From global politics to local land users: applying the United Nations Convention to combat desertification in Swaziland

This paper explores the relevance of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and its related National Action Programmes (NAPs) to people affected by land degradation and change in Swaziland. Household data collected from three chiefdoms are examined, together with policy analyses and information from interviews with policymakers and NGO representatives, as the barriers that inhibit successful implementation of the UNCCD at the national level are explored. We demonstrate how the issues addressed by Swaziland's NAP do not always match the environmental challenges that most threaten the sustainability of rural livelihoods, despite the 'participatory' and 'consultative' approach taken in developing the policy. This is because the more powerful members of society restricted the public's access to policy space. We argue that local involvement in environmental policy and decision-making as prescribed from the international political arena is insufficient to ensure empowerment and democracy in dealing with land degradation in national and local contexts, particularly within highly centralized political systems. Although the UNCCD represents a useful global framework in which to situate local anti-degradation initiatives, in centralized political systems, its success depends upon changes being made to the ethos of national facilitating organizations. Only when the power balance is challenged and greater moves are made towards decentralization will local land users be able to assume a meaningful role in combating desertification.     

英国乡村发展政策演变及启示

诸多成功案例表明,全球化有助于加快经济发展知识与实践的国际转移,将国际知识转移至地区经济发展实践中,为地区发展战略问题提供国际上相关解决方案。英国在其乡村发展历程中也曾经历过与目前中国相类似的发展阶段并遇到相似的发展问题,涉及乡村经济的多样化转型、对新技术和市场扩张的适应和基础设施改善等方面。因此,借鉴英国解决这些问题的经验和教训有助于解决目前中国乡村发展过程中遇到的诸多问题。本文分析了英国乡村发展政策的演变及其阶段性特征,其政策变化的特点主要体现在政策制订由"自上而下"转向"自下而上"、强调政策的综合性、注重乡村发展计划的长远性和可持续性、重视运用法律和市场手段等方面,最后从政策制订、乡村发展计划的实施以及发展项目选择等方面探讨了其对我国乡村发展的政策启示。并指出,考虑到国际乡村发展政策的趋同与差异,任何国际乡村发展政策和模式的采纳均需要根据我国特殊的文化、经济、政治传统和环境予以调整。     

Chinese overseas industrial parks in Southeast Asia: An examination of policy mobility from the perspective of embeddedness

The development of overseas industrial parks is a key component of the Belt and Road Initiative and an expected experimental way of promoting inclusive globalization by inventing new forms of cooperation between China and local host countries. Policy mobility, a classic theory within international political geography addressing the connection between local and global policies, has implications for overseas industrial parks development. In this paper, we argue that policies are not easily moved directly from one place to another; instead, policies are embedded due to the role of local actors in policy mobility. This article first provides an overview of seven China-Southeast Asia economic and trade cooperation zones identified by the Ministry of Commerce, and analyzes their key participants. It then discusses policy mobility by looking into the roles of revenue, land, and talent in developing these industrial parks. The paper finds that these parks face challenges, such as the complicated geographical environments of host countries, huge pressure from enterprise investment capital, the lack of overseas service platforms, and underdeveloped agglomeration economies. In the light of the current situation, policy suggestions for the future sustainable development of overseas industrial parks are put forward.     

Strategic coupling in ‘next wave cities’: Local institutional actors and the offshore service sector in the Philippines

The outsourcing and offshoring of services to developing countries has created new opportunities for economic development for countries in the global South. This paper looks at the scope for agency of local institutional actors in the investment attraction of business process outsourcing companies. Drawing on empirical work from the Philippines, an analysis of the process of integrating lower‐tier cities into global service production networks is presented. Specifically, the roles of local institutional actors in facilitating FDI attraction and strategically coupling local assets with the needs of multinational service corporations are discussed. Two contrasting cases, the cities of Baguio and Bacolod, show that considerable scope for intervention rests with local institutional actors. The findings have implications for policymaking and research concerned with the newest phase of outsourcing and offshoring in developing countries.     

Management of transboundary water resources: lessons from international cooperation for conflict prevention

Tensions over freshwater resources may become more frequent as pressures on water resources grow due to increased demand and variability of rainfall. Conflicts may take place between or within countries or between competing sectoral users. This paper focuses on institutional approaches for enhancing cooperation between countries for sustainable development of transboundary freshwater bodies and contributing basins. It is assumed that instead of being zones of conflict, shared water resources can provide a basis for cooperation and benefit–sharing provided that threats to the international waters are recognized and collaborative structures are created. The paper draws upon experiences gained within the international waters focal area of the Global Environment Facility, the main funding mechanism for countries to support the environmental management of transboundary water resources. Lessons for promoting peaceful cooperation for environmental management, benefit–sharing and sustainable use of transboundary freshwater resources are highlighted through examples from Africa, Central Asia and Latin America. Experience shows the importance of processes that bring together all sectors and actors whose actions affect the transboundary waterbody at regional, national and local levels. The development of a science–based diagnostic analysis is essential to identify the threats to the transboundary ecosystem and to break down the issues into manageable parts with the aim of developing a strategic action programme. Ensuring political commitment that can result in institutional, policy and legal reforms in the countries concerned is the key to sustainable development of the transboundary resource.     

Central Government Limitations on Local Policy Options for Environmental Protection*

The advantages of centralized environmental policy-making are widely assumed, but a corrective may be overdue. Central government environmental policy limits local policy options in at least three ways: (1) through federal pre-emption imposing solutions on local government; (2) through federal mandating of policy for implementation by subnational government; or (3) through federal disincentives to local adoption of innovative solutions. These constraints are illustrated by policy controlling the disposal of high-level radioactive waste, hazardous waste, and solid waste, respectively. The constraining effect of central environmental policy is felt regardless of whether the formal structure of environmental rule-making and implementation is centralized or decentralized. The analysis suggests the need for greater flexibility and coordination in the geographic structuring of environmental policy-making.     

90年代我国区域经济合作政策效果分析

通过对90年代以来我国区域经济合作的具体实践进行总结和分析,论证分析我国推动地区经济技术合作政策的合理性和可行性。作者从明确中央政府和地方政府有关地区经济技术合作以及区域经济合作的政策目标出发,深入分析区域合作组织的合作动力机制及其实际进展,对区域经济合作取得的成果与当前区域合作中遇到的障碍和问题进行客观评价,并在此基础上提出有关政策建议。提出区域合作组织的发展只能对中央政府推动地区合作战略目标的实现作局部性贡献;总体而言,我国政府通过提倡地区经济技术合作来解决区域问题的国家地区协调发展战略目标的实现在一定阶段内缺少现实合理性。     

作为生态和环境保护手段的空间规划:联邦德国的经验及对中国的启示

联邦德国生态环境保护走过了一条污染-治理-预防的道路, 即由技术性和应激性转为政策性和预防性的环境保护。生态环境保护政策和措施由环保活动家,大企业,学术界,地方及联邦各级有关部门共同制定,并由一个国家级综合的监测体系监督执行。公众不仅有权力了解结果,而且也将参与政策措施的制订和监督。德国空间规划包含欧盟,联邦,州,区域,城镇和城市建设6个层面。空间规划,特别是生态环境规划已成为预防生态环境破坏的重要措施。然而,联邦德国生态环境规划实施也面临个人交通和小企业污染以及环保成本提高造成企业区位劣势所带来的挑战。这些经验教训对中国的生态环境保护目标,政策措施的完善及生态空间规划的制订和监督落实,环境评价,特别是规划本身的环境评价具有借鉴意义。具体包括4个方面: 1)生态环境保护政策实现从提高环保技术手段向预防污染产生转变; 2)保证生态环境保护政策及实施的有效性; 3)把空间规划作为实现区域经济和社会稳定可持续发展的手段,提高生态和环保目标的地位; 4)在规划的技术层面上关注居住,休闲,交通和自然保护区用地的增长。     

Serendipity is not a strategy: the impact of national climate programmes on greenhouse-gas emissions

This article examines the efficacy of national climate programmes (packages of policies introduced by governments to meet emissions reduction targets set out in the Kyoto Protocol) by considering emissions trends before and after their implementation. Analysis reveals that only four of 21 countries with defined programmes demonstrate improved emissions trends following their inception and in only one is the change statistically significant. The reasons for this are manifold but serendipity appears to play as large a part as strategy in determining national emissions trends in the early years of climate programmes. Inflated claims of success by national governments are unhelpful for effective policy analysis and development.     

国外大都市区人口发展的相关政策及其借鉴

对于任何一个大都市来说，人口问题已经涉及到经济、政治和社会影响的方方面面，严重影响着其区域未来的可持续发展。因此，研究和借鉴相同时期国外大都市区的人口发展政策，采取积极应对措施，将十分有助于我们解决现实问题。本文简要分析并总结了国外发达国家工业化以来，大都市区在人口发展方面的主要经验，如：科学的数据统计平台；适时的规划疏导；强有力的政府宏观调控；积极的市场导向机制；专门的咨询管理机构，以及配套的各项社会发展政策，等等。同时，本文也指出，由于较为类似的城市化进程，广大发展中国家大都市区一些成功的人口管理经验也值得关注。     

区域协调发展战略指引下的区域政策框架构建

在新时期区域协调发展战略指引下,文章认为：在国家范围内,依据区域政策的空间尺度,区域政策整体上由国家区域政策和地方政策两个层次构成．并以区域发展协调机构为平台实现二者的空间组织。其中．国家区域政策主要包括区域政策空间组织体系构建,区域发展规划。区域政策组织管理体系构建和立法规范区域开发四个方面：地方政策主要包括国家区域政策支持与落实．区域政策实效反馈和地区发展规划三个方面;区域发展协调机构主要包括区域发展基金系统、区域政策控制与监督系统和政策反馈分析系统三方面。     

ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH RISKS AND GENDER IN THE KARAKORAM‐HIMALAYA,NORTHERN PAKISTAN*

ABSTRACT. Many mountain peoples face water and environmental health problems. At particular risk is the health of women and of children who live in remote and marginalized mountain areas. Environmental health concerns are often associated with the waterborne parasitic and endemic diseases responsible for much child morbidity and mortality in the Karakoram‐Himalaya of northern Pakistan. Poor environmental health and water‐quality conditions affect child survival, and challenges to viable local interventions are severe. Transformations in women's productive and reproductive work have health consequences for children, and gender and household dynamics shape and mediate women's responses to environmental health risks. Significantly, these findings draw attention to the need for improved water and health policy, especially policy that recognizes different gender and child‐care roles in mountainous regions of the developing world.     

Assembling national biofuel development in the European Union – a comparison of Finland and Sweden

The author analyses the state powers steering biofuel development in two European Union (EU) Member States: Finland and Sweden. The different biofuel developments of these countries are approached through the concept of assemblages, which allows analysis of how the spatiality of national development is constituted in relation to the increasingly global development of biofuels. The approach illustrates how national policies implemented by Finland and Sweden are multiscaled in their origins and mediated by the agents of these assemblages. Materials in the study consist of EU and national policy documents, and 16 interviews from the key biofuel agents in Finland and Sweden. The author explains the differentiation of national biofuel assemblages through their distinguishing topologies, advocacy groups, and the properties of national policy instruments. The results demonstrate how Finnish and Swedish policies have influenced national biofuel developments. The EU's biofuel policies have diverging impacts nationally as they are translated into the specific patterns of biofuel production, consumption, and trade. Consequently, the agents of biofuel assemblages affect the transference of biofuel policies that originate from multiple scales into the national policy frameworks of the Member States.     

规划管理与部门协调的国际经验及其对“多规融合”的启示

从日本、美国、英国3个国家案例分析中总结出规划管理和部门协调的经验并探讨对中国"多规融合"实践的启示。日本的国土规划体系包含多类规划,但规划间关系明确,各部门交叉进行规划制定,并在规划实施中紧密配合。美国一般对规划不进行集中统一管理,各个城市和区域的规划实践比较多元,相关法律对于部门协调有明确的规定。同时,综合规划与城市投资计划、环境影响评估相协调,部分州通过城市增长管理来控制城市蔓延。英国的空间规划体系比较单一,从中央到地方呈现二级或三级体系,由地方政府制定地方发展框架总领空间规划。结合国外经验的启示,从制度改革、法律保障、规划内容与实施三方面为国内"多规融合"实践提出建议。     

90年代我国地区经济技术合作政策框架

促进地区经济技术合作政策在我国９０年代的宏观区域政策体系中占有重要地位。文章旨在明确勾勒这一国家重要政策的基本框架,以期为认识其合理性和可行性建立良好出发点。在总结分析宏观区域前景的基础上,首先对国家促进地区经济合作政策的宏观目标及其配套的政策手段进行评述,然后对地方政府的响应态度和配合措施方式进行简要回顾总结,并对有关这一政策的学术观战和主要争议进行归纳分析。     

文化软实力视角下的日本观光立国战略

摘要：2003年,日本政府制定并实施了观光立国战略。从观光立国的内涵、战略任务和战略目标以及进近年来日本政府采取的政策措施来看,观光立国不仅对日本发展国际旅游业、增加国内就业人数和促进地方经济的发展具有非常重要的作用,而且对塑造日本国家的美好形象、增强日本国民的自信心和幸福感等提升文化软实力方面也发挥了不可替代的重要作用。日本借发展旅游业之机提高国家文化软实力的实践经验,可为我国政府制定国家旅游发展战略提供参考。     

从全球到地方:东莞家具产业的绿色化升级路径

地方产业链嵌入全球价值链带动绿色化升级的研究已开始成为经济地理学关注的研究话题。在梳理国内外产业绿色化升级研究基础上,构建发展中国家产业绿色化升级理论分析框架,以东莞市家具产业为案例,通过实地调研和半结构访谈法,分析东莞家具企业嵌入全球生产网络的发展历程,理清在全球化动力、国家和地方动力等两大驱动力的作用下,东莞家具产业绿色化升级的路径和动力机制。结果显示：全球动力、国家和地方动力影响下的家具产业绿色化升级路径有差异,全球动力推动的绿色化升级被锁定在有限范围内,并对本地出口企业造成“可持续采购挤压”,而国内绿色家具利基市场的形成和产业绿色化发展的制度环境对本地绿色化升级起关键作用。结论对理解中国制造业由外向型向内循环发展过程中产业绿色化升级有一定的实践意义。     

地缘政治经济框架下碳关税影响的多区域CGE模拟

碳关税是典型的地缘政治经济学问题,对全球各国具有重要的经济与环境影响。采用混合编程方式,开发了面向地缘政治经济分析的全球多区域CGE政策模拟器,并模拟了美国、欧盟对世界其他经济体征收碳关税的影响。模拟结果显示,征收碳关税对发展中国家经济形成了较大的负面冲击,造成其总产出及贸易条件等指标的下降,其中,中国经济受到的负面冲击最大,其矿产加工与冶金、塑料橡胶化工及矿产采掘等部门的产出下降严重,低水平发展中国家受到的负面冲击最小。同时也发现,欧盟从碳关税中的受益要大于美国,这成为其推行碳关税的重要驱动力。在应对碳关税的国际谈判中,中、高经济发展水平的发展中国家是中国的最佳合作伙伴,低水平发展中国家则不是。此外,美国从碳关税中的受益并不明显,是中国有可能争取的合作对象。     

长江经济带建设与发展的体制机制探索

长江经济带建设上升为国家战略,健全的体制机制是这一地域广阔、内部差异巨大的大河经济带建设与发展的重要保障。按照“国外经验—国内实践—存在问题—政策建议”的思路,本文从流域综合研究和规划、区域协调机制、管理体制、法律法规等方面探讨长江经济带建设的体制机制保障问题。从国外经验来看,大河流域经济带的建设管理强调深入的系统综合研究,建立多层次的协调机制,设置综合性的政府管理机构,建设流域开发综合法律法规体系。国内在长江开发与保护管理体制机制方面进行了多年的实践探索,也建立了一些长江流域开发管理机构,出台了一些相关的法律法规,并在跨江发展、飞地经济、港口整合、通关一体化等区域合作机制方面有所突破,总体上仍存在缺乏综合性的国家管理机构与系统性的政策支撑、区域与部门之间尚未建立有效的协调机制、区域市场一体化受到行政壁垒制约、流域开发管理缺乏综合性法律法规保障等问题。为有效落实长江经济带发展战略,应尽快理顺长江经济带建设和发展管理的体制机制,包括成立长江经济带开发管理委员会,建立多层次协调平台与机构,促进市场一体化发展,实行多样化的生态补偿模式以及制定和出台《长江法》等。