The relationship between administrative hierarchy position and city size development in China

China's urbanization process in the past 20 years has drawn much academic attention, and as a result, many attempts to explain the uniqueness of China's urbanization have emerged. Some argued that Tolley's model (1987), the well known theory explaining global urbanization, or the `Murray-Szelenyi' thesis (1984), which focus on the investigation of urbanization in socialist countries, can be applied in China. Most western literature, however, claimed either a `rural-bias' or an `urban-bias' from the state took place in China's urbanization process. This paper suggests another perspective in the analysis of this process, as it argues that it was the state bias for the allocation of production and human resources in the cities of higher hierarchical ranking that is behind China's urbanization. The objective of the paper is to test it through two hypotheses. The first hypothesis suggests that the higher the city is in the urban hierarchy, the more population it has; and the second argues the higher administrative position a city has, the better social and economic performance it will show. Using statistical data to validate these two hypotheses, this paper attempts to justify the role of `state-bias' of resources allocation and the dominance of the administrative hierarchy in China's urbanization process. Lastly, the paper argues, the state itself is a major factor or source for China's urbanization development.     

Geographic aspects of urbanization and its peculiarities in countries with different social systems

The complex process of urbanization is obtaining under the impress of scientific and technological revolution of global dimensions. But the process of urbanization depends very much on geographical differentiation of the factors and conditions on the Earth' surface. So it is deeply geographical in its essence. It is not only geographically conditioned but it also has deep spatial manifestations, which makes it one of the most important and universal fields of investigation for the whole system of geographic sciences. The common global features and general regularities of urbanization take peculiar forms in each of the three main groups of countries having different social systems: socialist, economically developed capitalist and developing, which leaves its deep imprints not only on the social contents of urbanization but also on the very process of forming of specific spatial-urbanistic structures, existing on the Earth. To this we should further add the results of working of individual traits of different countries and regions. So to get the real pattern of world urbanization it is necessary to study profoundly not only its global and typological features but also the specific local factors. To these ends geographers must elaborate a system of basic notions and characteristics of the urbanization process and stage. Some of them are treated in this paper.     

Comparative urbanization in Ghana and Kenya in time and space

There are few inter-African country urban analyses because of the continent’s enormous size and socioeconomic diversity, language barriers, and wide variations in national and regional urban research capacity. Nevertheless, comparative urban studies are critical in understanding contemporary African urbanization. In this comparative spatial and temporal analysis of Ghana and Kenya’s urbanization, we find that both countries are urbanizing rapidly and are faced with many common urban problems. Moreover, Ghana is more urbanized than Kenya and has a larger indigenous urban imprint and a more widely dispersed urban pattern. Besides their physiographic and population conditions, we trace these countries’ convergent and divergent urban trends to their shared but unique experiences of colonialism, nationalism and globalization.     

城市地下空间开发面临的机遇与挑战

随着我国社会经济的发展和城市化进程的加速,我国大城市土地资源变得紧缺。各要素的高度集聚出现各种矛盾,城市空间容量供需矛盾日益突出,使得地下空间开发的需求日趋明显,这也为城市地下空间开发带来机遇,但同时也面临种种挑战。本文从目前政策法规、开发现状及用途等存在问题入手,结合国外发达国家地下空间开发模式,提出我国城市地下空间健康发展的解决之道,以此展望我国城市地下空间发展前景。     

Research Progress on the Impact of Urbanization on Climate Change

The world has been undergoing a remarkable process of urbanization, especially in developing countries in recent years. The urbanization process has brought about great urban development and large population agglomeration, changes in production and lifestyle, and man-made disturbances such as greenhouse gas and pollution emissions. As the global urbanization process continues to advance, its impact on climate change continues to strengthen significantly. This paper mainly reviewed and summarized relevant researches from two aspects: the influence of urbanization on climate change and the mechanism of influence of urbanization on climate change. Urbanization causes regional warming and urban heat island effect, extreme events such as high temperature, heat wave and heavy rainfall increase in frequency, and also leads to increased urban flood risk. The increase of pollutant emission in the process of urbanization is the main cause of air quality deterioration. Urbanization also has an indirect impact on air quality by changing urban climate. Urbanization has an important impact on climatic factors such as relative humidity, wind speed, sunshine and cloud cover. The impacts of urbanization on climate change are mainly realized through underlying surface changes, greenhouse gas and pollution emissions, anthropogenic heat emissions and urban high heat capacity. Urbanization not only directly affects the regional/local climate, but also indirectly affects the regional/local climate by promoting global climate change. Therefore, the impact of urbanization on climate change has a global and regional multi-scale superposition effect.     

北京和深圳城市化比较研究

通过对北京和深圳两个城市的城市化过程的比较研究,得出北京经历了一个稳定的城市化发展过程,城市人口（以户籍人口为主）城市化水平与人均国内生产总值的对数成正比关系,城市以"摊大饼"的模式向外扩张以及城市环境问题主要为大气污染和水资源匮乏;深圳经历了一个快速的城市化过程,城市人口以外来人口为主,城市化水平与人均国内生产总值成三次关系,城市沿交通干线向外扩张及城市环境问题主要是水污染和水土流失。两个城市化过程的差异主要是由于两个城市的政策和经济相互作用方式不同。     

From labour lines to urban living: Health transition in Mauritius

Recently Mauritius has witnessed a rapid urbanization process. In such a small space, with a high population density and an improving economic situation — shifting from an agricultural-based to an industrial one — it is possible nowadays to distinguish the growth of major villages into well-structured urban centres. Contrary to the trend observed in some economically less developed countries (LDCs), health characteristics have veered mostly towards trends exhibited by economically more developed countries (MDCs). This paper will describe briefly the urbanization processes at work in Mauritius and will explore the changing health characteristics and provisions observed in such a small island state. It will try to lay the foundation for comparison with other small island states transcending the MDC/LDS divide.     

Design and implementation of a smart solid waste collection system

Solid waste collection systems are very important in today’s urban environment. The last three decades witnessed the development in urban areas over rural ones in a process called urbanization. Growth of urbanization is much more in developing countries than in the developed countries to the extent that it became a trend characterizing several developed and even least developed countries. Unfortunately, it has been observed that the systems currently used in modern cities do not provide a service of sufficient efficiency and quality, despite their high running costs. As an alternative, a smart solid waste collection system with all subcomponents was developed and applied in a small city in Turkey. In addition to the conventional waste collection systems, this system included smart features and optimization algorithms for route planning. The study presents the design philosophy, feasibility and pilot implementation of a smart solid waste collection system which can be operated with high efficiency at low cost.     

Urbanization and water management in Ho Chi Minh City,Vietnam-issues,challenges and perspectives

The management of water resources is an unfinished effort of the international community. Rapid urbanization has transcended the management capacity of governments in developing countries. Since the renovation policy launched in 1986, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, has experienced the fastest urbanization and industrialization process. This has placed severe constraints on the use of water resources and management capacity of the local government. The abstraction of groundwater has exceeded the limiting volume (520,000 m³/day) and the annual drawdown of water table is 2–3 m. In addition, the quality of urban water bodies is increasingly exacerbated by a huge volume of untreated industrial and domestic wastewater. These are hampering water demand, use and the capacity of the municipal authority in managing water resources. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of urbanization on water resources. Current issues and challenges in the management practices of water resources are discussed. It will propose a new paradigm of water management in Ho Chi Minh City.     

Accelerated industrialization and employment opportunities in Malaysia

Malaysia is emerging as one of the most rapidly developing newly industrialized countries in the 1980s, mainly because it has pursued a strategy that is based on highly capital-intensive and export-oriented types of industries, financed by foreign capital and supported by a wide range of fiscal incentives. There has been, however, very little concern for the types and range of employment opportunities available. Based on unskilled labour, low wages and slow rates of employment absorption, this form of “industrialization-by-invitation” will in turn speed up processes or urbanization through rural-urban migration and create socio-economic problems of large city growth in the country.     

Integrated natural disasters urban resilience evaluation: the case of China

Natural Hazards - China is one of the countries affected most by natural hazards. With the rapid urbanization process, the susceptibility of Chinese cities to natural disasters increases. In this...     

Urbanization process and induced environmental geological hazards in China

Urbanization is a common development trend of countries all over the world, which is a mark of civilization and progress of human beings. The number of urbanization-induced environmental geological hazards has grown steadily in recent years and is receiving increased attention throughout the world. The purpose of this paper is to generalize China’s urbanization process and induced environmental geological hazards. Driving forces and characteristics of urbanization are briefly introduced in this study; specifically, the distribution of urban agglomerations is principally related to water resources, transportation and energy. Common geological hazards and particular ones in mountain city, mining city and coastal city are also summarized. The type and severity of hazards are different due to the differences of natural conditions and various urban functions. Main environmental geological hazards in cities are land subsidence, landslide and seawater intrusion, etc. Accordingly, reasons for these urbanization-induced geological hazards in different type of cities are analyzed and discussed. The research results may provide a clear perspective for urban geological hazard prevention, and suggestions for urban geological hazard control are pointed out.     

中国东部不同特征小流域水文对比观测试验分析

为探讨中国东部地区变化环境下水循环演变机制,通过水文站网加密观测、构建不同特征试验流域等方法,揭示了不同土地利用和不同城镇化水平下水文要素分布及响应规律。结果表明:①小流域内场次极端降雨局部差异较大,主要受到微地形和风向的影响。②鄞江镇试验流域水位涨幅和单位雨量水位涨幅均高于天然画龙溪试验流域,主要受到了流域大小和城镇化率等因素的影响。③城镇用地和耕地土壤水消退过程较快,林地退水过程相对较慢;浅层10cm、20cm和40cm土壤含水率对降雨滞后响应时间分别为0~0.25h、0.25~0.75h和0.5~0.75h,而深层(60cm和80cm)土壤含水率由于受到优势流的影响,响应较为复杂,响应时间变动范围较大。④小流域地下水对降雨的响应存在滞后性,响应时间为6.5~12h。     

北方寒冷地区城市哈尔滨人口城市化与土地城市化协调关系研究

以哈尔滨市为研究范围,构建了人口城市化、土地城市化指标体系,运用熵值法计算各指标的权重,结合协调发展模型,分别研究了哈尔滨市1997-2014年期间人口城市化的内部协调性、土地城市化的内部协调性以及人口城市化和土地城市化的协调度及协调发展水平,并对人口城市化、土地城市化与协调发展水平进行了研究。结果表明：哈尔滨市的人口城市化内部协调性和土地城市化内部协调性都表现出前期加速,后期平稳的状态,在20世纪90年代,人口城市化内部协调性和土地城市化内部协调性都迅速提高,进入21世纪以后,协调度均保持在0.9左右,波动较小,内部协调度较高;综合人口城市化和土地城市化的协调度和相对发展度来看,除1999-2000年处于高级协调外,在研究期的其余时段哈尔滨市人口城市化和土地城市化基本处于初级协调状态,人口城市化与土地城市化的非同步性,是制约两者协调发展的关键因素,其中人口城市化对协调发展水平的影响更大。     

Population growth and urbanization in Latin America

The population of Latin America will be increasing by 130 % between 1970 and the year 2000. Due to excessive rural exodus the urban population grows almost twice as fast as the rural does. The urbanization of the subcontinent must be regarded as being the dominant spatial process in Latin America. It results in fundamental changes of the structure and the way of life of the population as well as in the size and character of the settlements. Three case studies (Popayán/Colombia, Sucre/Bolivia and Santiago/Chile) show that a process of westernization can be observed within the analogous to their size, in the course of which the compact structure of the colonial town pattern is succeeded by a sectorially or cellularly arranged cityorganism. From today's point of view a definite judgement on urbanization as a relevant phenomenon of development cannot yet be made. It can be stated, however, that the southern countries of Latin America which have been urbanized the most show distinct signs of a social and economic “take off”.     

快速城市化背景下的西安市城市水资源安全问题研究

快速城市化为城市发展带来巨大的推动力,但同时也使得城市水资源面对巨大的挑战。本文从水资源安全形势出发,在分析了城市化与水资源安全相互关系的基础上,对西安水资源安全进行测度,结果显示西安在城市化进程中存在水资源安全问题,最后提出解决问题的对策。     

济南市人口城镇化与土地城镇化协调发展研究

人口城镇化与土地城镇化协调发展是推进新型城镇化的重点所在。通过构建指标评价体系和评价模型,从“人口-土地”协调的视角分析演算1995-2013年济南市的城镇化水平与协调发展状态。研究结果表明,济南市城镇化整体协调发展度从1995年的严重失调衰退阶段发展到2013年的优质协调发展阶段,但是从2008开始,人口城镇化滞后于土地城镇化发展,表现出一定的失调现象。研究结果可以为制定地区城镇化发展策略提供科学依据。     

城市管理视角下的城市化问题及其解决途径

20世纪80年代以来中国的城市化进程不断加速,城市化水平达到46%,并且仍在稳步前进。如此迅速的城市化进程给城市管理带来两方面问题:一是城市发展与城市生态环境的矛盾,二是城市弱势群体的生存与城市管理秩序之间的矛盾。为缓解并消除上述矛盾,本文提出要加强城市管理的组织机构建设;加大城市规划政策协调引导力度;完善城市基础设施,提供优质的公共物品;出台多元化、有针对性的就业政策;完善社会保障体系。     

城市化对岩溶水系统化学组分演化的影响——以重庆市南山老龙洞地下河为例

为研究城市化作用下的岩溶区地下水水质演变状况,基于2008-2012年对老龙洞地下河的pH值、电导率、水温、K+、Na+、Ca2+、Mg2+、HCO3-、Cl-、NO3-、SO42-、PO43-等水物理化学指标的连续监测,分析了老龙洞地下河流域水质的演变趋势,并对2011年8月的单场降雨条件下地下河水质的动态变化进行主成分分析(PCA)。结果表明,在城市化过程中,地下河水Na+、Cl-、PO43-、Ca2+、Mg2+、HCO3-等离子浓度受人类活动影响而明显上升,NO3-、SO42-浓度则因为城市化效应增强和农业活动强度的降低而下降。老龙洞地下河水补给来源复杂,其中碳酸盐岩地质背景、人类活动及水土流失对地下河水质变化起着决定作用。城市化水平的提高、区域环境的变化,使得老龙洞地下河的水质也处于不断变化中,从硝酸盐、硫酸盐的年际变化看,地下河水质已有较大改善。      

African urbanization in Metropolitan South Africa — differential urbanization perspectives

The supersession of the process of urbanization by what has been termed polarization reversal and counterurbanization in advanced developing and developed countries has become a much debated issue over the past 15 years. Disaggregated migration studies indicate that in addition to mainstream population migration patterns, undercurrent migration patterns may be evident which could differ quite substantially from the former. Such divergent migratory patterns occurring at the same time in the same country are called differential urbanization. As a potentially important urban development policy consideration, attention is focused in this paper on differential urbanization trends in South Africa at the metropolitan level. Recent informal urban settlement patterns of the African population within the major metropolitan areas are contrasted against these differential urbanization trends to determine the implications of both for residential development in the metropolitan areas during the post-apartheid era.