Monumentality in Urban Design: The Case of China

An American urban geographer and noted specialist on China comments on the preceding review essay on monumentality in the urban design in world cities (Ford, 2008). Focusing on monumentality in China, the author surveys a number of monumental urban projects in Beijing (particularly in relation to Olympic construction), Shanghai, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Kunming. In the context of urban theory, he discusses the massive presence of the Chinese state in everyday urban life. Noting the explosive urban growth and megaproject-related construction, the author alludes to recent evidence that the clearing of city neighborhoods and mass displacement of residents have prompted widespread opposition and resistance at the local level. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: O18, R14, R53. 9 figures, 42 references.     

Monumentality in Urban Design: The Case of Russia

A prominent American urban geographer and observer of the Russian urban scene provides an overview of grand planning and monumental urban design in Russia and the former Soviet Union through the lens of four themes outlined in a previous paper by Larry Ford (2008). In the process, he adds two more themes relevant to Russia and the former USSR: town building and architecture intended to define and legitimize state power, and the shaping or remodeling of society to reflect a regime's ideology. Noting the obstacles in the West to getting large urban projects planned, accepted, and completed, he argues that monumental urban landscapes appear to demand some degree of sustained, centralized, authoritarian leadership. The latter has been present in Russia and the USSR during much of the past millennium, including the present, but the emergence of new commercial/corporate forces in urban land development also bears scrutiny in studies of the processes promoting urban monumentality. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: O18, R14, R52. 10 figures, 44 references.     

The "Crisis" Geography of Contemporary Russia

Against the background of structural and geographical changes that brought about the economic crises of the 1990s in the Russian Federation and subsequent recovery in the early years of the 21st century, the authors analyze the challenges of (and responses to) the 2008 global economic and financial crisis in Russia. Quantitative data derived from official sources and the authors' own research is used to analyze developments at a variety of spatial scales, including inter- and intra-regional, urban and rural. The noted authors speculate about possible exit paths from the crisis and their impacts on spatial differentiation within the Russian Federation. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: F210, G010, O150, O180. 6 figures, 1 table, 55 references.     

中国热点旅游城市旅游国际化水平定量评价研究

从国际旅游业发展水平和国际旅游业发展环境两大方面入手,构建了4层39个指标的评价体系,采用层次分析法,定量评价了中国27座热点旅游城市的旅游国际化水平。在此基础上,运用SPSS软件进行聚类分析,将中国热点旅游城市的旅游国际化水平划分为4种类型,最后分析了各城市旅游国际水平的优劣势和提升方向。     

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。     

福建省城镇流动人口的空间分异格局——基于六普数据的分析

文章基于第六次人口普查数据,运用数理统计、空间自相关和GIS等方法,分析了福建省城镇流动人口的空间分异格局。研究发现,福建省城镇流动人口在沿海多而密集、以区外流动为主,开放性和活跃性明显,而在内陆则少而稀疏、以区内流动为主,封闭性和粘滞性突出,但沿海和内陆均存在内部异质性;大城市流动人口密集且来源地广泛、对人口城镇化影响大,中等城市流动人口规模较小,小城镇对区内流动人口有一定吸纳能力。文章还探讨了城镇流动人口空间分异特征的驱动机制、对区域社会经济发展和城镇化的影响,并提出相关政策建议。     

关于罗马-高卢城市兴起的几个因素

罗马的高卢行省深受帝国城市化运动的影响,在城市兴起与发展的过程中独具特征。在某种意义上,高卢城市的兴起与发展带动了整个帝国城市化运动的发展。促进高卢城市兴起有几个因素,即高卢原有的城市因素——奥必达、希腊殖民地的城市因素和罗马化的城市因素,对这些因素在高卢城市兴起的历史进程中彼此继承改造的关系、融合的过程和具备的创新意义等展开具体分析,有助于认识高卢城市兴起的基本条件和历史动因,进一步加深对罗马帝国城市化运动性质的理解。     

东北地区资源型城市资源诅咒效应及传导机制研究

通过面板数据固定效应模型,利用东北地区23个资源型地级城市1999-2012年的数据,分析了东北地区资源型城市资源诅咒效应的存在性与主要传导机制。结论显示东北地区资源型城市存在资源诅咒效应;物质资本投资对经济发展起到最为明显的促进作用,制造业投入和教育业投入也具有一定的促进作用,但作用不够显著。城市开放程度与经济发展之间呈现负相关关系,而城市类型与经济发展不存在明显相关关系。传导机制方面,资源诅咒效应主要通过抑制制造业发展、物质资本投入和教育业投入来阻碍经济增长,其中对制造业的负面影响是主要传导因素。煤炭和石油型城市体现出较为明显的人力资本挤出,而其他类城市传导机制作用则比较平均。     

河北地区汉代城市的历史考察

作为汉代三级城市体系的组成部分,以邯郸、涿、蓟等名都大邑为联结点的河北地区城市网络呈现出自身的诸多特点。南密北疏的分布格局影响至今,新旧城邑的地域差异极为明显,受政治因素影响较大的侯邑城市的数量变动也非常引人注目。城、郭的合而为一,城市内部功能分区的细化,完善的交通与排水系统的大规模建设,均反映了这一时期城市发展的水平与趋势。     

But malice aforethought: cities and the natural history of hatred

I take as my starting point the fact that Western cities are often depicted as on the brink of catastrophe. Indeed some contemporary authors would argue that they have never been closer to that brink. The first part of this paper argues against this tendency by focusing on the preponderance of activities of repair and maintenance. Having looked at the state of this forgotten infrastructure, in the second part of the paper I turn to an examination of why this Cassandra interpretation is so prevalent. I argue that, in particular, it draws on wellsprings of misanthropy which are rarely voiced in writings on cities because sociality is too often confused with liking. Yet it seems vital to me to tackle misanthropy head on. Then, in the third part of the paper, I argue that currently there is a coming together in cities of all kinds of affective politics of concern which can act, through all manner of small achievements, as a counter to misanthropy but which do not mistake the practice of this politics for a search after perfection.