, how should government properly respond in order torelieve contradictions, avoid conflict and reduce social losses?To answer these questions, this research choose15cases in typical field, and builda analytical framework includingtransparencyandthe legitimacy of projects as twodimensions to analyze these cases in details. On basis of this analysis, the study comesup with the model of development paths of NIMBY events in China.This study shows that the two factors transparencyandthe legitimacy ofprojectsplay crucial roles in the occurrence and development of NIMBY events. Thereare several factors affecting the legitimacy of projects such as the necessity of project,reasonableplanning, and strict implementation of the agency and the effectivesupervision of government. And the effective approach to enhance the transparency ofinformation mainlyinclude: full disclosure of information on environmental standardsandpurposes of whole planning of government; consultation and discussion withresidents and fullrespect to them; correct analyses and elaborate interpretation of mediaand experts; easy access to information and understandable expression for ordinarypeople, unavailability of which will greatly reduce the acceptance of information by public.On the foundation of all above, the author raise the policysuggestionstoNIMBYincidentsin both aspects of prevention and response. Firstly,compared to responding afterwards, the government should focus more on prevention ofthe occurrence of NIMBY incidents.The Government should increase the transparencyof agenda setting,improvethecontrol oftherisk management mechanisms of projectsandfacilitiesand minimize the riskin assessment, decision-making and executions.Government has to provide opportunities of citizen participation NIMBY decisions andintroduce independent professional third-party organizations involved to ensuremorescientific and reasonable project planning and site selection,in the meantime guaranteethat the construction and operation of NIMBY facilities were strictlyregulated. Secondly, in response to NIMBY events, the government must ensureimmediateanswerto the public questioning to avoid more intense caused bycommunication barriers. In addition, government could make cash and non-cashcompensation and invest more in environment protection to make up to residents, inorder to reduce the negative impact of NIMBY facilities to them.