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Understanding Individual Environmental Concern in the Context of Local Environmental Governance in China: A Multi-Level Analysis

Abstract A growing literature has examined the contextual effect of governance on public environmental concern, but most were conducted in a cross-national context. This article investigates the effects of local-level governance on individual environmental concern in China, where environmental governance follows a top-down, non-participatory approach. We compiled a city-level database capturing local participation in sustainability-related policy experimentation and local budgetary expenditure on environmental protection. Combining this with the 2010 China General Social Survey (CGSS) data, multi-level modeling analysis revealed that citizens express stronger environmental concern living in a city more active in sustainability policies, but that the positive coefficient is significant for the urban sample but not for the rural sample. Policy experimentation related to urban livability – rather than ecological conservation – has a more significant impact on environmental concern. The results highlight governance as a contextual factor for understanding the determinants of individual environmental attitudes.