“规土融合”的技术体系、管理模式创新及发展展望——以武汉市为例

在"多规合一"发展的背景下,以武汉为例,聚焦城市规划与土地利用规划融合("规土融合")在地方层面的实施路径与发展目标。系统梳理了其在体系结构、技术语言、信息平台等方面的技术革新策略,同时概括出管理模式创新中协调成本内部化、转变政府角色、倡导交往理性、加快接轨市场等有益尝试。此外,强调武汉实践中"两规"与"规-土"的内涵差异,丰富对规划融合发展目标的认识,以期为相关地方实践带来有益启示,也为宏观规划体系改革提供自下而上的思考视角。     

Climate policy strength compared: China,the US,the EU,India, Russia,and Japan

The few systematic international comparisons of climate policy strength made so far have serious weaknesses, particularly those that assign arbitrary weightings to different policy instrument types in order to calculate an aggregate score for policy strength. This article avoids these problems by ranking the six biggest emitters by far – China, the US, the EU, India, Russia, and Japan – on a set of six key policy instruments that are individually potent and together representative of climate policy as a whole: carbon taxes, emissions trading, feed-in tariffs, renewable energy quotas, fossil fuel power plant bans, and vehicle emissions standards. The results cast strong doubt on any idea that there is a clear hierarchy on climate policy with Europe at the top: the EU does lead on a number of policies but so does Japan. China, the US, and India each lead on one area. Russia is inactive on all fronts. At the same time climate policy everywhere remains weak compared to what it could be.

Policy relevance

This study enables climate policy strength, defined as the extent to which the statutory provisions of climate policies are likely to restrict GHG emissions if implemented as intended, to be assessed and compared more realistically across space and time. As such its availability for the six biggest emitters, which together account for over 70% of global CO₂ emissions, should facilitate international negotiations (1) by giving participants a better idea of where major emitters stand relative to each other as far as climate policy stringency is concerned, and (2) by identifying areas of weakness that need action.     

Who determines transformational change in development and climate finance?

The language of transformational change is increasingly applied to climate policy, and particularly in climate finance. Transformational change in this context is used with respect to low-carbon development futures, with the emphasis on mitigation and GHG metrics. But, for many developing countries, climate policy is embedded in a larger context of sustainable development objectives, defined through a national process. Viewed thus, there is a potential tension between mitigation-focused transformation and nationally driven sustainable development. We explore this tension in the context of operationalizing the Green Climate Fund (GCF), which has to deal with the fundamental tension between country ownership and transformational change. In relation to climate finance, acceptance of diverse interpretations of transformation are essential conditions for avoiding risk of transformational change becoming a conditionality on development. We further draw lessons from climate governance and the development aid literature. The article examines how in the case of both the Clean Development Mechanism and Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions, there has been limited success in achieving both development objectives and ‘nationally appropriate’ mitigation. The development aid literature points to process-based approaches as a possible alternative, but there are limitations to this approach.

Policy relevance

The concept of transformational change has gained prominence in climate finance. The conundrum facing the GCF is that it seeks to support transformational change in the climate realm, in a context where countries may have competing priorities. Balancing or even transcending this tension is a fundamental design challenge for the GCF. A primary focus on mitigation, particularly if metrics of performance are tied exclusively to GHG reduction, raise concerns about diluting ownership by recipient countries and evokes concerns of conditionality or worse. The literature on development assistance has explored options notably conditions on process and adequate capacity, and suggests that there are no short cuts to building domestic ownership. Actors on climate change need to avoid the risk that transformational change is perceived as, and becomes, an imposed condition. The risk that transformation change, operationalized in the context of unequal power relations, becomes an imposition on development, needs to be avoided.     

Access to land reconsidered: The land grab,polycentric governance and Tanzania’s new wave land reform

Inspired by Ostrom’s concept of polycentric governance, this article aims to refine the analytical framework through which contemporary access to land is analysed. By drawing on extensive fieldwork and conducting a review of the existing literature on the making and implementation of Tanzania’s 1999 land reform, it challenges some of the main assumptions behind the land access and land grabbing literatures about the level at which agency is placed. Processes governing access to land are more contingent than they are most often depicted, involving actors at the local, national and international levels. National and local level actors are often more important than, in particular, the land grab literature tends to suggest. This implies that the state should be seen not merely as a site of ‘legitimate theft’, but also as one in which rights may be upheld. Based on the experience of Tanzania, the article suggests that analytical a priori assumptions about where agency is placed should be abandoned and replaced with empirical research into the relations between actors at all levels.     

Review essay: Imagining the techno-capitalist future(s) of higher education

Higher Education is frequently said to be in a time of disruption, and narratives of how that disruption will play out have become a cottage industry. This essay critically reviews four such narratives – two journalistic works, one corporatist, techno-capitalist vision of the unbundling of Higher Education in America, and one critical, scholarly defense of the university as a center of critical thinking. The essay reflects on what the latter text can tell us about how this coming disruption can be collectively managed by education professionals.     

How effective is inclusive innovation without participation?

The last few years have seen an upsurge in the field of innovation studies especially ‘inclusive innovation’, aiming not only at economic but social development. In developing countries, like India, inclusive innovation must incorporate governance and for governance to be inclusive, it should encompass participation by all, especially the marginalized, to make public policies efficacious and deliverable. I argue that any model of inclusive innovation needs to take cognizance of participation by all stakeholders. The objective of innovation must be to enable and empower people at the periphery through awareness, accessibility and democratic deliberations rather than solely aiming at economic outcomes. There is a need to debate on the ‘inclusiveness’ of innovation and make it more participative. Such an endeavour may help promote United Nation’s sustainable development goals by making governance participatory and expediting the process of social justice.     

Assessing the potential of REDD+ in a production mangrove forest in Malaysia using stakeholder analysis and ecosystem services mapping

Mangrove forests are ecologically important and carbon-rich coastal ecosystems that provide direct and indirect livelihood support for coastal communities. In recent years there has been increased discussion in the policy and scientific communities over how to include mangrove forests in climate change mitigation initiatives such as REDD+. There are a number of challenges to establishing a successful REDD+ project in mangrove areas, with land tenure and stakeholder entitlements arguably the most challenging. This study examines how REDD+ approaches might be applied to better balance timber production and conservation objectives in the Matang Mangrove Forest Reserve (MMFR), a 40,466 ha mangrove forest area in Malaysia. Stakeholder profiles and needs are linked with ecosystem services to develop an integrated profile of this complex social-ecological system, which has been managed for timber production for more than 100 years, and has recently revealed evidence of declining ecosystem health. The results provide insights into how REDD+ might be operationalised in existing forest areas with traditions of multiple uses, potentially contributing to improved social-ecological outcomes for forests and their diverse stakeholders.     

Working up an appetite for lionfish: A market-based approach to manage the invasion of Pterois volitans in Belize

Located on the Caribbean coast of Central America and flanked by the second longest barrier reef in the world, Belize is a nation reliant upon marine resources. Each year, the country’s predominantly small-scale fisheries generate an estimated US$22 million in revenue – 1.8%of GDP – and employ 3000 people. However, the nation’s fishing communities are facing an unprecedented challenge. Existing threats posed by declining fish stocks have been exacerbated by the introduction of the invasive alien red lionfish Pterois volitans in 2008. This Indo-Pacific predator has the potential to cause significant losses to the recruitment of native fish, in turn disrupting coral reef community dynamics in the Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Howefver, targeted lionfish fishing may offer a cost effective means to control the invasion, while also creating an alternative livelihood solution and improving food security among Belize's coastal fishing communities. This study summarises the recent history of the lionfish invasion in Belize, describes the multi-sector approach being used to address the invasion, and presents preliminary research summarising the characteristics of invasive alien lionfish in Belize. Data from Belize's nascent ‘lionfishery’ are also presented, demonstrating that demand for lionfish is outweighing supply – largely as a result of awareness-raising initiatives – and highlighting the strong potential for replication of this approach elsewhere in the Caribbean. The study concludes by discussing the barriers and potential solutions to this market-based approach to invasive species management.     

Adaptive environmental governance of changing social-ecological systems: Empirical insights from the Okavango Delta,Botswana

Adaptive management and related fields have theorized new governance strategies that embrace complexity and are able to respond effectively to changing and unpredictable biophysical dynamics. However, this body of work pays inadequate attention to important on-the-ground realities, including feasibility of implementation and the power dynamics embedded in multi-scalar systems of environmental governance. This paper presents findings from a research project on challenges to adaptive management in the variable wetland ecosystem of the Okavango Delta, Botswana. Many residents of this rural region rely on transitional agricultural practices, shifting between dryland and floodplain farming in response to dynamic precipitation and flooding patterns. Higher than average floods in 2009–2011 inundated many floodplain fields past the point of production, causing farmers to shift to the dryland for multiplem seasons. At the same time, the highly centralized Government of Botswana began to implement stricter regulations over floodplain resources, which stemmed in part from a new adaptive management plan developed for the region. As a result, many farmers felt pressured by the government to abandon transitional livelihood practices and to shift permanently to dryland agriculture even though many preferred to continue floodplain farming. This loss of a responsive livelihood strategy will likely result in decreased long-term adaptive capacity for many residents. Drawing on these findings, this paper advances the argument that if adaptive management is to become a viable option for communities in changing environments, more attention must be given to the role of unequal power relations in multi-scalar systems of environmental governance.     

Formation and performance of collaborative disaster management networks: Evidence from a Swedish wildfire response

Natural disasters present a multitude of entangled societal challenges beyond the realms and capacities of single actors. Prior research confirms that effective collaboration is of critical significance to address such complex collective action problems. Yet, studies rarely investigate if patterns of collaboration are appropriately aligned (‘fit’) with how different challenges (tasks) are interdependent, or how levels of fit influence collective action performance. We develop a set of hypotheses specifying what constitutes a good fit between collaborative networks and task interdependency. Using unique empirical data from the response to a major wildfire in Sweden, we examine how individual actors select collaboration partners and tasks during the formation the collaborative crisis response network. Then we test if levels of fit in the established network influence performance. We show that patterns of actor and task interdependency influence the formation of collaborative networks and that a good fit seems to be associated with more effective collaboration. Our data even suggest that a good fit is more important for performance than actors’ prior crisis management experience and level of professionalization. Further, we show that actors only partially engage in actor-task configurations conducive to high performance. Our study probes the limitations of simplified accounts of collaborative disaster management by enabling more precise and theoretically informed empirical inquiries regarding the mechanisms that shape the structure and performance of collaborative networks.