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Zacharias, John (2012) Resisting motorization in Guangzhou. Habitat International, 36 (1). pp. 93-100. Private motorization has accompanied unprecedented urbanization in China, as a matter of public policy. Planning at the provincial and city levels has supported the rapid build-up of the private car fleet in major cities through the development of regional and urban highway networks, higher capacity local streets and much higher standards for car parking in new developments. By contrast, urban planning until 1994 concentrated on the building of community and the support for a non-motorized lifestyle. Guangzhou experienced particularly rapid city-building during this period because it was at the centre of the market reforms launched in 1978. The communities that were built form a broad ring around the historic core of the city, constituting one of the most significant obstacles to government ambitions to maintain the recent growth rates in car ownership. Guangyuan and Jiangnanxi are examples of such middle-class, home-owning communities where daily life remains almost exclusively non-motorized. Self-organized groups in the community are increasingly vocal and active in their demands to enhance local environmental quality and restrict local motorization. Local municipal authorities, although increasingly active and autonomous, try to strike a balance between government objectives and local demands. The application of motorization illustrates the growing gap between high-level policy and grassroots urban planning in Guangzhou.

Luciano Cessari, Elena Gigliarelli In: Progress in Cultural Heritage Preservation Lecture Notes in Computer Science Volume 7616, 2012, pp 369-377 Abstract Climate change have impacts on many sectors: land use, housing, transportation, public health, water supply and sanitation, solid waste, food security, and energy. This article presents the results of the project SECHURBA, financed by European funds, whose purpose was to examine the potential of environmental protection and sustainability in historic cities, documenting barriers and prospects of various historical communities with diversity in Europe. Critical objectives which were achieved, such as 'Historic Community Climate Change Strategies', assessment tools, route maps to intervene in areas such culturally sensitive, are under implementation in historic urban areas in Popular Republic of China. Through the application to some typical towns and villages in the Chinese province of Zeijang the outcomes of SECHURBA will developed to outline a set of actions and tools that will call 'Historic Cities Regeneration by Climate Change Strategies'. Online at: http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-3-642-34234-9_37?LI=true

We examine the effects of the firm contribution rate and individual contribution rate on the per capita income growth rate, population growth rate, saving rate and education expense rate.

Cliquer sur le lien en bas de la page pour télécharger le PDF de l'article. Bruno J. Hubert, architecte et enseignement à l'Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture Paris-Malaquais (ENSAPM), et Jérémie Descamps ont collaboré de 2004 à aujourd'hui, mettant en place des conventions d'échanges universitaires avec les universités chinoises, avec l'aide de l'Observatoire de la Chine contemporaine de la Cité de l'architecure et du patrimoine. Chaque année, un workshop universitaire a permis à des étudiants français et chinois de travailler ensemble, sur des sites représentant et problématisant la Chine urbaine et ses mouvements. Sept parties de l'article revisitent sept sites étudiés et retracent leurs mutations ; à Pékin - Pingguo Sequ, Wangjing, Maliandao, Gaobedian, Wanfotang ; à Hanzhou- Qiantangjiang et Zhijiang. "Promenons-nous dans les villes..." Contribution de Jérémie Descamps pour Bruno J. Hubert, Architectures / Mutations, Transformations urbaines en Chine, Publication de l'Ecole nationale supérieure d'architecture de Paris-Malaquais et de la Cité de l'architecture et du patrimoine, 2012

DOI : http://dx.doi.org.gate3.inist.fr/10.1016/j.euroecorev.2012.02.012 [ScienceDirect, via Biblio-SHS] Auteur : Siqi Zheng (Tsinghua University, China), Jing Wu (University of California at Los Angeles), Matthew E. Kahn (National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), USA), Yongheng Deng (National University of Singapore, Singapore) Paru dans : European Economic Review Volume 56, Issue 5, July 2012, Pages 974-984, "Green Building, the Economy, and Public Policy" Abstract In recent years, formal certification programs for rating and evaluating the sustainability and energy efficiency of buildings have proliferated around the world. Developers recognize that such "green labels" differentiate products and allow them to charge a price premium. China has not formally adopted such rating standards. In the absence of such standards, developers are competing with each other based on their own self-reported indicators of their buildings' "greenness". We create an index using Google search to rank housing complexes in Beijing with respect to their "marketing greenness" and document that these "green" units sell for a price premium at the presale stage but they subsequently resell or rent for a price discount. An introduction of a standardized official certification program would help "green" demanders to acquire units that they desire and would accelerate the advance of China's nascent green real estate market. Highlights ► China has not formally adopted rating standards for "green" buildings. ► We create a Google index to rank "marketing greenness" of housing complexes in Beijing. ► Developers charge a price premium for self-reported buildings' "greenness" during presale. ► These "green" premiums disappear in the subsequent resells and the rental market. ► A standardized certification program would advance China's nascent green real estate market.

Auteur : Chang Cheng Paru le : June 21, 2012 "New laws to boost the citizen role in green governance are major gains for Chinese civil society - at least on paper. Chang Cheng looks at highs and lows of the last decade."

International Comparative Analysis of Poverty in Asia: Urbanization, Migration and Social Policy Symposium held at Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, China, November 1-4, 2012 Southwest Jiaotong University (SWJTU) and the Institute for Poverty Alleviation and International Development (IPAID) are jointly organizing a symposium in October 2012 on the effects of urbanization and poverty alleviation in Asia. The main purpose is to address the widening income gap between rural and urban areas in Asia in the past thirty years. Development scholars, researchers, and practitioners are invited to submit high-quality papers with a focus on the symposium theme of urbanization and migration in Asia and its affect on poverty in both rural and urban areas. The symposium aims to create a dialogue among scholars of Asian development studies to address effective urban and rural poverty reduction strategies. The symposium will focus on the following set of issues which include (but are not limited to): Rural development and urbanization in Asia International standards of poverty alleviation Access to land and land right education (rights, inequity, and poverty) Labor mobility and poverty Gender based income inequality Social policy to tackle poverty and inequality Housing, transportation and infrastructure development National policies and measures for the eradication of poverty The symposium will conclude with an excursion to disaster areas in Chengdu affected by the 2008 earthquake which killed an estimated 69,000 people. SWJTU has taken a lead in the recovery efforts and research cooperation in the field of poverty alleviation in Western China's less developed areas. Selected papers from the symposium will be published in a special edited volume of the Journal of Poverty Alleviation and International Development (JPAID) in 2013. Submission Deadlines Submission of a 500 word abstract is due by September 15, 2012. If accepted, SWJTU will communicate with you in

August 2nd, 2011 Author: Yuhan Zhang, Columbia University Published in: East Asia Forum. Economics, Politics and Public Policy in East Asia and the Pacific [En ligne] Consulté le 23/08/2012 http://www.eastasiaforum.org While many Chinese pundits and scholars are applauding for China's Twelfth Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) as a milestone for China's green revolution, the country's march to low energy consumption and low carbon economy is not going to be a smooth or straight one. China's five-year plans, albeit strategically sound, are not likely to change the short- and medium-term energy and climate landscapes. Challenges will remain [...]

Zhang Chun Wang Haotong August 03, 2012 China's low-carbon city programmes are doing well on public awareness, but an NGO survey finds little evidence of greener habits. Only a small proportion of people in China's low-carbon pilot cities are living "low-carbon lives" in spite of widespread knowledge of the green agenda, a year-long survey of household energy consumption carried out by Beijing-based NGO Green Beagle suggests. The study of habits in eight Chinese cities identified as green leaders by China's top economic planning body, the National Development and Reform Commission, involved 3,200 questionnaires and interviews with three to five households in different income brackets in each region. The NGO wanted to find out if inhabitants of these places had heard about "low-carbon" lifestyles and whether they were making efforts to reduce their own environmental footprint through their daily choices. Under the "low-carbon" pilot scheme, which launched in 2010, the eight cities - Tianjin, Chongqing, Shenzhen, Xiamen, Hangzhou, Nanchang, Guiyang and Baoding - are trying to find ways of reducing carbon emissions while continuing to grow economically (Beijing and Shanghai were added to the list in 2011, but are treated as a separate category). Five provinces are charged with the same task: Guangdong, Liaoning, Hubei, Shanxi and Yunnan. If they perform well, they will be treated as an example for the rest of the country.[...]

China's Urban New Area September 7, Wenjin Hotel, Beijing The year 2011 marks a milestone in China's urbanization. For the first time in history, China's urban population surpassed that of rural areas. According to the World Bank, China's urbanization is poised to grow dramatically over the coming two decades. And the increase in the urban population will be the equivalent of more than one Tokyo (over 13 million) each year as the share of urban dwellers in the total population climbs to two-thirds in 2030. The Chinese government has been reiterating that urbanization is a key driver of China's domestic consumption and a long-lasting engine of China' economic powerhouse. How should China continue its urbanization process? How should China cope with challenges rising from political, social, economic and technological fields? What international experiences and local pilot explorations are worth spreading? By hosting the 2012 Annual Forum, the Urban China Initiative hopes to inspire enlightening discussions among participants from public, private and academic sectors to find clues that will help address those above questions.

Hang Xiong, China's actual fiscal decentralization is one-sided: while public expenditures are largely decentralized, fiscal revenues are recentralized after 1994. One critical consequence of the actual system is the creation of significant fiscal imbalances at sub-national level. This paper investigates empirically effects of fiscal imbalances on environmental performance of Chinese provinces. First, environmental efficiency scores of Chinese provinces are calculated with SFA for the period from 2005 to 2010. Then, these scores are regressed against two fiscal imbalance indicators in a second stage model. Finally, conditional EE scores are calculated. This paper finds that effects of fiscal imbalances on EE are nonlinear and conditional on economic development level. Fiscal imbalances are more detrimental to environment in less developed provinces. These results suggest that the one-sided fiscal decentralization in China may have regressive environmental effects and contribute to regional disparity in terms of sustainable development.

Abstract It has been widely observed that China is under-urbanized. The central government has tried to use various policies to promote urbanization. In this paper, we evaluate one of these policies - count-to-city upgrading. Under China's hierarchical governance structure, a city status can only be determined and awarded by the central government. In the 1980s and 1990s, China adopted a formula-based county-to-city upgrading policy. Based on a large panel dataset covering all counties in China, we find that the formula was not strictly enforced in the practice. Moreover, jurisdictions that were upgraded to cities prior to 1998 do not perform better than their counterparts that remained county status in terms of both economic growth and providing public services. Largely because of these problems, this policy was called off in 1997. Given the strong need for urbanization, more indigenous institutional innovations are needed to find a viable way of creating cities, which would also provide compatible incentives to local governments. Highlights ► We examine a failed county-to-city upgrading policy in China. ► The newly awarded cities had a lackluster performance because the upgrading process was irreversible. ► After the policy was called off, China has adopted more indigenous institutional innovations in creating cities.

Thématique n° 2 [ScienceDirect, via Biblio-SHS] Auteur : Rui Mu, Martin de Jong Paru dans : Policy and Society, Volume 31, Issue 1, March 2012, Pages 1-12, Special issue : "The state of the transport infrastructures in China" This thematic edition of Policy & Society contains a set of seven articles about transport infrastructure policy in the People's Republic of China. Though they all revolve around this central topic, they cover different facets, such as the influence of Confucian values on decision-making, its impact on macro-economic development and regional distribution, power relations within Public Private Partnerships, organizational and contractual relations in subway construction, the duration of decision-making processes and the viability of developing Transit Oriented Development in Chinese cities. This first contribution will sketch a general overview of two driving forces behind China's motorization process (economic growth and urbanization), what the impact has been on the expansion of the transport networks and hubs and what social and policy problems Chinese authorities currently have to tackle as a consequence of these developments. It ends with a small prospectus of the other six contributions to this volume.

[ScienceDirect, via Biblio-SHS] Auteurs : Ying Xu, Bo-sin Tang, Edwin H.W. Chan Paru dans : Habitat International, Volume 35, Issue 1, January 2011, Pages 57-65 Abstract Since the implementation of economic reforms in 1978, Chinese cities have undergone unprecedented urban expansion. The suburban landscape of these cities has changed dramatically - from traditionally agricultural to rapidly urbanizing. This paper sheds light on the urbanization process that rural villages have undergone through state-led land requisition. It identifies two physical manifestations of the Chinese countryside during the urbanization process: semi-urbanized villages and urban resettlement housing districts. Based on a case study of the suburban districts of Shanghai, it argues that these two emerging forms of suburban landscape differ not only in terms of their physical form and land-use structure, but also in many of the social, economic, cultural and organizational characteristics of these ex-rural communities. Through analysis of public data and observation from personal interview, the study concludes that state-led land requisition has been a dominant force in expediting the urbanization of the suburban areas of Chinese cities and that the complex interplay between state and market impetuses has led to the multi-faceted transformation of rural communities and to a complicated countryside profile.

DOI : http://dx.doi.org.gate3.inist.fr/10.1016/j.foar.2012.02.013 [ScienceDirect, via Biblio-SHS] Auteur : GU Chaolin, WU Liya, Ian Cook Paru dans : Frontiers of Architectural Research, Volume 1, Issue 2, June 2012, Pages 101-149 Abstract This paper is a comprehensive study on the progress in research on Chinese urbanization. On the basis of the concept and connotation of Chinese urbanization defined by Chinese scholars, the paper systematically collects the research results on the issues concerning urbanization in China from the different approaches of demography, geography, city planning, economics and history, reviewing the process of research on Chinese urbanization made both domestically and internationally. In this paper, the domestic studies fall into five periods as follows: the initial period of research on urbanization in China (1978-1983); the period with both domestically constructed and borrowed theories on urbanization (1984-1988); the period of research on leading urbanization factors and localization (1989-1997); the period with the research greatly promoted by the government (1998-2004); and the period featuring flourishing studies on the science of urbanization in China (2005 till today). In contrast, the overseas research on Chinese urbanization can be divided into three periods: the period studying the history of urbanization in China (before the 1970s); the systematic research on Chinese urbanization (1970-1999); and the comprehensive research on Chinese urbanization (2000 till today). The paper focuses on the key results of research on Chinese urbanization, including nine issues as follows: the guidelines and road for urban development in China, the features of Chinese urbanization, the mechanism driving the growth of Chinese urbanization, the process of Chinese urbanization, the spatial patterns of Chinese urbanization, the urbanization in rural areas in China, the comparison of urbanization in China and other co

Abstract Taking Beijing as a case study, this paper analyses new trends in peri-urbanisation and the city's planning responses after 2000 in China. The results of the analysis show that the percentage of temporary migrant residents continues to grow in the peri-urban region and the social inequalities in relation to quality of life between local people and migrants have increased there. In particular, there is a concentration of thousands of young and well-educated migrants in the peri-urban region, resulting in a new kind of urban slum. Sprawling development still dominates Beijing's fringe. New planning policies related to an urban-rural integration strategy have played a positive role in improving living conditions in rural areas and reducing the social and economic gaps between urban and rural areas in the peri-urban region. However, planning in the peri-urban region is still facing new challenges due to vertically and horizontally fragmented management, growing market forces, and social discrimination caused by the remnants of the hukou mechanism. This suggests that it will not be easy to achieve the planning goal of urban-rural integration and harmony society unless further actions are taken to enhance political capacity of planning system in Beijing. The capacity-building of planning should be facilitated if institutional innovations can be made in arrangements of power, rights, public resources, accountability, and legitimacy in the planning system. Highlights ► Many new trends in peri-urbanisation have appeared after 2000 in Beijing. ► Peri-urbanisation contributes to growth in social inequalities. ► It will not be easy to achieve the planning goal of urban-rural integration. ► New urban-rural integration policies are facing challenges. ► The institutional capacity of planning needs to be reinforced.

[ScienceDirect, via Biblio-SHS] Auteur : Shuxiao Wang, Jiming Hao Paru dans : Journal of Environmental Sciences, Volume 24, Issue 1, January 2012, Pages 2-13 Abstract This article analyzed the control progress and current status of air quality, identified the major air pollution issues and challenges in future, proposed the long-term air pollution control targets, and suggested the options for better air quality in China. With the continuing growth of economy in the next 10-15 years, China will face a more severe situation of energy consumption, electricity generation and vehicle population leading to increase in multiple pollutant emissions. Controlling regional air pollution especially fine particles and ozone, as well as lowering carbon emissions from fossil fuel consumption will be a big challenge for the country. To protect public health and the eco-system, the ambient air quality in all Chinese cities shall attain the national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) and ambient air quality guideline values set by the World Health Organization (WHO). To achieve the air quality targets, the emissions of SO2, NOx, PM10, and volatile organic compounds (VOC) should decrease by 60%, 40%, 50%, and 40%, respectively, on the basis of that in 2005. A comprehensive control policy focusing on multiple pollutants and emission sources at both the local and regional levels was proposed to mitigate the regional air pollution issue in China. The options include development of clean energy resources, promotion of clean and efficient coal use, enhancement of vehicle pollution control, implementation of synchronous control of multiple pollutants including SO2, NOx, VOC, and PM emissions, joint prevention and control of regional air pollution, and application of climate friendly air pollution control measures.

[ScienceDirect, via Biblio-SHS] Auteur : James J. Wang, Chaohe Rong, Jiang Xu, Sui Wai Oscar Or Paru dans : Research in Transportation Economics, Volume 35, Issue 1, May 2012, Pages 26-33, Transport Development in China Abstract Transport networks are hierarchal in essence. In this paper, we explore the relationship between the financing structure and the hierarchal evolution of railway network development, using the case of China. Although privatization and corporatization in transport provision have been trends in some parts of the world, the national government is still the main body responsible for railway development in many countries. Among these countries, China and India are the only two that include the Ministry of Railways (MOR). In India, the entire country's railways are clearly defined as public services provided and managed by the MOR. In China, railways have been corporatized; yet, the MOR and the National Railway Corporation are still widely regarded as a single body that has monopolistic power over almost all railway systems at the national and regional levels in both infrastructure development and operation. We argue that when multi-level railway networks are evolved from a single-level (national) network due to market growth in countries such as China, where different levels of government are responsible for infrastructure planning and development, the state's monopolistic control of operation and its corresponding financing structure may not fit the operation of new multi-level networks. However, the suitable institutional set-up for the new networks may be delayed or never established for many reasons, some of which, as demonstrated in this paper, are place-specific and path-dependent. The case study of Chinese railway systems in comparison with the situations of other Asian countries (i.e. India and Japan) will shed some light on a better understanding of various financing models and development paths of multi-level transpo

[ScienceDirect, via Biblio-SHS] Auteur : Shenggen Fan, Lixing Li [et al.] Paru dans : Journal of Comparative Economics, Available online 10 January 2012, In Press, Corrected Proof Abstract It has been widely observed that China is under-urbanized. The central government has tried to use various policies to promote urbanization. In this paper, we evaluate one of these policies - count-to-city upgrading. Under China's hierarchical governance structure, a city status can only be determined and awarded by the central government. In the 1980s and 1990s, China adopted a formula-based county-to-city upgrading policy. Based on a large panel dataset covering all counties in China, we find that the formula was not strictly enforced in the practice. Moreover, jurisdictions that were upgraded to cities prior to 1998 do not perform better than their counterparts that remained county status in terms of both economic growth and providing public services. Largely because of these problems, this policy was called off in 1997. Given the strong need for urbanization, more indigenous institutional innovations are needed to find a viable way of creating cities, which would also provide compatible incentives to local governments. Highlights ► We examine a failed county-to-city upgrading policy in China. ► The newly awarded cities had a lackluster performance because the upgrading process was irreversible. ► After the policy was called off, China has adopted more indigenous institutional innovations in creating cities.

The Urban China Initiative (UCI) had its biggest event of the year on September 7th in Tsinghua Science Park - the 2012 Annual Forum, inspiring enlightening discussions among participants from public, private and academic sectors to develop policy thinking that will help addressChina's urbanization challenges.