Abstract: Carbon peak and carbon neutrality are important strategies for China’s future socioeconomic development. To achieve the goal of “dual-carbon” strategy, a national-level action plan is needed, as well as strong public participation. Developing a low-carbon community is an important strategy for public participation, materializing low-carbon economy and carbon neutrality. Here, we review the development of low-carbon community concept and analyze the characteristics of low-carbon communities. We examined the problems in low-carbon community deve-lopment in China, including the lack of detailed guidance in planning and construction, the lack of evaluation and supervision in community maintenance, and the lack of detailed guidance for public participation and behaviors in the collective action. Finally, we discussed the challenges and areas for future low-carbon community development in China from the perspectives of both government and public participation in order to achieve the “dual-carbon” strategy. We believe that the following two major areas should be focused during building low-carbon communities: to establish a low-carbon community development model under the government guidance and to quantitatively evaluate the carbon neutrality potential of low-carbon community construction and its contribution in carbon neutrality, thus to enhance the public’s sense of gaining in participating in the construction of low-carbon communities.

Key words: low carbon community, low carbon economy, development model, carbon neutrality, carbon peak.