Third-world development: urbanizing for the future

This article reviews some issues reflected in the 1996 UN Habitat II agenda and recent research on urbanization. The themes of the 1996 Habitat conference were urban development, urban poverty, and governance, civil society, and social capital. It is expected that over 50% of total world population will live in cities in the year 2000. Cities are viewed both as engines of economic growth and centers of severe economic, environmental, and social problems. There is some disagreement about whether cities are rational economic structures or what the World Bank's urban agenda is and its relationship with macroeconomic policy. Discussions of global urban issues are criticized for their neglect of issues of equity and poverty, cultural diversity, and identity and representation. Habitat II also stressed urban sustainability. There is growing recognition that urban management involves more than the "Brown Agenda" of environmental and physical aspects of urban growth. Recent studies identify how politics and power affect people's access to basic urban services. Urban economic activity can also contribute to environmental problems. Urban growth affects the provision of health services. Although there is not a consensus on the role of cities in expanding economic and social development and the best management practices, there is sufficient evidence to indicate that urban processes are varied throughout the developing world. The links between urban and rural areas differentiate cities and expose the need to understand the role of intermediate urban areas surrounding and between larger cities. Poverty has become increasingly urbanized, but the extent of poverty is unknown. Habitat II was an unprecedented effort to engage nongovernment groups, local government staff, trade unions, and the private sector and to emphasize community participation. Networks of trust and reciprocity are key to solving poverty, inequality, and disempowerment problems.     

都市区与非都市区的城镇用地增长特征:以长三角地区为例

作为人口与经济活动高度集聚的地区,都市区地域的发展和空间结构特征引起了大量关注。本文以长三角两省一市地区221个区县单元为研究对象,在划分都市空间单元类型的基础上,考察都市区与非都市区以及各类型都市区之间城镇工矿用地增长的差异,并据此探讨在我国特殊经济社会环境下都市区地域的空间发展规律。研究发现,不同地域单元在中心-外围关系上存在差异,都市区进入了均衡扩散阶段而非都市区以中心城市极化为主,孤立都市区的扩散效应较弱,非都市区地域的县域单元受到临近都市区的影响而呈现出不同的城镇工矿用地扩展特征。都市连绵区内不同亚区域存在发展阶段与空间关系上的差异,加剧了都市连绵区空间结构的复杂性。来自中心城市、外资拉动、县域经济内生的多重力量推动都市地域呈现独特的空间规律。     

淮海经济区城市空间影响范围与城市经济区划分

运用因子分析法求取淮海经济区20个地级市的综合实力指数及等级划分。根据城市综合实力指数和等级划分,选取4个一级城市作为中心城市,然后运用断裂点公式计算中心城市与邻近城市的空间影响距离。再根据空间影响距离划分各中心城市经济影响区范围。最后以城市经济影响区为基础,综合考虑各城市的区域特征、发展潜力、现有经济规划、历史习惯和人文特征,确定城市经济区界限。研究淮海经济区城市经济区形成和划分的目的是指明各城市在整个区域内劳动地域分工中的地位,了解城市经济发展现状和主要特点。     

THE URBAN ENTERPRISE ZONE*

ABSTRACT This paper provides an analytical framework of urban enterprise zones in a context of regional development. The direct and indirect impacts of urban enterprise zones on regional economies such as job creation, urban unemployment, agricultural wage and changes in the regional economic structure are analyzed by incorporating the intermediate goods sector. The study suggests that the establishment of urban enterprise zones is a beneficial and effective policy instrument which can be used in promoting urban renewal and regional economic growth.     

URBAN POLICY IN RUSSIA: A GEOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVE

A senior Russian urban geographer describes current features of the Russian urban settlement system, recounts erroneous planning practices of the past, and prescribes changes for the improvement of settlement planning in the future. Of particular interest are tables, disaggregated to the economic regional level, showing spatial variations in the number of new cities registered over the period 1927–1989. In an interesting modification of conventional former Soviet thinking, a case is made in favor of such processes as polarization of space, agglomeration, spontaneous transformation of urban economic profiles, and place-based rather than norm-based planning.     

The theory of polynuclear urban regions and its application to central Scotland

The idea of strategic planning for networks of cities and towns, encapsulated in the polynuclear urban region concept, has attracted growing interest in many European regions. Key themes include cooperation between neighbouring cities and coordination between functional policies. This article explores the theoretical benefits, including increased economies of scale and improvements in the strength and quality of internal interactions. It also applies these arguments to Central Scotland. As the largest concentration of economic activity in Scotland, with a high level of organizational fragmentation but growing cross boundary issues and coincident growth pressures and deficiencies, there are potential gains from a common strategic perspective. These include improved communications for inter‐firm collaboration and trade, more efficient labour and housing market interactions, and an institutional framework for planning and marketing important regional assets. Closer cooperation within a regional perspective could help the Central Belt to function better as an economic unit and facilitate its ongoing development.     

THE EFFECT OF LAND‐USE CONTROLS ON THE SPATIAL SIZE OF U.S. URBANIZED AREAS*

ABSTRACT On a sample of U.S. urbanized areas in 2000, we test theoretical hypotheses of the effect of land‐use controls on the spatial size of urban areas. We find that minimum lot‐size zoning and maximum FAR restrictions expand the urban area, while maximum lot‐size zoning, urban growth boundaries, minimum square footage limits, maximum building permit restrictions, minimum person per room controls, and impact fees contract the urban area. All of these findings are consistent with theoretical predictions although the effect of urban growth boundaries and minimum square footage limits are not statistically significant.     

Basic Data on the Territory of the USSR and its Physical Characteristics

A gas-industry economist outlines a series of geographical and economic arguments in favor of transmitting natural gas from Tyumen' Oblast to the European part of the USSR via the Middle Urals rather than along the northern route through Komi ASSR, as now planned. In his view, the Middle Urals route would be more economical by providing more direct access to major consuming areas and avoiding the northern hostile environment with its inevitable increase in construction costs.     

Urban development,redevelopment and regeneration encouraged by transport infrastructure projects: The case study of 12 European cities

This paper attempts to describe the potential of urban transport infrastructure projects such as metro, regional rail and tram, to indirectly work as a catalyst for the development and redevelopment of urban areas as well as the regeneration of declining areas. The paper presents the outcome of research on a sample of 12 European cities—Athens, Bratislava, Brussels, Helsinki, Lyon, Madrid, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne, Stuttgart, Valencia, Vienna and Zurich. This research is part of the Transecon project which was funded by the European Commission under the competitive and sustainable growth programme of the fifth framework— and concerned with all kinds of different indirect effects (economic, social and spatial) of new transport infrastructure investments in European cities. The outcome of the research points out that urban transport infrastructure may have a catalytic effect on the development, redevelopment and regeneration of urban areas but there are a lot of other influencing factors which make such re-urbanization processes a successful or unsuccessful story.     

The Problems of Adjusting to Slow Growth in the Niagara Region of Ontario

During the 1970s it became clear that earlier forecasts of population increase and urban expansion in the Niagara region were too great. There has been a steady decline in the national birth rate since the 1950s and a decline locally in the rate of net in-migration. Moreover, a worsening economic climate, increasing development costs, and greater planning restrictions have led to a decline in the rate of land conversion from rural to urban uses. These changing circumstances afford an opportunity to plan for more compact urban areas and thus protect the area's valuable agricultural land. However, attempts to achieve these ends have been constantly frustrated by a regional and local planning process which has been loath to recognize such a conservationist cause or the need to plan for slower growth. In this report I will review three issues: the changing trends in future urban growth in the Niagara region; the regional plan and the designation of future urban areas; and the problems that have contributed to conflict and delay in approving that plan.     

论构建和谐社会与发展社会地理学问题

自改革开放以来,尤其在全球化、国际化和地方化的宏观背景下,国家产业结构基本实现重构和转移,人口流动的规模和范围不断加大,在中国经济快速增长的同时,区域和城乡差距也在迅速扩大,由于社会劳动分配和收入差距的不同,出现新的社会问题,例如结构性调整导致下岗人员增加和新贫困阶层,按劳动技能支付报酬派生社会极化现象,流动人口集聚导致城市新贫民区等等。从社会发展和政府功能的转变趋势看,比较重要的社会问题温床已经形成。本文试图从国家需求出发,分析现状存在的社会问题以及正在造成的地理空间影响,尤其从城市社会问题着手梳理相关的成因和演化机理,倡导发展中国特色的社会地理学,为国家建设和谐社会提供地理学的理论和方法。     

Holocene later stone age hunter-gatherers south of the Limpopo River, Ca. 10,000-2000 B.P.

Encouraged by new, ethnographically grounded interpretations of San rock art, Holocene hunter-gatherer research south of the Limpopo has undergone a partial paradigm shift over the last decade, away from ecological issues and in favor of questions of social organization and ideology. Earlier models relating changes in regional demography to environmental shifts now need revision, as do long-standing studies of seasonal mobility. New research emphasizes instead identification of exchange and alliance networks and patterns of seasonal aggregation and dispersal. However, several of the assumptions of these models remain untested, while dating problems make it difficult to integrate rock art with other components of the archaeological record. Critical use of a more diverse set of ethnographic data, from both within and beyond the Kalahari, is also needed. These points are emphasized in discussing evidence for social and economic intensification between 5000 and 2000 B.P. in several areas of the subcontinent (KwaZulu-Natal, the southern, eastern, and far western Cape).     

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。     

NEW FRONTIERS OF IMMIGRATION RESEARCH: CITIES AND FIRMS*

ABSTRACT The increase in international migration to rich countries during the last two decades has spurred research and policy questions. The economic determinants of national and international migrations and the impact of immigrants on labor markets have been investigated by economists, geographers, and regional scientists for a long time. Recently, however, the availability of new and detailed individual data on migrants across regions and localities in several countries has made it possible to analyze the impact of immigration on a richer set of socio‐economic outcomes. Two avenues of research have emerged as particularly interesting and are the focus of this special issue. First, international migrants are particularly concentrated in urban areas but their impact on some outcomes that are particularly relevant in cities (such as crime and housing markets) are not well understood yet. Second, immigrants not only increase labor supply but also affect firms’ productivity, survival and growth through their impact on localized externalities. These two themes link all the contributions of this special issue and show new directions for future research on the impact of immigration.     

Central Cities as Engines of Metropolitan Area Growth*

The paper analyzes the role of central cities as engines of economic growth in their metropolitan area. We wonder if there are increasing returns to central city growth at the metropolitan level arising from the positive externalities associated with the unique features of central cities. To answer this question we analyze the causality between the economic growth of Spanish central cities and the growth of the other jurisdictions belonging to their metropolitan area (i.e., the suburbs). The analysis uses population and economic activity data for a sample of 28 Spanish metropolitan areas during 35 years. We use a Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) framework to estimate long‐run equilibrium relationships between the growth of central cities and their suburbs. The combination of panel data and a VECM is an innovative approach that is still being developed in econometrics. The results suggest that central city growth has a long‐run positive effect on the growth of the suburbs. We also inquire as to whether or not this positive effect depends on the size of the central city. The results suggest that the effect is much higher in the case of the largest cities, but that it is also important in the case of the smaller ones.     

基于"以人为本"生态区域基质的城市规划空间结构

通过城市规划空间结构历史演化过程分析,我国经历了从农业区域基质到工业区域基质的五次城市规划空间结构演化更替的过程,且每次规划空间结构更替都有特定的社会经济历史背景。我国带着不同社会经济体制所遗留的各种痕迹和烙印,迈入了以市场经济、经济全球化、区域经济集团化为宏观背景的信息化社会,且我国还处于工业化、城市化的中期。面对新世纪的发展环境,并结合我国国情,提出了基于“以人为本”生态区域基质的以生态经济区为单位来组织现代城市规划空间结构体系的基本思想,并构建了我国现代城市空间结构体系的基本框架。     

区域物流辐射范围的测度研究

为了分析不同区域物流在空间中的相互作用,本文基于断裂点理论构建了区域物流辐射范围的测度模型。以吉林省省会长春市为例,应用模型测度长春物流和经济的辐射范围,并通过与吉林省另一较大规模城市-吉林市的比较,对长春市区域物流规模、对邻接和外围区域物流和经济的辐射范围测度等空间作用方面进行了分析,为规划发展省会的区域物流以带动省内其他区域物流的发展提供了依据。     

高新技术产业开发区的功能定位研究——以南京高新区为例

本文从区域、产业和社会文化三个角度对高新技术产业开发区的功能定位进行研究,认为高新区承担着"增长极"的区域功能,应该选择符合国家导向并切合当地实际的产业进行发展,并注意培育高新区的社会功能以作为高新区持续发展的保障体系。文章以南京高新区为例,在对其发展现状的分析以及与几个国家级高新区比较研究的基础上,分别从产业、区域和社会三个角度对其进行功能定位,并针对实现其功能定位中的关键问题提出相应的建议与措施。     

都市区与非都市区城镇用地扩张的驱动力研究——以长三角地区为例

本文利用土地变更调查数据与经济社会统计数据,分析2001-2006年间长三角地区都市区与非都市区以及都市区内部不同单元的城镇工矿用地变动差异和主要影响因素,探讨都市区城镇用地扩展的驱动机制及演变特征。研究发现,虽然长三角地区城镇用地的整体扩张速度正趋于放缓,但变化趋势在不同类型的区域间存在明显差异。都市区比非都市区增长地更快,其中外围县地区超越中心市成为新一轮的增长热点地区。利用人口、非农产业、房地产投资等社会经济活动指标数据所做的回归分析表明,非农产业的发展是推动都市区城镇用地扩展的关键因素,而对非都市区的城镇工矿用地扩展而言,城镇人口集聚的拉动仍在起主要影响作用。在都市区内部存在功能分工的背景下,中心市与外围县在驱动因素和效果上存在差异。     

乡村振兴视域下的小农户振兴解析

小农户是乡村振兴最重要的利益与价值主体,也是乡村地域系统结构—功能及形态建构主体。小农户振兴,即为适应当前乡村地域系统乃至城乡地域系统社会经济形态、地域结构—功能重构,通过对影响农户生计转型发展的内部要素和外缘要素的调控管理,实现小农户生计转型升级及其与乡村地域系统、城乡地域系统结构—功能演化融合协同发展的过程。文章基于小农户概念内涵,分析了小农户振兴与乡村振兴的耦合关系、小农户振兴与城乡地域系统演化发展的联结关系,提出应根据地域差异,在明晰小农户生计转型发展和城乡地域系统类型、要素组成、结构—功能、发展特征与模式的前提下,按“村域—乡村地域系统—城乡地域系统”不同尺度分区分类实施小农户振兴。重点关注小农户振兴与乡村地域系统结构—功能、乡村产业体系、乡村社会功能再组织化及乡村生态环境提质的耦合协同,加强小农户振兴与乡村资源管理、小农户振兴地域类型与特征、小农户振兴规划与政策、小农户振兴路径与模式等方面研究。