HKUST Public Policy Bulletin Issue No.15

From Research to Policy Recommendations - A Scientometric Case Study of Air Quality Management in the Greater Bay Area, China

 

Jeffrey CHOW, Tianle LIU, Coco Dijia DU, Rui HU, and Xun WU

 

 

Air quality management in the Greater Bay Area (GBA) of China’s Pearl River Delta faces complex challenges due to its unique governance structure under the "One Country, Two Systems" framework. This study investigates how scientific research informs environmental policy and the dynamics of this interaction, because the rapidly developing region faces urgent air pollution challenges. Understanding the science-policy interface is crucial for effective environmental governance and achieving better air quality outcomes.

 

This study employs a comprehensive scientometric meta-analysis to examine the contributions of scientific research to air quality management in the GBA. It focuses on both Chinese and English-language publications from 2000 to 2019, encompassing a range of articles that meet specific criteria related to air pollution and its management. A detailed database was compiled, which includes articles analysed for their funding sources, institutional affiliations, and policy content.

 

By utilising a manual coding approach, the researchers were able to capture nuanced characteristics often overlooked in automated analyses, such as the extent of government involvement in research and the nature of policy recommendations made within the studies. This methodology allows for a deeper understanding of how institutional factors, including political systems and funding arrangements, shape the science-policy interface in the context of environmental governance in the GBA.

     

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    Authors

    Jeffrey CHOW is a Research Assistant Professor at the Division of Public Policy. His work focuses on the economics and policy concerning the environment, natural resources, sustainable development, climate change, and public health. He served as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the HKUST Institute for Public Policy and Emerging Market Studies, Consultant at Environmental Resources Management, Lecturer at the University of Hong Kong, and Technical Program Manager at Conservation International Hong Kong. He is also a recipient of the Fulbright-Clinton Public Policy Fellowship and the United States Environmental Protection Agency Science to Achieve Results Fellowship.

     

     

    Coco DU is a Research Assistant Professor at the Carbon Neutrality and Climate Change Thrust Area, Society Hub, HKUST (Guangzhou). She received her PhD from HKUST in Environmental Science, Policy and Management. Her research primarily focuses on environmental policy, green finance and regional innovation. As a Co-Investigator for the Strategic Public Policy Research Project “Developing a Green Finance Centre in Hong Kong in the Context of Green Development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area: Institutional Analysis and Policy Design”, she is interested in applying research to address real-life policy problems.

     

    Rui HU is currently pursuing his PhD in Economic Geography at the Department of Geography, Hong Kong Baptist University. He holds a Master's degree in Public Policy from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. His research interests centre on the digital and green (twin) transitions of regional industries, digital platforms, and labour geography, with a particular focus on the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) in China.

     

     

     

    Further reading

    Chow, Jeffrey, Tianle Liu, Coco Dijia Du, Rui Hu, and Xun Wu. "From research to policy recommendations: A scientometric case study of air quality management in the Greater Bay Area, China." Environmental Science & Policy 165 (2025): 104025..