An approach to urban system spatial planning in Chengdu Chongqing economic circle using geospatial big data

Evidence suggests city grouping is an important way to implement urbanization in China. However, the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle (CCEC) is a typical dual-core structure, and the development level of each city is different. If we do not focus on the key directions for urban development, it will not be conducive to the new-type urbanization process. Therefore, we use spatial analysis techniques and geographic big data sets to construct an approach for urban system layout optimization from a global perspective. It mainly includes urban extended trend analysis based on night light, multi-modal traffic network analysis, and spatial economic density analysis using Open Street Map (OSM) and Point of Interest (POI) data. The research results show the following interesting findings. Firstly, the historical relationship of cities has a significant impact on city grouping, and efficient transportation connections and prosperous enterprise distribution are key conditions for urban grouping during the acceleration period of urbanization. Secondly, the development of urban grouping should break through administrative restrictions and achieve a moderate separation of administrative divisions and economic divisions. It is beneficial to the rapid growth of the city group and the improvement of the internal structure. Thirdly, the urban group of Southern Sichuan and Western Chongqing (SSWC) is the region with the most potential for growth in CCEC. The urban expansion index (UEI) of the Yibin-Luzhou area is 2.16, and the spatial economic density has increased by 130/km2 in the past decade. Providing flexible development authority and focus on the construction of the Yibin-Luzhou Urban Belt along the Yangtze River is an important way to integrate southern Sichuan. Moreover, we found the UEI has a good universality and it can be used for studying urban expansion trends and city relationships in rapidly developing regions, especially in metropolitan areas or urban agglomeration

Prospect of Using Rail-Plus-Property Model for Transit Financing in China: Based on Comparative Case Studies of Shenzhen and Hong Kong

Hong Kong, as a special administrative region of China, has utilized the rail-plus-property (R+P) model, as a special form of value capture strategy, to successfully finance its railway development and operation. Hong Kong Mass Transit Railway (MTR) Corporation becomes one of the very few profitable railway companies in the world. MTR has also been cooperating with the Shenzhen government to implement the R+P model in financing Shenzhen’s subway expansion. This is considered the first experimentation of R+P model in mainland China. The objective of this paper is to shed light on the prospect of using R+P model in China by conducing comparative case studies of Shenzhen and Hong Kong. The two case cities are selected to give a comparative picture of how R+P model works. The comparison will focus on how the model works in the two cities given different urban contexts and regulation frameworks. The paper will conclude with policy implications and recommendations for the possibility and challenges of applying R+P model in other Chinese cities

Water Service Delivery Reform in China: Safeguarding the Interests of the Poor

China faces a water scarcity problem that is severe by international standards. Many factors, including rapid urbanization and environmental degradation etc, have been challenging the water service delivery in China. Since water scarcity and quality have impact on the poor, reforms to the water service provision can produce substantial improvements in the living standard of the economically disadvantaged groups. The objective of this study is to critically evaluate the strengths and weakness of China's current water financing and delivering system, with a focus on safeguarding the interests of the poor, and to offer insight into possible solutions.Water administration, Water pricing, Water financing

Water Service Delivery Reform in China: Safeguarding the Interests of the Poor

China faces a water scarcity problem that is severe by international standards. Many factors, including rapid urbanization and environmental degradation etc, have been challenging the water service delivery in China. Since water scarcity and quality have impact on the poor, reforms to the water service provision can produce substantial improvements in the living standard of the economically disadvantaged groups. The objective of this study is to critically evaluate the strengths and weakness of China¡¯s current water financing and delivering system, with a focus on safeguarding the interests of the poor, and to offer insight into possible solutions.water administration, water pricing, water financing

Research on the Performance Evaluation of Xi’an XX Development Zone Using BSC

Currently, the scale of the development zone in Xi’an has formed a structure of “four districts, one port, and two bases”. In addition to the analysis of the ambiguous performance evaluation indicators and the single performance evaluation method in Xi’an XX Development Zone, this paper studies and analyzes the performance evaluation system, combining the strategic development requirements of the development zone with the current business practice, from aspects of financial, customer, internal business processes, and learning and growth using the BSC method. Moreover, it proposes the corresponding countermeasures in the following areas: change in concepts, organization training, culture construction of the management committee, and effective communication and performance improvement

National Occupational Health Service Policies and Programs for Workers in Small-Scale Industries in China

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/91922/1/AIHAJ2000.pd

A balancing act? An empirical examination of whether the dynamic balance policy has helped China reduce cultivated land loss amid rapid urban land expansion

For decades, the Chinese government has been concerned about its ability to meet the grain self-sufficiency goal due to the depletion of cultivated land caused by urbanization and industrialization. The Dynamic Balance Policy (DBP) was initiated in 1998 to balance China's need to protect cultivated land with the need to provide land for urban and industrial development. The DBP is a "no net loss" policy which requires local government to keep their good-quality cultivated land at the current level. If cultivated land is converted to other uses, an equal amount of other land, adjusted for the quality, must be converted to cultivation to compensate for the loss. Empirical evidence suggests that the DBP has had no effects of reducing cultivated land loss in China. Economic incentives, such as the values of urban and cultivated land, emerge as the most influential factors for China's land use changes. Moreover, these economic incentives may have overridden the effects of the DBP, if any. Polices can be made more effective to address the windfall profits in land acquisition and conveyance, and offer economic incentives for not converting cultivated land to urban uses. This dissertation conducts a systematic examination of the effects of the DBP of curbing the rate of cultivated land conversion. In particular, it develops a theoretical model of land conversion that combines the institutional structure of land use in China and the incentive structure of Chinese local officials whose goal is to promote local economies and budgetary balances. This model serves as the theoretical foundation for the empirical examination. The empirical implementation of the land conversion model uses the official land use data provided by the Ministry of Land and Resources of China and economic data published in various issues of provincial statistical yearbooks. This is a unique set of data which combines China's official land use data and economic data at the prefecture level and covers a period of rapid economic growth and prominent changes in land uses from 1996 to 2004