Comparing the spatial and temporal dynamics of urban expansion in Guangzhou and Shenzhen from 1975 to 2015: A case study of pioneer cities in China’s rapid urbanization

The distinct urbanization process of China has attracted worldwide attention because of its impressive speed, massive scale, and policy intervention. However, the interrelationship between urban expansion and government policies is still not well understood. The Pearl River Delta Urban Agglomeration of China is the first national pioneering urbanization area since the implementation of the policy “Reform and Opening-up” in the late 1970s. Here we compared the spatial and temporal patterns of urbanization in two leading cities of the Pearl River Delta (i.e., Guangzhou and Shenzhen, the provincial capital and the first Special Economic Zone of China, respectively) from 1975 to 2015, using Landsat data integrated with urban growth and landscape metrics analysis, and examined possible footprints of major economic and urbanization policies. Our results illustrated that urban land areas in both Guangzhou and Shenzhen have experienced magnificent annual growth rates at 8.1% and 11%, respectively between 1975 and 2015. On average, Shenzhen witnessed substantially higher urban growth rate than Guangzhou during the past four decades, particularly in the initial period (1978–1990) when the Reform and Opening-up policy was launched and Shenzhen was designated as the first Special Economic Zone in China in the late 1970s. However, the speed of urban expansion in Shenzhen became considerably lower than Guangzhou from 2005 to 2015, subject to physical conditions and a series of urban land use policies. Both cities showed a generally similar dynamics of urban growth forms with leapfrogging as the predominant type of urban growth at first and then edge-expansion while the contribution of infilling in Shenzhen was higher than that in Guangzhou, especially since 2005. The urbanization processes characterized by landscape and urban growth metrics revealed that a diffusion-coalescence-diffusion-coalescence process was identified for Guangzhou, while Shenzhen was generally consistent with the diffusion-coalescence urban growth hypothesis.     

外商直接投资、区域创新与城市化发展研究

基于2000—2017年省际面板数据,运用静态面板与门限面板模型,通过建立以政府干预、市场化进程为门限变量的回归模型,实证分析了外商直接投资与区域创新对我国城市化发展的影响。研究结果表明:外商直接投资、区域创新对城市化发展有积极的带动作用,同时,外商直接投资对区域创新的作用由替代效应向互补效应转变;政府干预对外商直接投资存在双重门限效应,对区域创新存在单一门限效应;市场化对外商直接投资存在单一门限效应,但对区域创新存在双重门限效应。基于以上结论,进一步提出促进城市化发展的建议。     

The effect of urbanization on subjective well-being: Explaining cross-regional differences

Today, more than ever, it is becoming evident that cities and regions are crucial for the achievement of human well-being. In this perspective, the analysis of the effect of urbanization on subjective well-being at sub-national level is an issue of great relevance. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of urbanization on SWB at the regional level and, in particular, the moderator effect of the regional context in influencing this effect in Italy and Spain. From a methodological point of view, we apply a two-step approach as a graphical method, which allows us to consider individual and regional information in our analysis. Our findings indicate that urbanization significantly affects subjective well-being, especially in various regions of Italy. This cross-regional heterogeneity can be explained by different regional factors, which supports the idea that regional contexts can exert effects on achieving future people's well-being in cities.     

Testing the transport-induced environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis: The role of air and railway transport

The airline and railway industry contribute immensely to economic development, however, its role in environmental pollution requires attention. Here, this study builds on the theoretical pedigree of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis to explore the contribution of the air and railway transportation sector and urbanization to the emission-growth argument. We utilized annual time-frequency data from 1995 to 2014 for a panel of top 10 air passenger carrier countries using robust panel estimators that control for cross-section dependence. The empirical analysis shows a positive significant relationship between emissions and economic growth, thus, economic growth is emission-embedded with limited green growth. The existence of the EKC phenomenon is affirmed for the investigated blocs — where economic growth is prioritized over environmental quality. Additional, while air transportation drives pollution, railway transportation and urbanization decline emission over the sampled period. The results underscore the need for clean and environmentally friendly energy sources for air sector operations.     

Changes in farmers’ welfare from land requisition in the process of rapid urbanization

The marked impact of the welfare gap on total welfare within collectives has rarely, if at all, been addressed in traditional welfare theories and in Amartya Sen's theory of welfare functioning and capabilities. With this observation as our starting point, we constructed a research framework that combined welfare functioning, the welfare gap, and welfare capability to assess and analyze changes in the welfare of farmers whose land was requisitioned in Zhejiang province. The findings of our study were as follows. (1) The total welfare functioning of farmers whose land was requisitioned increased by 11.8% as a result of improvements in economic and dwelling conditions and community surroundings. However, social security and psychological conditions deteriorated. (2) Although total welfare functioning has improved, gaps are widening in the distribution of welfare functioning among farmers who underwent land requisition. This was evidenced by the increase of the weighted Gini coefficient, which rose from 0.26 to 0.32 after land requisition. (3) As a result of the improvement in welfare capability, a judgmental bias is evident when farmers assess whether they have gained or lost welfare after land requisition. We conclude that welfare studies should focus not only on the quantitative aspects of welfare distribution, but should also pay more attention to its fairness and impartiality. This can prevent social problems posed by an oversized welfare gap. Moreover, after land requisition, the government and community should provide education and training services, and the current one-time compensation model should be replaced by a lifelong compensation model. At the same time, endowment insurance should be extended in rural areas and urban medical insurance should be progressively incorporated into the social security benefits of farmers who have undergone land requisition.     

Intensity and spatial pattern of urban land changes in the megacities of Southeast Asia

Knowledge about intensity and spatial pattern of urban land changes (ULCs), i.e., changes from non-built-up to built-up lands, is important to a wide range of issues, from understanding of human–environment interactions and provision of urban ecosystem services, to land use policy development for landscape and urban planning toward sustainable urbanization. In this context, this paper aims to provide better understanding of the geospatial dimensions of the urbanization and landscape changes in two megacities of Southeast Asia. Specifically, we examine and compare the intensities and spatial patterns of ULCs in Metro Manila, Philippines and Bangkok Metropolitan Region (Bangkok MR), Thailand, during the 1990–2000 and 2000–2010 periods, using remote sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS) tools and techniques. In the measurement of ULC intensity, an intensity scale is proposed to determine whether the rate of ULC during a particular time interval, i.e., 1990–2000 or 2000–2010, relative to the uniform intensity that is based on the whole time extent, i.e., 1990–2010, is very slow, slow, medium slow/fast, fast and very fast. To characterize the spatial patterns of ULCs, the concepts of the diffusion-coalescence urban growth theory were applied. The results revealed that for Metro Manila, its ULC was more intense during the 1990s (fast) than in the 2000s (slow). For Bangkok MR, it was more intense during the 2000s (medium fast) than during the 1990s (medium slow). The results also revealed that Metro Manila has been in the process of coalescence, while Bangkok MR is still largely in the process of diffusion and expansion. In this paper, we also discuss some of the possible factors influencing ULC intensity trends and spatial patterns, the advantages of the methods used for ULC analysis and some land use policy-related development plans for the two megacities.     

城镇化视阈中人地挂钩制度创新及保障机制

采用新制度经济学研究方法,针对城镇化视阈中人地挂钩的多种要素、多元主体间的制度创新动因、运行模式、损益及冲突、流程设计和保障机制进行系统研究。结论表明,人地挂钩制度创新动因是城镇化进程中土地城镇化与人口城镇化的脱节、土地粗放利用与经济产值及人口承载力的偏差、土地空间融合与人口身份隔离等人地脱钩,是制度供需矛盾的必然产物。人地挂钩的制度具有协同管理、要素流动、权益保障、宏微观定位等功能,运行模式有城市化率增长匹配模式、地随人走模式以及"有效就业"指向的激励模式。人地挂钩制度创新对城市新市民、城市原市民、迁入地企业、迁入迁出地地方政府、中央政府等不同参与主体具有正和或零和收益,但推行过程面临创新主体利益、进程快慢、地区差异引起的潜在冲突与挑战。实践保障上,人地挂钩制度包括8个环节操作流程和4方面的系统支撑。     

城市化、政府财政支出、就业所有制结构与城乡收入差距

基于1985-2012年的数据,建立以城市化、政府财政支出、就业的所有制结构为内生变量的向量误差修正模型,并且用协整检验考察城市化水平、政府财政支出、就业的所有制结构的长期均衡与短期动态关系。实证分析发现:四者不仅存在长期的均衡关系,而且存在短期动态关系。具体而言,城市化、政府财政支出、就业的所有制结构在长期会扩大城乡收入差距,在短期则会缩小城乡收入差距。     

城镇化进程中土地资源生态安全战略——以小产权房违法用地为例

在我国城镇化进程中,保障土地生态安全是其重中之重。就我国目前的社会阶段来看,人民自身素养和科学技术积累程度还没有达到土地私有化的水平,目前个体农民并没有这个能力,一旦土地私有,就会出现土地过分开发的情况,土壤养分会在短期内被榨干,土地修复复垦是一个需要大量人力物力科学技术的工程,个体农民及农民集体根本没有这个能力,就会造成土地荒废遗弃,甚至加重荒漠化、沙漠化。所以土地私有制并不适合我国现阶段的社会发展。以资源代际公平、土地生态安全的角度来看,土地国有是适应现阶段社会发展要求的。土地的利用与开发需要养护和维持,以达到后代子孙的持续发展。     

城市化影响金融业竞争力了吗？ ——个理论模型及来自江苏省的证据

摘在已有文献的基础上,本文构建了一个城市化影响金融业竞争力的理论模型,推导结果表明,城市化对金融业竞争力同时存在积聚效应和负向效应。随后本文利用江苏省面板数据进行实证分析,研究结果表明,城市化对金融业竞争力的影响存在不确定性：城市化本身有助于提升金融业竞争力,工资成本起到了增强金融业竞争力的作用,但住房成本削弱了金融业竞争力。金融业能够起到优化配置经济资源的作用,在发挥金融业支持城市化建设这一作用的同时,我们需要关注城市化提升金融业竞争力的路径和对策,力争达成城市化和金融业发展并行不悖的良好境界。