Social sustainability along the Belt and Road Initiative

Abstract

In the Fall of 2013, the announcement of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) by the Chinese President Xi Jinping made Chinese foreign expanding ambitions really became global. The project entails the realization of infrastructure projects in strategic areas all around the world, expanding from East Asia to the Americas. The Chinese government sponsored infrastructure projects have demonstrated to have significant impacts from many perspectives. Environmentalists have engaged in the assessment of big infrastructure environmental impacts, casting doubts on the environmental sustainability of the projects mainly in fragile ecosystems. Economists have expressed concerns for the viability of financial burdens caused by loan lending to developing countries for the realization of the BRI-sponsored infrastructure projects. With the present study we aim to shed light on the social sustainability of big infrastructures along the Belt and Road. Primarily, we will lay out the impacts of the realization of big infrastructures from a general viewpoint. Then, we will move to the BRI itself, by exploring the project from its announcement to the present state of affairs. Thus, we will clarify which are the infrastructure projects embedded in the BRI, who is financing them and which are the actors involved. Finally, we will focus on how The BRI impacts social sustainability. First and foremost, we will examine which are the interests involved in the realization of big infrastructures and who their construction benefit. Last but not least, by presenting case studies and tools, we will try to show how social impacts can be mitigated and eventually transformed into opportunities for local communities. For the purpose of the present study we reviewed existing scientific literature in the field mainly published in international reviews. Chinese government’s official reports, official statements and official press articles were selected resources too.