HomeAbstract of 10th-bmeconfGreen Factories, Healthier Cities: Tier-Level Evidence from China’s Green Factory Certification System

Green Factories, Healthier Cities: Tier-Level Evidence from China’s Green Factory Certification System

  • Jun 11, 2026
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Abstract Book of the 10th International Conference on Applied Research in Business, Management and Economics

Year: 2026

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Green Factories, Healthier Cities: Tier-Level Evidence from China's Green Factory Certification System

Wanming Li, Candy Lim Chiu, Han-Chaing Ho, Yutong Liu

ABSTRACT:

Industrial environmental certifications have emerged as pivotal governance instruments, yet their potential to advance urban health and well-being remains largely unexplored—fewer than 5% of published green certification studies examine health outcomes as primary or secondary variables. This study examines how China’s tiered Green Factory Certification (GFC) system contributes to SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being) and SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities). We employ a sequential mixed-methods design combining systematic content analysis and quantitative SDG alignment scoring of 151 certification criteria across three tiers (3-star, 4-star, and 5-star) in Wenzhou, China. Drawing on Institutional Theory, the Natural Resource-Based View, and Stakeholder Theory, we develop a novel Certification-to-Well-being (C2W) framework identifying four pathways through which industrial certifications generate public health and urban livability outcomes. Findings reveal progressive intensification of well-being: SDG 3 strong alignment increases from 73.3% (3-star) to 85.2% (4-star) to 89.9% (5-star), while SDG 11 strong alignment rises from 93.3% to 96.3% to 97.2%. The 5-star tier achieves well-being mainstreaming, with 100% of criteria contributing to both SDGs. This research makes three contributions: (1) developing the C2W framework and three novel theoretical concepts bridging green certification and healthy cities literatures; (2) providing the first criterion-level empirical mapping of an industrial certification program against SDG 3 and SDG 11; and (3) proposing a transferable analytical methodology with actionable insights for policymakers and business managers worldwide.

Keywords: Corporate Sustainability; Healthy Cities; SDG 3; SDG 11; Well-being Governance