The top 1% in U.S. metropolitan areas

Increases in U.S. income inequality are driven primarily by rapidly rising incomes of the top 1%. At the national scale, rising inequality is associated with negative consequences for economic growth and stability, a range of social problems and declining social mobility. To date, there is no or little work on the geography of the top 1% and their impact on the cities they inhabit. Using individual income data from the U.S. Census, the paper offers the first detailed analysis of the spatial distribution of the top 1% in the United States. The paper makes use of the range of socio-demographic variables attached to individual records to illustrate that the large majority of the top 1% lives in large cities and that women and ethnic minorities are largely excluded from membership in the top 1%. The widening gap between incomes at the top and bottom will thus lead to increasing gender and ethnic income inequalities. Exploratory analysis of the impact of the top 1% on the bottom 99% suggests that cities with large shares of the top 1% are characterized by higher levels of skill polarization, higher labour force participation rates and lower unemployment rates for those with little formal education and higher median incomes for the better educated. However, the paper shows that higher incomes are outstripped by higher housing costs indicating that any potential advantage trickling down from the top 1% to the bottom 99% is eroded by higher living costs. Preliminary analysis also suggests that cities with a higher share of the top 1% tend to be more segregated with potential implications for the supply, quality, access to and distribution of public local services.     

中国地区收入与净财富不平等的演变路径识别

当前,“共同富裕”问题备受各界关注,中国2035年远景目标纲要明确要求“共同富裕”取得实质性进展,因而测度收入与净财富不平等程度、识别地区“共同富裕”的路径差异与成因具有重要意义。本文根据2011—2019年中国家庭金融调查（CHFS）数据,使用基尼系数、洛伦兹曲线和计量模型分析地区收入不平等和净财富不平等的演变模式、成因与地区“共同富裕”的路径差异。研究发现：① 虽然2011—2019年全国收入不平等程度下降,但净财富不平等维持在高位,而各地区收入和净财富不平等变化存在明显空间差异,其各分位点上的收入或净财富累计占比变化呈现不同态势。② 进一步检验地区不平等与经济发展的关系,发现经济发展水平与收入不平等呈近似倒“U”型关系,与净财富不平等呈近似倒“N”型关系。③ 各地区“共同富裕”的路径存在差异,发达省市区正逐步推进“共同富裕”,而落后省市区这一迹象并未显现。本文为中央与地方政府“共同富裕”政策的制定提供借鉴与参考。     

Managed relocation: an assessment of its feasibility as a coastal management option

Managed relocation is explained and examined as an option to add to the usual categories considered in relation to managing coastal erosion. The paper considers the relocation of buildings in one unit, as opposed to demolition and re-construction. The standard coastal erosion management options are briefly noted and how managed relocation can fit into these options is explained. This paper focuses on four case studies. Two examples are from the USA and two from the UK; of these, two (one in each of the UK and USA) took place during the nineteenth century. Managed relocation is proposed as being feasible in particular cases, particularly where there are isolated historic or high value buildings.     

Role of the continental-oceanic dichotomy in the territorial price and income differentiation

It is established that the factor of continental-oceanic polarization has a decisive influence on the inter-regional differentiation of imported goods retail prices and hence on the level of income of their end-consumers in a large inland country (exemplified by Russia). No such continental-oceanic gradients have been revealed as regards the retail prices for home-made mass production goods, and their territorial differences are due to the operation of other factors.     

Contribution of REDD+ payments to the economy of rural households in Nepal

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) is a global climate change mitigation strategy. Under the proposed REDD+ framework, financial incentives are provided, primarily to developing countries, for forest conservation to reduce carbon emissions. Projects labelled as REDD are being implemented in a wide variety of settings in different countries. Developing an effective benefit-distribution mechanism between implementing agencies and local communities is a key challenge for the implementation of REDD+. We examined whether the REDD+ payment mechanism adopted in a REDD+ pilot project in Nepal is beneficial to the local forest users. We estimated economic contribution of the REDD+ payments to the total household income, calculated the role of payment in reducing income inequality at the household level and examined socio-economic heterogeneity represented by wealth and ethnicity among the payment recipient households. REDD+ payment provided economic benefits to the poorest households but the economic contribution of the payment to the household economy is very nominal and is insufficient to invest in livelihood enhancement activities. REDD+ payment to some extent helps to reduce income inequality among the households. Social heterogeneity of a household overshadowed household wealth status during the payment distribution among the sampled households creating social tension. Therefore, either alternative payment models or investment in community projects might yield better outcomes.     

Another political ecology of civil society reflexiveness against urban industrial risks for environmental justice: The case of the Bisasar landfill,Durban, South Africa

The concerns of political ecology since its beginnings as a field have been predominantly set in rural areas with limited focus on urban industrial risks. Further, debates on the global South (often from Anglo‐American perspectives) have not fully appreciated the divergent and differentiated perceptions of urban risks and, therefore, everyday forms of resistance within civil society. Instead, work has mainly focused on civil society power relations against the state and industry that are driven by coherent populist political agendas. Against this setting, this paper's contribution aims to better contextualize ‘other’ third world localities in political ecology through a case study of urban industrial risks in the upper/middle income (as opposed to rural, low/lower middle income) country, South Africa. In doing so, the paper sheds light on the derelict aspect of civil society contestation, especially along class and ethnic lines, over urban landfill infrastructure as a livelihood resource or a health hazard. The paper draws upon frameworks of self‐reflexivity and reflexive localism as complementary to the mainstream political ecology to illuminate differentiated civil society reflexiveness and therefore, aims to advance the discussion of other political ecologies. The case study of the largest formal landfill site in Africa, the Bisasar landfill situated in Durban, highlights differences underlying power relations and constraints within civil society (in leadership, social networking, resources and mistrust) that have implications for mainstream political ecology notions of civil society coherence.     

Flogging a dead norm? Newspaper coverage of anthropogenic climate change in the United States and United Kingdom from 2003 to 2006

The journalistic norm of 'balanced' reporting (giving roughly equal coverage to both sides in any significant dispute) is recognised as both useful and problematic in communicating emerging scientific consensus on human attribution for global climate change. Analysis of the practice of this norm in United States (US) and United Kingdom (UK) newspaper coverage of climate science between 2003 and 2006 shows a significant divergence from scientific consensus in the US in 2003–4, followed by a decline in 2005–6, but no major divergence in UK reporting. These findings inform ongoing considerations about the spatially-differentiated media terms and conditions through which current and future climate policy is negotiated and implemented.     

基于二阶段嵌套锡尔系数分解方法的中国区域经济差异研究

用锡尔系数对1978年以来中国区域经济差异水平进行定量测度。在此基础上,基于三大地带——省(直辖市、自治区)、地区(市、区、自治州)三级结构的地域行政单元,运用二阶段嵌套锡尔系数分解方法对中国区域经济差异进行定量测度,将中国地区差异分解为东、中、西三大地带间的差异和三大地带内省间的差异以及各省区的省内差异,发现省内差异对于中国整体区域差异的影响较三大地带间差异和三大地带内省间差异显著得多,是构成全国整体区域差异的重要组成部分。     

Street names and the scaling of memory: the politics of commemorating Martin Luther King, Jr within the African American community

Streets named for Martin Luther King, Jr are common yet controversial features in cities across the United States. This paper analyses the politics of naming these streets as a 'scaling of memory'– a socially contested process of determining the geographic extent to which the civil rights leader should be memorialized. Debates over the scaling of King's memory revolve around the size of the named street, the street's level of prominence within a hierarchy of roads, and the degree to which the street transcends the spatial confines of the black community. A street-naming struggle in Eatonton, Georgia (USA) exposes how the scaling of memory can become a point of division and contest within the black community as activists seek to fulfil different political goals. Analysing these intra-racial contests allows for a fuller appreciation of the historical consciousness and geographic agency of African Americans rather than seeing them as a single, monolithic group.     

Editorial – transformation of cities

Cities and city regions are on the global agenda as key sites for contemporary societal development, in terms of agglomeration of economic activity, places of everyday life and dense networks. The majority of economic, political and social activities is today formed by urbanisation, and an increasing number of people are living and working in city regions. At the same time, many cities and peripheral regions are struggling with job losses, industrial restructuring and depopulation, and thus, many countries face new forms of spatially economic and social inequalities. This special issue is about the contemporary urbanisation processes and the transformation of cities and urban systems in the European context using Denmark as a particular case. Denmark provides a present-day example of urban transformation, and its urban system resembles that of many other European countries – Denmark having one large urban centre and a long tail of smaller cities and towns. Thus, the papers in this issue provide insights into contemporary urban changes.     

张掖市农户社会资本特征分析

社会资本作为影响可持续发展的重要因素之一,对国家或区域的社会经济发展具有重要作用。以张掖市为研究区,设计了社会资本的测量指标,利用入户调查资料,采用主成分分析法测算了张掖市的社会资本指数和该区农户的社会资本特征,并通过回归剖析了影响农户社会资本的因素。结果表明：（1）张掖市农户社会资本指数为4.93,其中,农户社会资本信任维度的发展水平最高,信息传播维度的发展水平最低;（2）影响信任维度的因素有户主受教育程度、农户财富差异;影响政治赋权维度的因素有户主受教育程度、户主年龄;影响网络维度的因素有户主受教育程度、家庭年收入和户主年龄;影响合作维度的因素有户主受教育程度、家庭年收入、户主年龄和农户财富差异;影响社会凝聚力维度的因素有户主受教育程度、户主年龄与农户财富差异,影响信息传播维度的因素有户主受教育程度、家庭年收入、以及农户财富差异。     

Assessing environmental inequalities in the city of Santiago (Chile) with a hierarchical multiscale approach

Environmental inequalities are a common characteristic of urban areas. Environmental inequality is the unequal spatial distribution of environmental risks and goods among social groups. As environmental inequalities are inherently a spatial matter the choice of scale is essential for correctly understanding inequality issues and for designing proper and effective mitigation policies. However, the potential effects of scale of analysis on inequalities results have largely been underestimated in the assessment of environmental inequalities, leading to contradictory results from different studies. In this study we assess the patterns of environmental inequalities and associated scale issues in the city of Santiago (Chile) using a hierarchical multiscale approach. Our approach focuses on the analysis of spatial relationships between three environmental (i.e., surface temperature, air pollution, vegetation cover) and two socio-demographic variables (i.e., household wealth, population density) on multiple grain sizes and extents. We used census data, remote sensing data, and air pollution monitoring stations to generate raster layers at five grain sizes and five nested extents. We tested for inequalities through Pearson correlation analysis resulting in a total of 1530 assessed relationships. Our results show that environmental inequalities are a prevalent phenomenon in the city of Santiago, but the details of these inequalities are highly scale dependent. Changing the grain size and extent of analysis do not only affect the strength of relationships between socio-demographic and environmental variables, but also the spatial distribution of environmental inequalities across the urban landscape. Therefore, due to the scale-dependence of assessment results, researchers and decision-makers should be extremely careful when interpreting their findings and translating them into policy making. If the scale dependency of environmental inequalities is not taken into account, policy interventions may be largely ineffective because the scale at which interventions are designed may not match the scale at which inequalities are generated.     

Regional inequality and polarization in the context of concurrent extreme weather and economic shocks

This study examines how extreme weather influences regional inequality and polarization within Mozambique in the context of on-going economic shocks. Utilizing satellite-based estimates of rainfall spatially analyzed within a GIS, we establish a 16-year rainfall climatology and calculate monthly rainfall anomalies for 665 villages. We approximate storm-total rainfall from all tropical cyclones entering the Mozambique Channel, as well as the extent of damaging winds for those making landfall, between 2005 and 2008. We group villages according to tropical cyclone impacts and use hierarchical cluster analysis to group the remaining villages according to shared patterns of monthly rainfall anomalies. Using economic data from the 2005 and 2008 National Agricultural Surveys of Mozambique, we relate weather patterns associated with near normal rainfall, tropical cyclones, flooding, and drought to changes in inequality and polarization by conducting decomposition analyses of the Gini index and Duclos-Esteban-Ray (DER) polarization index. Our findings mainly correspond to the generally accepted view that weather shocks exacerbate existing income and power disparities within societies. However, in some cases we find evidence that inequality and polarization can decline in the aftermath of an extreme event, and increase even where the weather is relatively good. By identifying varying effects of extreme events on inequality and polarization at subnational level, our study enables a more detailed understanding of weather-related effects on socio-economic outcomes in rural societies rapidly integrating into the global economy.     

试论美国汽车工业的国际化与空间格局

美国汽车工业经历了发展、兴旺、波折三个阶段，使国内的汽车工业的格局发生集中──分散──再集中的演变，但仍保持美国汽车国内市场的绝对优势。     

福建省旅游经济发展差异的时空尺度分析

以福建省9个设区市为研究对象,运用Excel软件和SPSS软件,采用有关数理分析和主成分分析等方法,对福建省旅游经济发展的时空差异进行评价。结果表明:①福建省入境旅游和国内旅游总体发展迅速,区域旅游经济差异的变化趋势是绝对差异不断扩大,相对差异先扩大后缩小,缩小速度缓慢,呈现明显的波动状态;国内旅游人数与收入年内变化在一般呈现出"三峰"型特点,入境旅游人数与收入年内变化表现比较平稳。②福建省区域旅游经济发展极化现象严重,旅游产业地位和旅游经济发展水平出现一定的分异性,厦门市和福州市旅游经济发展水平遥遥领先。最后从政策制定、产业发展、交通设施建设、区域旅游合作等方面提出建议。     

"拉美现象"的特点、成因及其对我国的启示

纵观当代发展中国家的发展历程,拉丁美洲是较早摆脱殖民统治并着力发展民族经济的区域。近20多年来,拉美各国经济虽有一定增长,人均GDP也并不低,但贫富差距过于悬殊,失业率居高不下,经济危机迭起,社会动荡不安,形成独特的“拉美现象”。本文分析了“拉美现象”的特点及其形成的原因,并探讨了“拉美现象”对我国经济社会发展的启示。     

转型期中国农户生计响应的时空差异及对乡村振兴战略启示

农民增收是体现不同发展阶段农户生计适应性与自我可持续发展能力的关键指标。本文采用库兹涅茨曲线模型分析了1995—2015年中国农民增收与经济发展水平的耦合关系,发现了农户生计对经济发展的响应呈现显著的时空差异性特征。2009年成为中国农民人均纯收入增长率开始降低的拐点。中、西部地区由于发展相对落后,农民增收难问题早在2005年就已显现,东部地区在2012年开始出现农民增收难问题。城镇化发展、地区科技投入均有助于农民持续增收,而农民受教育程度普遍较低,制约了其提高生计水平和获取稳定收入的能力。应着力推进村镇化发展与乡村转型,提高农民受教育水平,为农民自我发展创造机会与平台,提升其生计水平与应对外界发展环境变化的能力。     

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.     

Muck and Magic: A Resilience Lens on Organic Conversions as Transformation

Transformation creates space to consider the profound changes necessary for society to pursue just and sustainable social-ecological systems. Transformation involves profound and complex change, yet there are few empirical studies that analyze transformation across multiple spheres of a social-ecological system. This article aims to address this gap by applying a resilience lens to analyze transformation as a component of UK farmers’ conversions of farmland from conventional to organic status. Transformation is identified as profound shifts in farmer understanding and management of soil fertility. The analysis finds that these transformations involve interplay between changes and scalar processes across political, practical, and personal spheres of transformation. Changes in the political sphere contradictorily drive, enable, and constrain transformation across political, practical, and personal spheres. We conclude that the empirical resilience analysis of transformation across spheres of a social-ecological system generates insights into the critical processes and changes necessary for society to pursue sustainable futures.     

Insights from past and present social science literature on the (unequal) development of New Zealand's rural communities

A review of social research on rural New Zealand undertaken as part of the National Science Challenge (NSC 11) “Building Better Homes, Towns and Cities” allows a fresh look at rural development within the context of New Zealand's colonial history. The research suggests that government development programmes and legislation privileged those responsible for producing the bulk of New Zealand's export income. Cultural attitudes, structural inequalities and a failure to understand how the character of, and social relations in, rural areas have changed has impeded particularly Māori economic growth, the participation of women, and non‐farm sectors of rural society, to the detriment of all.