中国城市人口迁移和创新

创新是城市发展的动力之一。城市创新受多种因素影响,人口是影响城市创新的重要因素,人口迁移的数量和质量会对创新产生深刻的影响。以专利指标测度创新,基于中国34个主要城市人口2003—2012年的人口迁入、迁出数据,使用stata面板模型,分析中国人口迁移对城市创新的影响。结果显示:人口迁移对城市创新有重要的影响,主要表现在省外迁入人口、省内迁出人口以及高学历和多样化人口迁移对城市创新有积极作用,其他人口迁移因素对城市创新影响则不显著,人口迁移对城市创新的影响具有区域性的差异。研究的政策意义表明:中国需要鼓励高层次的人口迁移,以发挥创新的溢出效应,提升城市的创新能力。     

昆明市"城中村"问题及改造对策研究--以盘龙区东庄村为例

随着昆明市城市化进程的加快和行政区划的重新调整,城市辐射功能增强,城市空间急剧扩展,使原来的城市边缘区域为中心区所包围,形成大片“城中村”。昆明市“城中村”改造涉及范围广、数量大、人口多,缺少可以置换的土地,改造成本巨大。以昆明市最大的“城中村”——东庄村改造为个案,通过实地调查、访谈和文献法,分析昆明市“城中村”的现状、问题和成因,并认为应尽快分阶段进行改造。在改造中,应从昆明市目前的社会经济情况出发,根据不同类型,选择实施以开发商为主体和以村民为主体的不同改造模式。同时,政府应加强监督与协调,尽早制定“城中村”改造的地方政策和法规,编制统一、科学的规划,积极协调和平衡村民、村集体和开发商之间的利益冲突,保护村民的利益不受侵害,并通过职业培训、社区服务、社会保障等措施解决村民的生计,转变他们的思想观念、生活方式,使其真正融入现代社会。     

MIDTOWNS,MEGASTRUCTURES, AND WORLD CITIES

ABSTRACT. “Midtown” is an important but understudied component of the morphology and historical evolution of North American and, to a lesser extent, European cities, and landmark buildings have played a notable role in giving midtowns identity and prestige. Especially significant are the recent diffusion and expansion of the twinned “midtown-skyscraper” concept to the major cities of East and Southeast Asia. For a variety of reasons, it is likely that massive midtowns anchored by famous buildings will become most evident on the western fringe of the Pacific Rim. Western architectural, engineering, and planning firms are playing major roles in this diffusion and illustrate nicely the importance of exporting the service component of the global economy. Buildings and midtowns provide (reinforced) concrete examples of the impact of the new global economy on the landscapes of major cities.     

Population questions for Australian cities: reframing our narratives

"I focus on urban environments and on immigration as that segment of population growth often viewed as having certain effects on cities. The paper argues for a reframing of narratives linking population and urban environments, so that both immigrant-led population growth and the condition of urban environments in Australia can be understood as the product of the political and economic interpretations being made of the nation's internationalisation, which in turn has consequences for diversity amongst places and peoples."     

Kenya’s Secondary Cities Growth Strategy at a Crossroads: Which Way Forward?

Kenya has been promoting equitable urban and regional development since the 1970s despite the lack of a clearly formulated national urban policy or an urban and regional development policy. A key element of the country’s equitable urban and regional development effort is the promotion of secondary cities that would relieve population pressure in the countryside, help to better integrate the country’s rural and urban economies, help to reduce congestion and improve the quality of life in the metropolitan cities of Nairobi and Mombasa, and help increase the modernization spin-off which urban centers provide to the surrounding rural areas. Using recent census and economic survey data, this paper examines the current state of Kenya’s secondary cities in the context of its urban and regional development strategies. The paper finds that: (1) the country’s urban and regional development strategies have failed to work as planned largely because of insufficient devolution of power and fiscal responsibility to municipal and other local government units, (2) the country’s secondary cities are faced with immense challenges that undermine their ability to live up to expectations, (3) some of these cities have significantly grown economically over the last four decades despite immense challenges, and (4) Nairobi’s dominance of Kenya’s economy continues because of policies that unwittingly concentrate investments there. The paper concludes with strategies that could enhance the country’s urban and regional development programs and, in the process, aid the development of its secondary cities.     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book Reviewed in this article: Portable Utopia: Glasgow and the United States 1820–1920. Bernard Aspinwall. Studies in Russian Historical Geography. James H. Bater and R. A. French, eds. Water and Sanitation: Economic and Sociological Perspectives. Peter G. Bourne, ed. Green Politics. Fritjof Capra and Charlene Spretnak. The Southern Cone: Realities of the Authoritarian State. César N. Caviedes. Women in Third World Development. Sue Ellen Charlton. Land Management: New Directions. David Chiddick and Alan Millington, eds. Geography and Ethnic Pluralism. Colin Clarke, David Ley, Ceri Peach, eds. Geomorphological Hazards in Los Angeles. R. U. Cooke. Regional Impacts of United States-Mexico Economic Relations. Alfonso Corona and Lay James Gibson. eds. Patterns of Jobs and Geographic Mobility. Torvald Gerger. Cities and Sickness: Health Care in Urban America. Ann Lennarson Greer and Scott Greer, eds. Neighborhoods: Their Place in Urban Life. Howard W. Hallman. Development and the Rural-Urban Divide. John Harriss and Mick Moore, eds. Patterns of Undocumented Migration: Mexico and the United States. Richard C. Jones, ed. Central Place Theory. Leslie J. King. The Geography of Western Europe: A Socio-economic Survey. Paul L. Knox. Regions and Resources: Strategies for Development. David T. Krisge, Daniel A. Seiver, Oliver S. Goldsmith and Michael J. Scott. Geography of Crowding and Human Response. A Study of Ahmedabad City. K. M. Kulkarni. Haciendo Pueblo. The Development of a Guadalajaran Suburb. Kathleen Logan. The Imperial Lion: Human Dimensions of Wildlife Management in Central Africa. Stewart A. Marks. Water in the Hispanic Southwest: A Social and Legal History, 1550–1850. Michael C. Meyer. Imlil: A Moroccan Mountain Community in Change. James A. Miller. Tourism in Canada: Selected Issues and Options. Peter E. Murphy, ed. David Harvey's Geography. John L. Paterson. Raster Scanning, Processing and Plotting of Cartographic Documents. Donna J. Peuquet and A. Raymond Boyle. The USSR and the Muslim World: Issues in Domestic and Foreign Policy. Yaacov Ro'i, ed. Environmental Perception and Behavior: An Inventory and Prospect. Thomas F. Saarinen, David Seamon, and James L. Sell. Incised channels, Morphology, Dynamics, and Control. Stanley A. Schumm, Michael D. Harvey, and Chester C. Watson. The Gap Between Rich and Poor: Contending Perspectives on the Political Economy of Development. Mitchell A. Seligson, ed. Twentieth-Century Richmond. Planning, Politics and Race. Christopher Silver. Land Conservation and Development: Examples of Land-Use Planning Projects and Programs. F. R. Steiner and H. N. van Lier, eds. Biogeography: Recent Advances and Future Directions. J. A. Taylor, ed. Late Quaternary Environments of the Soviet Union. A. A. Velichko, ed. H. E. Wright, Jr. and C. W. Barnosky, eds.     

China’s metropolises in transformation: neoliberalizing politics,land commodification,and uneven development in Beijing

ABSTRACT

Existing theory of urban transformation under neoliberalization describes cities as the institutional arena in and through which neoliberal strategies of urbanism emanate and are contested. Emphasis is placed on the interaction between state and market without paying adequate attention to their internal dynamics. This study of urban transformation in the Beijing metropolis identifies a distinct trajectory whereby commodification of urban land has been actively pursued in response to the decentralization of developmental responsibilities and recentralization of tax revenue collection instituted by the central state. An urban development strategy is practiced whereby land commodification, city planning, and mega event hosting are integrated and mutually reinforcing. The research shows a pattern of land commodification and development dominated by newly developed construction land in the near suburbs, and reveals a picture of increased spatial inequality and intensified social discontent as a consequence of city-centered land development. Contrary to popular perception of the state and market as diametrically opposed principles of political organization, the Chinese state is found to have transformed and reshuffled itself to embrace and take advantage of the market for its developmental agenda.     

Exploring food choices within the context of nutritional security in Gaborone,Botswana

Food consumption experiences remain largely unexplored in urban Africa, despite mounting concerns regarding both over‐ and undernutrition of city dwellers and the potential impact on overall human health and development. This paper seeks to explore the foodstuffs people consume and the factors that shape consumer choice in Gaborone, Botswana. Empirical data were drawn from food diaries and observations of 40 households and discussions with them, plus key informants interviews in Gaborone. Analysis reveals the range of foodstuff people consume, highlighting the prevalence of diets comprised of energy dense, processed and animal‐sourced foods, which are major nutritional security concerns. However these diets were not summarily western or westernizing as per the nutritional transition thesis, as our analysis suggests subtleties of dietary patterns, including the fact that meat‐based diets are traditionally rooted rather than imported and meals tend to comprise both local and western components. The paper also identifies multiple interacting factors influencing consumer food choices, illustrating how food decisions embody context‐specific personal and social circumstances. Understanding how these factors shape what people eat in Gaborone may enable policy makers to facilitate the conditions within which healthy food choices can be made and to address emerging public health and nutrition challenges in African cities.     

Ubuntu nests and the emergence of an African metropolis

Cities are not homogenous sociocultural entities. The city of Nairobi exhibits the phenomena of ‘cities within cities’ and ‘African city forms’. Social and economic forms of African, western and Asian cities compete for space within Nairobi. This paper refers to the African city form as the ‘African metropolis’, which exhibits the African logic, norms and values in its architecture and human social relations. The African metropolis is made up of slums, urbanized villages, self‐developed urban fringes and indigenous markets. In urban literature, these spaces are referred to as informal or unplanned settlements. As drivers of this African form of urbanism, traders and artisans use the African logic, norms and values in the construction of the African metropolis. The traders and artisans contribute to the African metropolis, by hiring labour and investing surplus earnings, and are bonded into Ubuntu communities of family, friendship and ethnicity. The paper is based on data gathered through a questionnaire survey of traders and artisans. It contributes to urban theory, by showing how less dominant and subtle forces contribute to city‐forming processes. I propose the concept of cultural villages as a strategy for blending African logic, norms and values with those of global urban planning.     

吉林省资源型城市转型阶段识别及其特征成因分析

分析、界定资源型城市不同转型阶段内涵及特征,构建吉林省资源型城市转型阶段识别体系。引入具有隶属函数性质的分段函数模型,识别转型阶段、分析转型特征及成因。结果表明,吉林省资源型城市经济与社会发展、基础设施建设、环境污染治理等方面转型效果均有所提升,总体进入基本转型阶段,经济转型特征最为明显,城市基础设施建设较落后。不同类型资源型城市转型效果差异显著,其中石油类城市转型较好,森工类、煤炭类城市转型较差,资源枯竭型城市较其他城市转型难度大;同时城市的资源依赖特征仍然突出。评价结果符合吉林省资源型城市实际情况。最后从中央政策、产业基础与空间区位、资源禀赋、地方财政等方面分析吉林省资源型城市转型特征成因,并提出了吉林省资源型城市未来的可持续发展模式与路径。