The Dragon's Tail: Utilizing Chengdu and Chongqing Technology Development Zones to Anchor West China Economic Advancement

This research examines the role of post-1999 'Develop the West' policies in promoting accelerated economic development in Chengdu and Chongqing, the two largest, spatially proximate metropolitan centers of western China. Differences between these two cities test theories regarding utilization of characteristics that flow from a place's location, history, political-economy, and cultural resources. Chengdu serves as the traditional capital of Sichuan province. The mountainous setting of Chongqing relegated it to a military-industrial complex dominated by state-owned enterprises. Its new autonomous status and completion of the Three Gorges Dam will solidify the city as the western edge of the Yangtze. It is argued that geographically reinforced historical cultural patterns form the basis of systemic problems. A key difference between the two cities lies in their different utilization of university research, a proxy for openness to information fueling change. Statistics and interviews accumulated in both cities flesh out this comparative examination of two major geographical bases for economic dynamism in west China

Drivers of cropland abandonment in mountainous areas: A household decision model on farming scale and a case study of Southwest China

Cropland abandonment has emerged as a prevalent phenomenon in the mountainous areas of China.While there is a general understanding that this new trend is driven by the rising opportunity cost of rural labor, rigorous theoretical and empirical analyses are largely absent. This paper first develops a theoretical model to investigate household decisions on farming scale when off-farm labor market is accessible and there is heterogeneity of farmland productivity and distribution. The model is capable of explaining the hidden reasons of cropland abandonment in sloping and agriculturally less-favored locations. The model also unveils the impacts of heterogeneity of household labor on fallow decisions and the efficiency loss due to an imperfect labor market. The model is empirically tested by applying the Probit and Logit estimators to a unique household and land-plot survey dataset which contains 5258 plots of599 rural households in Chongqing, a provincial level municipality, in Southwest China. The survey shows that more than 30% of the sample plots have been abandoned, mainly since 1992. The econometric results are consistent with our theoretical expectations. This work would help policy-makers and stakeholders to identify areas with a high probability of land abandonment and farming practice which is less sustainable in the mountainous areas

Environmental problems and opportunities of the peri-urban interface and their impact upon the poor

The objective of this document is to provide an overview of the problems and opportunities of the peri-urban interface (PUI) with regard to the broad concerns of environmentalsustainability and poverty

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

An integrated study of urban microclimates in Chongqing, China: historical weather data, transverse measurement and numerical simulation

Chongqing is the largest central-government-controlled municipality in China, which is now under going a rapid urbanization. The question remains open: What are the consequences of such rapid urbanization in Chongqing in terms of urban microclimates? An integrated study comprising three different research approaches is adopted in the present paper. By analyzing the observed annual climate data, an average rising trend of 0.10◦C/decade was found for the annual mean temperature from 1951 to 2010 in Chongqing,indicating a higher degree of urban warming in Chongqing. In addition, two complementary types of field measurements were conducted: fixed weather stations and mobile transverse measurement. Numerical simulations using a house-developed program are able to predict the urban air temperature in Chongqing.The urban heat island intensity in Chongqing is stronger in summer compared to autumn and winter.The maximum urban heat island intensity occurs at around midnight, and can be as high as 2.5◦C. In the day time, an urban cool island exists. Local greenery has a great impact on the local thermal environment.Urban green spaces can reduce urban air temperature and therefore mitigate the urban heat island. The cooling effect of an urban river is limited in Chongqing, as both sides of the river are the most developed areas, but the relative humidity is much higher near the river compared with the places far from it

Land Use Conflict Detection and Multi-Objective Optimization Based on the Productivity, Sustainability, and Livability Perspective

Land use affects many aspects of regional sustainable development, so insight into its influence is of great importance for the optimization of national space. The book mainly focuses on functional classification, spatial conflict detection, and spatial development pattern optimization based on productivity, sustainability, and livability perspectives, presenting a relevant opportunity for all scholars to share their knowledge from the multidisciplinary community across the world that includes landscape ecologists, social scientists, and geographers. The book is systematically organized into the optimization theory, methods, and practices for PLES (production–living–ecological space) around territorial spatial planning, with the overall planning of PLES as the goal and the promotion of ecological civilization construction as the starting point. Through this, the competition and synergistic interactions and positive feedback mechanisms between population, resources, ecology, environment, and economic and social development in the PLES system were revealed, and the nonlinear dynamic effects among subsystems and elements in the system identified. In addition, a series of optimization approaches for PLES is proposed

Threats to the Soil Resource Base of Food Security in China and Europe. A report from the Sino-EU Panel on Land and Soil

To secure adequate food supply is the major challenge for humanity in the 21st century. Growing world population and its urbanization put pressure on this basic need, which is further threatened by the constant loss of fertile land. The assessment of sustainability of food supply under increasing pressure on land resources has been selected as one of the most important priority topics of the activities of Sino-EU Panel on Land and Soil (SEPLS). The Panel has performed a number of related researches and discussed the results on a scientific seminar in January 2012 in Nanjing, China. This report is an output of this seminar with a summary of the structured discussions on the below issues. 1. Urban and peri-urban development (soil sealing and loss of land functions) Urbanization and the linked spread of infrastructural development mean sealing of soil surfaces. Soil sealing is the most rapidly growing limitation for soil functions (including biomass production function) both in China and Europe. Soil sealing in China has been taking dramatic degree in the last two decades and the process is estimated to continue in the coming period as well. While urban and peri-urban development is looked as a necessity for social development, its negative effect on natural resources are inevitable. 2. Land degradation Despite the widely recognized importance of land degradation in the unsustainability of economic development and implementation of various policies to halt degradation (e.g. green for grain programme in China; cross-compliance measures in the EU), loss of land productivity by degradation is an ongoing process both in China and the EU. Major forms of soil degradation (erosion, desertification, landslides etc.) are similar in both regions. Assessment of the causes and consequences of soil degradation processes in relation to policy actions is highlighted among the priorities of the SEPLS. 3. Intensive agriculture and multi-function management of land resources Intensification and extensification in agriculture can be considered as the main changes in land use in rural areas in both EU and China. While agricultural intensification is one of the greatest threats to the soil and environment and then hampers the sustainable development of agriculture and food security. To meet this challenge, sustainable management of multi-functionality of land resources is undoubtedly an effective strategy, in which the EU has a good expertise. Bilateral exchange of the experience and knowledge benefits the sustainable management of land resources.JRC.H.5-Land Resources Managemen

New Global Cities in Latin America and Asia

New Global Cities in Latin America and Asia: Welcome to the Twenty-First Century proposes new visions of global cities and regions historically considered “secondary” in the international context. The arguments are not only based on material progress made by these metropolises, but also on the growing social difficulties experienced (e.g., organized crime, drug trafficking, slums, economic inequalities). The book illustrates the growth of cities according to these problems arising from the modernity of the new century, comparing Latin American and Asian cities. This book analyzes the complex relationships within cities through an interdisciplinary approach, complementing other research and challenging orthodox views on global cities. At the same time, the book provides new theoretical and methodological tools to understand the progress of “Third World” cities and the way of understanding “globality” in the 21st century by confronting the traditional views with which global cities were appreciated since the 1980s. Pablo Baisotti brings together researchers from various fields who provide new interpretative keys to certain cities in Latin America and Asia