Population of 8.4 million and a GDP per capita of 8,100$, Wuhan is the provincial capital of Hubei, and one of central China’ most productive economic centres.
The city is a major transport and logistics hub, and boasts the country’s largest inland river port. As with many Chinese cities, Wuhan’s rapid growth had led to significant environmental challenges.
Its industrial base is dominated by cabon-intensive sectors, including the emissions-intensive stell industry and car manufacturing.
More recently, however, the city government has sought more of a balance between economic growth and the environment. In 2007 the central Chinese government designated Wuhan an experimental zone for sustainability policies, and the city has responded by putting a greater emphasis on lower-carbon industries and services, as well as promoting several environmental initiatives.
Wuhan ranks average overall in the Asian Green City Index. Its best performance is in the water category, where it ranks above average, helped by strong policies on water efficiency and quality monitoring. Wuhan is average in the categories of transport, waste and environmental governance. And although Wuhan ranks average in sanitation, it still has the highest share of wastewater treated among all the other low-income cities in the Index (with a GDO per person of less than US 10,000$). The biggest environmental challenges for Wuhan are found in the categories of energy and CO2, land use and building, and air quality, where the city ranks below average. However, Wuhan scores reasonably well for policies in each of these three categories, which suggests the city can improve its overall environmental performance going forward.