Governance of sustainable development in China: A case study of the bamboo shoot production in Lin’an County, China

Current research on bamboo shoot in China mainly focuses on the economic values, model simulation, forestry management, taxonomy, and policy implication of the bamboo production in rural areas. However, there are lacunae in both literature and approach to understand China’s bamboo production industry in relation to the linkages between governance and sustainable development. This research critically examines the governance of sustainable development of the bamboo production industry by addressing how local government and bamboo farmers make use of bamboo shoots to achieve sustainable development in Lin’an County

Rethinking the mechanism of the social impact assessment with the 'Right to the City' concept: A case study of the Blue House Revitalization Project in Hong Kong (2006-2012)

Over the past two decades, urban renewal has become a major means to increase the efficiency of land production in Hong Kong (HK). Although the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) and Hong Kong Housing Authority (HKHA) have introduced the social impact assessment (SIA) mechanism to mitigate the social impact of renewal projects, social conflicts have intensified between affected residents and the URA/HKHA. To what extent can SIA effectively mitigate the social impacts of urban renewal in HK? To answer this question, the author draws on a mixture of empirical and secondary materials to analyse the development, assessment procedures, and report format of SIA in HK as a basis to evaluate the challenges of this mechanism. Then the author goes on to critically analyse how thinking on ‘right to the city’ and affected residents’ comments come together to inform reflections on SIA in HK. The author argues that the SIA mechanism in HK remains technocratic in nature because it does not function effectively in addressing the needs of affected residents and resolving the deep-rooted conflicts between residents’ right of living and pro-growth development

Governance of sustainable development in China: A case study of the bamboo shoot production in Lin’an County, China

Current research on bamboo shoot in China mainly focuses on the economic values, model simulation, forestry management, taxonomy, and policy implication of the bamboo production in rural areas. However, there are lacunae in both literature and approach to understand China’s bamboo production industry in relation to the linkages between governance and sustainable development. This research critically examines the governance of sustainable development of the bamboo production industry by addressing how local government and bamboo farmers make use of bamboo shoots to achieve sustainable development in Lin’an County

Self-Dictionary Sparse Regression for Hyperspectral Unmixing: Greedy Pursuit and Pure Pixel Search are Related

This paper considers a recently emerged hyperspectral unmixing formulation based on sparse regression of a self-dictionary multiple measurement vector (SD-MMV) model, wherein the measured hyperspectral pixels are used as the dictionary. Operating under the pure pixel assumption, this SD-MMV formalism is special in that it allows simultaneous identification of the endmember spectral signatures and the number of endmembers. Previous SD-MMV studies mainly focus on convex relaxations. In this study, we explore the alternative of greedy pursuit, which generally provides efficient and simple algorithms. In particular, we design a greedy SD-MMV algorithm using simultaneous orthogonal matching pursuit. Intriguingly, the proposed greedy algorithm is shown to be closely related to some existing pure pixel search algorithms, especially, the successive projection algorithm (SPA). Thus, a link between SD-MMV and pure pixel search is revealed. We then perform exact recovery analyses, and prove that the proposed greedy algorithm is robust to noise---including its identification of the (unknown) number of endmembers---under a sufficiently low noise level. The identification performance of the proposed greedy algorithm is demonstrated through both synthetic and real-data experiments

Sustainability, space and supply chains: the role of bamboo in Anji County, China

Rural modernization in China has been profound as the countryside has moved from agricultural production to industrial and tertiary industry development. Within rural areas these changes can have enormous significance for how we think about their sustainability. One rural county that vividly illustrates both the challenges and opportunities of rural development is Anji in Zhejiang Province in Eastern China. Anji is held up as a model of rural sustainable development. In this paper we analyse the basis for the sustainability claims made of Anji and to do so, we examine how the production and processing of bamboo materials transformed Anji into a place-specific bamboo-making locality that is lauded for its sustainability. We analyse how thinking on a place and a material (bamboo) come together to reinforce thinking on sustainability in rural China. We then go on to critically question the politico-economic arrangements that construct Anji and bamboo as models of sustainability. We argue that whilst both Anji and bamboo do have notable features that characterise them as sustainable and together can make an even more persuasive case for rural sustainability, a more detailed analysis allows us to uncover the deep-rooted tensions that persist in Chinese rural development between environmental protection and economic growth. The paper draws on a mixture of published and unpublished material to provide a detailed examination of the ways in which bamboo supply chains operate within and through Anji. The paper concludes that local constructions of sustainability are driven by economic rather than environmental values

Desire for experiential travel, avoidance of rituality and social esteem: An empirical study of consumer response to tourism innovation

AbstractThis study investigates tourist consumption responses toward tourism innovation. To measure tourist responses, this study posits three key consumption drivers, namely social esteem, desire for experiential travel, and avoidance against rituality of tourism settings (a subscale of need for uniqueness) and models consumers’ affective response within the context of tourism innovation. It involves 295 respondents in an empirical survey. The findings affirm the three drivers toward tourist consumption behavior. Avoidance of rituality reflects tourist preference toward tourism product and service innovation. Desire for experiential travel and the pursuit of social esteem signify tourism management and marketing innovation. Social esteem, need for status and creative choice have significant influence on tourists’ affective responses. Acquiring unique tourist products, desire for experiential travel and seeking social esteem are important motivations for tourist consumption. The implications of the study enrich the existing literature of consumer behavior and tourist consumption in response to tourism innovation

The Suzhi farmer: Constructing and contesting farming subjectivities in Post-Socialist China

This paper analyses the use of the cultural convention of suzhi in attempts to improve biosecurity practices in the Chinese pig industry. Suzhi loosely refers to ‘quality’ and has been used to define the appropriate conduct of citizens during the era of market reforms. Like other forms of agricultural governmentality, suzhi provides a way of distinguishing ‘good farming’ and creating entrepreneurial subjectivities. However, in other policy areas, suzhi has been shown to marginalise the poor and reinforce social inequalities. This paper examines the extent to which discourses of suzhi in a biosecurity context contributes to the use of preventive animal health practices, amongst pig farmers in Chongming Island, Shanghai. Drawing on documentary evidence and interviews with 33 farm animal breeders and 3 pig veterinary surgeons, the paper examines how suzhi contributes to the creation of ‘good farming’ subjectivities in order to modernise the animal health practices of pig farmers. The paper shows how suzhi contributes to the valourisation and stigmatization of different pig farming subjectivities, suggesting that it reinforces existing socio-economic inequalities. Moreover, the paper describes the ways in which modes of conduct associated with suzhi are negotiated and challenged and reduced to a symbolic ‘cloak’ that disguises the reality of preventive animal health practices

地方性江神 : 楚地湘夫人

水是萬物生長的泉源，它時而化成堅冰，時而又演化為滔滔的猛烈洪水，而由於水變動不居的特性和強大的破壞力，先民相信它有精有靈，於是便產生對河川神祇的崇拜。水神的最初的形象多為獸形或人面怪獸。如《山海經‧海外東經》的水伯天呈，就有「八首八面，八足八尾」的外形。此外，水神的形象還有人面魚身、馬首龍身、蛇身等說法。1在眾多河神中，黃河和長江的神祇是比較重要的水神崇拜對象