Exploring substantive SEA effectiveness: A critical review of plan environmental impact assessment (PEIA) in Chinese urban planning

Abstract

Plan Environmental Impact Assessment (PEIA), introduced in China in 2003 as the main form of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), has now been practiced for over two decades. However, systematic empirical research evaluating substantive effectiveness and its underlying drivers has remained scarce. This gap is problematic, as China is currently undertaking a major reform to unify land use, urban, and ecological plans under a national territorial planning framework. In this paper, the authors evaluate the substantive effectiveness of PEIA in urban planning through nine cases across five cities: Shenzhen, Nanjing, Fuzhou, Kunming, and Lanzhou. A comprehensive approach, including stakeholder interviews, site inspections, and document analyses was employed. Results indicate that, regarding direct impacts, although there are exemplary cases such as the urban master plans of Shenzhen and Nanjing where SEAs positively influenced decisions and planning, many cases fail to significantly affect strategic planning decisions. However, indirect impacts such as enhanced decision-makers environmental awareness and improved organizational cooperation and communication have been observed consistently, though their broader influence on institutional norms and stakeholder collaboration remains limited. Identified barriers, such as late-stage integration, weak stakeholder participation, institutional constraints, and poor interdepartmental coordination, limit PEIA's direct and indirect roles in shaping strategic planning.