Buenos Aires,capital of tango: tourism,redevelopment and the cultural politics of neoliberal urbanism

In this paper, I problematize the connections between global tourism, urban redevelopment and cultural policy in Buenos Aires. Market-oriented approaches to urban growth have continued after Argentina’s economic collapse of 2001–2002. Devaluation produced unprecedented international affordability, which triggered a tourism boom. City government capitalized on this through cultural initiatives. Yet tourist-oriented cultural entrepreneurialism promoted forms of disjointed redevelopment that exacerbate socio-spatial inequality and fragmentation. Moreover, Mayor Macri has been advancing a cultural politics of scale that recasts Buenos Aires as a world-class city, while mobilizing localist identities to oppose national efforts towards income redistribution and intercultural recognition. Particularly important have been the recent appropriations of tango as a cultural commodity. Deployed for city marketing and selective reinvestment, tango also emboldens Eurocentric narratives of cosmopolitan urbanity that legitimize racialized exclusion and geographical elitism. Concluding remarks suggest that socio-political uses of tango are not the exclusive domain of neoliberal urbanism, and research implications are discussed beyond Buenos Aires.     

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.]     

地方政府企业化视角下的半城市化地区社区转型——以东莞市厚街镇赤岭社区为例

改革开放以来,随着中央―地方政府之间的分权化和分税制改革,地方政府在推动城市与经济的发展中通常表现为企业主义行为,并有力地推动了地方经济的发展;但是,经过30 多年的发展,地方政府企业主义是否仍然行之有效？文章采用质性研究方法,以东莞厚街镇的赤岭社区为例,对中国地方政府企业主义行为发生的源头--半城市化地区社区发展与转型进行研究,解析新时期地方政府企业化的特征、作用机制及应对危机的方式。结论认为：1）地方政府企业主义行为推动了改革开放以来半城市化地区社区（村）社会经济的发展与转型,但是在外部环境变化的情况下,地方政府企业主义行为在社区尺度不再行之有效;2）社区（村级）体制改革也是一种城市管治方式,半城市化地区的社区发展适时需要管治的进入;3）全球化是影响地方政府企业主义行为的直接动力;4）在中国的城市管治中,社会力量还相对较弱。在未来地方政府企业主义的研究中,应更多关注来自基层的制度创新。     

“Contested policy mobility”: the creative transformation and temporary use of brownfields in Redtory,Guangzhou

This article argues that the changing distribution of power between coalitions of stakeholders challenges typical top-down dynamics of policy mobility, and causes contestations that in turn lead to the multi-scalar co-construction of policy- and place-making in China. When property-led redevelopment, commandeered by the coalition between government and investors, could no longer dominate the renewal of brownfield sites, a nationally endorsed mobile policy of creative transformation led China’s renewal of these areas into a new phase of “contested policy mobility”. Three kinds of contestations have been observed in Redtory, Guangzhou. First, in adopting the alternative mobile policy of using brownfields temporarily before permanent redevelopment, local governments were aiming to retain control of development rights throughout a nationally mandated urban economic “creative transformation” process. Second, emerging new interest groups from within the public sphere were able to resist subsequent redevelopment plans, thereby challenging the mobile policy’s top-down momentum. Finally, divisive interests within the coalition ultimately weakened their power when contesting the government and investors.     

文化身份视角下移民城市的城中村更新模式探讨 ——基于新加坡与深圳的实证研究

选取新加坡和深圳的3个城中村作为实证研究对象,从文化身份的理论视角切入,剖析移民城市的城中村更新的文化塑造过程;指出要理解文化身份的内涵与本质,需要理解地方蕴含的全球性与在地性、过去与现在这两组关系.在解读宏观文化政策的内在政治和经济推动力的基础上,基于参与式观察和半结构化访谈资料,运用质性分析方法,比较探讨典型移民城...     

新时期我国中心城市人口城镇化特征及其空间格局

在新一轮城镇化进程中,以人力资本为核心的创新经济逐步成为推动经济增长的动力引擎,省域中心城市作为人口聚集地的功能日益凸显。人口流动倾向影响着不同规模和行政等级城市之间的城镇体系重构,选取各个省域典型城市作为重点分析对象,通过我国城市人口最新数据统计测算,揭示出近期全国城镇化发展态势与大都市区域格局变化特征。结果发现,我国人口城镇化发展态势逐渐趋于平稳,不同地区、不同规模城市对人口的吸纳能力仍存在显著差异,各类直辖市、省会城市、副省级城市在人口集聚方面表现突出,传统港口城市、工业城市、省域副中心城市的人口吸引力逐步趋弱。其中,一级城市人口吸纳能力超强,二级城市成为人口重要集聚地,三级城市人口增速趋缓,四级城市人口吸引力平稳;可将之划分为“高/低规模”“高/低增长”四种不同组合类型。同时,城市人口的增长变化和人力资本竞争,显著影响了城市区域经济发展,特别是中西部地区省域中心城市实力日益增强,人口增长强劲,进而改变了传统东中西区域经济显著分异的格局,省会城市首位度表现出“高/低位序”“高/低集中”四种不同组合分布特征,且集中于“高位序、高集中”和“低位序、低集中”两种类型,分化格局相对明显。伴随着中国大都市的不断发育成熟,其逐步成为新时代创新经济和人口集聚的引领者。     

CONSTRUCTING AFRICAN AMERICAN URBAN SPACE IN ATLANTA,GEORGIA*

Recognizing the connections between the construction of urban space and racial identity, this article explores an urban redevelopment scheme launched in 2004 by Big Bethel ame Church in Atlanta, Georgia. Known as the “Renaissance Walk,” Big Bethel's project is a $45 million dollar redevelopment plan to turn an adjacent city block into a mixed‐use development. By looking at the racialization of place from the perspective of those who live, work, and organize along Auburn Avenue, one of the most historically significant African American business corridors in the United States, I contend that Big Bethel's redevelopment project is emblematic of contemporary black counterpublic spaces and links the redevelopment project undertaken by Big Bethel with African American identity positions.     

Bargaining for nature: treating the environment in China’s urban planning practice

ABSTRACT

In much of the contemporary academic inquiry and political discourse on Chinese cities, urban entrepreneurialism and environmentalism often appear to be analyzed disjointedly and unreflectively. They are portrayed as two conflicting interests. Commentators also view urban planners as a homogenous group of professionals and/or state agents being forced to give up environmental goals to pursue economic value of space. Using the case of Tianjin Eco-City planning, this article interrogates the bargaining process between the “ecological value” and “commodity narrative”. It offers three major arguments. First, even though the discourse of environmental sustainability has been used to legitimize economic transformation, ecological demands are creating new pressures on entrepreneurial urban governance. Second, rather than treating Chinese planners as a fully constituted, internally coherent, organizationally-fixed, and operationally-consistent group, they should be viewed as hybrid, and diverse entities that represent divergent and sometimes contentious state interests. Third, planners, though still under tremendous pressure from landed interests, can become active players to positively influence urban transformation toward more environmental care.     

Legacies of a Contested Campus: Urban Renewal,Community Resistance,and the Origins of Gentrification in Denver

The postwar urban renewal experience varied among US cities according to the result of local social contests pitting those imposing their power to transform urban space against those resisting it. In this paper, we examine the role of one such contest in shaping urban renewal outcomes in Denver, using the case of the late 1960s Auraria project. The project sought to remove a poor, Hispanic neighborhood in order to build a new downtown college campus, generating community opposition from the inner city neighborhood residents, leaders of the city’s Chicano Movement, and historic preservation activists. We demonstrate how resistance actively shaped the ultimate form and character of the project, and how the legacies of this urban renewal contest extended—in unforeseen ways—beyond the immediate struggles of the time. We argue that these legacies provide the essential context for understanding planning practice, redevelopment strategies, and gentrification dynamics in the city today.     

城市经济、环境与社会协调发展评价——以西北五省会城市为例

 通过模糊分级评价方法对西北五省会城市的城市经济、环境与社会协调发展进行评价。首先,对区域经济与环境协调发展评价的研究现状进行梳理;其次,建立城市经济、环境与社会协调发展的评价指标体系,改进和使用模糊分级评价方法, 引入协调度、协调发展度和协调发展趋势指数的模型;再次,对中国西北五省会城市自2003-2009年的经济、环境与社会协调发展状况进行评价分析;最后得出,西北五个城市经济、环境和社会协调发展的总体水平不高,并且城市经济系统、环境系统和社会系统之间的协调发展存在着差异,影响了城市协调发展的总体水平。五城市中协调发展状况最好的是银川,其次为乌鲁木齐、西安、兰州,最差是西宁。应引起注意的是,西安、西宁和乌鲁木齐的社会系统处于衰退趋势。     

尺度政治视角下的曾灶财涂鸦

现代涂鸦发源于欧美国家,近些年来也在中国的城市街巷空间中大量出现,并带来了一定的社会问题。通过梳理国内外学界相关研究成果,阐明了涂鸦具有建构和改变地方意义的作用。在此基础上运用尺度政治理论分析香港著名涂鸦者“九龙皇帝”曾灶财的个案,探讨了3个时期中香港政府、文化精英和曾灶财本人对其涂鸦性质的不同界定,以及相互之间的博弈过程。分析认为：香港政府在曾灶财去世后对其涂鸦的保护并不意味着对这些涂鸦艺术品性质的承认,而是面对文化精英尺度上推策略的妥协。最后探讨了尺度政治理论在当前中国城市涂鸦问题中的应用前景。     

Changing neighbourhood cohesion under the impact of urban redevelopment: a case study of Guangzhou,China

Large-scale urban redevelopment has caused the breakdown of traditional social bonds in Chinese cities. To date, very few studies have attempted to delve into the impact of this urban redevelopment on neighbourhood cohesion. Using data collected from questionnaires conducted in 20 urban villages and 1 urban village redevelopment neighbourhood in Guangzhou, this paper examines the impact of urban village redevelopment on the restructuring of neighbourhood attachment, neighbourly interaction, and community participation—three dimensions of neighbourhood cohesion. Results of a path analysis show that, overall, neighbourhood cohesion declines after redevelopment occurs, and that the sources of neighbourhood cohesion differ between urban villages and the redevelopment neighbourhood. Our findings show that after redevelopment, neighbourhood attachment becomes more influenced by residential satisfaction but less by neighbourly contacts, and community participation becomes less subject to neighbourly interaction and neighbourhood attachment. Such changes occur as a result of the differentiation between social groups and the concurrence of environmental restructuring and demographic reconstruction during the process of urban village redevelopment.     

中国城市空间扩展的非协调性研究

针对中国人多地少, 且处于城镇化快速发展阶段的客观现实, 以及城市空间扩展研究中存在的一系列问题, 比如相对缺乏合理性评价, 存在重实证轻理论, 重个案缺规律, 重特大、发达城市轻一般城市的不足, 本文从城市空间扩展非协调性的基础理论问题着手, 构建非协调性评价体系, 并以2009 年中国246 个地级市为研究单元, 对其扩展规律进行总结;然后从微观层面的行为主体博弈、要素流集聚扩散及制度安排反馈视角讨论了其内在机理;最后从可持续发展视角提出对策建议。结果表明:中国城市空间扩展效率低下, 表现在区际功能匹配性差, 城市化质量整体水平不高:内在“人口-经济-空间”城市化耦合协调度低, 用地增长弹性系数全国平均值为1.192, 其中大于1 的城市占26.42%, 土地资源浪费严重;空间分布呈现出由东往西依次递减的地理格局;城市的功能地位与铁路干线对其影响大, 呈现出地级市以上城市>地级市, 铁路干线城市>非铁路干线城市;通过机理分析揭示出, “产权区域”视角下的地方政府, 出于实现自身行为目标函数(政府绩效和地方财政可支配收入)最大化的考虑, 而在制度安排的框架下, 通过对要素流的做功而传导出来的制度反馈效应:现有制度安排强化了地方政府的“扩散冲动”;在政策建议部分, 基于地方政府的行为目标函数提出修改完善现有制度的建议。     

收缩型城市:认知误区、统计甄别与测算反思

收缩型城市是中国城镇化、空间规划与城市治理的全新命题。论文在简要梳理收缩型城市相关文献的基础上总结了当前收缩型城市研究在中国的认知误区。因人口统计口径不一致、划分标准不可比、数量属性与地域空间脱节等原因给科学清晰的识别收缩型城市提出了挑战。在周一星、史育龙（1995）建议的基础上,论文提出了基于实体地域对比与行政地域互验来分析全国城市人口的增减变化及收缩型城市的甄别框架,测算表明：全国有114个建制市2010年的“城人口”规模低于2000年“市人口”规模,但由于2000年“市人口”的偏大统计以及2010年“城人口”存在的“个别水分”,这些城市也未必就全是“收缩型城市”;在剔除乡村人口较高的“城市型政区”后,全国2000年和2010年人口处于净流出状态的建制市分别为56个和75个。论文认为：中国应尽快建立城市实体地域概念,推进城市化区域协同统计制度;要构建“时空对齐”的全国常住人口地理信息系统数据库并综合考虑各地行政区划建制差异,持续推进城乡人口的精准划分。     

区域建构：佛山融入粤港澳大湾区建设的政策和策略响应

区域的社会建构议题较少得到国内学者的关注。既有关于粤港澳大湾区的研究,也鲜有涉及具体城市政府的行动和策略。为此,文章采取政策话语分析方法探索佛山融入粤港澳大湾区建设的政策和策略响应,作为弥补上述问题的文献空白。研究发现,佛山把区域身份建构为粤港澳大湾区西部核心城市,从战略统一上确定了佛山融入粤港澳大湾区的策略和行动方向。佛山与不同城市和区域之间建立关系网络,形成不同尺度作用下的区域合作地域载体。表现为3个方面:1)在城市尺度上,佛山与广州、深圳、香港和澳门等城市建立合作联系,建设三龙湾高端创新集聚区为地域载体,将松散的资源重新盘整,进一步提高统筹地区发展和聚集资源要素的能力,培育新的地方增长极以保持竞争优势。2)在区域尺度上,佛山与广西和贵州建立合作联系,建设佛山西站枢纽新城为地域载体,连接西南地区,把粤桂黔高铁经济合作带作为其经济腹地。3)在全球尺度上,佛山与德国建立合作联系,建设中德工业服务区为地域载体,创造地方-全球尺度的连接渠道,嵌入全球的市场经济。佛山案例展示了区域作为不同尺度上多个行动者的节点汇合,如何把区域资产与国家和跨国经济联系起来,从而生产与再生产新国家空间。文章回应了新区域地理学从社会建构主义视角审视区域发展问题,也回应了中国城市网络研究的最新呼吁。在实践中为其他城市如何融入粤港澳大湾区建设乃至区域发展问题提供了借鉴。     

Decolonization and the Making of Middle Indonesia

Indonesia contains about 200 provincial cities with populations between 50,000 and one million, yet they have attracted far less scholarly attention than the country's few million-plus cities. Recent democratization and decentralization have brought to light patterns of communal and local mobilization in these cities, centered on elections and other political events, that have not been seen in Indonesia since the 1950s and early 1960s. Provincial cities have talked back to the central state in ways that belie their supposed passivity as expressed in the term "urban involution." This study attempts to build a synthetic and historical explanation for those patterns by examining the social embeddedness of the state in the provincial city. Most of Indonesia's towns and cities, particularly beyond Java, became urban only through the formation of the modern colonial state from the mid- to late 19th century onward. After decolonization began in 1945, the expanding but chronically underfunded bureaucracy became an arena for contestation among the emerging middle classes in these urban centers, which lacked manufacturing. The new provincial classes were politically significant because of their numbers and their mobilizing skills rather than their wealth. They successfully seized the state at the local level. The central state, anxious to establish political stability, appeased them with substantial political transfer rents, particularly during the oil boom years of the early to middle New Order.     

中国省域人口空间结构特征及其对经济绩效的影响——基于实体城市的空间识别

基于LandScan全球人口和ESA全球土地利用数据,构建2000—2015年中国省域人口空间结构数据库,刻画省域人口空间结构的时空格局,进而运用面板固定效应法、两阶段最小二乘法和差分GMM法探索空间结构对省域经济绩效的影响及这种影响对不同规模省域的差异,最后从省会城市集聚（不）经济的角度分析其内在机制。结果发现：① 2000—2015年,中国所有省会城市的人口规模都得到了显著增加,省域人口空间结构存在单中心化的演变趋势,且中西部地区省域人口空间结构相对偏单中心化;② 对所有省份尤其是人口规模相对较小的省份而言,人口空间结构单中心化倾向于提高省域经济效率,而对人口规模相对大的省份,人口空间结构单中心化很可能不利于省域经济效率的提高;③ 省会城市自身已经初显集聚不经济的迹象。     

中国城市网络团购市场供需协调性评价——基于30个省会城市的实证分析

以30个省会城市为研究对象,从宏观尺度揭示中国城市的网络团购市场供给规模与需求潜力的协调性特征。结果表明:团购市场供给规模较大的城市主要集中在中国东部和西部地区;东部地区城市的供给规模和需求潜力的协调发展程度整体较好,供需失调现象明显的城市主要集中在西北地区;团购市场供给规模及其与需求潜力的协调性均遵循以经济发展水平为标尺的等级式扩张路径。餐饮、娱乐和旅游酒店3类团购市场供给规模相对需求潜力表现出了较明显的过剩现象。城市经济发展水平是团购市场供需协调发展的根本动力,团购市场供给规模和需求潜力水平是团购市场协调发展的直接动力。     

Representations of utopian urbanism and the feminist geopolitics of “new city” development

Increasingly over the past few years the building of new cities “from scratch” has become a key strategy to promote development across much of the Global South. While several projects are currently under construction, many others exist primarily as proposals awaiting adequate investment or government action. This paper builds on previous literature that considers representations of such projects – promotional materials, digitally-produced video simulations, and master plans – as key components in the production of imagined urban futures. Through an exploration of the proposed Zone for Economic Development and Employment (ZEDE) in Honduras, this article demonstrates a feminist geopolitical approach focused on how such representations of utopian urbanism circulate through the local communities slated for new city development. I examine how representations of future urban spaces and future urban governance regimes become appropriated by local residents in organizing opposition or otherwise making sense of the proposed project’s potential impact on their lives.     

Selling the Eco-Entrepreneurial City: Natural Wonders and Urban Stratagems in Tucson,Arizona

In this paper, I examine how urban entrepreneurs socially construct nature to promote tourism and growth. Using textual analyses and interviews, I study one state-sponsored booster in Tucson, Arizona as it sells the city as "natural" landscape. The literatures on entrepreneurialism and place promotion are replete with cities sold as culture and history, suburbs sold as the pastoral, or rural spaces sold as countryside. There is another alternative, however: a metropolis "themed" as pristine desert. In response, this paper offers two modest contributions. The first is a detailed study of place marketing in a scenery-obsessed city. Second, I consider the possible contradictions of selling a growing city with images of its desert periphery. Only by understanding the "eco-entrepreneurial city" might we better theorize the ironies of a Tucson sold as "Real. Natural. Arizona."