Urbachina

From Scholar to Official Cui Zhiyuan and Chongqing City's Local Experimental Policy by Emilie Frenkiel [06-12-2010] An interview with a Chinese political scientist trained in American universities gives us an insight into China's pragmatic policy of local experimentation. It chronicles how officials in the municipality of Chongqing have seized the opportunity offered by its special status to launch a unique blend of liberal and socialist economic policy.

By Cong Mu (Global Times) 08:27, September 17, 2012 For the first time in China, there are more urban citizens than rural residents in the country, but rural-urban inequalities remain, according to a research report released Saturday by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) in Beijing.

Authors: Cai, Jianming; Yang, Zhenshan; Webster, Douglas; Song, Tao; Gulbrandson, Andrew Source: Asia Pacific Viewpoint, Volume 53, Number 1, 1 April 2012 , pp. 38-55(18) Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell Abstract: Abstract The spectacular growth of Chinese cities since the 1980s is often theorised as reflecting the advantages of latecomer development (ALD). ALD has been more effective in cosmopolitan, globally accessible coastal cities than outer cities. As leading cities, like Shanghai, close the development gap, the potential for `easy' ALD growth falls off rapidly. Because institution building is more difficult than firm-based growth, ALD strategies may generate rapid short-term economic growth but not sustainable development. Accordingly, Chongqing municipality, with a population of 33 million, in West China, is pursuing a beyond latecomer advantage model. This is characterised by: (i) reducing poverty and rural-urban disparity through accelerated urbanisation, rural-urban integration and emphasising human resource development; (ii) upgrading the value added of Chongqing's economy through targeting of FDI and incentives to local start-ups; (iii) endogenous development, reducing risks from external shocks; (iv) Hukou reform; (v) establishing a land use conversion certificate market to rationalise land use; (vi) emphasis on morality to address crime/corruption; (vii) recognition of the importance of amenity in attracting investment and talent; and (viii) establishing a longer developmental time perspective. This paper explores this Chongqing model in detail. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8373.2012.01474.x

Authors: Cai, Jianming; Yang, Zhenshan; Webster, Douglas; Song, Tao; Gulbrandson, Andrew Source: Asia Pacific Viewpoint, Volume 53, Number 1, 1 April 2012 , pp. 38-55(18) Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell Abstract: The spectacular growth of Chinese cities since the 1980s is often theorised as reflecting the advantages of latecomer development (ALD). ALD has been more effective in cosmopolitan, globally accessible coastal cities than outer cities. As leading cities, like Shanghai, close the development gap, the potential for `easy' ALD growth falls off rapidly. Because institution building is more difficult than firm-based growth, ALD strategies may generate rapid short-term economic growth but not sustainable development. Accordingly, Chongqing municipality, with a population of 33 million, in West China, is pursuing a beyond latecomer advantage model. This is characterised by: (i) reducing poverty and rural-urban disparity through accelerated urbanisation, rural-urban integration and emphasising human resource development; (ii) upgrading the value added of Chongqing's economy through targeting of FDI and incentives to local start-ups; (iii) endogenous development, reducing risks from external shocks; (iv) Hukou reform; (v) establishing a land use conversion certificate market to rationalise land use; (vi) emphasis on morality to address crime/corruption; (vii) recognition of the importance of amenity in attracting investment and talent; and (viii) establishing a longer developmental time perspective. This paper explores this Chongqing model in detail.

The development of high-tech industrial parks (HTIPs) has become a salient phenomenon in China's economic and urban development. Current studies regarding the development of HTIPs tend to focus either on the active role of the local government or on the consequences of technological innovation that those parks may have brought about. Very few studies have paid attention to the intrinsic relationship between the process of space production in building HTIPs and the effect on urban development. To fill this theoretical gap, this article considers developing HTIPs as a territorial project through which both central and local states seek to promote economic growth by reorganizing their territories so as to facilitate capital accumulation based on building high-tech industrial parks. The authors use Beijing's Zhongguancun and Shanghai's Yangpu areas as examples to show the active role played by district governments in promoting and using the symbol of "high tech" to develop industrial estates. In the end, due to the HTIPs' quick tax-generating potentiality, their construction has given rise to commodity housing and commercial projects that district governments are much more enthusiastic to pursue. The property-led high-tech development projects have paradoxically generated a negative impact on sustainable high-tech development.

unded under the European Commission's Seventh Framework Programme, URBACHINA is a collaborative project managed by a consortium of 11 leading Chinese and European research institutions. Coordinated by CNRS (France's National Centre for Scientific Research), URBACHINA will analyse China's urbanisation trends for the next 40 years and define possible future scenarios with reference to concepts of sustainability. European Union - China cooperation URBACHINA is a research project, which places strong emphasis on the cooperation between the EU-China. Although Europe and China have followed different urbanisation paths, there is nonetheless room for mutual learning. One of the main objectives of this project is to strengthen the collaboration between Chinese and EU researchers and policy-makers driven by the common goal of building sustainable cities.

[ScienceDirect, via BiblioSHS] Auteurs : Cai Jianming, Yang Zhenshan, Webster Douglas, Song Tao, Gulbrandson Andrew Paru dans : ASIA PACIFIC VIEWPOINT Volume: 53 Issue: 1 Special Issue: SI Pages: 38-55 DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8373.2012.01474.x ABSTRACT: The spectacular growth of Chinese cities since the 1980s is often theorised as reflecting the advantages of latecomer development (ALD). ALD has been more effective in cosmopolitan, globally accessible coastal cities than outer cities. As leading cities, like Shanghai, close the development gap, the potential for easy ALD growth falls off rapidly. Because institution building is more difficult than firm-based growth, ALD strategies may generate rapid short-term economic growth but not sustainable development. Accordingly, Chongqing municipality, with a population of 33 million, in West China, is pursuing a beyond latecomer advantage model. This is characterised by: (i) reducing poverty and rural-urban disparity through accelerated urbanisation, rural-urban integration and emphasising human resource development; (ii) upgrading the value added of Chongqing's economy through targeting of FDI and incentives to local start-ups; (iii) endogenous development, reducing risks from external shocks; (iv) Hukou reform; (v) establishing a land use conversion certificate market to rationalise land use; (vi) emphasis on morality to address crime/corruption; (vii) recognition of the importance of amenity in attracting investment and talent; and (viii) establishing a longer developmental time perspective. This paper explores this Chongqing model in detail.

Abstract The development objective of the Gansu Qingyang Urban Infrastructure Improvement Project for China is to assist Qingyang Municipality to improve selected urban infrastructure services including urban roads and urban environmental services. There are two components to the project. The first component is urban infrastructure improvements. This component includes the following subcomponents: 1) urban bypass. This sub-component includes (i) construction of bypass roads of the southern section of Xifeng's West Ring Road and the northern section of Xifeng's East Ring Road with installation of associated pipes; (ii) construction of three connection roads to the two bypass corridors of West Ring Road and East Ring Road; 2) integrated road corridor. This sub-component includes: (i) improvement of three selected main road corridors (Nan Bei Street, Anding Dong Xi Road, West Ring Road), including road pavement, traffic channelization, and lighting and greening, along with drainage and sewage system improvements; (ii) rehabilitation of three selected backstreets and small lanes for slow traffic (Nanyuan, Tianhe and Xifeng lanes); and (iii) carrying out, as part of the design of the integrated road corridor, the parking action plan, the public transport action plan, and the traffic safety, education and enforcement action plan; 3) drainage and sewage; and 4) wastewater treatment plant. The second component is institutional strengthening and capacity building. This component includes: provision of technical assistance for: (a) carrying out of a water resource study covering, among others, for water reuse, sub-basin water environment improvements and industrial wastewater discharge licenses in Xifeng District that supports the ongoing investments of wastewater management; (b) the improvement of the operation and maintenance capabilities of Qingyang Municipal Water Supply and Sewage Company (QWSSC) and Xifeng District's Public Utility and Transportation Bureaus in the p

Typical Chongqing architecture. Houses are buildt onto cliffs and steep hills

Source : China Digital Times

[From: Scientific.net] Author(s): Cai Gui Zheng et al. Source: Advanced Materials Research. Advanced Manufacturing Technology, 472-475, p. 231-238, 2012. DOI: 10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.472-475.231 ABSTRACT: This paper, based on the current state and problems of saving and intensive land use system of urban-rural integration in Chongqing, in which methods of theoretical approach and system analysis are applied, brings up three mechanisms as: (1) the connecting of the increase of urban construction and the decrease of rural residential area; (2) the connecting of sprawling and farmland consolidation; (3) the connecting of intensive land-use in urban-rural area. At last, the paper builds up the saving and intensive land use system of urban-rural integration follow as: (1) perfecting land surveying system; (2) strengthening land statistics system; (3) perfecting land evaluation system; (4) clearing land property right system; (5) improving land registration system; (6) refining land use system; (7) building land tax system; (8) explicating land consolidation system.

[From: Scientific.net] Author(s): Cai Gui Zheng et al. Source: Advanced Materials Research. Advanced Manufacturing Technology, 472-475, p. 231-238, 2012. DOI: 10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.472-475.231 ABSTRACT: This paper, based on the current state and problems of saving and intensive land use system of urban-rural integration in Chongqing, in which methods of theoretical approach and system analysis are applied, brings up three mechanisms as: (1) the connecting of the increase of urban construction and the decrease of rural residential area; (2) the connecting of sprawling and farmland consolidation; (3) the connecting of intensive land-use in urban-rural area. At last, the paper builds up the saving and intensive land use system of urban-rural integration follow as: (1) perfecting land surveying system; (2) strengthening land statistics system; (3) perfecting land evaluation system; (4) clearing land property right system; (5) improving land registration system; (6) refining land use system; (7) building land tax system; (8) explicating land consolidation system.

Abstract In 2011, China announced that it has reached an urbanisation rate of 50%. If we take rapid urbanisation as a given and that it is already well underway, it is still widely unclear what research needs to be conducted and policy changes made to support municipalities of fast transforming cities and to avoid repeating the development mistakes that have occurred in industrialised nations, i.e. driving urban growth with high consumption patterns without fully considering the environmental and social needs and occupants' behaviour and aspirations. The scale and pace of change requires a solid systems approach of urban development. The purpose of this paper is to explore the rapid urbanisation of Chinese cities with a focus on the plans for a new, on-going urban sub-centre in the north-west of Shanghai: Zhenru urban sub-centre. Information-rich urbanisation is a defining feature of the 21st century, reshaping cities and communities in China and in developing countries around the world. The paper compares two cases of urban development patterns for new sub-centres for polycentric city structures: it relates to new urban sub-centres in Berlin (Germany) and Shanghai (China), and the relationship of these sub-centres to 'Network City' theory. Network theory is useful in this context as the 'network' metaphor and concepts of decentralisation seem to have replaced the 'machine' metaphor which was based on efficiency based on the availability of cheap fossil fuels. The question to be addressed is how Chinese cities can be better steered towards more sustainable models of development. As cities aim to move towards more resilient urban ecosystems and polycentric systems, the case of Potsdamer Platz Berlin, compared to Zhenru sub-centre in Shanghai, is discussed. Both are transport-oriented developments promoting mixed-use density and less car-dependency. According to documentation of the Shanghai municipality, Zhenru urban centre, which is currently

A heated debate burns around the topic of waste incineration, the flames of which are stoked when the practice turns mountains of trash into usable energy through a toxic transformation. An article from China Dialogue outlines the practice and politics of garbage-incineration and the use of waste-to-energy technology in China, and how it will continue through the 12th five-year-plan.

"Building local ties and creating a long-term future in Chongqing is the goal of BritCham's development forum, notes Thomas Vincent. Chongqing is urbanising at a tremendous rate. Two thousand people a day are moving into built up areas across the Municipality, maintaining a steady stream of demand for the construction of residential and commercial property. It could be said that Chongqing is currently at the forefront of urbanisation in the entire world, and so there is nowhere more fitting to educate and inform people about the need for sustainability."

Building local ties and creating a long-term future in Chongqing is the goal of BritCham's development forum, notes Thomas Vincent. Chongqing is urbanising at a tremendous rate. Two thousand people a day are moving into built up areas across the Municipality, maintaining a steady stream of demand for the construction of residential and commercial property. It could be said that Chongqing is currently at the forefront of urbanisation in the entire world, and so there is nowhere more fitting to educate and inform people about the need for sustainability.

Programmes Wider Europe Image China Image Middle East and North Africa Other projects Scorecard 2012 Reinvention of Europe Security & Defence Germany in Europe Human rights Events Poland towards France and Germany: the new opening? - 27 Jun 12 We were pleased to see you at the debate Poland towards France and Germany: the new opening? with participation of Georges Mink and Janusz Reiter. We discussed Poland's position relative to the current Franco-German dynamics. It was, and still is, of particular importance due to the growing risk of a two-speed Europe, in which Poland would definitely have to take a back seat. Go to Events page China at the crossroads: are the reformers winning the argument? China has reached a crossroads. After years of political stability and enviable economic growth, the regime has been facing a stark choice about how the country should move forward. But two crucial recent political events have turned Chinese politics on its head, and are forcing it to decide whether to regress or reform. Over the last year villagers in Wukan, in Guangdong province, rose up and ousted their corrupt local leaders after months of protest. Meanwhile, Bo Xilai, the Communist Party secretary in Chongqing, who used Maoist rhetoric and violence to push his vision of economic development, was ousted from his post in March. In a new ECFR essay, 'China at the crossroads', François Godement argues that these two events signal that the Chinese government may be choosing the path of legal and political reform, promoting sustainable growth to reduce macroeconomic imbalances and overreliance on the dollar. François argues that: With seven of the nine Politburo Standing Committee members due to be replaced this year, there has been a battle for influence with reformers warning that China is facing a 'success trap' of an economic and political model unsuited to the current stage of development, and capture by vested interests.

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.

Le Shanghai Nø City Guide sorti au mois de février recèle une contribution d'Omer Pesquer qui déborde la clôture du livre, fût-il numérique, pour s'exprimer pleinement sur le Web. « Shanghai en folie » est un magnifique témoignage du renouvellement de nos écritures urbaines, par jeu et essaimage. Ceci est un témoignage sur la façon dont le Web et l'édition numérique façonnent nos échanges sur l'écriture. Le 15 mai 2011, alors que nous avons lancé notre appel à contribution pour Shanghai Nø City Guide, nous recevons la proposition suivante d'Omer Pesquer : « Mon idée est de prendre des photos FlickR de "Shanghai" en CC-by-SA et de les "passer" dans un processus automatisé pour les "unifier". Une sorte de re-photographie assistée par ordinateur ». Omer nous précise qu'il développerait une appli Web associée à notre parution, à l'aune de "UnTitre" qui est basée un peu sur le même principe « sauf que l'image n'est pas retraitée dans ce dernier cas », ajoute-t-il. Bien sûr, nous connaissions déjà, pour l'avoir utilisée, cette appli Web UnTitre, qui génère des fausses couvertures de livre aux titres drolatiques. Omer a aussi développé MotBot et Outrepart. Banco ! Mais en juin, lorsque nous établissons le premier chemin de fer de la revue, les choses se corsent. Nous annonçons à Omer que son projet entrera dans une séquence que nous avons baptisée Contrefaçons : « un angle de vue sur Shanghai par l'analogie, la métaphore, la duplication, la référence publicitaire, le kitch, la mondialisation par le bas (dont le marché de la contrefaçon au sens propre) ». Pour Omer, ça ne cadre pas : ce n'est pas l'angle de son travail ; bien loin de s'avancer sur le terrain du kitch, il s'oriente sur une poétique de la disparition d'un vieux monde, à la manière de Tati décrivant Paris dans Mon oncle. Photo à l'appui, Omer nous écrit « voilà d'ailleurs ce que pour

The aim of this paper is to understand the sustainability of urban spatial transformation in the process of rapid urbanization, and calls for future research on the demographic and economic dimensions of climate change. Shanghai towards its transformation to a metropolis has experienced vast socioeconomic and ecological change and calls for future research on the impacts of demographic and economic dimensions on climate change. We look at the major questions (1) to explore economic and demographic growth, land use and land-cover changes in the context of rapid economic and city growth, and (2) to analyze how the demography and economic growth have been associated with the local air temperature and vegetation.

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

[ScienceDirect, via Biblio-SHS] Auteur : Wang Jinghui (China Academy of Urban Planning and Design, 5 Chegongzhuang Road, Beijing 100044, China) Paru dans : Frontiers of Architectural Research, Volume 1, Issue 1, March 2012, Pages 40-43 Abstract Historical urban areas are the memory of a city, and the overall landscape they constitute displays the typical scene of a city in a certain historical period. Thus, they are of value for protection. The current study gives an overview on the origin and protection of historical urban areas in the world. Moreover, the study also focuses on the principles, methods, and current problems in the protection of historical urban areas under the guidance of related laws and regulations in China. Finally, some effective measures to protect historical urban areas are suggested.

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)."