Toronto Inc? Planning the Competitive City in the New Toronto

This paper analyses recent developments in urban planning in the City of Toronto. A municipality of 2.4 million inhabitants that makes up the inner half of the Greater Toronto Area, the City of Toronto was consolidated from seven municipalities in 1998. Planning practice, discourse, and "vision" in the new City of Toronto are shaped by the city's bid for the 2008 Olympics, related proposals for waterfront redevelopment, and preparations for a new official plan. In the context of comparative debates on trends in local governance, we see current planning strategies in Toronto as one of several strategic sites in which Toronto is consolidated into a "competitive city." Historically, the formation of the competitive city in Toronto must be seen as a result of the impasse of postwar metropolitan planning in the early 1970s, the sociospatial limitations of downtown urban reform politics in the 1970s and 1980s, and the neoliberal restructuring and rescaling of the local state in the 1990s. Theoretically, we draw on the global city research paradigm, regime and regulation theory, and neo-Gramscian urban political theory to suggest that planning the competitive city signals shifts in the sociopolitical alliances, ideological forms, and dominant strategies that regulate global-city formation. These constellations and strategies threaten to reconstitute bourgeois hegemony in Toronto with a series of claims to urbanity.     

Territorial development,planning reform and urban governance: the case of Ireland’s second-tier cities

The increased emphasis within Europe on the role of second-tier cities has implications for the ways in which these urban centres are considered within national spatial planning strategies. In centralized, monocentric states such as Ireland, there has been a general ambivalence towards urban policy for cities outside the capital city, and historically, this has prevented the development of a strong, diversified urban hierarchy undermining prospects for balanced regional development. This paper examines the extent to which a new found emphasis on Ireland’s second-tier cities which emerged in the ‘Gateways’ policy of the National Spatial Strategy was matched by subsequent political and administrative commitment to facilitate the development of these urban centres. Following a discussion of the position of second-tier cities in an international context and a brief overview of recent demographic and economic trends, the paper assesses the relative performance of Ireland’s second-tier cities in influencing development trends, highlighting a comprehensive failure to deliver compact urban growth. In this context, the paper then discusses the implications of current development plans for the second-tier cities and proposals for Irish local government reform for securing compact urban development.     

企业主义视角下大城市保障房建设的策略选择及其社会空间后果

城市企业主义是理解地方政府行为与城市空间变迁的重要政治经济视角,在中国推进经济全球化和住房市场化的背景下,企业化的地方政府,特别是大城市政府,在保障房的建设实践中往往采取偏向性的策略选择。本文着重讨论企业主义视角下大城市政府保障房建设的策略选择及其社会空间后果。研究发现,大城市政府主要通过实施保障房政策的异化和保障房住区的边远化策略,来履行其住房保障职责。然而,这种选择性策略带来的直接的社会空间后果是低收入群体的边缘化,具体表现为外来务工人员等在保障政策上的边缘化,以及保障房居民在社会空间上的边缘化。文章进一步指出,保障房应回归其保障本位,以满足低收入群体的真实需求。     

Cultural icons and urban development in Asia: Economic imperative,national identity,and global city status

Global cities are characterized by the multiplicity of flows that they are implicated in – flows of people, goods, services, ideas, and images. Yet, global cities do not derive their status only on the basis that they are networked nodes. They also require particular forms of cultural capital. Cities with global aspirations have thus increasingly recognized the need to accumulate cultural capital, for which one means is to create new urban spaces, in particular, new cultural urban spaces (e.g. grand theatres, museums, libraries). These often monumental structures are intended to support a vibrant cultural life, in order to attract and sustain global human and economic flows. In this paper, I examine the efforts by Shanghai's, Singapore's and Hong Kong's governments to develop cultural icons as part of the strategy to help their cities gain global city status, and in the process, constructing shared national and city identities. I illustrate how such efforts are not universally interpreted in the manner intended, with city populations sometimes protesting, sometimes simply oblivious. At the same time, I argue that such strategies to achieve global city status are sometimes at odds with projects of nationhood.     

The view beyond downtown luxury towers: Diversity of condominium developments in a contemporary mid-sized city

A proliferation of condominiums is fundamentally changing the built, social, and economic fabric of Canada's cities. While developments may be found throughout the urban landscape of cities large and small, most of the contemporary research focuses on luxury towers in the urban cores of Toronto and Vancouver. The following study examines the complete inventory of all condominium units in Halifax, Nova Scotia, revealing spatial and temporal patterns in their development. Nearly 60% of Halifax's condominium units are found in the suburbs, with only 20% in the downtown. Condominium units built since 2010 command the highest prices, surpassing the median single detached house price in the city, while older units from the 1970s and 1980s remain largely affordable. Recent developments can be found in gentrifying neighbourhoods; however, they remain a minority as many more units are found in middle-class suburbs and wealthy inner-city neighbourhoods. Owing to their varied manifestations, the predominant associations of condominiums with a downtown, luxury housing format needs expanding to include locations throughout the metropolitan area, distinct building types, and wide range of prices.     

省际边界区域中心城市的构建:怀化个案

省际边界区域应打造区域中心城市,培育区域增长极,扩大边界区域"中心市场"的质量和数量,发挥省际边界区域的扩张效应,促进经济的协调发展。怀化具备成为湘鄂渝黔桂省际边界区域的中心城市的前景,应积极推动边区经济协作向深层次发展;加快发展步伐,构建区域增长极,大力推动企业跨区兼并、收购和联合,制定政策法规,促进区域市场一体化。     

Feelings of belonging? young people's views of their surroundings in Kingston,Jamaica

The feelings of young people towards their surroundings have often been neglected in studies of Third World cities. In this paper, I examine these views in Kingston, Jamaica: a large, poor city with high socio‐economic inequality. The young people surveyed have generally positive feelings towards their surroundings, yet are frequently excluded from making decisions about the ways in which these are managed. Their responses shed light on some of the main problems facing the city, and provide a strong case for young people's inclusion in local sustainable development planning.     

20世纪90年代江苏省中心城市的增长模式和集聚扩散特征研究

本文计算评价了江苏省地区级中心城市的中心性,并利用重力模型划分主要中心城市腹地范围,通过分析人口密度函数的变化探讨了20世纪90年代江苏省中心城市的增长模式和集聚扩散特征。江苏省中心城市增长模式和集聚扩散特征存在南北差异。     

郊区化背景下北京市民城市中心商业区的利用特征

通过微观层面上对北京市居民中心商业中心消费行为的调查,分析郊区化背景下城市中心商业区发展现状,通过市民对城市中心商业区利用特征及其所反映的中心商业区发展问题来认识城市商业空间的变化。虽然城市中心传统商业区仍然在北京市居民消费中保持着重要地位,但是其购物空间已经表现出逐渐向迅速发展的近郊商业区转移的趋势;同时,随着新业态的迅速发展和私家车的普及,中心商业区将面临越发严峻的挑战。     

江苏省城市化质量的区域差异时空分析

根据城市化的内涵及推进城市化的目的,从人口城市化、经济城市化、居民生活城市化、景观环境城市化和基础设施城市化等五个方面,构建区域城市化质量的综合评价指标体系,运用熵值法,对2001-2009年江苏县市城市化质量进行综合测度,并以此为变量,运用差异系数,对江苏县市城市化质量差异的演变过程与空间格局进行定量分析。结果发现:2001-2009年江苏区域城市化质量差异总体扩大的基础上呈现先扩大后缩小趋势,且主要表现为经济发展质量差异、基础设施质量差异和居民生活质量差异,人口发展质量差异和景观环境质量差异则相对较小;在空间上,县市城市化质量提升有向环太湖地区不断极化的态势。其中,地级市区以向下收敛为主;苏中和苏北县域以向上收敛为主,而沿海地区县域以向下发散为主;苏南地区的沿江县域以向下收敛为主,环太湖县域则以向上发散为主。     

长春-吉林经济带的形成与空间结构特点研究

文章通过对经济带概念的分析,构建经济带的形成和演进理论,认为经济带有等级、层次之分,其时空演进的理论为增长极理论——点一轴发展理论——梯度推移理论。在此基础上,论证长春—吉林经济带的存在性,分析其结构、功能及空间联系形式。作者认为,长春—吉林经济带目前是一个弱经济带,其扩散效应较弱,随着其扩散效应的增强,长春—吉林经济带将能够从整体上带动和促进吉林省的经济发展。     

洛杉矶:从地区性中心城市到全球性城市的研究

本文回顾了在当今美国乃至世界城市中占有重要位置的城市--洛杉矶从地区性中心城市到全球性城市的发展历程,探讨了洛杉矶崛起的原因。通过对这一典型案例的历史考察和综合分析,作者力图揭示出全球性城市形成中的一些具有普遍意义的启示。     

Cleveland reimaged: changing news media images of Cleveland, 1985–2015

Beginning in the late 1960s, Cleveland’s public image suffered a series of blows. Riots on the city’s east side claimed the lives of a dozen people and the Cuyahoga River (briefly) caught fire. In the 1970s, deindustrialization ravaged its iron, steel, and auto industries, resulting in tens of thousands of job losses and rising poverty rates. In 1978, Cleveland became the first U.S. city since the Great Depression to default on its bonds. Between 1970 and 1980, the city lost nearly a quarter of its population. In response, business and political leaders developed an economic development plan that attempted to change the city’s image by improving its downtown. This paper analyzes the changing image of Cleveland as conveyed by newspaper headlines and articles from outside the metropolitan area from 1985 to 2015. The results indicate while the city’s external image improved as a result physical improvements in downtown infrastructure and tourist attractions, deteriorating social and economic conditions in the remainder of the city were largely ignored.     

城市企业主义视角下的中国城市增长机制研究

我国城市发展自本世纪以来呈现出加快发展的趋势。然而,这一进程尚不均衡和协调。本文通过城市企业主义这一视角,分析中国城市实现空间与经济迅速增长的机制及其所面临的问题。文章首先考察了2001-2009年间的公共财政结构,揭示出中国地方政府治理模式,并对其背后的制度原因进行了分析,以体现出城市企业主义是如何受到高度集中的行政考评体系和分税制这一转型期财政体制的影响。文章接着对地方政府为实现其城市企业主义战略而采用的土地驱动型发展模式进行了研究,最后提出了中国城市发展亟待转型的呼吁。     

“借口”:中国城市资本高度集聚的政治经济学分析框架

面对改革开放以来中国快速城市化现象,本文从中国投资拉动的经济增长模式出发,发现中国城市存在着高度积累,特别是行政级别高的城市持续投资增长的现象,在分析投资、投资效率与大型事件关系的基础上,提出了官员晋升竞标赛和财政分权预算约束条件下的制度机会主义行为假设,认为大型事件不过是政府构建的一个有利于在城市体系下,通过打破传统的政府预算约束,实现资本高度集中促进经济持续增长的制度机会主义行为。"借口"模式旨在揭示大型事件现象背后的政治与经济激励,并以2010年广州举办亚运会为例,按政府构建—突破约束—官员晋升的结构,分析了广州市政府构建全社会共识,举办亚运会带来巨额投资促进城市发展实现政治与经济激励的事实,为"借口"模式提供了实证的案例。最后,对"借口"模式的未来趋势进行了探讨。     

全球化视角下的世界城市网络理论

城市诞生时就相互保持着联系,只有将城市纳入世界城市网络中才能正确把握城市产生和发展的本质。1980年以来在第三次全球化浪潮的背景下,世界生产要素和产品市场开始整合,世界城市的兴起是国际劳动分工在空间上的表达。Cohen、Friedmann、Sassen、Castells和Taylor等学者提出并发展了世界城市理论,世界城市网络理论已经成为研究城市问题的重要框架。联系数据的缺乏长期制约了世界城市网络的实证研究,二十世纪九十年代中期以来学者们创新性地解决了方法论的问题,对世界城市网络的各个层面进行了实证研究。     

中国智慧城市研究的进展与展望

伴随着智慧城市建设实践的快速发展,智慧城市研究引起了城市科学、地理科学和管理科学等多学科的广泛关注与探讨。本文在分析近十年来我国智慧城市研究文献基础上,重点从智慧城市内涵、智慧城市发展阶段、智慧城市影响因素、智慧城市逻辑框架、智慧城市行业应用等方面,梳理我国智慧城市研究取得的进展。同时指出,在智慧城市的跨学科研究、区域体系、影响因素与系统影响机理和新时代发展路径研究等方面尚未引起足够重视。未来智慧城市建设,应着力加强智慧城市跨学科、智慧城市体系、智慧城市仿真模拟、智慧城市影响因素及动力机制研究,以及新时代智慧城市发展路径的探索。     

泛长三角地区城市效益与规模协调性测度

以2003、2013 年泛长三角地区的地级及以上城市为研究案例地,基于熵值法测度城市效益及规模的综合发展水平,并测算二者的耦合协调度,揭示城市效益与规模协调发展特征,结果表明：城市规模整体扩大的同时,城市效益也整体提升;城市效益与规模的耦合协调度整体提高,由失调衰退型向协调发展型过渡：协调发展型城市分布格局由2003 年的"箭头形"向2013 年的"N形"转变,失调衰退型城市个数由19 个减至12 个。最后,运用象限图分类识别法分析城市效益与规模的协调发展关系,发现：城市效益发展超前于规模的城市主要分布于浙江省、皖东、苏中及苏东沿海地区,城市规模发展超前于效益的城市主要集中于皖北、皖西以及苏北地区,并对不同发展类型的城市给出相应的发展建议。     

基于分形理论的长株潭城市群等级规模结构研究及对策

运用城市群等级规模结构分形理论和方法,对长株潭"3+5"城市群(以下简称"3+5"城市群)的等级规模结构进行了实证研究,通过测算几年来"3+5"城市群等级规模分布的分维值,得出结论:"3+5"城市群规模分布符合分形特征;模型拟合认为其人口、经济分布的分维值均大于1,表明"3+5"城市群等级规模结构集中,已处于发展的相对成熟阶段。为此在对这些特征做出解释的基础上,认为可从强化首位城市、加快长株潭一体化建设、提升次中心城市、重点发展中小城市、加快小城镇建设等方面着手对长株潭城市群等级规模结构进行优化。     

The Role of Government Policies and Strategies Behind the Shrinking Urban Core in an Expanding City Region: The Case of Izmir

Over the last few decades, the term urban shrinkage has come to be accepted as a valid concept in international academic circles, and has gradually gained importance, with its causes the subject of well-documented discussion. While previous discussions of urban shrinkage have directed attention to cities shrinking as a whole, recent research started to recognize the case of shrinkage in growing cities and regions. As such, recent discussions of urban shrinkage indicate that patterns of shrinkage vary considerably from city to city, and from sub-region to sub-region, with the importance of local dynamics in responding to changing economic pressures given much consideration. Recent studies have tended to disregard the role of government policies and strategies put in place to facilitate the adaptation of the urban economies to the new conditions. Taking Izmir as an example, being a fast-growing metropolitan region in Turkey, this paper presents evidence of government policies and strategies aimed at enhancing the development of peripheral areas that have led to shrinkage of the metropolitan core. This paper focuses on this experience and discusses its implications.