ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the drivers and institutional arrangement of hydropower development projects on the Lancang River – as the upper Mekong River is known in China. Hydropower development projects can have significant impacts on river flows, the environment and the livelihoods of people. Hence, the World Commission of Dams (WCD) (2000) argued that improving decision-making is key to addressing these impacts. Decision-making is highly complex, however. This complexity results not only from the dynamic drivers that push hydropower projects forward but also from the changing institutional arrangement of state, market and society. The decision-making on the hydropower development on the Lancang is very illustrative. Hydropower development is occurring at a time when China is experiencing rapid economic change and the transition from a planned to a market economy. Dynamic drivers and a changing institutional landscape are shaping the course of hydropower development on the Lancang. This chapter aims to present Chinese perspectives of hydropower development specifically on the Lancang mainstream, drawn from data from the author’s field studies and the Chinese literature.
