Search

Urban regeneration in the historic core of Chinese cities largely follows one of two possibilities – 'demolition-reconstruction,' by tearing down old houses to make room for new development, and 'frozen protection,' designating no-growth areas around certain historical sites and neighborhoods. While these approaches have the potential to preserve recognized cultural values, they can lead to fragmented and uneven built environments as well as limited historic preservation and infrastructure development achievements. In this paper, we discuss the institutional constraints faced by the transformation of regeneration approaches using the cases of Shanghai's historic Old Town area and propose a theoretical framework for analyzing the 'structure-discourse-tools' interactions in the urban regeneration dilemma from the lens of sociological institutionalism. Our analysis reveals that discourse plays the role of problem framing through the operation of the power structure, while institutional tools are responsible for materializing the discourse. We argue that innovative approaches in urban regeneration should step outside of the conventional 'control' and 'design' tools but seek a more inclusive governance structure that prioritizes and materializes new discourse. Our study provides a transferable theoretical framework for better understanding complexity and institutional dilemma in global urban regeneration cases and guiding creative transformation in historical area's regeneration projects. • This paper proposes a theoretical framework to explore the combined relationships among institutional arrangements. • The governance transformation depends on the overall transformation of the power structure, tools, and discourse. • Land, planning, and administration institutions are compatible and constitute the routine approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of intercity network structure from the perspective of flow space can effectively reveal the connection patterns, hierarchical laws, and spatial organization of cities. However, current studies mostly focus on a single real or virtual space, neglecting the comprehensive perspective. Furthermore, the research subject of network relationships is usually the complex original aligned network rather than the spatially cohesive network structure. In this study, spatial network structures are constructed and extracted based on the migration flow and attention flow, which represent people's objective behavior and subjective will, respectively. This study then reveals the association between virtual and real networks from three aspects: node location, node attributes, and local network structure characteristics. Results indicate that compared with the real network structure, the virtual network structure has a strong same-level node agglomeration and a significant node size difference. Spatial dislocations are observed in the high association of the various measures of China's real and virtual network structures. The degree of differences in network structures between virtual and real spaces varies spatially. This paper reveals the dynamics of urban development in different spaces, helping build a human-centered, high-quality space governance system for virtual and real spaces. • Spatial network structure considering the geographical proximity and interaction strength among cities is extracted. • Location, attribution, and structure-based association analysis method for non-aligned intercity networks is proposed. • The degree of differences in network structures between virtual and real spaces varies spatially. • The association pattern between real and virtual networks is spatially dislocated in different indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's accelerating urban growth over the past decade has been examined from the perspectives of state devolution or place-making initiatives. Relatively little has been written to contextualize the burgeoning urbanism in China's reform and the resultant changing relationship between state and market. Through an investigation of fiscal and land use reforms since the mid-1990s, this paper argues that China's gradual and partial reform has fundamentally re-engineered local states from inward-looking market actors running business to entrepreneurial market governors controlling land supply. Though this transition has triggered urban growth by levering manufacturing and real estate capital, it has also introduced constraints for future urban development by generating inter-regional tensions and making further reforms politically difficult. This paper concludes that sustainable urbanism requires a more clearly oriented and more holistic reform framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have frequently taken urban density as a surrogate for economic efficiency and applied composite scores such as urban intensity to assess the existing physical forms of towns. However, measures of intensity might nuance crude calculations of density while considering how such measures relate to future plans and the process of transformations. This paper used open source geospatial data and regulatory detailed planning to measure urban intensity of the existing and the planned. Spatial analytical techniques were applied to compute accessibility to destinations, building density, compactness of development, and diversity of land use function of sixteen specialty towns in China. The results showed that the regulatory detailed planning of these cases might not improve town planning measured by intensity in terms of spatial arrangement in the time horizon of 15–20 years. We found that well-integrated monocentric forms with the finer street network could potentially provide a more suitable spatial distribution for mid-sized towns measured by urban intensity, no matter whether the urban form is linear or center-spreading. Moreover, the comparison between the existing and the planned implies that the poly-centric urban form for mid-sized towns in China could end up with a lower score of urban intensity. We outline a framework of urban intensity measures that include analytical consideration of what is there now, planned to what is forthcoming, and conceptual in terms of time and space. • Differentiating urban intensity from density • Using urban block as the spatial unit of study is more accurate than a synthetic spatial grid. • Comparing existing and planned conditions of medium-sized towns • Evaluation and intervention of town planning policies [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing countries tend to exhibit evident urban–rural income divergence as urban areas rapidly expand into adjoining land. However, Western-centric urban theories and studies of spatial inequality have not paid sufficient attention to the connection between income divergence and urban expansion. This paper employed a panel quantile regression model to investigate this relationship in 220 prefecture-level Chinese cities in 2006–2014. To identify potential spatiotemporal effects, we conducted additional robustness checks using the spatial Durbin model and geographical and temporal weighted regression. The results show that a 1 % expansion of urban land decreases the urban–rural income gap by 0.005 % to 0.011 %. This narrowing effect is particularly prominent in the eastern and central regions and in areas that are less urbanized overall. It also varies within regions that have a more pronounced difference between the lowest and highest quantiles in northeastern China and cities with urbanization rates of >50 %. Finally, we find evidence for an inverted U-shaped relationship between urban expansion and the urban–rural income gap. Our results entail suggestions for improved urban–rural development policies aimed toward greater integration and efficiency in urban expansion. • The relationship between urban expansion and the urban-rural income gap was investigated using panel quantile regressions. • Robust checks were conducted with the spatial Durbin model (SDM) and geographical and temporal weighted regression (GTWR). • A 1% urban expansion decreases the urban-rural income gap by 0.005% to 0.011%. • An inverted U-shaped relationship between urban expansion and the urban-rural income gap was found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last three decades the percentage of China's population living in cities has nearly tripled and this massive urbanization is continuing. This paper examines three aspects of recent and projected Chinese urban development: scale, tempo, and form in relation to urban visions. Issues Western urban theorists like Ebenezer Howard, Albert Soria y Mata, Frank Lloyd Wright, LeCorbusier, and Clarence Perry addressed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries are fundamental: city size, the relationship of cities to peri-urban areas, the impact of the built environment on the natural environment, transportation infrastructure and land use, urban governance and finance, property rights, aesthetics, and community. As China struggles to plan cities with Chinese characteristics it must work at scales ranging from small towns to megacities, decide how rapidly to urbanize under enormous pressure, and determine the physical forms urbanization will take. Understanding and adapting Western visions can help. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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”. One problem with this kind of state-dominated urbanization and city-making is that the needs of the people are not fully considered, and it is unclear who the major beneficiaries are. More case studies are needed to determine how economic and political forces are driving China’s land-based urban development, the extent to which local states are understood as entrepreneurial, profit-seeking and pro-growth, the relationship between the local state and other stake-holders in local urban development, and who has benefited from administrative urbanization. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In an open market, the land price of a particular site represents a set of attributes that a user is willing to pay for the use of that site. It has long been established that one of the most important attributes is the distance of this site from the city center. Based on a mono-centric assumption of urban development, land economists since Alonso have almost all agreed that there is a diminishing effect on land price the greater the distance from the city center. Although there have been various modifications of this locational perspective, it remains the core concept of land market dynamics. The question arises, therefore, as to whether a semi-open but extremely active land market with a heavy government presence will also follow this urban structure principle. In this paper, we apply a double-log regression model to examine land price changes in Shanghai from 1992 to 2006. Our results, based on an examination of more than seven thousand transactions, show that land price changes in Shanghai follow these dynamics and that a major transportation node plays an important role. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Previous studies have understood urban competitiveness mainly from an economic perspective. Drawing on insights from recent debates on urban governance that argue for sustainable development, this study employs a more balanced view that takes into account the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of urban competitiveness. A four-level hierarchical indicator system is used to examine the competitiveness of 253 Chinese cities at the prefecture level or above in the year 2000. The results show that most of the top 20 cities are in the eastern part of China and have populations over 0.5 million. The bottom 20 cities are located primarily in the western part of China and have smaller populations that range from 0.2 to 0.5 million. In 2000 the city with the top economic competitiveness was Shanghai, the top social competitiveness was Beijing, and the top environmental competitiveness was Zhuhai. A given city does not necessarily rank the same in economic, social, and environmental competitiveness, but may perform well in different ways. The paper argues that, in order to sustain urban competitiveness, a city should achieve not only good economic performance, but also satisfactory social and environmental development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]