Urban re-generations: afterword to special issue on the politics of urban greening in Australian cities

ABSTRACT

‘Urban re-generations' is written as an afterword to the special issue of Australian Geographer on ‘The Politics of Urban Greening in Australian Cities'. The collection prompts a deep questioning of reparative and regenerative work associated with greening, green spaces and green infrastructures. The climate-driven 2019-2020 bushfire crisis and COVID-19 have amplified the visibility of the more-than-human connectivity of our cities and the deep underlying structures of social and environmental inequity underpinning a variety of urban green spaces and agendas. Inspired by the articles in this special issue, the afterword explores how we might call back the grammars and practices of regeneration from their service to the neo-liberal, settler-colonial city and instead nurture reparative de-colonial practices that aid in the collaborative work of re-composing, becoming into better relation with, and working in modes of situated historical and cultural difference, with green and just cities.     

Foreword to the special issue: climate change impacts, adaptation and vulnerability in the Arctic

The Arctic climate is changing, carrying wide-ranging implications for indigenous and non-indigenous inhabitants, businesses, industry and government across the circumpolar region. The latest scientific assessments indicate that change is happening faster than previously thought, and that the Arctic will continue to experience dramatic climate change in the future. This special edition of Polar Research brings together nine papers on climate change impacts, adaptation and vulnerability in the Arctic, providing important insights on the nature of the risks and opportunities posed by climate change in the circumpolar region, highlighting opportunities for policy response and providing insights on how to conduct effective climate change research with Arctic communities.     

On totalities and oppositions: Comments on a special issue

It can be useful to comprehend the papers in this special edition of the Norwegian Journal of Geography in terms of the paradoxical antithesis between dialectical oppositions and totalizing thinking, with its tendency to mythologize itself. The question of the truth of myth also applies to the totalizing narratives geographers apply to the understanding of their discipline. To construct a unified discipline one needs to produce disciplinary narratives that construct the image of a unified whole, a totality with a given 'nature'. To escape the totalitarian power of such frameworks, however, these images need to be counterpoised to the oppositions against which they are generated. The discipline is thus defined by the paradoxical tension between modes of thought that seek to define the nature of geography by seeking images of wholeness and unity, and those that emphasize difference and opposition.     

从网络描述走向网络绩效——“城市网络外部性”专辑序言

近年来,网络分析被广泛应用至理解城市与区域组织模式及其空间效应中。单个城市在城际协同关系中借助“网络化”的规模经济而受益,一些城市或地区也因更便捷地连接其他城市从而导致资源或要素的流失。传统强调集聚经济的城市内生增长理论不再适宜用来单独解释“流动空间”塑造下的城市与区域组织,而城市网络的外部性成为影响城市增长、区域一体化的另一重要动因。目前,已有的研究（特别在国内）相对匮乏,多集中在网络的空间格局、过程等方面,针对网络联系的效应（外部性）较为忽视,比如城市网络外部性与集聚经济如何相互作用,哪些类型的城市将从城市网络外部性中获益或受损,城市网络外部性的产生条件如何等问题亟需探讨。为呼吁学术同行将更多对网络研究的关注移向探究城市网络对城市与区域发展有何作用、如何作用、怎样优化的科学探索,本专辑精心遴选了15篇相关论文,针对“城市网络外部性”开展系统的理论探讨与实证研究,勾勒城市网络外部性的研究议程与中国经验,并以此为起点推动城市网络研究从格局描述走向网络绩效的研究深化。     

Preface to the special issue on the ecological-hydrological processes in the Heihe River Basin: Integrated research on observation,modeling and data analysis

Journal of Geographical Sciences -     

黑河流域生态水文过程的观测-模型-数据分析集成研究专辑前言（英文）

Research on ecological-hydrological processes in arid/semiarid environments mainly focuses on the following aspects: 1) evolution of the current environments,2) impacts of hu? man activities and climate change,and 3) sustainable development.In the last decades,with the support of China's top science and research agencies/institutes (e.g.,Ministry of Science and Technology,MOST;National Science Foundation China,NSFC;Chinese Academy of Science,CAS),multiple integrated research projects that aim to address the above issues have been initiated from both engineering and scientific perspectives.For example,supported by the NSFC's "China's Western Region Environment and Ecology Science Research Project",in China's northwest arid region,Loess Plateau region and the southwest karst region,four key research themes have been proposed: 1) evolution and development of China's western environment,2) water cycle and sustainable use of water resources,3) ecosystem sustainability,and 4) the impact of major constructions/projects on the environment.In addition,“Heihe River Basin Integrated Water Resources Management Research Project" has been the key research project supported by the CAS,which aims to improve water use efficiency,sustain the oasis ecosystem,develop the integrated irrigation water technology,improve water resources management,protect wetland and help with the river basin water management and decision making.     

论中国人地关系演进的新时代特征——“中国人地关系研究”专辑序言

人地关系是地理学科古老又年轻的话题,其内涵伴随人类社会发展不断丰富,具体表现形式也具有鲜明的时代特性。自吴传钧先生提出人地关系地域系统理论以来,人地关系在学科建设及国家重大发展战略制定研究中发挥着基础科学支撑作用,其作为地理学研究核心的地位逐步被强化。在人地冲突不断加剧的时代背景下,深化对人地关系的系统认知,基于人地关系地域系统理论探讨人地关系动态演进的理论基础,并从综合视角审视新时期中国人地关系的演进过程、核心特征及机制,继而探讨现代人地关系的协调路径。总的来说,人地关系演进的实质是人地要素之间围绕发展空间的博弈过程,新时期中国人地关系演变速度加快,人地要素的相互作用程度不断加深。通过技术进步、增加要素投入和调配资源等方式,中国基本已化解了“以量为主”的第一代人地矛盾,而进入“以质为主”的第二代人地矛盾期。典型表现是,粮食总量不再短缺,但在生产粮食过程中引发的土壤退化和水资源污染等问题加剧;区域性资源不再短缺,但在跨区域开发调配资源过程中引发的生态退化和环境污染等问题凸显。提升人的思想认知和加深对人地关系的综合认知是纠偏人地演进路径的关键。     

Cultivating the sustainable city: urban agriculture policies and gardening projects in Minneapolis,Minnesota

In the past 20 years, municipal governments across the United States have increasingly tried to incorporate environmental efforts into city business and policies. Urban sustainability has become the key concept around which such activities are organized. Official sustainability plans are most often implemented through indicators and metrics. In Minneapolis, Minnesota, urban gardening, in a variety of forms, has been the focus of ongoing citizen- and NGO-led environmental efforts, as well as municipal measures of sustainability. Here, debates around the recent adoption of a city urban agriculture policy, as well as a program to encourage the installation of raingardens in neighborhoods across the city, reveal some of the rich variations in gardening practices and spaces. These far exceed the relatively narrow official focus on sustainability indicators. Better understanding how urban sustainability initiatives might work with, but also move beyond, indicators may provide directions toward wider visions of sustainable urban life.