THE VERTICAL AND HORIZONTAL EXPANSIONS OF CHINA'S CITY SYSTEM

Most studies of the size, growth, and distribution of cities have been based on Western economies and have identified economic factors such as scale and agglomeration economies and level of economic development as major determinants of urban growth. It is unclear whether these generalizations are applicable in socialist economies. In this paper, I argue that institutional factors have played key roles in shaping China's city system, which is characterized by declining population concentration across cities and by tremendous vertical (population growth of cities) and horizontal (addition of new cities) expansions. The empirical analysis focuses on describing the size distribution of cities, estimating a multivariate model predicting the population growth of cities, and performing a logistic regression analysis of new and existing cities. The findings underscore the effects of urban and regional development policies, socialist institutions, changes in the urban administrative system, and state and local government interests, and suggest that they as a whole are more important than economic factors in explaining the attributes and changes of China's city system. [Key words: urban growth, city system, institutional factors, China.]     

Foreign Hypermarket Retailers in China: Spatial Penetration,Local Embeddedness,and Structural Paradox

As the world economy shifts towards services, transnational corporations (TNCs) in the service sector have accelerated their expansion in emerging economies. This paper examines the development and embeddedness of foreign hypermarket retailers in China. It also analyzes the spatial penetration patterns of retail TNCs, the impacts of home and host economies on their local embeddedness, and how they resolve the structural paradox between enforcing standardization and conducting localization. The expansion of retail TNCs has been influenced by the gradual liberalization policies of the Chinese government. Spatially, they expanded in two directions: from the eastern costal region to the central and western hinterland, and along China's urban hierarchy from larger cities to smaller cities. While home economies greatly influenced their initial strategies, foreign hypermarket retailers are constantly adjusting to better embed in the Chinese market and to more effectively resolve the structural paradox.     

Digitizing the Dragon Head,Geo-Coding the Urban Landscape: GIS and the Transformation of China's Urban Governance

While local governments have been one of the major user groups of GIS, there is still little research on how GIS development in local government might be intertwined with urban governance, particularly in non-Western contexts. Drawing upon insights from GIS implementation, critical GIS, and governmentality studies, this article seeks to bridge this gap by examining the implications of Chinese urban government GIS practices amidst China's changing urban governance. Through an in-depth case study of Shenzhen, this article analyzes how urban GIS has been transformed from a practice involving internal organizational workflow automation, into a more active dimension of the governance of urban spaces—reflected in the expanding practice of “geo-coding” the urban landscape. “Geo-coding” here refers to a broadly defined spatial practice of carving and reconstructing a rational urban space. GIS practices have constituted a particular form of geographic rationality that seeks to govern at a distance while simultaneously regulating the urban environment, intersecting with the broader transformations of China's urban governance. These GIS developments have been largely government-centric rather than citizen-centric, yet they provide possibilities for new forms of spatial knowledge production for citizen participation in urban governance.     

Administrative hierarchy and urban land expansion in transitional China

In a growing body of literature on urbanization in China, scholars have emphasized the proactive role of the Chinese local state in urban land expansion. Drawing upon official land use change data from 1998 to 2008, this study investigates the relationship between the hierarchical structure of the Chinese urban administrative system and urban land expansion. We find that urban land expansion coincides with administrative hierarchy, and cities with higher administrative levels (ranked by central government) tend to expand more rapidly while controlling for other economic and demographic drivers of urban expansion. Spatial regime models reveal that economic and demographic drivers of urban growth are also sensitive to a city's administrative rank. By quantifying the link between a city's rank and urban land expansion, we conclude that considering the hierarchical structure of the Chinese cities will result in a fuller understanding of the rapid urban growth in China.     

Dynamic changes and transitions of agricultural landscape patterns in mountainous areas: A case study from the hinterland of the Three Gorges Reservoir Area

Analyzing the agricultural landscape patterns in mountainous areas is critical to clarify the dynamic changes and development direction of agricultural landscapes. This also plays a significant role in the rational planning and management of agricultural land. A theoretical framework for agricultural landscape pattern transitions in mountainous areas is proposed to fill the gap of current research with an empirical study in the Caotangxi Watershed, Three Gorges Reservoir Area (TGRA), China. The transition characteristics of agricultural landscape patterns from 2000 to 2018 as represented by sloping farmland, abandoned land, and orchards are analyzed from a holistic-local perspective. The results indicate that the orchards expanded along river valleys, and abandoned land expanded at high elevations, which led to reduced sloping farmland. This phenomenon gives regional landscape differences at the holistic and local levels. Namely, it enhances the region’s holistic landscape diversity but causes fragmentation and aggregation of landscape patches in local areas. The agricultural landscape pattern transitions within the farming range in the study area are manifested primarily in four modes: sloping farmland-orchard conversion type (FOCT), comprehensive conversion type (CCT), partially abandoned type (PAT), and wholly abandoned type (WAT). Each transition mode reveals different development stages of the mountainous agricultural landscape patterns. In general, the agricultural landscape pattern transition is driven by socioeconomic factors in mountainous areas of the TGRA and is bidirectional. This attribute is expressed as the transition from the traditional grain-planting landscape with an even distribution to the eco-economic win-win orchard in valleys and transitions from sloping farmland to abandoned land in high-elevation areas. Overall, the results of this study reveal the uniqueness of agricultural landscape pattern evolutions in China’s mountainous areas in recent decades, which has enlightened the in-depth understandings of rural land use and agricultural ecosystems in mountainous areas of the TGRA, as well as improvements in rural developments and ecological environments.     

北京耕地流失的时空动态与调控途径研究

在国际学术前沿土地变化科学的概念框架下, 耕地非农化及其调控机制研究成为核心问 题之一。研究中国快速城市化地区耕地非农化的驱动力及其调控机制, 不仅是现实的迫切需求, 也可在国际相关学术领域做出独特贡献。以北京为案例进行研究发现: 1996~2004 年北京土地利 用变化中, 大多数地类转换都与耕地直接有关, 耕地流失是北京土地利用变化的核心问题; 城镇 扩展主要占用耕地, 且耕地生产力高的平原地区因建设占用而流失的耕地量大; 远郊山区耕地被 建设占用的压力相对较小, 但被生态用地占用的压力相对较大; 人口增长、经济发展、政府行为与 决策是北京等经济快速发展地区耕地流失的重要驱动因素, 解决途径关键在于寻求耕地保护与 耕地非农利用之间的平衡点、积极发挥土地管理政策的调控作用。     

Urbanization of Capital or Capitalization on Urban Land? Land Development and Local Public Finance in Urbanizing China

This study examines the relationship between urban land development and municipal finance in a Chinese regional economy undergoing rapid urbanization. Drawing upon insights from the perspective of political economy, this study analyzes how municipalities in coastal Jiangsu Province have engaged in the land-dominated urbanization process, and the developmental landscape that has emerged from the new approach toward local public finance. Land development has not functioned simply as a passive outcome of urbanization, but has been actively pursued by local governments as a means of revenue generation to finance local economic growth. An inverse correlation is found between the growth of land conveyance income and the level of the regional economies in China's administrative hierarchy. We call for greater attention to be directed to the interrelationship between land development, local public finance, and urbanization in the ongoing transformation of the Chinese political economy.     

Evolving Spatial Form of Urban‐Rural Interaction in the Pearl River Delta,China

Much of the development literature and the theory of urban transition have been based on an arbitrary division of production space into city and countryside. Despite growing recognition of the need for an integrated approach to urban‐rural relations, controversial issues related to the definition and measurement of the phenomenon remain unresolved. This case study of spatial transformation in China's Pearl River Delta analyzes with greater precision the geographic extent and functional attributes of a zone of urban‐rural interaction located outside and between major metropolitan centers. This zone has been the spatial focus of industrial and commercial development, although most of its population remains officially classified as “agricultural.” The peri‐urban zone was initially left behind by the central cities in terms of its contribution to the regional economy. After a decade of postreform development, this zone has moved ahead of the central cities and become the region's main destination for in‐migrants and foreign investment. The growth of the zone of urban‐rural interaction outside the central cities has absorbed a significant amount of the increased urban population, but it has not brought about a reduction of regional economic inequality because of the persistence of a backward economy in the periphery. Theoretical questions are raised concerning the validity of several fundamental assumptions underlying the conventional model of urban transition.     

Resident Attitudes to Farmland Protection Measures in the Northern Rivers Region,New South Wales

In-migration to popular ‘sea change’ and ‘tree change’ regions has produced conflicts between rural land users. In the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, new residential developments have been built on much of what was previously prime agricultural land, while farmers (in particular, those negatively affected by the deregulation of the dairy industry) have sought to secure retirement incomes by subdividing land for sale. Although developers, local councils and individual farmers sometimes see eye to eye on the mutual benefits of in-migration and population growth, land use has none the less become the subject of a hotly contested local political battle. Conflicts occur at the interface of growing urban developments and surrounding farmland, with new residents finding the sights, sounds and smells of rural production intrusive. More generally, there is considerable concern that the best farmland in the region may be lost to urbanisation and rural residential subdivision. This paper discusses the results of a survey that collected opinions from local residents about the pressures on the region's land uses by in-migration, the future role of farmland as both an economic and cultural landscape, and views on proposed measures to protect prime farmland in the region. Results highlighted a strong and consistent ‘pro-farmland’ and ‘pro-protection’ attitude throughout the region, and across social groups. Yet, variations emerged when respondents were asked about why they attribute value to agricultural landscapes. For some, ‘economic’ values dominated, while for others, value was attributed in ways that reflected an emerging ethos of ‘localism’ and village lifestyle. Although values differed, a clear message from this study is that the population of Australia's pre-eminent ‘sea change’ region strongly support measures to curb urban development and the more destructive consequences of a dynamic property market.     

基于城市等级体系的广东省都市圈发展研究

都市圈是承载城市等级层次结构的重要空间集群,基于城市等级体系概念,为明确广东省城市等级结构以及在新型城镇化背景下优化都市圈建设,提出"城市发展综合度"指标体系,采用因子分析法,考察广东省21个地级市的综合发展程度。将这些地级市划分为核心城市、区域性中心城市、区域性次中心城市、地方性中心城市、地方性次中心城市和地方性一般城市6个等级层次。并且提出优化广东省都市圈发展的建议。     

中国石化产业空间组织的演进历程与机制

本文研究了中国石化产业空间组织的演进及格局,探讨了其影响因子及作用机制。研究认为,中国石化产业空间组织经历了内陆分散布局、沿海局部快速集聚及沿海全面加速扩张三个阶段。经过60年发展,中国已形成了“十大石化产业基地”.原材料、市场和政策因素是影响中国石化产业空间组织的三大主导因素,各因素在不同阶段的作用强度存在差异。在石化产业发展的早期,原材料是影响石化产业布局的主要因素,在此因素的影响下,中国石化产业主要布局在原油丰富的东北和西北地区。改革开放以来,随着工业化和城市化进程的加快,市场成为影响石化产业空间布局的主导因素,中国石化产业开始向沿海局部地区布局。2000年以来,在原材料、市场、政策等多种因素驱动下,石化产业加速向沿海地区集聚,沿海石化产业带初步形成,无序扩张态势初现端倪。     

Cross‐border rubber cultivation between China and Laos: Regionalization by Akha and Tai rubber farmers

This paper is a multi‐sited ethnography of cross‐border rubber cultivation between China and Laos. Smallholder minority rubber farmers from Xishuangbanna (China) have forged successful informal share‐cropping arrangements to grow rubber trees on the land of relatives and friends in neighbouring Laos. By becoming rich and entrepreneurial rural citizens, Akha and Tai farmers have also, in their own eyes, raised their own ‘quality’ (suzhi) and see themselves as ‘modern’. By examining various meanings of ‘modern’ in China, and contrasting the rubber farmers' experience with Jacob Eyferth's notion of rural ‘deskilling’, this paper shows how through learning to plant, cultivate and tap rubber, these farmers have taken on the discipline and technical knowledge of ‘modern’ workers and become ‘skilled’. By rising in ‘quality’, minority farmers on China's periphery challenge the entrenched binaries of urban/rural, modern/backward, prosperous/poor and Han/minority nationality. Xishuangbanna minority farmers acknowledge that they are also ‘backward’ in the Chinese social hierarchy, but their extension of rubber cultivation to kin and others in Laos has confirmed their modernity as dispensers of development, technical know‐how and ‘superior’ Chinese culture to Lao farmers who are ‘backward and poor’. In contrast to large state rubber farms that have failed to establish rubber plantations in northern Laos, minority farmers have created regionalization.     

Urban Infrastructure Financing and Economic Performance in China

Research points to a strong association between infrastructure investment and economic performance. Despite China's great strides in providing basic services, there is increasing disparity among cities of different regions in their ability and performance to finance infrastructure development. Such unevenness has a long-term effect on urban economic growth. This study explores patterns and the expanding range of mechanisms for urban infrastructure financing in general and across the country's regions. It also investigates whether and how infrastructure investment is related to urban economic performance, using lagged variables to demonstrate both short- and medium-term effects. It is clear that such investment has responded to past unmet demands and paved the way for future growth.     

The Permeable City: Toronto's Spatial Shift at the Turn of the Millennium

This article presents an analysis of the relationship between urban governance restructuring, and global, national, and local action through a case study of the Toronto city‐region. The Toronto city‐region recently underwent a massive reorganization of its governance structures, functions, and jurisdictional boundaries. This restructuring raises questions about why these changes occurred at this particular juncture in the region's history. Why did the city that had always been known in the academic and political discourse as the “city that works” stop “working”? What global and national forces might have accounted for such a radical restructuring? And what did local action contribute? These questions are explored in both historical and contemporary contexts by drawing on insights from regulation theory, urban regime theory, and an analysis of Canada's changing fiscal federalism. This approach informs the role that institutions — regardless of their origin or territorial scope — play in sustaining a local accumulation system, and how this “local” accumulation grounds a national regulatory mode and regime of accumulation. The approach also explores the relationship between regime and regulation theories in the context of policy formation and institution building. The study concludes that the current policy set is incapable of resolving the region's crisis tendencies. Notwithstanding external forces, the current policy set is not inevitable. Globalization does not predetermine all spatial‐economic outcomes.     

基于遥感技术的宁夏南部山区LUCC研究

以1975、1987 和2001 年的Landsat TM/MSS 影像为数据源, 利用遥感(RS) 和地理信息系 统(GIS) 相结合的技术, 运用统计方法和转移矩阵对宁夏南部山区26 年来的土地利用/覆被变化 ( LUCC) 状况进行了研究。结果表明, 宁夏南部山区土地利用/覆被的主要类型是耕地, 其次是草 地和林地; 耕地在1987 年达到了最高峰, 为790312.06hm2, 占总土地面积的70.03%。转移矩阵分 析得出, 在1975～1987 年间, 有370770.52hm2 草地和39813.57hm2 林地转化成耕地; 而在1987～ 2001 年间又有316865.89 hm2 耕地转化为草地和50729.16 hm2 耕地转化为林地。导致这种变化 的原因是上世纪70、80 年代当地经济发展思路以基本农田建设为中心, 鼓励农民进行开荒种地; 而到90 年代后, 国家开发政策的转变和重大生态工程的建设, 特别是退耕还林还草, 为当地草地 和林地的恢复起到了重要的作用。     

Location Decisions and Network Configurations of Foreign Investment in Urban China∗

This article studies location decisions and network configurations of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu Province, located in the northwest of the Yangtze River Delta (YRD). Built on the perspective that China's economic transition can be conceptualized as a triple process of globalization, marketization, and decentralization, this article outlines four structural changes of the Chinese economy that are underlying the location and networks of FDI: decentralization and the empowerment of local states, marketization and the increasing importance of places, globalization and the emergence of globalizing city regions, and urban spatial restructuring. The study has uncovered substantial intraurban differences within Nanjing and the significance of the Chinese state, location within the YRD, and intraurban context in the location decisions for FDI. We have also found that foreign ventures overwhelmingly serve as production facilities for either the Chinese or world markets, and maintain close production relations with other foreign firms in the YRD. Finally, regression models have identified the significance of national-level development zones, access to ports, and industrial land in the location of foreign ventures.     

农户耕地保护意愿影响因素研究

以福建厦门、福州、南平为例,通过对627户农户的问卷调查,全面比较分析不同经济发展水平地区农户耕地保护意愿的影响因素,结果表明:(1)家庭特征是影响各地区农户耕地保护意愿的基础与普遍性因素;(2)经济价值认知是影响经济欠发达地区农户耕地保护意愿的核心因素;(3)用途转换收益是影响经济发达地区农户耕地保护意愿的关键因素;(4)政策相关特征是农户耕地保护意愿的导向性因素。为提升农户耕地保护意愿、守住耕地资源红线,建议结合地方经济水平,制定出符合当地实际的耕地保护政策;尊重农户意愿,合理调整耕地保护政策执行方式;建立符合市场经济要求的农村土地流转机制,推进耕地集中经营。     

POACHING STATE POLITICS IN SOCIALIST CHINA: UXIN JU'S GRASSLAND CAMPAIGN, 1958–1966*

ABSTRACT. This study explores the local experience of a state‐initiated campaign to improve the grassland in Uxin Ju, a Mongolian community in northern China, from 1958 to 1966. The contrast between the local experience and the official representation reveals great discrepancies and attests to the ability of local people to utilize state policies to meet local needs, transforming socialist ideologies into local rationales. Applying Michel de Certeau's theory of everyday practice that sees book reading as poaching and the use/consumption of political and cultural discourses as a process of creative empowerment, I examine how the Mongols in Uxin Ju “poached” state politics to their own advantages and appropriated the grassland campaign in the making of the local landscape. This poaching further elucidates James Scott's concept of ideological resistance by focusing on the creative use of nonoppositional nature, which is an important way in which local people could express their agency in the oppressive regime of socialist China. This article calls attention to how nonsubversive co‐optation of state policies can function as an expression of agency in the making of local human‐environmental history, even on the part of individuals who are actively accommodating to the ideology of the dominant regime.     

Residential Mobility and Urban Restructuring under Market Transition: A Study of Guangzhou,China

Residential mobility can be conceptualized as an outcome of a choice process exercised under complex institutional and personal constraints. China's rather unique pattern of housing market segmentation under market transition impinges directly on residential location and relocation. Drawing upon data from a sample survey, this paper analyzes the pattern of residential moves resulting from commodity housing construction in a major Chinese city, Guangzhou. Most moves are of short distance, although the general direction is towards the urban periphery. Danweis and the municipal housing bureau, rather than the market per se, are the primary driving forces behind suburbanization in China today.     

Globalization and Emerging Office and Commercial Landscapes in Shanghai

Office and commercial infrastructure in urban China largely disappeared during the period of central planning between 1949 and 1978. The role of downtown areas in China's cities, however, has been reinvented as a result of China's global integration. In Shanghai, comprehensive planning efforts were made for the renovation of the CBD and the restructuring of the inner city. This article examines the emergence of office and commercial landscapes by linking planning implementation to broad market transition. It argues that the emergence of office and commercial centers in Shanghai can be viewed as the result of market forces as well as discretionary implementation of city comprehensive plans by local governments in the inner city—in response to global integration on the one hand and investor interests on the other.