Urbachina

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content: Building upon decades of global market flows, population migrations, digital technology, and accelerated interconnectedness, the twenty-first century is facing remarkable urban transformations (Harvey 1990, 2005; Sassen 2001; Holston 1999; Brenner 2004). In 1800, 3 percent of the world's population lived in cities. In 2008, that figure reached over 50 percent (Population Reference Bureau 2011). These transformations are most evident in the emerging nodes of an interreferencing urban Asian renaissance (Roy and Ong 2011). Eight of the world's ten megacities (those with populations over ten million) are in Asia. In postreform China, which is conscious of its rising power and eager to catch up with worldly pursuits, city building has reached the scale, intensity, and audacity of a revolution (Campanella 2008; Ren 2011). What characterizes this dramatic urban transformation in China? Who are its major players and winners, and who is marginalized or excluded? What cultural meanings and lifestyles are visibly forged? How are these processes intertwined with nationalistic aspirations, social divisions, and political contestations? What analytical insights and theoretical reflections can we gain at this historical juncture from an urban postmodern linking China, Asia, and the rest of the globe? These are some of the issues in the minds of Asian scholars across the disciplines. I hope this review will provide an opening for us to engage in multiple conversations, hence my citing the works of many colleagues.

Author: Zhou, Nan Publication Date: 05-15-2012 Publication Info: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Texte intégral téléchargeable sur le site des archives ouvertes de l'Université de Californie : http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/1sp9m82g Executive Summary "Local level actions and leadership are crucial for achieving national energy-saving or greenhouse gas emission (GHG) reduction targets. Local level actions can also assist in proving the effectiveness of new policies or initiatives by demonstrating them at a smaller scale. It is often also shown that innovative policies or practices can be relatively easily implemented at the local level because of the reduced scale and the possibility of exemption from some national legislative bureaucracy. Following success at the local level, the pilot policies or practices could be replicated to other localities or expanded to a national program. For example, China's Top-1000 Enterprise Program was drawn upon the successful experience from a demonstration program implemented in two steel mills in Shandong province that was modeled after the voluntary agreements program in The Netherlands (Price et al. 2003)."

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."

Auteur : David Pilling December 26, 2011 "By 2050, 75% of the world will live in cities. Faced with this inexorable shift, humanity's goal should be to manage our future in a metropolis, not to succumb to it, writes David Pilling"

DOI: http://dx.doi.org.gate3.inist.fr/10.1016/j.landusepol.2011.11.010 [ScienceDirect, via Biblio-SHS] Auteur : Jing Wang et al. Paru dans : Land Use Policy, Volume 29, Issue 4, October 2012, Pages 737-749 Abstract China has extremely scarce land resources compared to the world average. There is an urgent need for studies of the current situation and the trends in land-use change and assessment of the performance of land policies in China. Assessment of land-use change has long been hindered by a lack of accurate and reliable data. This paper uses the data obtained from the national land surveys of 1996 and land-use change surveys from 1997 to 2008, to analyze changes in land use and the policy dimension driving forces related to the changes, especially cultivated land, forestry land, grassland, as well as developed land. The aim of this analysis will be to derive the physical, social and economical driving forces of those changes to grasp the trends in land-use change and the effects of land policies and to formulate strategies for the protection and sustainable use of agricultural land. The results indicate that, although the overall change in land use was not large, cultivated land was significantly reduced and developed land rapidly increased. A great deal of high quality cultivated land was changed to developed land and low quality cultivated land generated from unused land, which has resulted in a serious threat to food supplies in China. Predictions using the methods of linear extrapolation and a BP neural network indicate that it is impossible to keep to a target of 0.12 billion hectares of cultivated land in the future under the mode of economic development used between 1996 and 2008. The results also indicate that the implementation of the laws and regulations about controlling the developed land and preserving cultivated land had significant effects on changes in land use, especially cultivated land and developed land. The results sugges

DOI : http://dx.doi.org.gate3.inist.fr/10.1016/j.proenv.2012.01.113 [ScienceDirect, via Biblio-SHS] Auteur : Gengyuan Liu, Zhifeng Yang, Bin Chen, Meirong Su (State Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Beijing Normal University, Beijing) Paru dans : Procedia Environmental Sciences, Volume 13, 2012, Pages 1189-1203, 18th Biennial ISEM Conference on Ecological Modelling for Global Change and Coupled Human and Natural System Abstract In this paper, a dynamic low-carbon model was developed to show a quantitative and consistent future snapshot. This study presents three scenarios for Chongqing's energy consumption and related CO2 emissions up to 2020, which includes basic development scenario, macro-policy control development scenario and low carbon development scenario. It explains the crucial technologies for Chongqing city as it leaves a business-as-usual trajectory and embarks on a low carbon pathway. A major finding from the scenario analysis is that low carbon and energy-saving policies can dramatically improve Chongqing's position. Under the low carbon scenario, several suggestions for policy making are proposed. This dynamic low-carbon model would benefit from the allocation of decision-making powers in the areas of regulation, policy-making and planning for low carbon development.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org.gate3.inist.fr/10.1016/j.worlddev.2011.11.002 [ScienceDirect, via Biblio-SHS] Auteur : Shiqing Jiang (Fudan University, Shanghai), Ming Lu (Zhejiang University, Hangzhou), Hiroshi Sato (Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo) Paru dans : World Development, Volume 40, Issue 6, June 2012, Pages 1190-1200 Summary This paper presents the impact of income inequality on subjective well-being using data from the 2002 Chinese Household Income Project (CHIP) Survey. We find that people feel unhappy with between-group inequality, as measured by the income gap between migrants without local urban hukou (household registration identity) and urban residents, irrespective of whether they are urban residents with or without local hukou. However, when we control for identity-related inequality and other individual, household, and city-level characteristics, inequality (as measured by city-level Gini coefficients) positively correlates with happiness. This study contributes to the inequality-happiness literature by distinguishing between the different effects of between-group and general inequality on happiness.

DOI : http://dx.doi.org.gate3.inist.fr/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2012.01.028 [ScienceDirect, via Biblio-SHS] Auteur : Chia-Lin Chen (The Bartlett School of Planning, University College London) Highlights ► The introduction of Chinese high-speed train development and approaches. ►Chinese spatial development strategies and anticipated regional and urban impacts. ► Key challenges in reshaping Chinese space economy through high-speed trains at regional and urban scales. Paru dans :

DOI : http://dx.doi.org.gate3.inist.fr/10.1016/j.geoforum.2011.08.001 [ScienceDirect, via Biblio-SHS] Auteur : Fulung Wu (Bartlett School of Planning, University College of London, United Kingdom) Paru dans : Geoforum Volume 43, Issue 2, March 2012, Pages 169-171, SI - Party Politics, the Poor and the City: reflections from South Africa "Following the fever for 'development zones' in the early 1990s and the 'global city' in the late 1990s, Chinese local governments - and municipal governments in particular - are now enthusiastic to build more 'eco-cities'. The Dongtan project on Chongming Island in Shanghai was the first experiment. This project started in 2005 when the Shanghai Industrial Investment Corporation (SIIC) contracted Arup, a UK-headquartered international engineering consultancy firm, to prepare a master plan. As a strategic partner of SIIC, Arup took the responsibility of planning the 80 km2 of land at Dongtan. The project received widespread attention around the world, partially because of excellent information dissemination by the project. Dongtan originally aimed to accommodate 10,000 people in the first phase by 2010 when World Expo was held in Shanghai, and would expand to 80,000 people by 2020. By 2050, Dongtan would be built into a new city of half a million people [...]"

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.

DOI : http://dx.doi.org.gate3.inist.fr/10.1016/j.enpol.2012.05.080 [ScienceDirect, via Biblio-SHS] Auteur : Nyakundi M. Michieka, Jerald J. Fletcher Paru dans : Energy Policy, Available online 22 June 2012 Abstract This paper investigates the causal relationship between urban population, real GDP, electricity production and coal consumption in China for the period 1971-2009. Using a vector autoregression framework and a modified version of the Granger (1969) causality test proposed by Toda and Yamamoto (J. Econ. 66 (1995) 225), the results suggest that there is causality running from GDP to coal consumption. The variance decomposition analysis report that urban population and coal affect electricity production variability over the forecast period. We also find that increasing urban population may negatively affect China's GDP over time. Policy measures aimed at influencing GDP could ultimately affect coal consumption. Highlights ► We find Granger Causality running from GDP to coal consumption. ► China can mitigate the adverse environmental effects of coal by altering GDP path. ► We find Granger Causality running from urbanization to electricity production. ► China needs to find other sources of energy to cater for growing electricity demand. ► Increasing urban population may slow economic growth due to overcrowding in cities.

DOI : http://dx.doi.org.gate3.inist.fr/10.1016/j.apgeog.2011.11.006 [ScienceDirect, via Biblio-SHS] Auteur : Kai-ya Wu, Hao Zhang Paru dans : Applied Geography, Volume 34, May 2012, Pages 137-145 Abstract In this study, Hangzhou, the capital city of Zhejiang Province in eastern China was selected as a case study. Based on time series Landsat MSS/TM/ETM + imagery and historical census data, analysis of the relationship between land use dynamics, built-up land expansion patterns, and underlying driving forces from 1978 to 2008 was performed, using an integrated approach of remote sensing (RS) and geographic information system (GIS) techniques and statistical methods. The results showed that rapid expansion of built-up land in the Hangzhou Metropolitan Area (HMA) led to accelerated land use conversion. The built-up land increased from 319.3 km2 in 1978 to 862.5 km2 in 2008. Expansion patterns of built-up land in the HMA were essentially characterized by axial expansion centered on the former city proper before 1991. In 1996 and 2001, two significant administrative division adjustments for the former city proper and two neighboring municipalities occurred. This led to the success in implementing strategies of "frog-leaping development along the Qiantang River" and "crossing the Qiantang River and developing southward". Spatially, a closer linkage between the former city proper and two neighboring municipalities was established. Consequently, rapid development of infrastructures, facilities, intensive industrial parks, and urban and rural settlements along the Qiantang River resulted in the eastward and southward expansion of built-up land. Thus, from 1991 to 2008 the model of urban expansion resulted in a multi-nuclei pattern. Furthermore, as shown with detailed analysis, the growth pattern of built-up land of the HMA is highly correlated with socio-economic factors, including the gross domestic product (GDP), per capita disposable income, popul

[ScienceDirect, via Biblio-SHS] Auteur : Nesru H. Koroso, Paul van der Molen, Arbind. M. Tuladhar, Jaap A. Zevenbergen Paru dans : Land Use Policy, Volume 30, Issue 1, January 2013, Pages 417-426 Abstract This research investigates whether the process of transfers of urban land use rights in China, particularly where the state plays a major role in the transfer of urban land, complies with basic principles of good governance. In order to assess market, an assessment framework is developed. A critical analysis of secondary data from official and non-official sources is done. Major changes since late 1980s in the institutional environment and subsequent results have been assessed. The findings reveal that the transfer of urban land use rights in China is gradually responding to an improved governance system. Institutional reforms have led to a steady improvement in indicators such as transparency, efficiency, and access to information. Nonetheless, the market has significant weaknesses in addressing equity issues, engaging stakeholders, tackling corruption and dealing with expropriations. In general, the paper finds that the efficiency and effectiveness of the urban land market largely depends not on the type of tenure regime per sé, but rather on the system of governance in place. Highlights ► Based on existing data sources, this paper analyses the performance of the market for urban land use rights in China. ► The assessment framework is based on governance principles like equity, participation, access to information, efficiency, and transparency. ► The result is that the market needs improvements regarding governance principles. ► However, a positive impact of the efforts of the government to improve can be observed.

DOI : http://dx.doi.org.gate3.inist.fr/10.1016/j.cities.2011.08.003 [ScienceDirect, via Biblio-SHS] Auteur : Yungang Liu, Guanwen Yin, Laurence J.C. Ma Paru dans : Cities, Volume 29, Issue 2, April 2012, Pages 107-117 Abstract China's rapid growth over the last three decades has attracted much academic attention. In the post-reform era, economic growth has been paralleled by rapid urbanization. China's urbanization experience has been shaped heavily by the state through national urban policies as well as through local administrative means. Much has been written about large Chinese cities in the more developed coastal regions, such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, but little is known about the process of city-making in medium-sized and small Chinese cities, especially those in the less developed central and western regions of the country. This paper sheds light on the processes of urban transformation in Hebi, a medium-sized inland city in Henan Province, emphasizing the critical role that the local state has played in city-making, the mechanisms and processes of change, and the resultant impacts on the city. As a mining city, Hebi has been threatened by depleting natural resources. To invigorate the city, a new city center has been built to attract new enterprises. Through intensive interviews and fieldwork conducted in 2007 and 2008, we examine what the city government of Hebi has done to turn the newly constructed urban space into a new administrative and economic center of the city. With the establishment of new enterprises, the local economy has been diversified, although coal continues to be a major component of Hebi's economy. The role of the local state in the production and development of the new urban space is direct and forceful. As local state policies on urban development have been implemented by strong administrative means, we conceptualize the contemporary Chinese model of urbanization as "administrative urbanization".

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

DOI : http://dx.doi.org.gate3.inist.fr/10.1016/j.habitatint.2011.05.006 [ScienceDirect, via Biblio-SHS] Auteur : Terry H.Y. Li, S. Thomas Ng, Martin Skitmore Paru dans : Habitat International, Volume 36, Issue 1, January 2012, Pages 47-56 Abstract Many governments world-wide are increasingly encouraging the involvement of interested individuals, groups and organisations in their public infrastructure and construction (PIC) projects as a means of improving the openness, transparency and accountability of the decision-making process and help improve the projects' long-term viability and benefits to the community. In China, however, the current participatory mechanism at the project level exists only as part of the environmental impact assessment (EIA) process. With an increasing demand for PIC projects and social equality in China, this suggests a need to bring the participatory process into line with international practice. The aim of this paper, therefore, is to identify the weaknesses of EIA-based public participation in China and the means by which it may be improved for the whole lifecycle of PIC schemes. To do this, the results of a series of interviews with a diverse group of experts is reported which analyse the nature and extent of existing problems of public participation in EIA and suggestions for improvement. These indicate that the current level of participation in PIC projects is quite limited, particularly in the crucial earlier stages, primarily due to traditional culture and values, uneven progress in the adoption of participatory mechanisms, the risk of not meeting targets and lack of confidence in public competence. Finally, a process flowchart is proposed to guide construction practitioners and the community in general. Highlights ► We examine China's environmental impact assessment (EIA) based public participation. ► The interview findings reveal that China's EIA-based participation is weak. ► We identify

DOI: http://dx.doi.org.gate3.inist.fr/10.1016/j.proenv.2012.01.107 [ScienceDirect, via Biblio-SHS] Auteur : M.R. Su, B. Chen, T. Xing [et al.] Paru dans : Procedia Environmental Sciences, Volume 13, 2012, Pages 1143-1148 18th Biennial ISEM Conference on Ecological Modelling for Global Change and Coupled Human and Natural System Abstract It is undoubted that low-carbon city has become a vital development trend for Chinese cities in the new century. Many Chinese cities have been devoted to the upsurge of low-carbon city construction in recent years. Focusing on these problems - What measures has been adopted to construct low-carbon city in China? How is the effect of low-carbon city construction? Are there some issues needing attention in the future - this paper summarizes the situation of low-carbon city development in China and clarifies a few viewpoints that need be paid attention to in the subsequent development. It is expected that the discussion in this paper can help promote the construction of low-carbon city in China.

[ScienceDirect, via Biblio-SHS] Auteur : XiaoFang Sun, TianXiangYue, ZeMeng Fan Paru dans : Procedia Environmental Sciences, Volume 13, 2012, Pages 590-597 18th Biennial ISEM Conference on Ecological Modelling for Global Change and Coupled Human and Natural System Abstract Land use changes affect many aspects of Earth System functioning, for example in impacting global carbon cycle, contributing to climate change, or increasing soil erosion. The simulation of land use change is important in environmental impact assessment and land use planning. We assessed the land use scenarios of China in the next 100 years based on the SMLC (surface modelling of land cover change) model and Dyna-CLUE (dynamic conversion of land use and its effects) model. Three SRES scenarios were evaluated: Global Economy (A1FI): lean government, strong globalization; Continental Markets (A2a): lean government, regional culture and economic development; Regional communities (B2a): much government intervention, regional cultural and economic development. Ten land cover types were simulated, which are cultivated land, woodland, grassland, built-up land, water area, wetland, nival area, desert, bare rock and desertification land. The SMLC model was used to calculate changes in area for each land use types in the future at country level while the spatially explicit land use model Dyna-CLUE was used to simulate land use pattern at 2 km2 resolution based on the country level areas demands for each land cover type. The results show that the cultivated land would decrease in all of the three scenarios, while in the A2a scenario, the cultivated land would decrease with the lowest rate because of the high population growth, high level of market protection and low agricultural efficiency; in the B2a scenario, it would decrease with the highest rate caused by the decreased population numbers and increased crop productivity. The nival area would decrease with the highest rate in the A1FI

[ScienceDirect, via Biblio-SHS] Auteur : Xi-Zhang Shan, School of Geographical Sciences, South China Normal University, No. 55 Zhongshan Avenue West, Tianhe District, Guangzhou 510631, PR China Paru dans : Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, Volume 11, Issue 2, 2012, Pages 211-217 Abstract Urban green spaces serve a variety of residents with various perceptions, preferences and demands. Their effective governance and precision provision increasingly require public input. Due to the unique political regime, public decision-making in China has long been controlled by governments with the public neglected. With increasing civic consciousness in recent years in urban China, this research investigated attitudes and willingness toward participation in planning, management and design of urban green spaces in Guangzhou. Face-to-face questionnaire surveys were conducted at the 24 green sites across the city with 595 respondents successfully interviewed. The results demonstrated the positive attitudes and strong willingness toward participation despite socioeconomic variations, fitting into a global trend of increasing civic consciousness and strengthening the theoretical base of public participation. Practically, the positive findings lay a sound social foundation for the participatory decision-making in urban China, and help to drive local governments more open and inclusive and develop effective governance strategies and mechanisms to promote public participation in decision-making of urban green spaces.

[ScienceDirect, via Biblio-SHS] Auteur : Giuseppina Siciliano, Institute of Environmental Science and Technology, Autonomous University of Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain / University IUAV of Venice, Ca' Tron, Santa Croce 1957, 30135 Venezia, Italy Paru dans : Land Use Policy Volume 29, Issue 1, January 2012, Pages 165-178 Abstract This paper links urbanization strategies to changes in land use and associated impacts on rural communities and agro-ecosystems in a rural area of China. Energy, monetary and human time variables as well as information on environmental pressures, have been combined to compare different typologies of households and the metabolism of different patterns of land use from an integrated perspective. The results show that urbanization strategies, aimed at shifting the current land use and at displacing the local population, while increasing the economic efficiency is also associated with an increase in fossil energy consumption and environmental pressure, as well as a reduction of the multifunctional characteristic of the area under investigation. Based on these findings the paper also offers a critical discussion of the Chinese rural development policy arguing that the multifunctionality of rural areas should be taken into account by Chinese policy-makers and planners as a viable strategy to achieve rural development targets. Highlights ► Urbanization strategies in China drive the land use change of rural areas. ► Forced migration decreases rural food self-sufficiency and diversification of risk. ► HEPA patterns have higher economic efficiency and energy intensity than LEPA. ► Rural-urban migrations favor the creation of mono-functional agricultural systems.