Are smart cities global cities? A European perspective

Typical of the 1990s, the global cities phenomenon preceded the past decade’s massive spread of smart cities. Yet the question of how the two phenomena currently coincide remains to be considered, as well as an analysis based on viewing smart cities as global cities. An analysis related to the European scenario is developed in this article, aimed at giving a response to the previous considerations. An index is also proposed; concerning the global character of the cities, it considers the ability of the cities to attract Foreign Direct Investments (FDI). Results of the proposed analysis show that in Europe four main scenarios exist. Two regarding positive and negative correlations between the diffusion of global and smart cities, and another two scenarios demonstrate cases in which the two features are not correlated. The first two cases are respectively related to smart cities that are also global cities. The last two cases deal with the presence of different drivers that are not related to smart urban plans, which could, however, drive the attraction of FDI or which could also promote smart actions without the thrust of FDI. Correlation and regression analyses complement the work.     

Urban smartness and sustainability in Europe. An ex ante assessment of environmental,social and cultural domains

The aim of the paper is to define a set of smartness and sustainability indicators applicable to European cities and to assess their outcome in an ex ante perspective with regard to the implementation of Europe 2020 strategy. Following the DPSIR (Driving forces, Pressures, State, Impact, Response) model, we select a bundle of indicators for three relevant sustainability domains (environmental, social and cultural), which are proper to the smart city definition. Then we define groups of homogeneous cities for each domain by using a two-step cluster analysis. Results show the existence of heterogeneous groups of cities that are likely to become smart in the cultural domain, side by side with groups of more developed urban areas that have acquired a substantial advantage in the environmental and social dimensions.     

From Indenture to “Good Governance”: eMigrate and the Politics of Reforming Global Labour Supply Chains

Contract substitution—in which workers sign one contract but end up working under another—is a common form of fraud faced by Indian low-wage migrant workers working in the Gulf Cooperation Council states. This paper presents a study of workers’ experiences of contract substitution alongside the eMigrate system, which is a digital registration system introduced by the Indian government in 2015. While a stated aim of eMigrate is to protect workers from contract fraud, these practices persist. We explore the colonial genealogies of eMigrate to show that not only has it adapted repertoires of worker protection inherited from the British Empire’s indenture system, but that eMigrate risks facilitating conditions of unfreedom under the mantle of worker protection, much as the British imperial state did during indenture. We contend that recognising how legacies of indentured labour regulation persist through eMigrate has implications for contemporary campaigns for migrant justice.     

Energy efficiency left behind? Policy assemblages in Sweden’s most climate-smart city

ABSTRACT

Smart city experiments have the potential to reshape urban climate change governance. Smart city initiatives have been supported by international technology companies and the European Union for many years and continue to be promoted by national and municipal governments. In relation to sustainability and climate change, such initiatives promise more efficient use of resources through the use of information and communications technology in energy infrastructure. Experiments with smart city technologies such as urban smart grids have shown the potential to restructure relationships between energy utilities, energy users and other actors by reconfiguring the dynamics of energy supply and demand. But do urban experiments lead to institutional change? The aim of the article is to provide a better understanding of how smart city experiments reshape the urban governance of building energy use. Hyllie, a new city district in Malmö, Sweden, was home to two smart city experiments that contributed to the institutionalization of urban smart grid technology. However, the analysis of Hyllie’s policy assemblages shows that this institutional change could redefine sustainability at the expense of energy efficiency.     

156项工程与新中国工业城市发展(1949～1957年)

“一五”时期,以156项工程为契机,新中国开始了全面的社会主义工业化建设。这些大型经济建设项目的启动,不仅改变了中国城市发展的道路、方向,而且为中国城市的快速发展提供了强劲的动力,从而推动了中国城市进入以重工业优先发展战略为导向的新阶段。在这一发展模式的作用下,中国城市的发展呈现出城市职能的经济化、城市化发展的高速化、大中城市优先发展以及区域城市发展均衡化等新特点,这种城市发展的变化既彻底改变了旧中国城市的半殖民地半封建性质,又为后来中国城市的发展奠定了全新的基础。     

近代英国工业城市的空间结构与城市规划（1848-1939）

以曼彻斯特、伯明翰和利兹为代表的新型工业城市在空间结构方面体现出鲜明特征:随着新型工业建筑的出现,土地功能实现区分;各类建筑交叉林立,城市布局混乱;新的社会阶层居所分离形成。这种空间结构特征,使得工业城市中的"城市病"问题尤为突出。在英国19世纪中叶兴起的近代城市规划运动中,工业城市积极开展规划实践,空间结构得到合理重组,"城市病"得以缓解,城市面貌显著改观。     

中国城市产业结构的专业化与多样化特征分析

当前,我国正处于调整经济结构、转变增长方式的关键时期,各地区都把调整优化产业结构作为地区经济发展的核心内容。客观深入的分析城市尺度上产业结构的专业化和多样化水平及其时序特征,找出决定产业结构的关键因素,对于各地区如何依据已有产业基础、要素禀赋、区位特征合理构建高效、可持续的城市经济结构,以及在国家层面如何协调区域发展都具有十分重要的意义。本文利用2003—2009年全国286个地级市除农林牧渔外其它18个产业的就业数据,分析了我国城市的专业化、多样化水平及其演变规律,以及产业结构与地区大小、人口规模和经济发展水平之间的关系。本文的研究结果对于目前我国各地区和城市合理确定产业结构调整的方向和策略,以及在国家层面如何更有效协调区域发展具有一定的指导意义。     

东北老工业城市旅游业与城市化耦合演变关系研究

以东北四个老工业城市为例,通过构建旅游业与城市化评价指标体系,采用综合发展水平评价和耦合协调模型,分析了2001-2012年期间大连、沈阳、长春、哈尔滨旅游业与城市化耦合演变关系,结果表明:①四市旅游业与城市化综合发展水平均呈上升趋势,城市之间分异显著;②四市旅游业与城市化耦合协调水平缓慢提升,总体呈现大连 > 沈阳 > 长春 > 哈尔滨的空间格局,耦合等级普遍偏低且具有\"趋同俱乐部\"特征,不断形成\"沈大\"、\"哈长\"两大集团;③四市旅游业发展明显滞后,市际旅游业与城市化滞碍关系演变具有三种类型:大连、哈尔滨为\"交错更替\"型、长春为\"断面分明\"型、沈阳为\"恒定不变\"型。最后提出了四市旅游业与城市化协调发展的对策建议。     

中国传统工商业城市在近代的衰落

Resulted from different causes, the majority of traditional cities in modern China underwent a decline in various degrees. The causes of the decline of Suzhou, Hangzhou, and Yangzhou which have started to develop their new industry and commerce since mid-Qing Dynasty lies in such aspects as: the lose of transportation superiority in modern China; the fatal destruction caused by Taiping Revolution; the affects of the rising of Shanghai; the recession of traditional economy and slowed development of new economy; and the conservatism in thinking and ideas etc. Translated by Huang Bangfu from Xinan Minzu Daxue Xuebao 西南民族大学学报 (Journal of Southwest University for Nationalities), 2007, (4): 1–11     

中部地区典型煤炭城市接续产业响应模式分析及比较

在煤炭城市转型的基础上采取适宜的转型路径和适当的响应模式,是煤炭城市实现可持续发展的必须条件。本文基于产业生命周期发展理论,在确定中部地区典型煤炭城市接续产业的前提下,利用SOFM模型,将中部地区典型煤炭城市发展接续产业响应模式进行了系统分类,并确定了具体的四类响应模式及相应阶段的特征,最后针对城市煤炭城市接续产业响应模式提出了相应的政策建议。     

World City Network Integration in the Eurasian Realm

A team of authors from the Globalization and World Cities (GaWC) research network explores the main empirical features of the global economic integration of Eurasia through an analysis of the (shifting) position of that macroregion's key cities. More specifically, they examine the gateway roles played by key cities in four major subregions—China, the former Eastern Bloc (FEB, i.e., Central and Eastern Europe), former Soviet Union (FSU), and India—in the channeling of transnational flows of capital, goods, knowledge, and people in 2000-2008, focusing on the globalization of firms in the financial and business service sectors. Although cities in the four subregions share a common recent history of transition from closed and state-centered to open and market-based economies, the study reveals the persistence of distinctive geographical idiosyncrasies in their connections across the globe. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: F020, F200, O180, P300. 4 figures, 3 tables, 1 appendix, 39 references.     

Social conflict and the neoliberal city: a case of Hindu–Muslim violence in India

In an era of globalisation the 'global' is very much implicated in the 'local'. Local events like conflicts therefore need to be understood in the context of the dynamics of globalisation. This paper argues that neoliberal globalisation undergoes a thorough grounding in accordance with the pre-existing socio-cultural and economic specificities of places, which impact upon inter-community alienation and conflict. Using four case studies from a Hindu–Muslim conflict in a neoliberalising city, Ahmedabad, India, this paper illustrates how open market policies are implicated in local industrial restructuring and urban renewal that simultaneously utilise place-specific ethnocentrism to exclude and fragment the poor.     

A Canadian Scholar'S Views on Geography in Canada and in the USSR

There has long been controversy over the exact location of the middle segment of the great medieval trade route from the Varangians (Northmen) in the Baltic to the Greeks (Byzantium) in the Black Sea. There is no ambiguity about the northern segment, between Novgorod and the Baltic, or the southern segment, from Smolensk down the Dnieper to the Black Sea, but authors have tended to disagree about the various rivers, lakes and portages used by traders in the Russian heartland between Novgorod and Smolensk. A Russian chronicle describing a campaign led by Aleksandr Nevskiy against a Lithuanian force in 1245 sheds light on the alignment of the middle segment of the trade route. It appears that the route originally passed through Velikiye Luki in the 10th century. As this area became embroiled in clashes between warring Russian principalities, the trade route shifted eastward to the Toropets area, which became dominant by the 13th century. The existence of two additional minor routes is also noted.