Anticipatory logics of the smart city’s global imaginary

The smart city encompasses a broad range of technological innovations which might be applied to any city for a wide variety of reasons. In this article, I make a distinction between local efforts to reshape the urban landscape, and a global smart city imaginary which those efforts draw upon and help sustain. While attention has been given to the malleability of the smart city concept at this global scale, there remains little effort to interrogate the way that the future is used to sanction specific solutions. Through a critical engagement with smart city marketing materials, industry documents, and consultancy reports, I explore how the future is recruited, rearranged, and represented as a rationalization for technological intervention in the present. This is performed amidst three recurring crises: massive demographic shifts and subsequent resource pressures, global climate change, and the conflicting demands of fiscal austerity that motivate the desire of so many cities to attract foreign direct investment and highly skilled workers. In revealing how crises are pre-empted, precautioned, and prepared for, I argue that the smart city imaginary normalizes a style and scale of response deemed appropriate under liberal capitalism.     

Urban steeplands in the tropics: an environment of accelerated erosion

The developing countries at present have a high urban growth rate that is likely to continue for at least another quarter-century. In addition, many of these urban centres are located in the Neogene plate boundary zones and are subject to multiple earthquake and volcanic hazards. Slope failures and accelerated surface and channel erosion are particularly severe in cities near active plate margins, and in areas affected also by tropical cyclones. We discuss two extreme cases: Singapore and Kingston (Jamaica). Singapore is located in a stable environment and the urbanization related problems of flood and slope instability have been reduced by proper building and drainage practices at a considerable cost. In Kingston, the external disturbances are repetitive, large-scale, and very difficult to control. The fast-growing cities in the tropics need to be carefully monitored, especially when located in an unstable physical environment. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Advances and Practices on the Research,Prevention and Control of Land Subsidence in Coastal Cities

Land subsidence severely threatens most of the coastal plains around the world where high productive industrial and agricultural activities and urban centers are concentrated. Coastal subsidence damages infrastructures and exacerbates the effect of the sea-level rise at regional scale. Although it is a well-known process, there is still much more to be improved on the monitoring, mapping and modeling of ground movements, as well as the understanding of controlling mechanisms. The International Geoscience Programme recently approved an international project (IGCP 663) aiming to bring together worldwide researchers to share expertise on subsidence processes typically occurring in coastal areas and cities, including basic research, monitoring and observation, modelling and management. In this paper, we provide the research communities and potential stakeholders with the basic information to join the participating teams in developing this project. Specifically, major advances on coastal subsidence studies and information on well-known and new case studies of land subsidence in China, Italy, The Netherlands, Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand are highlighted and summarized. Meanwhile, the networking, dissemination, annual meeting and field trip are briefly introduced.     

中国航空联系的网络结构与区域差异

区域空间联系是不同客体之间基于空间法则下的相互作用现象,航空联系是诸多空间联系的一种。依据中国国内航班运营信息数据,运用基于O-D联系网络的GIS空间分析法,通过在大尺度数据空间内刻画每一条运营航线,深入解析全国通航中心城市间（不含港澳台）航空联系的网络结构,并与按重力模型计算的空间联系进行对比,分运距区段绘制中国城市空间相互作用联系与航空联系网络结构图谱,深入揭示航空联系的空间相互作用本质。进而分析东、中、西部及东北4区域间航空联系的网络结构差异,揭示中国航空联系的网络结构及区域结构特征。研究发现,城市航空联系网络与人口、经济之间的空间相互作用高度吻合,大城市集聚特征显著,空间分布较不平衡。依据进出港航班数量,可将通航中心城市划分为全国性、区域性、省域及地方性中心4个等级,其中北京、上海、广州为全国性中心。城市航空联系主要集中在600~2 000 km空间距离范围内,总体上服从空间距离衰减规律。全国航空客流的区域分布极不平衡,东部航空运输地位极其突出,西部相对较强,中部与东北相对较弱。     

生态脆弱区资源型城市生态环境影响评价与调控

采用主分量分析评估模型法,对西部生态脆弱区的资源型城市鄂尔多斯市在2003-2011年时间序列内的城市生态环境影响进行了评价与分析。结果表明：鄂尔多斯城市生态系统整体处于不稳定的发展状态,其中生态质量子系统的发展水平一直处于稳步上升、逐步改善的趋势;环境质量子系统的发展水平呈现出先下降、再上升、再下降的整体下降趋势;环境治理子系统的发展水平总体处于稳步上升、中间略有波动的趋势;综合来看,鄂尔多斯城市生态环境影响的总发展水平处于整体上升、中间略有波动的状态。     

历史时期全球化作用下的城市空间转变——以1890s~1930s广州东山地区为例

世界城市历史研究作为新兴的研究领域,虽然突破了世界城市经典理论的“现代主义”视角,证明全球化对城市空间转变的作用具有长期性,但仍局限在“经济主义”的分析范畴之内,将经济因素视为决定性动力。20世纪初期,广州东山地区完成由“乡村地区”向“社会精英阶层居住地”的空间转变,促使城市空间格局由“东村西富”变为“东贵西富”。这场具有历史意义的空间转变是教会、华侨、政府、官僚4种动力相互作用、相继推动的结果。东山地区的发展历史表明,除经济联系外,城市的全球文化联系对空间转变同样具有重要推动作用。在一些特定的城市或城市中的特定地区,社会文化动力对城市空间转变具有决定性的作用。     

黑龙江省三江平原垦区中心城市选择

黑龙江省三江平原垦区是中国耕地规模最大的连片农垦区和第三大区际商品粮供应基地。近年来,随着这一地区工业化和城镇化进程的加快,如何科学的选择和建设区域的中心城市成为该区完善区域城镇体系和推进城镇化进程的紧迫任务和现实课题。基于此,应用改进的引力模型来计算县级单位与农场间的空间联系强度,界定出各县级单位的腹地范围,明确三江平原垦区的中心城市;以各农垦分局为研究单元,研究各农垦分局的碎化程度;通过明确县级单位拥有农场腹地数目,确定各农垦分局的中心城市;结果发现建三江、虎林、富锦、友谊和密山等宜作为三江平原垦区的中心城市;提出通过壮大中心城市的综合实力、推动场县共建和深化对外合作等措施来推动三江平原垦区城镇化进程。     

中原经济区城市间相互作用时空格局演变研究

将中原经济区30个省辖市市区作为研究对象,按照由“线”→“点”→“面”的分析思路,运用引力模型、潜能模型与潜能得分模型、经济隶属度模型等各种模型,定量分析1990~2010年间中原经济区城市间相互作用时空格局的演变过程与特征。结果表明：城市间相互作用强度的时空差异明显。“线”层次上,城市间的引力和城市联结线数目的增多,逐渐形成辐射网络,引力和联结线数目的变化存在时空差异性。“点”层次上,通过“线-点”叠加分析,城市最大联结线数目增多和城市潜能等级提升的时空差异性明显。而且1990~2010年间各个城市潜能等级跃迁的时空差异明显。“面”层次上,近20多年来,区域中心城市没有变化,但4个中心城市的腹地变化明显,核心组团——郑州组团1990~2000年北扩,2000~2010年东扩;1990~2010年,潜能高值区域的空间收缩也表现出阶段性特征。     

市场分割与中国城市出口差异

出口贸易是中国经济增长的引擎,也是影响城市经济发展的重要因素。中国城市出口活动强度呈现由东向西逐渐递减的趋势,东部沿海地区的城市群表现最为优异。经济转型背景下地方政府采取的市场分割政策对中国城市出口差异有显著影响。基于新经济地理理论,在企业微观层面使用Heckman选择模型分析的结果表明：① 短期内,国内市场分割程度加剧导致企业因国内市场受限而替代性地进入国际市场以追求规模经济效益,从而通过增加出口企业数量提升城市出口表现;长期来看,市场分割限制了企业的规模经济效益和专业化分工能力,降低了出口企业的生产率和国际竞争力,从而损害城市出口贸易的可持续发展;这一机制还受到企业所有制及地理区位的影响。② 市场分割对企业出口行为的扭曲程度依外资企业、国有企业、私营企业的顺序递增。③ 在中国中部地区,改善省际交通条件有助于缓解国内市场分割对企业出口行为的扭曲作用,在东部和西部地区则不明显。     

贵州主要城市地表松散沉积物中微量元素与土壤环境

通过贵阳等九个城市地表土壤和水系沉积物中的微量元素地球化学分析表明,城市环境不同程度地遭受有微量元素污染.在自然作用和人为作用过程中,微量元素造成城市的大气污染、水土污染、元素异常、环境灾变等环境问题,笔者认为,贵州城市地表土壤和沉积物中的生命有害元素污染,可能对长江和珠江流域造成不良影响,应尽快开展多目标生态环境地球化学调查,科学准确的划分地表环境的安全、隐患及污染区,并对已遭受微量元素污染的地区制定出有效的修复方案和治理措施.