On the Implications of a Stationary Urban Population For the Size Distribution of Cities

The paper analyzes the limiting case for a modified Yule-Simon model of city growth. The aim of the paper is primarily to reintroduce geographers to the notion of a closed system of cities, i.e., a system of cities where the aggregate population is stationary in size. The Yule-Simon model, while successful in dealing with the observed properties of open systems, is seen to break down for closed systems. Moreover, incorporating Simon's assumptions regarding intercity migration into the model produces implausible results. Also, the traditional approach of employing entropy-maximizing procedures assumes a certain pattern of intercity migration. This pattern, while not inherently implausible, does present features which are questionable. The authors conclude that an adequate theory for closed systems has yet to be developed.     

The Territorial Expansion of American Cities and their Population Growth

The significance of territorial expansion of American cities in the growth of their population from one census to another is analyzed. The number of cities making annexations during intercensal periods has been steadily increasing since World War II. The trend is particularly pronounced in the South and West because of intensive industrialization and, in the case of the West, in-migration. In the North, annexation is often blocked by the presence of incorporated places in the urban fringe surrounding the central city. Some Northern cities have in fact lost population in the 1950–1960 period despite an expansion of their city limits.     

The Problems of Small Cities and the Policy of Stimulating Small-City Growth

The policy of activating small-city growth through industrialization has focused largely on further development of such cities since it was first formulated in the 1960s. The author suggests that not all small cities possess the requisites for further growth and that it is a mistake to view them entirely as a transitional form of settlement. According to this view, small cities have a role to play as rural service centers. The problem is viewed not so much the industrialization and further growth of small cities, but an improvement of living levels designed to reduce the present gap between the standards of living in large and small urban centers. Further research on small-city problems is urged, proceeding from past emphasis on industrialization prospects to broader analysis of socio-demographic needs and the steps required to preserve small cities as an integral element of unified systems of settlement.     

Logistic Population Growth in the World's Largest Cities

This article demonstrates that recent population growth in the world's largest cities has conformed to the general parameters of the logistic process. Using data recently provided by the United Nations, logistic population growth for 485 million-person cities is analyzed at 5-year intervals during 1950–2010, with the UN projections for 2015 adopted as upper limits. A series of ordinary least-squares regression models of increasing complexity are estimated on the pooled data. In one class of models, the logarithms of population proportions are specified to be linear in time, which is the standard approach, but in a second class of models those proportions are specified as being quadratic. The most complex models control logistic growth estimates for (i) city-specific effects (e.g., initial population), (ii) nation-specific effects (e.g., economic development, age distribution of population), and (iii) global coordinates (for unobserved effects). Moreover, the results are segregated according to each city's membership in four different growth clubs, which was an important finding of previous research.     

中国史前城址的区域与类型研究

本文以大量的考古发掘及调查资料为依据,结合历史地理学与环境考古学资料,对中国史前城址进行了较为系统的整理和分类。将５０余座城址分别划归六个地区,并从地理位置、面积、平面形状、筑城技术、年代及考古发现等方面对各城址进行讨论,总结了各地区史前城址的特点。根据城址位置,将其分为四种类型：缓岗类、台地类、山城类、水城类。以城址的分类为基础,总结出中国史前城址在选址方面普遍遵循的原则,地势稍高,邻近水源与河、湖岸边,周围自然生态环境比较优越。     

Growth of Rural Industries in Post-reform China: Patterns,Determinants and Consequences

The first question addressed by this paper relates to the very high growth rates achieved by China's rural industries during the post-reform period. While growth rates have undoubtedly been extremely high, they can only be put in a proper perspective when growth in different components of the sector (i.e. township- and village-owned and privately owned industries) is examined separately and compared with performance before the reforms. In this regard, an important finding of the paper is that as far as township and village industries are concerned, growth rates in the post-reform period do not represent a sudden break from the rates of the earlier period — particularly the 1970s. It is mainly in the emergence and growth of private enterprises that the growth experience of the 1980s differs substantially from that of the 1970s. The sharp decline in the growth of all rural industries in 1989 does not appear to mark a reversal in their growth environment, but the beginning of a period of consolidation and rationalization; and, contrary to popular notion, private enterprises are not the worst sufferers in this process. Finally, the paper looks at regional imbalance. Historically, rural industries in China have been concentrated more in the eastern provinces along the coast, and this regional concentration has increased during the post-reform period of high growth.     

Labor Specialization, Transport Costs, and City Size

This paper proposes a simple model of pre-industrial urbanization. Agglomeration stems from increasing returns generated by the specialization of labor, whereas dispersion is provoked by the transport costs of the agricultural good. Considering the existence of some urban institutions (in particular guilds), the equilibrium size of cities is derived and it is efficient. Within this framework, the effects of urban domination (e.g., taxation of agriculture) and the emergence of primate cities are explored. Finally, the transition between early and modern urbanization is studied.     

原始瓷胎料的粒度分析与产地探索

本文介绍了古陶瓷粒度分析的原理与方法。利用该方法,对我国不同地方出土的原始瓷产品进行了分析,发现南北方出土原始瓷有所差别,这一结果表明我国商代原始瓷应有多个产地。     

The Character of Demographic Processes and their Impact on City Growth in Moscow Oblast

The character of demographic processes (population growth, natural increase, migration, age-sex structure) is analyzed for cities of Moscow Oblast both by size classes and by their location in three concentric rings around Moscow. The demographic indicators tend to be particularly negative in cities of the outer zone of Moscow Oblast, mainly one-industry textile towns, in which the high female component of the labor force tends to create an unbalanced demographic situation. Positive demographic processes are most evident in middle-size cities (20,000 to 100,000) in the green belt and suburban zone around Moscow that arose or developed mainly during the Soviet period. They are largely associated with heavy industry and scientific research and development. The analysis suggests the need for greater development of outer-zone towns, which have been lagging in growth, and a need for avoiding the existence of one-industry towns, even as part of a cluster of places.     

Population Distribution and Spatial Structure in Transitional Chinese Cities: A Study of Nanjing

Two geographers use population surface model techniques to analyze the distribution of population in Chinese cities. Focusing on Nanjing, they utilize detailed urban land use and building distribution data to develop a productive alternative method to reveal spatial variations in the distribution of inhabitants. The findings indicate that despite suburbanization, Nanjing remains a compact city with a population density that declines rapidly as distance from its central business district increases. Also, suburbanization has been limited to an inner area where population is densely distributed while commercial and office development is less prominent. Lastly, commercial activities influence the distribution of urban inhabitants and suburbanization more significantly than industrial development in suburbia. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: O15, O18, R12, R14. 9 figures, 3 tables, 37 references.     

Variable Residential Density: Optimum Traffic Density and City Size

In this paper we derive the optimal allocation of land between transportation and housing uses in an outer ring of a circular city, where the net population density is a constant, an exponent-decaying, or a power-decreasing function. We are also able to show that, under these circumstances, at no point in the optimal solution is all the land allocated to transportation use, proof that is, unlike previous work, independent of the solution of the same problem in the inner ring (Central Business District).     

清末城市自治思想及其对近代城市发展的影响

清末,一些有识之士发现城市自治制度是西方民主政治的基础性结构后,自觉地将实现民主政治的愿望寄托在争取城市自治之上。清末地方自治的实践主要侧重于城市进行,使城市自治运动实质上成为地方自治运动的主体。政治民主化城市优先发展的思路由此初露端倪,并且成为近代城市在政治层面发展的主线,影响着近代城市的发展走向。城市自治思想使近代城市的发展具有以追求实现民主政治为目标指向的主观精神动力。