Non-coordination in China＇s Urbanization： Assessment and Affecting Factors

Urbanization is a comprehensive concept, a trinity process that population urbanization, economic urbanization and space urbanization, is based on the interactions and mutual influences among the in which, people are the central and leading players in this process, while economic activities serve as the driving force and space is the carrier-the physical or material setting as well as the product. So the coordination among these processes is crucial for a country or region＇s sustainable development. China is experiencing rapid growth of cities and a surge in urban population, with the basic national condition of many people and little land, which calls for a systematic study of the issue of coordinated urbanization from theoretical, methodological and practical perspectives. Based on the concept of urbanization and non-coordination of urbanization, this article built a quantitative method to identify and evaluate the urbanization and non-coordination of urbanization, and made an empirical analysis in China between 2000 and 2008. The results show that the non-coordination overall level of China＇s urbanization declined during the study period, because population urbanization, economic urbanization, and space urbanization exhibited different trajectories of change. This study also reveals that performance assessment system, household registration system, and urban land expropriation system, etc., are the main affecting factors. At the end, we put forward some suggestions to achieve sustainable development of China＇s urbanization from the aspects of improving the local government＇s obiective function, imolementing the urban plalming svstem, enforcing public particination asnects and so on.     

Regional Differences of China′s Urban Expansion from Late 20th to Early 21st Century Based on Remote Sensing Information

This study investigated the regional differences of China′s urban land expansion from the late 1980s to the year of 2008, based on the spatio-temporal analysis of CLCD (China′s land cover/land use database) datasets which were mainly produced from remote sensing imagery data. A newly defined urbanization level index (UI), based on urban land area, is proposed to describe Chinese urban expansion process at 1 kilometer, provincial, regional, and na-tional scales, together with the absolute urban expansion index (UEa) and the relative urbanization expansion index (UEr). The results indicate that the percentages of total land area occupied by urban in the late 1980s, 1995, 2000, 2005, and 2008 were approximately 0.25%, 0.32%, 0.33%, 0.43% and 0.52% of China′s total land area, respectively. Between the late 1980s and 2008, the total urban expansion in the mainland of China was 2.645 × 104 km2, resulting in an annual urban expansion area of about 1322.7 km2/yr, with the UEr of 111.9%. This study also finds that there has been an obvious spatial gradient of urbanization ratio running from the east coast to the west inland, and the urbanization gaps among different regions have persisted over the past two decades. The study also reveals obvious temporal varia-tions of the urbanization rates. There was very little urban growth during the period of 1995-2000 due to the governmental policy factors.     

Foreign direct investment with Chinese characteristics: A middle path between Ownership-Location-Internalization model and Linkage-Leverage-Learning model

The majority of multinational enterprises(MNEs) traditionally originate from developed countries.In the last ten years,however,there has been dramatic growth in foreign direct investment(FDI) from China.It is a comparatively new phenomenon that challenges the classic FDI theories.In this paper,we review the pros and cons of two important theories,known as the Ownership-Location-Internalization(OLI) model and Linkage-Leverage-Learning(LLL) model,and use the statistical data and company case studies from China to test the plausibility of these two models.We believe that neither of them suits totally: the OLI model is quite useful for understanding FDI from China to developing economies,while the LLL model is more powerful for explaining the FDI to developed economies.We argue that the companies from China attain a very advantageous position as intermediates in the global economy.They may catch up with the first movers if they integrate OLI-led and LLL-led FDI within one firm.This combination can bring together the most advanced knowledge acquired in developed economies with the knowledge about adaptation needs and the needs for cost reduction in production as expressed in developing economies.It may also accelerate the knowledge transfer globally.We thus fill a gap in research into the geographical pattern of Chinese FDI and offer a deeper understanding of the internationalization of Chinese MNEs and revolving knowledge transfer.     

Revisiting the Relationship Between Urbanization and Economic Development in China Since the Reform and Opening-up

The relationship between urbanization and economic development has become a hot topic in the scientific community due to its great practical significance,and economic and social value.However,this relationship continues to change dynamically.In the new stage of urbanization,it is urgent to reveal the causal relationship quantitatively and diagnose the future direction systematically.Based on this,this paper calculates the contribution rate of China’s urbanization to economic development from 1978 to 2019 and uses the panel data cointegration test method to explore the causal relationship between urbanization and economic development in China.The study has three principal results.First,the contribution rate of urbanization to economic growth has maintained the overall growth trend from1978 to 2019,but the growth rate of urbanization’s contribution to economic growth has been relatively low since 2012.It is an important reason that the real estate sector has moved into a new stage of transformation.Second,the cointegration test shows that economic development is a significant factor in advancing urbanization and the urbanization is the product of economic development.Urbanization has a positive feedback effect on economic development,but this effect does not pass the 5%significance level test.The impulse response function shows that the impact of urbanization on economic development is relatively small and stable,indicating that it is limited that the boost of economic development by land-centered urbanization.Third,China’s urbanization and economic development have both shown rapid growth for some time,but their relationship is still the low level of coordination,which has also led to a downward trend in the contribution of new-type,people-oriented urbanization to economic growth in recent years.In the future,China’s urbanization and economy need to maintain relatively medium-low speed growth in the medium-long term,and we should boost the coordinated development of urbanization and economy from low level to high level.     

Urban China in transformation: Hybrid economy,juxtaposed space,and new testing ground for geographical enquiries

History has brought us into a significant moment when the majority of the human kind has taken up resi-dence in urban settlements. The focus of global urbanization has shifted to the developing world and the center of manufacturing is no longer confined to the Global North. This paper provides a periodical assessment of the current status of China’s urban transformation in the global context of a shifting emphasis of industrialization and urbaniza-tion. China’s phenomenal urban transformation deserves a special attention not only because of its unparalleled scale and speed but also because of its distinct trajectory of growth that does not conform to normal theoretical ex-pectations. The results of assessment revealed an urban economy with remarkable hybridity, a society that is in-creasingly stratified, polarized, and segregated, and a juxtaposed urban space undergoing restless and pervasive transformation. A decentering world should entail a decentering knowledge production. A critical reflection upon the Chinese patterns and processes of urban transformation has identified 4 main issues with great potentials for inno-vative knowledge production, namely: 1) privatization and economic development; 2) state, society, and space; 3) urbanization of capital, labor, and land; and 4) the environment and Chinese political ecology. The paper closes with the remark that a rapidly transforming urban China has presented itself as a fertile and resourceful testing ground for critical and innovative geographic enquiries.     

Assessment of Human Impacts on Vegetation in Built-up Areas in China Based on AVHRR,MODIS and DMSP_OLS Nighttime Light Data,1992–2010

Since the reform and opening-up program started in 1978,the level of urbanization has increased rapidly in China.Rapid urban expansion and restructuring have had significant impacts on the ecological environment especially within built-up areas.In this study,ArcGIS 10,ENVI 4.5,and Visual FoxPro 6.0 were used to analyze the human impacts on vegetation in the built-up areas of 656Chinese cities from 1992 to 2010.Firstly,an existing algorithm was refined to extract the boundaries of the built-up areas based on the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program Operational Linescan System(DMSP_OLS)nighttime light data.This improved algorithm has the advantages of high accuracy and speed.Secondly,a mathematical model(Human impacts(HI))was constructed to measure the impacts of human factors on vegetation during rapid urbanization based on Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer(AVHRR)Normalized Difference Vegetation Index(NDVI)and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer(MODIS)NDVI.HI values greater than zero indicate relatively beneficial effects while values less than zero indicate proportionally adverse effects.The results were analyzed from four aspects:the size of cities(metropolises,large cities,medium-sized cities,and small cities),large regions(the eastern,central,western,and northeastern China),administrative divisions of China(provinces,autonomous regions,and municipalities)and vegetation zones(humid and semi-humid forest zone,semi-arid steppe zone,and arid desert zone).Finally,we discussed how human factors impacted on vegetation changes in the built-up areas.We found that urban planning policies and developmental stages impacted on vegetation changes in the built-up areas.The negative human impacts followed an inverted′U′shape,first rising and then falling with increase of urban scales.China′s national policies,social and economic development affected vegetation changes in the built-up areas.The findings can provide a scientific basis for municipal planning departments,a decision-making reference for government,and scientific guidance for sustainable development in China.     

Spatio-temporal Dynamics of Urbanization in China Using DMSP/OLS Nighttime Light Data from 1992–2013

Understanding the dynamics of urbanization is essential to the sustainable development of cities. Meanwhile the analysis of urban development can also provide scientifically and effective information for decision-making. With the long-term Defense Meteorological Satellite Program’s Operational Linescan System(DMSP/OLS) nighttime light images, a pixel level assessment of urbanization of China from 1992 to 2013 was conducted in this study, and the spatio-temporal dynamics and future trends of urban development were fully detected. The results showed that the urbanization and urban dynamics of China experienced drastic fluctuations from 1992 to 2013, especially for those in the coastal and metropolitan areas. From a regional perspective, it was found that the urban dynamics and increasing trends in North Coast China, East Coast China and South Coast China were much more stable and significant than that in other regions. Moreover, with the sustainability estimating of nighttime light dynamics, the regional agglomeration trends of urban regions were also detected. The light intensity in nearly 50% of lighted pixels may continuously decrease in the future, indicating a severe situation of urbanization within these regions. In this study, The results revealed in this study can provided a new insight in long time urbanization detecting and is thus beneficial to the better understanding of trends and dynamics of urban development.     

Analysis of urbanization based on center-of-gravity movement and characteristics in Songhua River basin of China and its southern source sub-basin between 1990 and 2010

Urbanization in modern times led to a series of development strategies that brought new opportunities in China. Rapid urbanization caused severe stress to the ecosystems and the environment. Using the center-of-gravity(COG) method and parameters such as population, economy, and land, we studied the urbanization pattern in Songhua River Basin and its southern source sub-basin from 1990 to 2010. Urbanization was analyzed based on the COG position, eccentric distance, movement direction of COG, and distance of COG movement. Various characteristics of urbanization in the southern source sub-basin of the Songhua River were explained in relation to the whole Songhua River Basin. Urbanization in the southern source sub-basin of the Songhua River is balanced, relatively advanced, and stable compared to the whole Songhua River Basin. The average eccentric distance between the urbanization COGs in the Songhua River′s south source basin indicated rapid expansion of land urbanization during the span of this study. A basic pattern of urbanization COG in the whole Songhua Basin was observed, but there existed differences among the three aspects of urbanization process. Land urbanization is still in its active stage, so future studies should focus on analysis of such urbanization trends.     

Influence of tourists’ environmental tropisms on their attitudes to tourism and nature conservation in natural tourist destinations: A case study of Jiuzhaigou National Park in China

People′s environmental tropism has an effect on their understanding of tourism-nature relationship,and also influences their attitudes to natural resources utilization and environmental protection.Taking Jiuzhaigou National Park of China as a study case,the authors conducted some quantitative analyses with the tools of SPSS 16.0 and LISREL 8.7,to explore the influence of tourists′ environmental tropism on their attitudes to tourism and nature conservation in the natural tourist destination.Three hypotheses and the theoretic model of influences of tourists′ environmental tropism on their attitudes to tourism and nature conservation have been tested and accepted based on the Structural Equation Model analysis on survey data collected in Jiuzhaigou National Park of China.Some conclusions were drawn as follows: 1) tourists′ human-prioritized concept influences their cognition to tourism-nature relationship.This concept has a positive influence on their supportive attitudes to tourism,but a negative influence on their attitudes to nature conservation;2) tourists′ human-nature coordination concept has a positive influence on their supportive attitudes to both tourism and nature conservation,especially to the latter.This paper generally proves that human′s environmental tropism does have an influence on their attitudes to tourism and nature conservation in natural tourist destinations.     

A bi-modal model for Chinese cities: City size,car use and land rent

China is experiencing rapid urbanization and motorization. Urban transport congestion poses a challenge to the cities of China. Policies have been made trying to control the car use and the land use in Chinese cities without sound modelling researches. The existing literature on monocentric city modelling has shown that the parameters are critical for the outcome of the modelling. Following the Alonso-type monocentric model, this paper introduces a bi-modal model to simulate the city size, the distribution of land rent and the modal substitution in Chinese cities. We set the key parameters according to the recent available data of China′s cities, and re-explain the hypothesis of the model. Then we make a sensitivity analysis to reveal the impacts of key parameters on the Chinese cities. According to the results, we find that the wage, the price of car use and the agriculture rent have significant impacts on city size. The land supply for the private transport or the public transport has the strongest impacts on car use and the level of transport congestion. The total population of the city and the wage level have strong impacts on land rent. Some results are counter-intuitive, but explainable. We also discuss implication of these results for policy making.     

Major Function Oriented Zone: New method of spatial regulation for reshaping regional development pattern in China

Newest planning methods implemented by Chinese government are promoting a coordinated regional development and shaping an orderly spatial structure by applying the regulation of territorial function. This article analyzes the problems of spatial planning and regional strategy caused by the wrongly-set primary goal of economic development; it states that the three-fold objective of competitiveness, sustainability, and welfare fairness shall be the principal for China to implement the spatial regulation in the new era; it discusses about theoretical thoughts and technology framework of conducting the ′Major Function Oriented Zone′ based on their different major functions that each region plays in urbanization and industrialization, ecological constructions, grain productions, and protection of natural and cultural heritages; it introduces the new concept of ′Major Function Oriented Zone′ that include the major functions category, the stereo regional equilibrium mode, the two-level zoning specification, and the territorial development intensity; it offers a zoning scheme that defines development-optimized and development-prioritized zones as regions with massive urbanization and industrialization, development-restricted zones as ecological constructing or grain producing regions, development-prohibited zones as natural and cultural heritage protecting regions; and finally it addresses the main obstacle for implementing ′Major Function Oriented Zone′, which is the institutional arrangement of the supreme goal of high GDP growth rate that is currently being implemented.     

Measurement and interpretation of connectivity of Chinese cities in world city network, 2010

This is an empirical paper that measures and interprets the position of Chinese cities in the world city network in 2010. Building on a specification of the world city network as a′interlocking network′in which business services firms play the crucial role in city network formation, information is gathered about the presence of global service firms in cities. This information is converted into data to provide the′service value′of a city for a firm′s provision of corporate services in a 526(cities)×175(firms) matrix. These data are then used as the input to the interlocking network model in order to measure cities′connectivity and its predominant geographical orientation. Here we focus on the position of some key Chinese cities in this regard, and discuss and interpret results in the context of the urban dimensions of the′opening up′of the Chinese economy.     

Understanding Relationship Between Accessibility and Economic Growth:A Case Study from China(1990–2010)

China′s economy and transport infrastructure have both experienced rapid development since 1978, and especially since 1990. Today, China is the second-largest economic entity in terms of GDP and has the largest high-speed rail(HSR) network and the second-largest expressway network in the world. This paper explores the relationship between accessibility and economic growth in China from 1990 to 2010. In the study, the basic research units include 333 prefecture-level cities and four municipalities. We explore a bivariate analysis framework of accessibility and economic growth, and their increase rates, to examine this relationship using long-term panel data. The results indicate that, first, accessibility and economic growth show a significant positive relationship using both cross-section and panel data, while the increase rate in accessibility and GDP indicate no significant relationship using cross-section data and a poor significant relationship using panel data. Second, the distributions of local advantage are uneven. Cities with low local advantage with respect to accessibility and GDP are mainly located in China′s eastern coastal region or the provincial capitals, while those with low local advantage in terms of their increase rates are located in the western region. Third, as China′s economic growth and transport networks have evolved, the distribution of local advantage shows little change in terms of accessibility and GDP, but a greater change in terms of their increase rates, which is largely influenced by the distribution of expressway and HSR networks.     

A STRATEGY FOR STUDYING SHELF CIRCULATION IN CHINA SEAS——INTERANNUAL VARIABILITY OF SHELF CIRCULATION

Circulation in China Seas has been investigated by Chinese oceanographers in some detail for many years. However, owing to data being sparse and scarce, studies were basically concerned in interseasonal (mainly summer and winter) fluctuations and almost none was in the interannual variability of the circulation in China Seas.It is pointed out that the routine (monthly or bimonthly) hydrographical section data on the continental shelf of China Seas accumulated since 1975, can be used to examine the interannual variability of the shelf circulation. An example is given to show there is interannual variability of shelf circulation in the East China Sea. And what is more, a hypothesis is proposed to describe where the interannual variability comes from and to explain why it is strongly correlated with El Nino events.It is strongly suggested that the interannual variability of the shelf circulation in China Seas be studied, as a strategy, with the routine hydrographical survey, which should be seriously conti     

Utilization pattern of Olympic parks and its application in Beijing

With great promotion of mega-events in both quantities and qualities in China, the research of Mega-events has been increased. As a global hallmark event, the Olympics, with their enormous scale, universal at- traction for the media and tremendous political significance, have increasingly drawn attention from the researchers. It is obvious that Beijing has been greatly impacted by the 2008 Olympic Games as the host. The event aroused close attention of researchers, especially the problem how the Olympic stadiums and facilities can be utilized after Olympic Games. The paper employed 3 methods to conduct a survey, that is, sending questionnaires to tourists, in- terviewing with government officers, and collecting information about former Olympic Parks from Internet and literatures. The utilization of former Olympic Parks after Games was summarized and some experiences were refined. Besides, 3 main bodies including government, business operators and visitors which formed basic driving forces to influence the park′s use were analyzed. At the same time, the paper believes that 3 topics affect the park′s utilization involving ′prepare to use′, ′how to use it′ and ′how to manage it′, and Beijing Olympic Park can also follow that thinking and reference in the further practices. Based on it, suggestions are given that Beijing Olympic Park can be planned spatially from 3 layers, the point, line and area, based on their function and infrastructure in the Games, and the area would be shaped as a new urban center with multi-functions while Mega-events and sport events are still the main content of the park.     

Organisational hierarchies and decision making process of Chinese multinational enterprises in Vietnam

This paper examines the organisational hierarchies and decision making processes of two Chinese multinational enterprises operating in Vietnam—China Luoyang Floating Glass Corp.(CLFG) and China TCL Holdings Co.Ltd.(TCL).For this study, research data were obtained from in-depth interviews of more than 20 government officials in P.R.China and Vietnam, and managers and staff of those two enterprises.Results indicate that the organisational structures of the two enterprises are still vertical but complex, although moderate changes made to them post the nationwide economic reform of China.Consequently, decision making process follows a "top-down" model, sometimes, with insufficient grassroots information.Findings are discussed in the light of political, social and cultural milieu, and implications are drawn for the management of Chinese multinational enterprises operating in overseas markets.Both CLFG and China TCL are structured on task specialisations.However, departmentalisation in TCL′s overseas division in head office is not only based on products, but also on geographical regions of markets.The organisational structure of TCL in Vietnam is less complex than the international division, but it is more centralised.Decision making at TCL combines more traditional Chinese business philosophy with modern western organisational characteristics.TCL has a strong western influence in its management style.However, some traditional characteristics such as "hero" leadership influence and political influence are involved with decision making at TCL.Amongst others, the transitional economy, social culture, poor management system and political sensitivity have been major elements influencing decision making.In the case of CLFG, some decisions have been made before proper information has been gathered and analysed.     

AGGLOMERATION AND RADIATION EFFECT OF THE PULL OF URBANIZATION

In order to explore the train of thought for China‘s urbanizing development and coordinated rural eco-nomic development, and to find good ways of solving rural problems through urbanization, this paper absorbs the push-and-pull forces theory and the systematic dynamic theory in the traditional population migration theories, views urbanization as a dynamic system, makes research on the push-and-pull mechanism of urbanization. The pulling power of urbanization is analyzed according to two aspects, the agglomeration effect and the radiation effect of cities. The agglomeration effect provides continuous propelling force for urbanization, and the radiation effect further accelerates the urbanization process by pushing forward the development of rural economy. Of course, the slow de-velopment of urbanization can result in the hindrance to rural economic development.     

Spatio-temporal Pattern Characteristics of Relationship Between Urbanization and Economic Development at County Level in China

The relationship between China’s urbanization and economic development(RCUED) is an important concern nationwide. As important actors in regional strategy and policy, county-level regions have played an increasingly significant role in the development of China’s social economy. However, the existing research on the RCUED lacks the fine depiction of the county-level administrative units.Using 2000 and 2010 census data and the statistical analysis method, we uncovered the evolution characteristics of China’s urbanization and economic development and conducted a quantitative identification for the RCUED with improved methods using the quadrant map approach. In addition, we investigated the spatial correlation effect of the RCUED using the spatial autocorrelation analysis method. The results were as follows: 1) In general, a high degree of matching exists between China’s urbanization and economic development at the county level at the significance level of 0.01. The correlation coefficients between China’s urbanization and economic development in2000 and 2010 were 0.608 and 0.603, respectively. 2) A significant regional difference exists in the RCUED at the county level. Based on a comparative analysis of 2276 county units in China in the two years, we found that county units can be categorized as under-urbanized, basic coordination and over-urbanized in various areas. No situation was observed where urbanization seriously lagged behind the economic development level, so the levels of urbanization and economic development appear to be basically coordinated,and the coordination state may be gradually optimized over time. 3) Over time, the spatial dependency of the RCUED has weakened and the spatial heterogeneity has increased. Northeast China has always been an area characterized by over-urbanization. The number of county units classified as under-urbanized has begun to decline in eastern coastal urban agglomeration areas, while counties rich in resources have transformed from having point-shaped over-urbanization to plane-shaped under-urbanization along the northern border,and the number of over-urbanized county units has increased in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. 4)’Lag-lag’ type and ’advance-advance’ type accounted for 68% of all counties in China, and these counties were shown to have obvious spatial differentiation characteristics.     

Spatial Structure and Location of Multi-national Corporations in China—-A Case Study of Samsung

The investment of Samsung Electronics in China is divided into three types： production companies, sales companies and R＆D institutions. Based on an analysis of the spatial structure of Samsung＇s three types of investment and parent company, it is put forward that regional bias exists during the operation of a multi-national corporation （MNC） in China, i.e., regional biases of technology, price, sales as well as decision-making. Front office and back ofrice, two terms related closely with the location of modern MNCs, are defined and locational principles of each are studied. It is pointed out that production companies and R＆D institutions belong to back office, while sales company falls into the type of front office. Based on a summarization on the spatial distribution of production companies, sales companies and R＆D institutions, the locational principles of front office and back office are then applied in explaining the location of Samsung＇s operating entities in China. By analyzing the spatial structure and locational principles of Samsung, a typical MNC in China, this paper aims to understand the internal operating mechanism of modern MNCs and then bring assistance to related policies to cope with those problems about MNCs that have attracted growing attention in recent years.     

INFLUENCE OF SERIES OF SQUARE GRIDS ON FRACTAL DIMENSIONS—A Case Study of Mountains of China＇s Mainland

MANDELBROT enunciated the uncertainty of the length of a coastline in his paper “How long is the coastline of Britain?” published in Science in 1967. The fractal concept was presented for the first time in that paper and has been applied to many fields ever since. Although fractal dimensions of lots of phenomena were calculated by the box-counting method, the quantitative influence of series of square grids on them is ignored. The issue is systematically discussed as a case study of the mountains of China‘s Mainland in this paper. And some significant conclusions are drawn as follows: 1) Although the fractal character objectively exists in the mountains of China‘s Mainland, and it does not vary with the changes of series of square grids, the fractal dimensions of the mountains of China‘s Mainland are different with these changes. 2) The fractal dimensions of the mountains of China‘s Mainlandvary with the average lengths of sides of series of square grids. The fractal dimension of the mountains of China‘s Mainland is the function of the average length of side of square grid. They conform to the formula D=f(r) (where D is the fractal dimension, and r is the average length of side of square grid). 3) Different dots of data collection can affect the fractal dimension of the mountains of China‘s Mainland. 4) The same range of length of side of square grid and dots of data collection can ensure the comparison of fractal dimensions of the mountains of China‘ s Mainland. The research is helpful to get the more understanding of fractal and fractal dimension, and ensure that the fractal studies would be scientific.