World Cities and Global Change: Observations on Monumentality in Urban Design

A prominent urban geographer presents a sweeping review essay on monumentality in the urban design of world cities. After outlining a number of the large, grand urban plans and projects of the past and present, he focuses on the four components of monumental urban design: comprehensive conceptions of legible urban form; iconic buildings; integrated urban transportation hubs; and planned downtown and midtown redevelopment projects. Concentrating on the trends prevailing at present and over the near future, the author notes factors that may exert a special impact on emerging world cities in Russia and China and argues for the importance of process in the geography of monumentality. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: O18, R51, R53. 14 figures, 37 references.     

Monumentality in Urban Design: The Case of Russia

A prominent American urban geographer and observer of the Russian urban scene provides an overview of grand planning and monumental urban design in Russia and the former Soviet Union through the lens of four themes outlined in a previous paper by Larry Ford (2008). In the process, he adds two more themes relevant to Russia and the former USSR: town building and architecture intended to define and legitimize state power, and the shaping or remodeling of society to reflect a regime's ideology. Noting the obstacles in the West to getting large urban projects planned, accepted, and completed, he argues that monumental urban landscapes appear to demand some degree of sustained, centralized, authoritarian leadership. The latter has been present in Russia and the USSR during much of the past millennium, including the present, but the emergence of new commercial/corporate forces in urban land development also bears scrutiny in studies of the processes promoting urban monumentality. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: O18, R14, R52. 10 figures, 44 references.     

郊区新城发展与大城市空间结构调整:松江案例

目前,我国正处在城市化快速推进阶段,为突破既有城市结构对城市发展的束缚,缓解中心城区的人口、就业、交通、环境等压力,优化城市经济结构,许多城市正在积极拓展新的发展空间,大城市地区的新城建设更是如火如荼。上海自早期的卫星城建设开始,到近期的"一城九镇",再到最近的"1966"城镇体系规划建设框架,一直试图通过郊区城镇的建设和发展来疏解中心城区的巨大压力。特别是最近10年,松江作为上海大都市郊区重要城镇的规划建设,对突破上海中心城区"一核独强"的空间结构所产生的影响在新城建设中颇具典型的意义。本文试图通过松江新城"次核"发育、松江新城的城市功能演化、松江新城人居环境建设三个方面的剖析,探讨新城建设与城市空间结构演化的互动关系,以在宏观上更好地认识和把握新城对城市发展的影响,以期对上海或国内其他大都市区郊区其他新城的建设和多中心城市空间格局的形成有所裨益。     

Interurban Development and Economic Disparities in a Russian Province

The paper explores the relationship among factors believed to influence the economic development potential of Russian cities in the post-Soviet period, based on a detailed case study of small and medium-sized urban places in Leningrad Oblast. Relying on rarely utilized statistical data (including local town censuses) collected during on-site research and interviews, the author constructs an economic development index that provides a reference for inter-urban comparisons and analysis. The significance of accessibility for post-Soviet urban development is statistically demonstrated and the role of inherited spatial economic structures (economic-geographical endowment) is discussed along with other factors influencing urban performance. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: O11, O18, R11. 3 figures, 4 tables, 30 references.     

Current Literature

A noted specialist on China's urban and economic geography investigates the processes underlying the massive and occasionally wasteful practice of land development that has accompanied China's rapid economic advance. By critically juxtaposing elements of conventional neoliberal economic theory (e.g., the so-called "tragedy of the commons") with the actual exercise of land property rights and the practice of land development in transitional China, he argues that, contrary to Western experience, land property rights have evolved from the bottom up and thus functioned not as a bundle of standardized and uniform legal prerogatives but rather as a diverse set of local practices adaptable to regional conditions. The author illustrates these processes though a thorough review of Chinese laws and regulations as well as a case study of land development in a province (Guangdong) in which land development has been allowed to proceed more rapidly under a special economic regime and exposure to global forces. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: P260, Q150, R140, R520. 2 figures, 1 table, 95 references.     

China's Urban Land Reform,Urban Productivity,and Local Government Behavior

Based on provincial land leasing data, this paper estimates the impact of urban land reform on urban productivity in China and analyzes factors affecting local government behavior in land reform. More specifically, it examines the relationship between urban productivity and: (a) the ratio of administrative land allocation to leasing, and (b) the choice of auction and tender among leasing methods. The paper documents differences in ratios of land leasing vis-à-vis administrative allocation depending on the percentage of industrial output by state-owned enterprises and the regional density of cities. Overall, the findings point to efficiency gains from adopting public land leasing and the importance of local context and political economy in understanding local government in China. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: E23, O18, R52. 1 figure, 4 tables, 36 references.     

Information for Authors, 2001

The paper assesses the urban base for rapid economic development and urbanization projected for western China under the most recent central government policy of "grand development of the western region." It focuses on the socioeconomic characteristics, receptiveness to innovation, and linkages of western China's cities to the world, by utilizing data from government documents and census publications. The analysis reveals remarkable differences among the main urban nodes, raising questions about existing urban and regional development theory and practice in China. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: O18, O20, R12. 2 figures, 7 tables, 33 references.     

中德经济发达地区城乡一体化模式比较——以长江三角洲与莱茵河下游地区为例

城乡一体化是伴随着工业社会、城市化时代的一种特有的社会经济现象,是人类社会生产力高度发达的一个重要标志,尤其在经济发达地区这种现象更加明显。中德两国有着不同的城市化发展过程和不同的时代背景,在工业化与经济发达区域内,城市化道路及其带来的城乡一体化类型、特征、模式与前景是有一定差异的。本文着重探索中国的长江三角洲与德国的莱茵-鲁尔地区的城乡一体化模式,从不同的视角、层面进行比较研究,试图从两国不同的地区比较得到有益的启示。     

中国人文地理学复兴的回顾、反思与展望

1978年以后,我国人文地理学走上了复苏和振兴的道路。本文试较为系统地回顾和反思十余年来人文地理学复兴的历程、成就与问题,展望90年代的发展。作者认为,理论建树、新领域和新方向开拓不足,是人文地理学发展中的主要问题;90年代应将人地关系理论与应用研究结合起来,重点开展持续发展、灾害适应、企业地理和区域科学四个方面的研究。     

Commercial Redevelopment and Regional Inequality in Urban China: Xining's Wangfujing?

An American urban geographer specializing in China explores whether a commercial and urban redevelopment model successful in Beijing (Wangfujing) can be transferred to a more remote region of the country (Qinghai Province), and whether the potential benefits outweigh the costs of dismantling the traditional commercial core of the relatively large provincial capital of Xining, with one-half million inhabitants. The Xining project is investigated in the contexts of globalization, secondary globalization, and the diffusion of urban planning and development practices in China. The biases in Chinese planning practice toward methods employed in large eastern cities are considered in light of global trends toward neoliberalism and the new regionalism. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: I31, O18, R58. 2 figures, 83 references.     

Misconceptions and Complexities in the Study of China's Cities: Definitions,Statistics, and Implications

A noted American authority on urbanization and the household registration system in China reviews and clarifies factors leading to misunderstanding and misconceptions regarding the number of inhabitants of China's major cities. Principal sources of confusion linked to reliance on official statistical sources are the multi-layered meanings of the term "city" and, consequently, simultaneous publication and use of a multitude of official population statistics for the country's "cities." Other complicating factors analyzed by the author include the effects of the Chinese hukou (household registration) system and the rapid rate of urban growth and change over the last three decades. Systematic population and per capita GDP data for the years 2000 and 2005, all based on the multiple boundaries and systems for five major cities (Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen), are collected to illustrate both the countrywide situation and specific cases. Also included is a critique of several studies and popular accounts of Chinese cities to highlight misstatements and areas of misunderstanding based on inappropriate use of statistical data. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: O18, O53, P20, R12. 2 figures, 6 tables, 130 references.     

基于城市土地利用模式与交通模式互动机制的大城市可持续交通模式选择--以广州为例

城市土地利用模式与交通模式间客观存在互动机制,土地利用模式是交通模式形成的基础,交通模式的选择将会改变土地利用模式,因此土地利用模式特征是影响城市可持续交通模式选择的至关因素。本文在全面分析广州城市土地利用模式特征基础上,综合考虑汽车产业政策、能源及环境等影响因素提出了广州可持续交通模式:公共交通优先,小汽车、自行车适度发展,交通方式合理分工的高效化、节能化和环保化绿色交通模式。     

Reforms,Globalization, and Urban Growth in China: The Case of Hangzhou

Chinese cities have experienced unprecedented growth and restructuring during the reform period. This study by two geographers examines the rapid growth of urban population in the relatively typical large city of Hangzhou (one of China's historical capitals), and investigates underlying factors by highlighting the significance of reforms and globalization in the growth of Chinese cities. The authors also discuss problems that Hangzhou (currently with ca. 4 million inhabitants) faces in coping with rapid urban growth and restructuring. They argue that "control" and "management" approaches to urban growth have limitations in China's transitional cities, and that the gradual process of reform is incompatible with the nature of urban planning in China. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: O18, O20, R23. 4 figures, 44 references.     

可持续发展——中国理智的选择

本文对可持续发展战略的由来及含义做了详尽的说明,并结合中国的实际,探讨了在中国实行可持续发展战略的必要性及实现途径。提出在中国实现可持续发展是一项长期的、艰苦的任务,首先应转变经济发展模式,确立以保护环境和合理利用资源为核心的经济发展战略;利用市场机制和经济手段,促进市场经济与环境保护的协调配合;同时要采取有效的人口政策,控制人口增长;并通过建设生态农业和完善城市建设,加强农村与城市的环境综合整治。     

中国超大城市游憩环境分析评价

在分析影响城市游憩环境客观因素的基础上,选取对城市游憩环境影响较大的园林绿地、道路、影剧院、观光景点、商场及超市、藏书量、娱乐设施、非建成区面积等因素,应用AHP方法,对中国北京、上海、天津等13座超大城市的游憩环境进行了综合评价,得到了超大城市游憩环境的综合得分,南京、北京、成都排在前三位,并进行了分析。得出各城市单项因素的排名;城市各因素发展的不平衡,城市游憩环境质量的地域分布状况等结论。针对这些结论,提出在城市游憩环境建设和城市规划中应注意的问题,例如全面考虑各影响因素的作用,加大建设游憩环境的力度等。     

Toward a Post-Socialist City? Economic Tertiarization and Urban Reformation in the Guangzhou Metropolis,China

This study examines economic tertiarization and urban reformation in Guangzhou, one of the most rapidly changing Chinese metropolises, as a path-dependent process blending the city's distinct mercantile tradition with the operation of new market forces and globalization. More specifically, it investigates how interaction of the socialist legacy of industrialization with the new forces of marketization and globalization has given rise to a peculiar pattern of simultaneous industrialization and tertiarization differing from the Western norm of linear progression. The author argues that the emergence of the tertiary sector as a main source of employment and a powerful engine for reorganizing urban land use and transforming the urban economic landscape raises new theoretical questions requiring a conceptual departure from the previous industrial-deterministic paradigm of socialist urbanization. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: L80, O18, R11. 5 figures, 8 tables, 88 references.     

中国城市化水平的综合判断

在测度和评价城市化水平高低时应该对人口城市化水平和城市人口绝对规模进行综合判断。学界通常用市区非农业人口口径来计算城市化水平,对城市外来人口考虑不够。对这种偏小的口径进行修正后发现中国的城市化水平至多略低于同等收入下的国际城市化水平。从城市人口与城市经济的适应程度看,中国的城市劳动生产率与发展状况类似的国家相比有偏低的倾向。因此,与流行的看法相反,中国的城市化水平与经济发展相适应的。笔者认为中国城市的存量部分已经"人满为患",未来城市化的着力点应是城市的增量部分,包括现有城市规模的扩大和新城市的设置。应进行户籍制度、土地制度、创业制度等制度创新,为城市发展提供宽松的外部环境。     

A new Changhsingian (Late Permian) Rugosochonetidae (Brachiopoda) fauna from the Zhongzhai section,southwestern Guizhou Province,South China

Zhang, Y., He, W.-H., Shi, G.R. & Zhang, K.-X., 2013. A new Changhsingian (Late Permian) Rugosochonetidae (Brachiopoda) fauna from the Zhongzhai section, southwestern Guizhou Province, South China. Alcheringa 37, 221–245. ISSN 0311-5518.

This paper describes 20 species (including three undetermined species) of Rugosochonetidae (Brachiopoda) in an upper offshore fauna from the Permian–Triassic Boundary Zhongzhai section, southwestern Guizhou Province, South China. New taxa are Tethyochonetes sheni, Tethyochonetes cheni, Neochonetes (Huangichonetes) archboldi, Neochonetes (Sommeriella) waterhousei, Neochonetes (Sommeriella) rectangularis and Neochonetes semicircularis.

Yang Zhang [zyan@deakin.edu.au] and G.R. Shi [guang.shi@deakin.edu.au] (corresponding author), School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Melbourne Burwood Campus, 221 Burwood Highway, Burwood, Victoria 3125, Australia; Weihong He [whzhang@cug.edu.cn] (corresponding author) and Kexin Zhang [kx_zhang@cug.edu.cn], State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, 388 Lumo Road, Hongshan, Wuhan 430074, PR China. Received 8.6.2012; revised 19.9.2012; accepted 7.10.2012.     

Nationality Population Trends in Belarus during the Recent Intercensal Period, 1989-1999

The author, a U.S. geographer specializing in issues of population change and urbanization in the countries of the former USSR, extends an earlier study of the population of Belarus (Rowland, 2003) by focusing on trends of change in the nationality composition of that country's population revealed by the most recent (1999) census. More specifically, the paper analyzes trends and patterns of the nationality composition of the total, urban, and rural Belarusian population at both the national and regional levels for the period 1989-1999. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: J11, O18, R23. 3 figures, 10 tables, 10 references.     

INSTRUMENTS OF CONVERSION? THE ROLE OF MEGALITHS IN THE MESOLITHIC/NEOLITHIC TRANSITION IN NORTHWEST EUROPE1

This paper discusses the general conditions which have given rise to megalithic construction techniques, and the specific circumstances under which megalithism became important in Neolithic Europe. It argues that the great elaboration of megalithic constructions in western and northern Europe must be related to the survival there of Mesolithic populations, and that monumentality was an essential element of the cultural rhetoric whereby these indigenous groups were converted to a Neolithic way of life.