The Economic and Social Justification for Publicly Financed Stadia: The Case of Vancouver's BC Place Stadium

Publicly financed Stadia, as manifest in numerous North American metropolitan cities, have always been at the centre of public debate and widely covered by the media. At one end of the debate adherents of such investments urge that stadia are an economic as well as a social catalyst in reviving a city, and at the same time have the capability to market and promote the image of a city. However, the cynics claim that this economic promise is a mere canard, or myth, and places an enormous financial and social burden on public expenditure. They are projects that are politically driven and motivated, and despite being financed by the public, are more oriented to the private sector. In my view, stadia on the whole are ineffective in fostering direct economic spin-off effects, but from a socio-cultural perspective are a key factor in producing significant intangible benefits, while enhancing the status of a city. The purpose of this article is to probe and delve into this debate and attempt to relate the broad theories to the issues revolving around BC Place Stadium in Vancouver. In conclusion a number of possible solutions and recommendations will be addressed to try to bridge the gap between proponents and critics.     

Poverty Reduction and Good Governance: Examining the Rationale of the Millennium Development Goals

Whilst the deadline for achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) looms large, the outcomes so far have been mixed. This article examines the policy logic that ‘good governance’ leads to poverty reduction, which has been adopted by international agencies in pursuit of the MDGs. This causal relationship is examined through an empirical panel‐data estimation using Worldwide Governance Indicators and the poverty headcount ratio in ninety‐eight countries. The empirical evidence does not support the hypothesis that good governance leads to poverty reduction. Good governance alleviates poverty only in middle‐income countries, not in least developed ones. These findings point to the necessity to devise policies that address poverty directly, rather than through indirect instruments, and highlight the urgent need to address structural inequality in developing countries.     

西北地区经济发展的理性选择:发展文化、旅游产业

西北地区生态脆弱,自然环境恶劣,沙漠面积较大,水土流失严重,不宜进行大规模的工业开发。同时,西北地区是中华民族发祥地之一,蕴含着灿烂的民族文化,旅游资源非常丰富。丝绸之路跨国申报世界遗产将提高西北地区文化、旅游品牌,除了一条文化线路,沿线有48个遗产点之外,大量可移动遗产和非物质文化遗产进入文化旅游整体领域。西北地区文化旅游产业发展滞后,文化旅游产业发展潜力和空间巨大。按照科学发展观的要求、全国主体功能区规划和西部大开发的部署,以丝绸之路申报世界遗产为契机,加快产业结构调整,促进西北地区文化、旅游产业的发展。     

Waterfront redevelopment and urban policy: The case of Barcelona,Cardiff and Genoa

In this article, waterfront redevelopment is linked to the recent development of urban policy and to relations between port and city. This is discussed with the empirical study of three European regional capitals (Barcelona, Cardiff and Genoa) of different size, how the redevelopment was done and how the projects link with the development of urban policy. The redevelopment of Baltimore's Inner Harbour has influenced strongly the physical outcome of the projects in these three cities but it is very difficult to achieve similar success because of the differences in time, space, local culture, etc. Each case demonstrates that a strong market‐ and property‐led approach has serious weaknesses when heavy public subsidies are used for improving the infrastructure but the private sector has not been able to fulfil its part in time. The question of social justice of waterfront redevelopment is raised at the end of the article.     

20世纪80年代中国经济的发展历程和陈云的经济指导思想

长期以来,在我国的社会主义经济建设中一直存在着盲目追求高速度的问题。20世纪80年代的发展也是这样,经历了调整、高涨、再调整的过程。陈云在这十年中一直强调建设社会主义强国首先要把“实事”搞清楚,从长期看国民经济能做到按比例发展就是最快的速度,该调整的时候就要退够,等等。实践证明他对国民经济的发展所提出的这些基本原则是完全正确的,至今仍具有重要的指导意义。