Abstract: This paper reviewed the recent researches of core issues of Eco-city concept and practice in the western literature. The paper first reviews the evolution of Eco-city theory and practice which can be divided into three stages, the first early stage was the bottom-up community practice in 1970s, and the second stage was a boom triggered by the concept of sustainable development in 1990s, and the third stage was the global movement of Eco-city. The paper then analyzes the academic disagreement of the concept. It points out that Eco-city doesn’t have common definitions and standards. Hence, it provides flexibility into practices. The paper further clarifies the links among Eco-city, Sustainability and Ecological Modernization. Finally, the paper analyzes the core issues in both academic and practical perspectives: First, bottom-up organization was gradually replaced by top-down model, which was driven by enterprise and government. In terms of scale, because of the limitations of the practices model projects, they were difficult to be replicated in the other places. However, the projects are still played significant active role. Even if economic development was the starting point for many Eco-city projects, environmental protection and economic development were still difficult to balance.

Key words: Eco-city, sustainability, ecological modernization

摘要： 我国学者对生态城市的研究，多集中于城市生态规划技术方法的探讨，鲜有反思生态城市的理念起源及其实践效果。文章综述近年来西方学者的研究成果，对生态城市理念和实践的核心争论点进行剖析。文章首先回顾生态城市理论及实践的变迁，将生态实践划分为 3 个阶段，第 1 个阶段是 20 世纪 70 年代早期自下而上的社区实践，第 2 个阶段是 20 世纪 90 年代可持续发展理念引发的热潮，第 3 个阶段是全球化大规模生态城市运动。然后分析生态理论在概念上的学术分歧，认为生态城市没有统一的定义和标准，为实践提供了灵活性 ；并理清生态城市、可持续发展、生态现代化这几个概念的联系。最后作者分析了生态城市实践近年来在学术上和实践中的核心争论点 ：认为在组织模式上，由政府、企业推动的自上而下的模式逐渐取代了早期自下而上的社区模式 ；在适用范围方面，典范性项目存在局限性难以在全球复制，依然发挥了积极作用 ；在生态理论的内在矛盾方面，经济发展是许多生态城市项目的出发点，但环境保护和经济发展难以平衡。

关键词: 生态城市, 可持续性, 生态现代化