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.     

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.     

城镇化过程中小城镇居民的语言生活问题及对策——以海宁市长安镇居民为例

以社会语言学相关理论为指导,对嘉兴海宁市长安镇居民语言生活状况进行了实地调查,通过统计方法定量分析研究了小城镇居民的语言生活现状及其语言态度,并以此为依据提出在城镇化、外来人口流动和普通话普及的大背景下,如何使普通话与方言共生共处的一些可行途径。     

新城镇化背景下中国乡村旅游的发展研究述评

伴随旅游产品的类型与形式不断开拓创新,乡村旅游成为现代人出行的主要选择。随着经济社会的快速发展,尤其是中国国家旅游局将2006年定为"乡村旅游年"后,我国乡村旅游进入一个全盛的发展阶段,乡村旅游已经成为旅游业新的增长点。因此,在新型城镇化背景下乡村旅游既要保护农村现有资源、文化特色,又要用科学、动态的眼光引导乡村旅游的发展,从而促进乡村旅游发展模式转型创新。     

中国：高储蓄、高投资和高增长研究

本文探讨了中国经济发展过程中长期存在的高储蓄、高投资和高增长并存的现象。文章认为：人口红利、工业化、城市化和市场化改革，是造成中国经济“三高”的实体经济因素和体制因素，这些因素并不能由宏观经济政策予以调整。文章最后提出了大力发展直接融资的改革对策。     

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。     

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。     

Does urbanization reduce rural poverty? Evidence from Vietnam

This paper uses data from household surveys to contribute to the urbanization-poverty nexus literature by assessing the effect of urbanization on income, expenditure, and poverty in rural households in Vietnam. We find that the urbanization process stimulates the transition from farm to non-farm activities in rural areas. More specifically, urbanization tends to reduce farm income and increase wages and non-farm income in rural households. This suggests that total income and consumption expenditure of rural households are more likely to increase with urbanization. Finally, we find also that urbanization helps decrease the expenditure poverty rate of rural households, albeit by a small magnitude.