SHARED TOURISM EXPERIENCE OF INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES AND THEIR CAREGIVERS

While leisure travel has been shown to play an important role in the lives of individuals with disabilities and their caregivers, research devoted to the shared tourism experience of this travel companionship is limited. This study provided a depiction of the shared memorable tourism experiences of Chinese individuals with disabilities and their caregivers. Following a phenomenological approach, sixteen paired in-depth interviews were conducted in Guangdong, China. Five themes emerged as key components of shared memorable tourism experiences: activities, emotions, outcomes, socially oriented contextual factors, and programing/service contextual factors, with attention given to resistance strategies against social exclusion adopted by Chinese individuals with disabilities and their caregivers. The identified three level experience mechanism with regard to shared tourism experiences of disabled individuals and their caregivers are expected to facilitate the provision of better service towards this particular market segment and to bring academic and industry attention to a much neglected populatio

THE CHINESE ARE COMING – AN ANALYSIS OF THE PREFERENCES OF CHINESE HOLIDAY MAKERS AT HOME AND ABROAD

We analyse the destination choice of Chinese tourists in China and abroad. Abroad, Chinese tourists prefer to travel to large and rich countries, and are little deterred by distance. Climate, coast, culture and political stability are irrelevant. Chinese tourists travel disproportionally to “approved destinations”, but this is being eroded as more countries acquire this status. The model predicts that Southeast Asian countries are harmed most by the extension of the ADS system, while North America suffers most from being excluded. Domestically, Chinese tourists prefer rich and densely population areas, but dislike cities. They value easy access by road and rail, and are attracted by nature. Cultural attractions are less important, and may even reduce tourist numbers. Although potential tourist numbers are large, tourist operators should not assume that Chinese tourists behave like other tourists.International tourism, domestic tourism, China, destination choice

STREET VENDING IN GUANGZHOU: AN URBAN TRADITION AND ITS MODERN FATE

In recent decades, Chinese government’ eviction of vendors and its resultant frequent conflicts have drawn much attention of the society. This thesis is concerned with this ongoing urban politics, specifically with regard to how the anti-vending ideologies took shape in history, and how it is practiced as an exclusionary geography today. Tracing into historical archives, the thesis finds that street vending was a long-standing urban tradition in the imperial China which only started to be marginalised and evicted since the late 19th century. In sight of the remarkable parallels between the eviction today and a century ago, the thesis views the present street vending politics not as a newborn incident but with reference to its earlier histories. Through delineating the historical continuities between the early modern and the contemporary era, the thesis develops an account of the historical formation of anti-vending ideologies. Nonetheless, China’s tradition of street vending is so deep that it lasts well into the contemporary urban life despite government’s crackdown. Through a fieldwork case in Guangzhou, the thesis explores how the modern marginalisation is experienced by vendors in everyday life and how they actively adjust themselves to carve out living space in the fissures of the urban administration and economy system. It finds that the majority of vendors do not fully settle in the city, but rather live a life that is translocally maintained between their home villages and the city; it further proposes to see street vending as a ‘translocal urbanism’ that transplants the traditional occupation into modern environment and reshapes China’s urban landscape. Through bridging the history and the present, the thesis tries to move beyond the influential ‘revanchist urbanism’ approach which considers the eviction of street vending as a neoliberal strategy of local development, and offers a historically-informed understanding that is more complete and more situated in China’s specific context

BRICS Cities: Facts & Analysis 2016

BRICS Cities: Facts & Analysis is a compendium of research produced through a partnership between the South African Cities Network (SACN) and the South African Research Chair in Spatial Analysis and City Planning (SA&CP) in the School of Architecture and Planning at the University of the Witwatersrand. It presents key general and thematic descriptive and comparative information about urban growth and development in the five BRICS states: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The comparative analysis includes a section relating to cities in Africa, while the detailed Factsheets cover thirty-one of the largest BRICS cities. BRICS Cities provides a first-of-its-kind research base to inform ongoing sub-national BRICS research and policy consideration. Recent reports on urbanization point out that over the next 20-30 years, almost all of the expected growth in the world population will be concentrated in the urban areas of the less developed countries of which a significant 42% will occur in cities in BRICS countries. Despite the fact that the distribution of the urbanization figures will be highly unequal between the different countries, considering the currently high levels of urbanization in Russia and Brazil and the extremely low levels (just over 35%) in India, the realities of large scale urbanization can and no doubt will have substantial impacts on the material conditions of urban life, governance, service provision, social relations and the environment. There has also been, and will continue to be, the expansion of networks of all kinds far beyond designated urban boundaries. In some cases, these challenges and the expanding boundaries have been met with additional layers of government, innovations in policy-making, and the reconfiguring of relationships between urban actors. However little is known in a comparative sense around some of the most important sites and cities in the BRICS countries , and insufficient research has been undertaken to learn from the differences that have been identified. The SACN and SA&CP, in line with our mutual interest around the nature and shape of urbanization and urban processes in South Africa and in BRICS countries, have developed a compendium of comparable information around key cities in the BRICS countries. BRICS Cities will serve as a useful reference of important base line information but also offers comment on the state of key areas of shared concern: innovation-driven economies, transport and mobility, and green energy. Furthermore, the publication provides a careful analysis of these factors in a comparative and relational framing.AA2017https://www.wits.ac.za/archplan/research-entities/spatial-analysis-and-city-planning/featured-projects/brics-fact-sheet-book

Wellbeing and Urban Regeneration in China: Towards a People-Centred Urban Agenda

Following four decades of reform, China has lifted millions out of poverty. Nevertheless, the social costs of the country’s growth-oriented agenda have long been scrutinised, with phenomena such as rapid urbanisation being one of the most transformative forces in this process. Under the umbrella of urban regeneration and quality of life improvements, state-led projects have been criticised for their primary focus on selective physical upgrading, large-scale demolition, and relocation, incurring significant social costs. However, recent paradigm and policy shifts are pointing towards increased governmental interest in promoting wellbeing-oriented urban development: a response aligned with global efforts to define new directions for evaluating human progress, beyond indicators such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This has led to growing scholarship on the topic of wellbeing and urbanisation in China, albeit theorisations remaining narrow. The present, exploratory research project therefore identifies that it is necessary to carry out further inquiries into current urban regeneration approaches in China. It also addresses the need for constructing new assessment frameworks, tailored to the political, socio-economic and cultural specificities of the country. In this sense, the thesis explores how the concept of wellbeing is understood and integrated in the context of current urban regeneration schemes in China. Towards this aim, the research employs qualitative methods such as systematised literature reviews, interviews and observation. It begins by constructing a theoretical framework for wellbeing in urban transformation, where wellbeing lies at the nexus of both processes and sociospatial outcomes of regeneration. The framework is contextualised by analysing political and intellectual engagements with the concept of wellbeing in China, revealing a complex picture of urban China in transition - one where wellbeing lies at the convergence between the legacy of collectivism, and the rise of individualism. This is followed by a review of Chinese urban regeneration mechanisms in the last three decades, focusing on three case studies from Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou in order to scrutinise the un-linear and complex path towards more people-centred regeneration approaches. Finally, the study explores the ways in which practitioner understandings of wellbeing are being materialised into current practices, revealing the emergence of new actors, innovative governance mechanisms and place-based solutions

Turismo na República Popular da China: políticas e desenvolvimento económico

Mestrado em Estudos ChinesesO presente trabalho propõe-se a investigar o percurso da indústria do turismo na República Popular da China nos últimos 50 anos, desde a fase em que o país mergulhou numa política de completo isolamento em relação ao resto do mundo, até se ter tornado num dos principais intervenientes económicos e políticos a nível mundial. Paralelamente, o sector do turismo acompanhou essas mudanças que se foram desenvolvendo ao longo dos tempos, para passar a ser hoje um dos principais sectores da economia da China. O presente trabalho de investigação examina as principais mudanças ocorridas ao nível das políticas lançadas para o sector em questão, bem como o impacto que elas tiveram no desenvolvimento económico do país. Pretende-se, portanto, determinar até que ponto os resultados económicos desta indústria foram determinados pelas acções e programas lançados pelo Governo Chinês ao longo dos últimos 50 anos.This thesis researches the path that the tourism industry followed in the People’s Republic of China over the last fifty years, since the period when the country closed itself off from the rest of the world until it had become one of the big economic and politic players on the world scene. The tourism industry also followed the changes that were developing over time and became one of the most important economic sectors in China. This work examines the major policy changes that occurred within the sector, as well as the impact they had on the economy. It attempts to determine the extent to which the economic results accomplished by this industry were determined by the actions and programmes launched by the Chinese Government

Asian Energy and Environmental Policy: Promoting Growth While Preserving the Environment

Asia has truly experienced spectacular economic growth over the past 15 years. However, this economic progress has come at a high cost. It has led to unprecedented environmental consequences. The ecological footprint shows that, despite the fact that one-fifth of the population in Asia still lives on less than US$ 1 per day (PPP-adjusted), the region is already living beyond its ecological carrying capacity. The region is facing a dilemma. On the one hand, continued economic growth is needed to alleviate the poverty of the two-thirds of the world’s poor living in this region. On the other hand, that economic growth will further place tremendous strains on the natural environment. In order to extricate itself from this difficult position, the region needs to shift the conventional pattern of “develop first and then treat the pollution” to a different trajectory of sustainable development. To that end, this paper examines a variety of policy responses at national, regional and international levels to deal with growing concerns about the environmental challenges in Asia in order to help to put the region on a more sustainable development path. In the context of national responses, special attention is paid to the following issues: coordination between the central and local governments, market-based environmental instruments and industrial policies, tougher emissions standards for mobile and stationary sources and for fuel quality, policies to promote energy efficiency and the use of clean energy and biofuels, the integration of environmental policies with economic and sectoral policies, and engagement of the private sector through e.g., ecolabelling, green government procurement, corporate ratings and disclosure programs, and drawing the support of financial institutions to promote improved corporate environmental performance. It is concluded that having the right policy mix, coupled with strengthened cooperation at national, local and regional levels, will ensure continuing economic growth in the region without compromising its limited ecological carrying capacity and environmental quality.Energy policy; Market-based environmental instruments; Asia