Searching for the Mecca of finance: Islamic financial services and the world city network

This paper presents an analysis of the geography of the booming 'Islamic financial services' (IFS) sector, which provides a host of financial services based on Islamic religious grounds. The relevance of such an analysis is discussed against the conceptual backdrop of the world city network literature. It is argued that a focus on the globalisation of the IFS sector may provide an alternative to hegemonic geographical imaginations of world city-formation through its focus on other forms of globalising economic processes and regions that do not commonly feature in this literature. Based on information on the location strategies of 28 leading IFS firms in 64 cities across the world, we analyse different features of this decentred global urban geography. Manama is hereby identified as the Mecca of the IFS sector, while other major Gulf cities such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi are also primary nodes in this urban network. Other major Middle East North Africa (MENA) cities such as Tehran follow suit, but also more traditional financial centres such as London are well connected.     

全球金融中心的百年竞争:决定金融中心成败的因素及中国金融中心的崛起

本文从全球角度和历史经验论述金融中心发展,尤其是国际金融中心发展的条件、路径和制约因素,并综合"金融地理"、"金融法学"及"时区理论"的观点论述国际金融中心发展及增长。本文并对香港及内地金融中心(上海、北京、深圳)在后金融危机的时代及中国的伟大崛起中的发展机遇,及在全球金融网络的位置及角色和前景作出展望,并对上海建设国际金融中心作出建议。     

An evaluation of financial globalization under fund-manager capitalism: the case of the UK unit trust industry

Drawing upon evidence from the UK unit trust industry, this paper evaluates the extent and nature of financial globalization. It finds that despite this rapidly growing and prominent form of fund-manager capitalism operating with increasingly mobile capital in a more inter-connected deregulated world, this does not signal the advent of homeless capital and the end of geography.     

地理、网络与信任:金融危机背景下的生产网络演化

网络演化是演化经济地理学研究的重要内容和新近热点之一。在当前的理论探讨中主要强调路径依赖和惯例对网络演化的强化作用,对于信任这个关键要素缺乏深入探讨。本文通过深度访谈和问卷调查相结合的方法,对比金融危机前后广东省纺织服装行业生产网络的空间结构,揭示信任与生产网络演化之间的互动机制。研究发现:信任是维系生产网络稳定性的基本要素之一,信任的强弱程度主要受合作类型(市场关系)、地理接近(空间关系)和社会文化接近根植性(社会关系)等因素影响。金融危机作为一种负面外部冲击,重构了广东省服装行业的生产网络。在这个过程中,较强信任关系的网络连结(潮汕地区)得以保留,并在危机过后进一步强化;而部分较弱信任关系的网络连结(珠三角地区)发生断裂,且在经济回暖之后被潮汕地区的网络所取代。     

International knowledge mobility and urban development in rapidly globalizing areas: building global hubs for talent in Dubai and Abu Dhabi

This paper examines the processes through which the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) cities of Abu Dhabi and Dubai attract and integrate knowledge workers into their labor markets. It focuses on how the UAE has acquired the human capital to create post-oil economies, deploying its oil windfalls into massive urban development strategies in order to create global hubs for talent. More significantly, it analyzes how the UAE’s strategies and frameworks for attracting global knowledge flows ultimately determine the degree to which expatriate knowledge embeds locally. Presentation of results from a large-scale human capital survey of firms in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, as well as key-informant interviews with senior human resource administrators at these firms, demonstrate these processes.     

英属维尔京群岛离岸金融中心发展历程及启示

本文利用文献梳理与案例分析方法,以英属维尔京群岛为例,分析了其“避税港”与空间集聚、初级离岸中心与空间集聚重组以及发达离岸中心与空间集聚强化的发展历程;研究发现,国际政治经济环境为离岸金融中心的建立提供了可能,独特的自然与人文经济条件为离岸金融中心的建立提供了基础,而不断完善的法律与监管则保证了离岸金融中心的可持续发展;基于此,中国应积极探讨在上海、广东与天津等自贸区建立分离—渗透型,在东南沿海选择合适的岛屿或群岛建立避税港型离岸金融中心的可行性与实施方案,并逐步完善政策法律体系,有效管控金融风险。     

Predatory cities: unravelling the consequences of resource-predatory projects in the global South

In this paper, we outline a framework to study what we have termed “Predatory Cities”, using the artificial offshore island of The Pearl in Qatar as a case study. By focusing on the nexus between urbanisation and resources, we will argue that the master-planning of new cities in the booming global South implies both the access and cheap exploitation of a set of, on the one hand, intangible and, on the other hand, tangible resources that exceed the traditional boundaries. Our point of departure is that the cheap appropriation and exploitation of alien architecture images and resource networks for the making of new, master-planned cities has become a necessary, but highly unsustainable, strategy to survive an increasingly competitive global offering of new destinations.     

"全球城市"极化与上海社会空间分异研究

采用2000年全国第五次人口普查的统计数据,对上海社会空间分异的当前趋势进行探讨,结合中国崛起的历史性、地域性,针对上海城市经济结构、产业结构的转型问题,对全球化下我国城市社会空间发展的趋向进行分析,发现上海目前的社会经济结构尚未出现社会空间极化.通过对社会空间因子空间分布的实证分析,进一步揭示上海社会空间分异程度尚不明显.     

金融危机下泛长三角FDI时空格局演化及其机制研究

在华FDI的区域差异及其区位选择的演化过程与机制,受企业属性、产业特性及来源国和承接国社会经济环境等多种因素影响.在国际金融危机冲击下,全球虚拟与实体经济波动、国际产业转移新趋势与国家宏观政策新导向等内外部因素不断重构在华FDI时空格局演变过程与机制.基于路径依赖、外部冲击等理论分析框架,本文以泛长三角地区为例,首先从总量、行业与区位选择等方面分析了金融危机前后FDI的时空演变过程;其次通过计量模型对FDI区位选择影响因素演变过程进行实证研究.研究表明,金融危机前后泛长三角FDI区位选择及其影响因素转变遵循路径依赖动态演化模式,主要表现为原有演化路径受到金融危机冲击,伴随市场环境、生产要素成本、创新环境、集聚经济和沉淀成本、制度环境等内外生因素影响,FDI总量、行业与区位选择的演化趋势也呈现出复杂性与多样化.     

东莞市金融服务业分散化空间格局——企业金融服务消费行为视角

通过问卷调查和深度访谈等手段获取反映企业金融服务消费行为的数据资料,结合社会经济统计 (1990~2003 )和基本单位普查 (2001 )数据,实证分析了东莞市第二产业分散化空间格局前提下,跨国公司生产基地"多点"金融服务消费行为、成功港资企业"两点"金融服务消费行为以及镇区工业集团总公司"园区型"金融服务消费行为,探讨了东莞金融服务业"无强中心,分散化"空间格局形成的机制。     

Resilience and finances on Aotearoa New Zealand farms: Evidence from a random survey on the sources and uses of debt

Debt and income are keystones to financial resilience on New Zealand farms. This article utilises a survey on finance to assess farm financial health using a new model of resilience. It shows the majority of farms are financially strong. Further borrowing and development are possible. With increasing variability resulting from the longer term trade liberalisation as well as global warming impacts, the high equity will provide future resilience. On the other hand, profit levels are not high relative to the investment, but this has been the case for decades and has not caused problems due to farmer and farm family resilience.     

“一带一路”视角下城市技术合作网络演化特征与影响因素研究

采用2007-2018年的PCT专利合作数据,基于“一带一路”视角,分段刻画城市技术合作网络的拓扑结构、空间格局及其时空演化,利用负二项回归方法分析其演化的邻近性机理,结果表明:①拓扑结构方面,网络整体规模经历了从“规模扩大”到“联系增强”的演化过程,中国城市逐渐占据网络的核心层级.②空间格局方面,“一带一路”城市之间...     

中国金融排斥的省际差异及影响因素

从金融服务的渗透度、使用度、效用度、承受度四个维度构建金融排斥的综合评价指标体系,借鉴人类发展指数的编制方法,分别测算了2004年和2012年中国金融排斥指数;运用分层聚类法将中国省际金融排斥度划分为四个大类和六个亚类,并结合ArcGIS对金融排斥的省际差异变化特征进行分析;探讨了中国金融排斥省际差异的主要影响因素。研究表明：① 可将中国金融排斥程度划分为轻微、轻度、中度和重度四大类型;② 总体特征上,中国金融排斥程度高、地区差异大,形成东部地区明显低于中西部的空间格局;③ 通过两个时间断面比较发现,中国金融排斥程度平均水平略有增加,但总体稳定;④ 金融排斥四维度的省际空间差异大,且对金融排斥总体水平影响程度不一;⑤ 中国金融排斥度省际差异受城市化水平、地区收入水平、人口密度、政府经济行为、教育发展水平等多种因素影响;⑥ 促进区域经济发展、加强政府管制、发展微观金融是降低金融排斥的重要途径。     

Gentrification and the suburbanization of poverty: changing urban geographies through boom and bust periods

Many postindustrial cities across Europe and other contexts are marked by growing social–spatial inequalities, housing liberalization, and gentrification, which limit the housing options of low-income households. We investigated changes in the residential moves of different low-income households (working poor, low-to-middle income, and unemployed) in the Amsterdam and Rotterdam urban regions for the time period 2004–2013. We found an overarching trend for the suburbanization of poverty toward the urban peripheries and surrounding regions. While this trend appears to be relatively crisis resistant in the tight Amsterdam housing context, it is more cyclical in Rotterdam and has slowed following the global financial crisis. Low-to-middle income and unemployed households are increasingly moving to the urban regions surrounding cities, particularly to higher density satellite towns. Nevertheless, a growing number of working poor households remain highly urbanized, employing various coping strategies to acquire housing. This paper reveals how the suburbanization of poverty is both a direct process of poor households moving from city to suburb, and a broader indirect process caused by exclusionary mechanisms such as the decreasing accessibility and affordability of inner-urban neighborhoods, which reflect broader changes in the geography and socioeconomic patterning of urban regions.     

海南自贸港金融服务实体经济效率的时空异质性及其驱动机理

提升金融服务实体经济效率是海南自贸港建设亟待研究和突破的“靶点”。论文通过测算2011—2020年海南自贸港18市县金融服务实体经济效率,利用Dagum基尼系数与Kernel密度估计方法刻画效率的时空异质性,并借助随机森林模型揭示其驱动机理,创新性地从时空视角挖掘海南自贸港金融服务实体经济效率分异机制。研究发现：(1)海南自贸港金融服务实体经济效率时空非平衡性明显,时序上阶段性显著,空间上呈西高东低、高值聚集、中部“洼地”的分布特征,西北部市县与中部市县各自逐步形成高值、低值聚集区;(2)总体及沿海市县梯度分化特征逐步加强,而非沿海市县内部差距则逐步缩小,沿海区域金融服务实体经济效率的空间分异是总体分异的主要来源;(3)政府干预是效率分化的主导因素,含金融集聚度在内的影响因素对效率均呈非线性影响且作用趋势与阈值各异,各因素的边际产出能力及各市县对要素的吸收与应用能力的动态差异是时空异质性的主要来源。研究结论可为优化海南自贸港金融资源的空间配置、提升金融服务实体经济效率提供科学依据。     

Uneven urban metabolisms: toward an integrative (ex)urban political ecology of sustainability in and around the city

ABSTRACT

Expanding cities present a sustainability challenge, as the uneven proliferation of hybrid landscape types becomes a major feature of 21st century urbanization. To fully address this challenge, scholars must consider the broad range of land uses that being produced beyond the urban core and how land use patterns in one location may be tied to patterns in other locations. Diverse threads within political ecology provide useful insights into the dynamics that produce uneven urbanization. Specifically, urban political ecology (UPE) details how economic power influences the development decision-making that proliferate urban forms, patterns of uneven access, and modes of decision-making, frequently viewing resource extraction and development through the urban metabolism lens. The political ecology of exurbia, or, perhaps, an exurban political ecology (ExPE), examines the symbolic role nature and the rural have played in conservation and development efforts that produce social, economic, and environmental conflicts. While UPE approaches tend to privilege macroscale dynamics, ExPE emphasizes the role of landowners, managers, and other actors in struggles over the production of exurban space, including through decision-making institutions and within the context of broader political economic forces. Three case studies illustrate the strengths and weaknesses of these approaches, demonstrating the benefits for and giving suggestions on how to integrate their insights into urban sustainability research. Integrated political ecology approaches demonstrate how political-economic processes at a variety of scales produce diverse local sustainability responses.     

城市群金融等别视角下的长三角金融资源流动研究——以城市商业银行异地扩张为例

金融资源在节点间无障碍流动不仅有利于金融资源更有效的利用,而且对于缓解地区金融资源的供需矛盾,推动地区经济发展意义重大。基于金融等别城市空间作用理论、以长三角城市商业银行异地扩张为例构建城市金融资源流动网络,借助社会网络分析工具和Dagum方法研究各等别城市2008-2014年金融资源的流动程度、流动路径选择和流动协调性问题。研究发现：① 地级市之间流动密度最大,随着时间增长较快,其次是县级市流往地级市,其他类城市间的流动密度相对较小;② 地级市之间的流动呈现“均匀扩散”特征,而地级市到县市之间的流动则存在“条件扩散”特征。省级边界影响最大,其次是城市间经济水平差距和金融发展水平差距;③ 县级市内部的金融资源流入差异程度最大,各市县城市内金融资源的流入存在“马太效应”的倾向。表明：长三角目前仅仅是地级中心城市之间存在一体化的趋势,中心城市对金融腹地的辐射作用不强,有待挖掘。因此,一方面,宏观层面的一体化政策要做到县市,另一方面,各县市自身（特别是落后县市）也要加大力度改善目前经济金融环境。     

The role of cultural and creative services in the evaluation of the world urban system

Traditionally, academic evaluation of the world urban system has been based on economic approaches and focused on primary cities. However, the recent convergence between economic and cultural spheres, known in specialist literature as the ‘new economy’ or ‘cognitive–cultural capitalism’, requires the inclusion of secondary cities and cultural parameters, such as creative and cultural services, to obtain knowledge of the world urban system with greater accuracy. Accordingly, the authors have developed the Synthetic Index of Cultural Components (objective 1). Subsequent statistical treatment through a principal component analysis and a cluster analysis not only shows a representation of the multifunctional character of the world urban system (objective 2) but also identifies the cultural specializations that urban planners use to position cities worldwide (objective 3). The results demonstrate that the reputation of a city derives not only from its productive economic character but also from other cultural creative services that give meaning to its multidimensional perspective. The authors conclude that these services are empirically valid when the cultural dimension is measured, as they are illustrative of the cultural mechanisms that help cities to supply symbolic, experiential, and cultural capital, all of which are vital in the competitive context of globalization.