Kut (informal rotating credit) in the livelihood strategies of urban households in Penang, Malaysia

The importance of social capital in both rural and urban communities is an often-published topic. By representing the operation of social capital networks, this paper explores the persistence of informal rotating credit in the livelihoods of low-income, urban households in Penang, Malaysia. It highlights the function of such credit and the ways in which it benefits poor women and their households. This paper suggests that informal credit reduces the probability of being poor, and the returns to household investment in social capital are higher for the poor than for the population at large. The downside of such social capital is also discussed. The paper concludes that informal credit is enhanced in the urban settings due to the increase in income opportunities, especially for women.     

千岛湖旅游地聚居空间特征及其社会效应

作为新兴的重要发展力量,旅游正在不可逆转地改变着聚居空间演变进程。旅游地聚居空间特征及其社会效应是透视旅游地社会转型的重要维度之一,旅游地聚居现象已构成旅游地理学研究的重要命题。以千岛湖为案例,立足社区尺度,应用实地观察法、访谈法、问卷调查方法、GIS空间技术、统计分析法,探究千岛湖旅游地聚居空间发展过程;识别和划分居住社区类型,测算居住社区空间分异度,揭示旅游影响下典型聚居区分布格局;从居住满意度、社会交往和社会融合三个方面,构建聚居空间社会效应指标体系。研究发现：① 伴随着社会经济转型、旅游产业发展与城市更新的不断推进,千岛湖镇聚居空间发展经历了5个发展阶段。② 识别了76个基本空间单元,将76个居住小区划分为乡村社区、商住混合社区、老旧住房社区、一般商品房社区、高档商品房社区、高档别墅区、旅游度假社区7种类型。③ 城市居住空间分异现象存在于旅游地聚居空间。社会阶层越低的社区居住分异度越大,社会阶层较高的社区居住分异度越小。千岛湖镇聚居空间呈现圈层结构分布模式,从湖岸到中心城区,居住等级逐渐降低,乡村社区呈扇型镶嵌于主城区居住空间结构上,老旧住房社区和旅游度假社区分布于千岛湖镇外围。④ 旅游发展导致了聚居空间社会分异,引致旅游地传统社会关系的裂变分化,进一步影响聚居满意度、社会交往和社会融合。千岛湖镇旅游地社区居住总体处于较满意状态,且千岛湖镇社区居住满意度存在明显的空间差异,不同社区个体交友意愿存在差异,大部分居民能较好地适应本地生活。     

Spatial and social transformations in a secondary city: the role of mobility in Sekondi-Takoradi,Ghana

Abstract

Existing research on urban Ghana mainly focuses on processes occurring within the country’s major cities, thereby reproducing a trend within the social sciences to overlook the role of intermediate and secondary cities. This paper aims to address this shortcoming by exploring spatial and social transformations in Sekondi–Takoradi, one of Ghana’s secondary cities and the metropolitan area serving the region’s emerging rubber industries as well as the country’s oil and gas economy. Using qualitative interviews conducted with residents in five of the city’s neighbourhoods, and a modified version of Kaufmann’s typology of mobility, we examine migration into Sekondi–Takoradi, residential mobility within the city and the daily mobility of the city’s residents. The paper highlights how these diverse forms of mobility interact with processes taking place both within and outside Sekondi–Takoradi, most notably influencing and being influenced by livelihood strategies. It is argued that the city and its hinterlands can best be envisaged as a mobile networked whole, rather than consisting of disconnected and compartmentalized locales. The paper thus contributes to broader debates on how mobility shapes urbanization by providing new empirical data on events unfolding in Africa’s secondary cities, and extends existing research by providing a counter-narrative to literature that examines the city and its surrounding rural areas separately.     

非洲城市二元社会空间结构模式

以城市中心变迁和阶层居住分化为研究视角,探究了非洲近代、现代2个时期的城市二元社会空间结构特征与模式。结果表明：不同时期,非洲城市内部的二元社会空间结构存在显著差异。随着欧洲殖民进程的结束,社会空间结构从旧二元向新二元转变。近代时期,非洲城市空间形态表现出典型的双城模式,殖民者与本地人的居住空间被严格区分;现代时期,非洲城市表现出新旧中心并存模式,中上阶层与贫民居住空间存在明显分异。政治、经济、人口与社会等因素是城市二元社会空间结构形成的重要驱动力。最后,为促进非洲城市社会空间的可持续发展提出了建议。     

基于社会地图的东莞市社会空间研究

既有社会空间研究以社会区研究居多,主要基于社会区理论和因子生态分析方法,较多考虑分析对象的社会属性而非空间特征,对社会空间的空间侧面刻画不足,其分析结果也常常被聚类人口的数据特征所左右。本文尝试基于社会地图方法,以人口普查数据和社会设施机构POI数据首先进行社会空间属性的归纳,制作社会地图,并以此为基础,采用归纳的方法渐进探索中国城市社会空间的特征。具体以东莞市为例,通过社会地图归纳方法将东莞市划分为3大类、11小类社会空间,并具体解析了多种社会空间要素组合类型。和既有基于社会区的分析结果相比,本文对各类社会要素在城市空间上的分布及其组合特征描述更为精细,其结果对认识中国社会空间特质及其后的社会空间政策制定更具参考意义。本文认为,基于社会地图的社会空间研究,有助于自下而上地发现有别于西方的中国城市社会空间特征和结构,也有助于建立基于中国的社会空间理论,值得进一步推广和尝试。     

Using a migration systems approach to understand the link between climate change and urbanisation in Malawi

Most scholarship on rural–urban migration in Sub-Saharan Africa demonstrates that migrants tend to move in a “circular” fashion and only spend short periods of time in cities before returning home to rural villages. However, some scholars working on the impacts of climate change on migration suggest that deteriorating environmental conditions may undermine rural livelihoods and lead people to move to cities for longer periods of time. If this is true, then climate change threatens to accelerate urbanisation and lead to renewed stress on urban infrastructure. The purpose of this paper is to explore these positions and we do so by collecting survey [n = 241], in-depth interview [n = 75] and focus group [n = 123 participants] data from rural and urban Malawi. Two key results stand out as significant. The first is that migrants in Malawi's capital city tend to stay in the urban environment for longer periods of time than conventional understandings of migration would predict. The second key result is that climate change may actually lead, in the case of Malawi, to reverse (i.e urban–rural) migration. This is because many of the people in Malawi's cities depend on products produced in rural environments (e.g. food and fuelwood). If climate change undermines rural livelihoods, then many urban residents will find the basis of their livelihoods removed and will likely respond by moving back to rural villages. Overall, our results, therefore, suggest that in at least one case the effect of climate change on migration may not be to increase migration towards cities but to stimulate an exodus from cities and back to the rural countryside.     

南京城市贫困空间调查与分析

从城市社会地理学的角度,运用城市社会保障资料和典型社区问卷调查和访谈,对南京市城市贫困阶层进行了空间分析,并探讨了产生这一格局的原因和机制。从南京的实例不难看出,中国当代的城市贫困空间,既不同于国外城市的棚户区和边缘化特点,也不同于中国农村贫困户相对集中分布,具有较明显的分散性特征。形成这种城市贫困空间结构的动力机制主要在于中国城市近50年的城市住房分配制度造成了以单位制为基础的社会阶层混合居住的局面。随着城市住房体制改革的逐步完成和住房商品化和私有化进程,中国城市的贫困空间也将呈现相对集中分布的趋势,即贫困家庭向地价低廉的城郊结合带集中,而在城市中心区的外围也将由于房地产开发无法获利而造成旧区的衰退,从而形成贫民区。     

Socio-spatial dynamics in the use of wild natural resources: Evidence from six rapidly growing medium-sized cities in Africa

Increasing urbanisation in sub-Saharan Africa transforms spatial configurations in and around towns and cities. At the same time wild natural resources play an important role in African livelihoods. Yet, little is known about the impact of urbanisation on the socio-spatial dynamics of the use of wild natural resources. Here we examined the importance of these resources for livelihoods, differences in their use between different locations along the urban-rural continuum, and the respective temporal dynamics. A total of 1158 households were interviewed in six medium-sized cities distributed across five African countries using a standardised questionnaire supplemented by expert interviews and spatial analyses employing Geographic Information Systems. Overall, even though periurban and rural households were more likely to use wild natural resources than those in the urban areas, the use of these resources was generally high along the entire urban-rural continuum. Despite the increasing urban pressure on these resources, they remain an integral part for most households, not only for those lacking access to productive resources, but also for those with a higher standard of living. This trend was found across all study towns, despite the marked differences in their respective socio-spatial as well as environmental settings.     

深圳不同类型农民工聚居区的社会融合及影响因素

选取深圳罗芳村、共乐村、清湖村分别作为无依托缘聚型农民工聚居区（增长型）、半依托混居型（稳定型）、完全依托混居型（减少型）代表,对其社会融合的现状及影响因素进行了探讨,得出以下研究发现：① 整体而言,社会融合度由高至低分别为无依托缘聚型、半依托混居型、完全依托混居型聚居区。② 不同维度社会融合方面,无依托缘聚型在社区融合、社交融合及心理融合维度上最高;半依托混居型在社区融合、文化融合及经济融合维度上较高;完全依托混居型在社区融合和经济融合维度上最低。③ 社会融合的影响因素主要有社区支持度、职业技能、在深家庭规模、在深居住时间和年龄。就不同维度而言,社区融合、经济融合、社交融合、文化融合和心理融合最重要的影响因素分别是社区支持度、职业技能、职业技能、性别、社区支持度。④ 从不同类型聚居区的影响因素来看,无依托缘聚型主要受到婚姻、社区支持度、社区功能和年龄（负）的影响;半依托混居型主要受到职业技能、社区支持度和性别的影响;完全依托混居型则主要受到社区支持度和在深居住时间的影响。     

Social participation and social capital with equity and efficiency: An approach from central-place theory

A great deal of attention has been paid to the efficiency of the analysis of sustainable urban and regional growth. This includes social participation and social capital, which require a consideration of equity. In this paper, an approach from central-place theory for sustainable urban and regional growth is examined, taking into consideration relevant variables such as ageing, social interaction and accessibility. A lack of consideration of equity could cause several social exclusion problems, and these problems could develop into spatial consumer exclusion. Solutions for these problems would not only improve equity but also efficiency, and the outcome would addresses the necessity of an alternative spatial formation based on a wider-regional rural central-place system according to given economic, social and spatial configurations.     

Town dwellers in their networks: urban-rural mobility and household strategies in Cameroon

Abstract

Urban-rural interactions are important features of spatial dynamics in Africa that have been affected by recent economic, social and cultural transformations. The attention of academics and policy-makers has concentrated on the impact of such mobility on rural actors and economies. Our objective is to consider the point of view of urban households and to analyse how they manage to develop and use their “rural connections”. The paper is based on in-depth qualitative fieldwork conducted in Cameroon, in Douala and Bafoussam. It presents an analysis of the configurations of urban resident mobility to rural regions. By mapping mobility we show the role of linkages with rural areas in urban household strategies. We also illustrate how a major city and a fast-growing secondary one differ in their connections with rural areas. The paper addresses what is one of the recurrent questions in the literature: will urban-rural linkages change in the long-term as the trend towards urbanization intensifies. Urban-rural mobility remains crucial, contributes to creating complex and dynamic networks. Collective connections are reaffirming the importance of the village and the region of origin. Mobility is a key element for many urban households in developing their urban position and strategies.     

Resource Development and the Perpetuation of Poverty in Rural Laos

ABSTRACT

Government efforts to industrialise and modernise the Lao economy through intensive resource development are having adverse effects on rural livelihoods as resources are degraded and access to limited land and natural resources has intensified. In one of the country's key river basins, Nam Ngum, a series of resource developments including hydropower, mining and agricultural plantations have modified the landscape over the last four decades. Uncoordinated resource developments are putting intense pressure on increasingly scarce natural resources and affecting the lives of people who are dependent on them. Economic diversification of rural households in Feuang District in the Nam Ngum River Basin has created significant discrepancies between the rich and the poor, yet all households remain primarily dependent on agriculture. Land is of enduring importance to rural livelihoods. National development intervention has failed to secure basic livelihoods for rural households.     

半城镇化农民可持续生计与农村可持续发展——理论框架、研究进展及未来展望

可持续生计理论方法不仅可以应用于城市务工的半城镇化农民,服务于有序推进中国的城镇化,而且可广泛应用于中国西部农村地区和农户尺度的研究,服务于农村可持续发展。本文首先梳理了当前可持续生计的概念及分析框架,并基于半城镇化农民可持续生计与农村可持续发展,从地理学的综合视角提出了一个适应于中国实证研究的理论分析框架。然后依托国家自然科学基金青年科学基金项目“半城镇化农民生计状态评估及市民化阻滞因素与政策调控”,梳理了可持续生计的国际国内研究进展以及半城镇化农民市民化与农村地区可持续发展的中国实证研究成果。最后提出了未来的研究展望,包括半城镇化农民市民化与农村地区可持续发展的联动研究,半城镇化农民市民化转变的主观意愿与客观阻滞因素综合研究,半城镇化农民与农村发展作用机理及其市民化效应,可持续生计与农村可持续发展的集成研究。     

南京市不同社会群体的贫困集聚度、贫困特征及其决定因素

基于2005年在南京市进行的大规模家庭户调查,检查城市不同社会群体的贫困发生率和贫困集聚度,并分析不同贫困群体的特征及贫困的决定因素。1370个调查案例被分为三种类型:无失业人员的城市家庭、有失业人员的城市家庭、农民工家庭。研究采用主观感知和客观测度两种方法分析不同城市群体的贫困发生率和贫困集聚度。城市贫困群体的特征分析集中于其日常生活的最基本元素,包括人口学特征、社会权利、住房条件、邻里关系和社会网络等。研究发现,有失业人员的城市家庭与农民工家庭有着相似的贫困发生率,后者更遭受多重不利。在贫困决定因素方面,城市家庭的贫困主要取决于不利的个人和家庭特征因素,而农民工家庭的贫困很大程度上与制度歧视相联系,农民工不仅在生活条件上而且在社会保障方面仍无法真正融入城市社会。     

PLACING KANGWANE IN THE NEW SOUTH AFRICA*

ABSTRACT. The South African homelands were central to the apartheid ideology of racial segregation and separate development and as a result became the location for large segments of the African population. Apartheid‐era theorizations of the homelands tended to emphasize their importance to the state, with less attention directed to the divergent and unique social formations that often existed within them. Recent geographical research has been intent on evaluating the spatial imprint of these geographies for resident populations, as well as the varied class, gendered, and institutional formations that accompanied the democratic transition. Using a case study from the former KaNgwane homeland, this article examines the diverse ways in which rural households access environmental and economic resources to produce livelihoods. It is argued that a focus on community variation is needed to interrogate the differential encounters of these places with the local politics and development processes that are emerging in the new South Africa.     

社会文化地理学在中国近10年的进展

21世纪以来,伴随中国社会的不断“分化”与“变迁”,典型社会文化现象不断涌现,社会文化地理学研究已成为学界所持续关注的研究领域。在初步总结国外社会文化地理学的理论演进脉络的基础上,本研究分析了过去10年以来中国社会文化地理学研究的热点与关注,结合中国发展现状提出,本土社会文化特质的地理学研究、权利与资本对社会文化空间形态与地方建构的影响、城乡与区域人口迁移所形成的流动现象与规模效应等,是未来社会文化地理学应重点关注的研究领域。同时强调了,社会文化地理学在中国的发展,需要注重知识贡献的普适性与中国自身社会文化特质的辩证统一。     

中国典型农区县域社会不平等空间模式与地域差异——以河南省为例

以河南省为例,从社会剥夺视角系统检测了传统农区粮食连增背景下县域社会不平等空间模式、地域差异及形成机制。结果表明：河南省县域社会不平等强度整体较高,社会发展水平呈西高东低格局,总体上形成核心—边缘半环形空间结构。河南省县域社会不平等地域差异特征显著,中原城市群社会发展水平最高,但县区间差距最大;豫东地区县域社会发展呈较低水平空间均衡,粮食主产县区的“粮财倒挂”和“粮食与民生倒挂”现象并存;农村县域社会发展水平显著滞后于城市辖区,但其县区间差距更大,约为城市辖区的2倍。河南省县域社会不平等空间格局受区域经济发展、社会政策、空间战略及历史发展路径依赖等因素共同影响,有着显著社会经济综合转型的结构性特征。     

Rural Social Networks along Amazonian Rivers: Seeds,Labor and Soccer among Communities on the Napo River,Peru

Research on Amazonian communities has focussed more often on rural‐urban linkages than on links among rural communities. This is unsurprising, given the low density of population, limited intercommunity commerce, and importance of direct city‐market relations. Social relations among rural communities are also important in shaping rural livelihoods and lifeways. We report on the findings of a large‐scale census of communities in the Napo River basin in northeastern Peru (n=174). Data were gathered on intervillage crop seed acquisition and cooperative labor sharing as two key inputs in agriculture, and on intervillage soccer matches, which are integral to rural social life. We analyze the socio‐spatial networks of each practice, paying attention to settlement patterns, community ethnicity, and differential access to the uplands. We find that seeds and labor flow along soccer network lines. Rural social networks appear to be structured strongly by ethnicity (homophily) and reflect important complementarities between upland and lowland communities (weak ties).     

2000年以来中国社会地理学发展的回顾与展望

2000年以来,中国社会地理学呈现出良好的发展态势。梳理和分析该时期中国社会地理学的发展,对了解当前国内本学科的现状和指导未来一段时期的发展都具有重要意义。首先对社会地理学的发展进行简要介绍,探讨了社会地理学的研究主题。通过对大量文献和著作的梳理,在对2000年以来中国社会地理学发展的总体分析基础上,从城市社会地理学与乡村社会地理学两方面对社会地理学研究的主要内容进行了归纳和评述,最后对中国社会地理学未来的发展进行了讨论和展望。在未来的学科建设与研究中,中国社会地理学应积极合理地借鉴西方地理学与其他学科优秀成果,继续拓展并深化已有的研究内容,探索建立具有中国特色的社会地理学理论框架,同时发挥社会地理学问题指向性优势,提高解决实际问题的能力。     

A Rising Tide in Bangladesh: livelihood adaptation to climate stress

ABSTRACT

Bangladesh is at the forefront of countries experiencing and debating climate change, despite having contributed little to global emissions, and has the greatest vulnerability to climate change due to inadequate institutional support for the dense population dispersed in low-lying terrain. A micro-level study of livelihoods in the Panpatti Union, a district of the coastal zone exposed to climate stress and an array of other social, economic and political stresses, demonstrated that adaptation strategies to a range of shocks were both reactive and proactive. The persistent nature of shocks, and the limited margins in which to respond, meant that achieving sustainable long-term livelihoods was unusually difficult. Despite cases of dynamism and flexibility, where livelihoods had been effectively diversified, rural people largely failed to reduce their exposure to vulnerability. That was especially true of extremely poor, landless and female-headed households. In such challenging circumstances external interventions were required to ensure sustainable development, but were unlikely because of the isolation of Panpatti and the number of villages and people in similar circumstances. This emphasised the need to develop a more robust livelihoods framework to support the most vulnerable communities in severe economic and environmental contexts where climate change is likely to exacerbate all existing problems.