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• Index of recycling sustainability for assessing waste paper recycling. • Integrating methodology of GIS and value chain model. • Historical changes of informal recyclables distribution sites in Beijing. • Value chain of waste paper recycling in Beijing may face challenges in the future. • Policy implications to improve waste paper recycling in Beijing. China established a self-organized and market-driven recycling system, which was dominated by the informal sectors. In recent years, the amount of domestically-recycled waste paper grew slower than expectation in China, which may be resulted from a decline in economic sustainability of current recycling system. For understanding the waste paper recycling system in most cities in China, the economic mechanism remains unclear and the city-level data is extremely insufficient. In this work, an index of recycling sustainability (IRS, benefit divided by cost) is analyzed with a resolution of 1 km2 grid in Beijing City, by adopting value chain and GIS methodology. Five degrees of IRS are defined, from high-degree (IRS > 1.10) to low-degree (IRS < 0.95). Different stakeholders in the informal waste paper recycling system were interviewed to fill the data gap. Results show that: (1) from 2015 to 2018, the informal recycling of waste paper accounted for approximate 80% in Beijing; (2) the number of informal recyclables distribution sites decreased from 27 to 11, and their average distance to the city-center rose from 27.5 km to 40.9 km; (3) in 2015 and 2018, the grids with high-degree IRS accounted for 99.5% and 89.2%, respectively, indicating a sustainable waste paper recycling industry in Beijing; and (4) according to the scenario analysis, if the operating cost rises by 30%, the grids with low-degree IRS accounts for 98.5%, indicating a nontrivial challenges when the recycling cost keeps increasing in the future. Policy recommendations are put forward for a more sustainable paper waste recycling system in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the concentrations of PM2.5 in urban ambient air in China have been declining; however, the strong atmospheric oxidation capacity (AOC) represents challenges to the further reduction of PM2.5 concentration and the continuous improvement of ambient air quality in China in the future, since the overall AOC is still at a high level. For this paper, based on ground observation data recorded in Beijing from 2016 to 2019, the variation in AOC was characterized according to the concentration of odd oxygen (OX = O3 + NO2). The concentrations of the primary and secondary components of PM2.5 were analyzed using empirical formulas, the correlation between AOC and the concentrations of secondary PM2.5 and the secondary inorganic components (SO42−, NO3−, NH4+, and SNA) in Beijing were explored, the impact of atmospheric photochemical reaction activity on the generation of atmospheric secondary particles was evaluated, and the impact of atmospheric oxidation variations on PM2.5 concentrations and SNA in Beijing was investigated. The results revealed that OX concentrations reached their peak in 2016 and reached their lowest point in 2019. The OX concentrations followed a descending seasonal trend of summer, spring, autumn, and winter, along with a spatial descending trend from urban observation stations to suburban stations and background stations. The degree of photochemical activity and the magnitude of the AOC have a large influence on the production of atmospheric secondary particles. When the photochemical reaction was more active and the AOC was stronger, the mass concentrations of the secondary generated PM2.5 fraction were higher and accounted for a higher proportion of the total PM2.5 mass concentrations. In the PM2.5 fraction, SNA accounted for 50.7% to 94.4% of the total mass concentrations of water-soluble inorganic ions in the field observations. Higher concentrations of the atmospheric oxidant OX in ambient air corresponded to a higher sulfur oxidation ratio (SOR) and nitrogen oxidation ratio (NOR), suggesting that the increase in AOC could promote the increase of PM2.5 concentration. Based on a relationship analysis of SOR, NOR, and OX, it was inferred that the relationship between OX and SOR and the relationship between OX and NOR were both nonlinear. Therefore, when establishing PM2.5 control strategies in Beijing in the future, the impact of the AOC on PM2.5 generation should be fully considered, and favorable measures should be taken to properly regulate the AOC, which would be more effective when carrying out further control measures regarding PM2.5 pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Residential mobility has become an increasingly important issue in China, where urban families participate frenetically in the commodity housing market leading to soaring property prices. Applying place dependence approach and logistic regression models, this paper examines the association between residential mobility intentions and place dependence for employment and education in Beijing. The results reveal that people's intentions to move homes are driven by place dependence on the access to high-quality schools for their children, while the dependence for employment is rather weak. The findings indicate children's education has emerged as a new driving force that shapes urban space in contemporary China and therefore should be a focal point for planners and policy makers in urban resource distribution. This paper provides evidences to further our understanding of the high premium of properties that enable access to good schools. The needs for other spatial utilities and sentimental attachment to a place also encourage residential mobility intentions, which deserves further research. • Residential mobility intention was analyzed in Zhongguancun area in Beijing. • Influences of children's education and parents' employment were measured. • Children's education has emerged as a new driving force affecting residential choices. • Place dependence provides a useful lens to comprehend housing mobility in contemporary cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Xenoxylon is an important boreal Mesozoic fossil wood genus and has been widely reported from sites across northern China. This paper reports well-preserved Xenoxylon wood from the Jurassic-Cretaceous boundary Tuchengzi Formation at Yanqing, Beijing, China. The fossil wood described here is ascribed to two species, i.e. Xenoxylon latiporosum and X. peidense. The present new finding enrichs our knowledge of the floral characteristics, especially the forest composition of the Tuchengzi Formation. These new records enlarge the fossil wood diversity of the genus Xenoxylon of the Tuchengzi Formation up to three species at Yanqing. Statistic results of the annual and mean sensitivity values of the X. latiporosum and X. peidense indicates that the trees inhabited under a sensitive climate with relatively stable interannual water supply. Additionally, some fungal remains represented by fungal hyphae were found with wood tissues of specimens of X. peidense. Typical wood rotting structures resembling those of the extant white rot are also found in X. latiporosum. This is the first record of fungal hyphae in Yanqing, Beijing, China, and provides us with new evidence that can be used to explore interactions between fungi and plants in the Late Jurassic. Institutional abbreviations: YQ = Yanqing Silicified Wood National Geopark, Beijing, China [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geothermal energy is a clean energy source that can potentially mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, as its use can lead to a lower mitigation cost. However, research on the economic impacts of the geothermal industry is scarce. This paper describes the effect of the geothermal industry, its economic input and output, using Beijing as a case study. This paper adopts the input–output model. The results show that the demand for and input use of the geothermal sector vary greatly across industrial sectors: electricity, heat production, the supply industry and general equipment manufacturing have the greatest direct consumption coefficient for the geothermal industry. When considering direct and indirect demand, it is clear that the geothermal industry has a great effect on different industrial sectors in diverse ways. Its influence coefficient and sensitivity coefficient are 1.2167 (ranked 11th) and 1.2293 (ranked 8th), respectively, revealing that it exerts obvious demand-pulling and supply-pushing effects on the regional economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Megacities in China are undergoing transformation in urban functional structure brought on by rapid urbanization and spatial expansion, while private motorization connects disparate functional zones with ever-longer journeys. Policies to control growth of the car fleet while investing in mass public transport, in Beijing and in many other cities, have divided city residents into car users and those dependent on public transport. This paper examines these policies from the transport equity perspective by measuring accessibility disparity between public transport and private car. Cumulative accessibility is measured for each of the two transport modes, while an accessibility equity index (AEI) is developed based on numerical and spatial computation. The recent changes in spatial distributions of population and employment in Beijing are analyzed. Accessibility and AEI are measured using network-based Geographical Information System (GIS) and analyzed quantitatively and spatially. Nine scenarios with different employment location strategies are simulated to analyze their impacts on accessibility and AEI, with clear benefits among the scenarios with regard to accessibility equity for suburban populations. Results suggest that reducing the demand for car use and ownership can be supported through employment spatial redistribution policies, which can be used to raise relative accessibility by public transport. Land use policy can form part of a larger set of spatial and transport policies that includes regulation of the car fleet and public transport development. Such integrated approaches are of particular importance for the present and future megacities of China that are expanding rapidly, with relatively high volume flows on limited movement networks. • Proposed a framework for transport equity assessment through measuring modal and spatial disparity. • Developed an accessibility equity index (AEI) based on numerical spatial computation. • Examined the transport equity of Beijing as a case study. • Applied equity assessment to spatial scenario analysis and policy with equity and efficiency improvement was suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public participation is playing an increasingly important role in the process of environmental protection, especially in some developing countries such as China. However, the studies that have focused on public participation in air pollution control, especially those that have used quantitative research, are comparatively insufficient in China. This paper investigated residents' participation intention and behavior in air pollution control in Beijing, China, and related the theory of planned behavior and the concepts of risk perception to analyze the formation mechanism of participation behavior. The results indicated a remarkable discrepancy between participation intention and behavior. Subjective norm was the major factor in predicting participation intention, followed by risk perception and attitude. Income was observed to have a negative effect on participation intention and a positive effect on participation behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the context of climate change and population growth, the development of urban agriculture is of great environmental and economic significance in rapidly urbanizing China. Based on the primary survey data, this paper evaluated the carbon footprint (CF) and economic efficiency of urban agriculture in Beijing (China) using the life cycle assessment method (from cradle to consumption approach). Two cases were analyzed and compared considering their differences in on-farm cultivation and off-farm supply chains: a conventional small householder farm that sells its vegetables directly to consumers in a local market, and a large home-delivery agriculture (HDA) initiative that delivers its vegetables to the consumers' home directly. Both cases were equipped with greenhouses with plastic covering but no heating system. The CF of the production, transportation and distribution of 1 kg fresh vegetables was estimated at 0.318 kg CO 2 -eq kg−1 and 0.624–0.652 kg CO 2 -eq kg−1 for conventional and HDA initiative farm, respectively. However, the HDA initiative showed a better environmental performance than the conventional operation when taking economic efficiency into consideration. The CF per unit of profit of HDA initiative (0.093–0.097 kg CO 2 -eq per CNY) was lower than conventional farm (0.111 kg CO 2 -eq per CNY). The lower CF per unit of product weight of the conventional farm was largely attributed to the high yield and the lower CF per unit of profit of the HDA initiative was mainly due to the outstanding economic profitability through income optimization. The major hotspots of CF in both cases were greenhouse plastic films in the cultivation phase (from cradle to farm gate) and transportation in the supply chain (from farm gate to consumption). Simulation of a switch to biodiesel instead of gasoline and diesel in combination with the replacement of current fossil-fuel-dominated electricity by hydro-powered electricity resulted in 20.0–21.8% reduction in the total CF. By identifying the CF hotspots of two farm cases, particular inputs and activities can be targeted for adjustment in order to effectively reduce the CF of urban agriculture in Beijing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The application of a gas-fired CCHP can effectively solve seasonal shortages of electricity and gas. To realize providing investment decision for gas-fired CCHP in Beijing, first, the paper analyses the status of gas-fired CCHP systems in Beijing; second, the technology structure and economic benefits of gas-fired CCHP systems are analyzed; third, a technical economic evaluation framework of a gas-fired CCHP is built, which analyses the cascade utilization and energy saving effects of a heat and power energy system in a gas-fired CCHP system. Analysis of the gas-fired CCHP system economy and the factors that influence the economic performance is also performed, as well as a sensitivity analysis. In addition, the paper also analyses an energy efficiency sharing model of a cooling, heating and power system that considers the grid enterprises’ economic efficiency. Finally, an empirical analysis of a trigeneration project control center in the Beijing Gas Group is carried out. Research results show that gas-fired CCHP system is good to both customers and beneficial, fuel price and electricity price will influence revenue of Gas-fired CCHP system greatly, a reasonable energy efficiency sharing ratio will help to the recovery of investment in Gas-fired CCHP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agriculture in peri-urban areas is prone to dynamic changes due to urban influences. Previous studies have explored the impact of urban growth on peri-urban agriculture (PUA), but the active responses of the agricultural sector are rarely examined. This paper investigates recent agricultural development practices in peri-urban Beijing and explores approaches to agricultural transformation in the rapid process of urbanisation. The investigation finds that high-tech precision agriculture, down-stream processing and agro-tourism have emerged as major forms of PUA in Beijing. It also uncovers that the PUA developments are not only economically appealing, but also socially inclusive and environmental friendly. The findings contribute to a better understanding of PUA progress in China. The paper suggests policy implications in facilitating integrated development between urban and rural sectors, which would help improve economic development, spatial planning and local governance in peri-urban areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This paper investigates the potential expansion and impacts of Electric Vehicle (EV) market in Beijing, China at the micro level with an agent-based integrated urban model (SelfSim-EV), considering the interactions, feedbacks and dynamics found in the complex urban system. Specifically, a calibrated and validated SelfSim-EV Beijing model was firstly used to simulate how the EV market might expand in the context of urban evolution from 2016 to 2020, based on which the potential impacts of EV market expansion on the environment, power grid system and transportation infrastructures were assessed at the multiple resolutions. The results suggest that 1) the adoption rate of Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) increases over the period, whereas the rate of Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) almost remains the same; Furthermore, the so-called neighbour effects appear to influence the uptake of BEVs, based on the spatial analyses of the residential locations of BEV owners; 2) the EV market expansion could eventually benefit the environment, as evident from the slight decrease in the amounts of HC, CO and CO 2 emissions after 2017; 3) Charging demand accounting for around 4% of total residential electricity demand in 2020 may put slight pressure on the power grid system; 4) the EV market expansion could influence several EV-related transport facilities, including parking lots, refuelling stations, and charging posts at parking lots, in terms of quantity, layout and usage. These results are expected to be useful for different EV-related stakeholders, such as local authorities and manufacturers, to shape polices and invest in technologies and infrastructures for EVs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • The increases of commuting CO 2 emissions are several times larger than the urban size, population, and economics' developments. • Metro services reducing commuting CO 2 emissions near the metro stations is not statistically significant, possibly because the proportions of car users near the metro stations are similar to the two cities' average levels, which is caused by their higher household income and the longer travel time using the metro. • In Beijing, there are the smallest commuting CO 2 emissions in the outer suburbs due to job-housing balances, short distance and large percentage of non-motorized mode uses while the largest commuting CO 2 emissions in the inner sprawl suburbs due to car trips with long distance. Abstract To understand the changing relationships between commuting CO 2 emissions (CCE), travel behavior and urban forms, this paper provides a comparative study between the typical Chinese cities of Beijing (more developed) and Xi'an (rapidly developing). Further, the effects of metro services on reducing CCE were explored, and comparative analysis on CCE between the inner sprawling suburbs and outer suburbs was conducted. It was found that: (i) the increases in CCE are several times larger than the increases in urban size, population, and economic developments; (ii) metro services reducing CCE near metro stations is not statistically significant, maybe because the proportions of car users near the metro stations are similar to the two cities' average levels, which is caused by their higher household income and the longer travel time using the metro; (iii) in Beijing, there are smallest CCE in the outer suburbs due to job-housing balances, short distance and large percentage of non-motorized mode uses while largest CCE in the inner sprawl suburbs due to car trips with long distance. These findings indicate that to cope with the rapidly increasing CCE, more attention should be paid to developing strong industry and real-estate simultaneously; the improvement in the feeder bus and public bicycle systems should also be reinforced to reduce the total travel time of metro users; and satellite cities with job-housing balance are greatly needed. The implications will benefit efforts to reduce CCE and mitigate global climate change, and they also provide empirical evidence and reference values for other global cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Active faults in urban have a potential damage to citizens, because they can induce not only earthquakes, but also damage pavements, utilities, homes, businesses, factories and other manmade structures because of the slow, secular and differential slippage. Consequently, the researches of detecting active faults are of great significance. This paper proposes a set of geophysical methods to detect active faults by an example in Beijing, including gravity, controlled source audio-frequency magnetotellurics(CSAMT), seismic reflection, DC resistivity and paleomagnetism (Natural remanent magnetization in rocks) to locate faults and discuss their activities. In proposed methods, gravity interpretation helps us obtain the distribution and characteristics of buried faults beneath the plain, the results of CSAMT, seismic reflection and DC resistivity reveal features and characteristics of faults from the deep to shallow part; paleomagnetism associated with radiocarbon dating help us analyze the fault slip rate; 3D seismic reflection interpretation shows the structure of two faults in the three-dimensional subsurface and the interaction of each other. Also, a few acquisition parameters, data processing methods and significant suggestions are mentioned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Beijing, the capital of China, has experienced rapid industrialization, urbanization and motorization in recent decades. Consequently, air pollution in Beijing, especially fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ) pollution, has gradually become a severe environmental issue, due to the continuing growth in energy consumption and the resulting multiple pollutant emissions. In response to the increasingly serious PM 2.5 pollution, Beijing's government implemented a series of policies, measures and regulations on air pollution prevention and control and took some concrete actions to improve air quality. In this paper, firstly, we summarize China's ambient air quality standards, China's policies and regulations on air pollution prevention and control. Secondly, we illustrate historical evolution and current status of air pollution in Beijing. Finally, we introduce control measures and actions in Beijing and its surrounding areas. The paper aims to help environmental scientists and policy makers around the world understand the past and current air pollution in Beijing and control strategies and actions taken by Beijing's government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: We attempted to propose an approach to simulate the dynamics of Beijing's logistics demand, which can do some help to find out the dynamics path of the needed storage and shipment, put forward with logistics policies and enhance logistics service. Design/methodology/approach: We present a paper with system dynamics (SD) methodology, which was run by the software of Vensim®. Findings: With SD model, causal loop diagram and stock and flow diagram are constructed, as well as some experiments and policy analysis. The research findings revealed that the increase of average shipping capacity for a vehicle will bring a decrease in congestion and CO2 emission directly and the decrease of the average fuel use for a vehicle can help with the reduction of CO2 emission directly. Both the two parameters are the indirect causes of logistics demand dynamics in Beijing. Originality/value: Researches of this paper are aiming at handling logistics demand dynamics of Beijing, problems belonging to the area of complex systems, with SD model, where, to the best of our knowledge, no significant research has been done. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, a small but growing body of scholarship has emerged on the category of the Chinese art district, particularly its institutionalisation amidst twenty-first century creative industries polices. Such research presents important stories of Chinese artists’ negotiations with urban and political authority, thus nuancing paradigms for the comprehension of political work within contemporary China. This current article contributes to this growing research area by considering the spatial conditions for these socio-spatial categories’ emergence, namely, the urban structures in which they first took shape in 1990s Beijing. First occupying traditional villages (cunzi) and later ex-socialist work units (danwei), these arts colonies appropriated existing communal architecture, and turned their designs and physical buildings to their own communal ends. Importantly, these sites were made available by the dramatic reconstruction of the city, and in this sense these occupations were limited to the temporal realm. To describe the nature of occupations, and their eventual impact upon the shape of the city, this paper proposes the category of “the temporal pocket”: a cellular and temporary inhabitance, defined by the shared investments of its participants, and one that is both discrete (in the sense of its spaces) and discreet (in the sense that this can be understood as a non-oppositional politics). The article is informed by spatial and cultural theory, literature on Chinese urban planning and art history, as well as primary documents (such as documentaries, art works and archival material) and interviews conducted by the researcher in Beijing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Much like other post-socialist cities, Chinese cities experienced dramatic changes after economic reform. The danwei, or state-owned work unit, was once a fundamental building block of Chinese cities. In addition to being the basic form of economic and social organization, danwei communities defined Chinese urban development before reform, taking the form of gated, walled-off combined factory and residential areas. This paper focuses on spatial changes at the neighborhood scale in danwei, by selecting the Tongrentang pharmaceutical factory in Beijing, China during the time period between 1973 and 2006 as a case study. Through archival material and interviews, this paper describes how the community changed from gated, boring, solidified and strictly constrained work units to un-gated, vibrant, mixed-use and flexible urban neighborhoods. This case study in urban China provides implications for planning professionals and policy makers. By properly redeveloping these brownfield, traditional danwei communities many change to become un-gated, livable, accessible, integrated, and sustainable in the post-socialist era. The implication for current transition theory is that despite the similarity to Central and East European countries, urban China has a local context and unique spatial changes that should be embraced in future transition studies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The inner structure of urban built-up land sprawl (UBLS) is crucial for the level and quality of urbanization. This paper attempts an in-depth analysis of the inner structure of UBLS based on site data of granted built-up land parcels within the Beijing Metropolitan Area from 2001 to 2012. Structure entropy analysis and kernel density estimation (KDE) are employed to characterize the spatial-temporal variation of different types of UBLS and to summarize their patterns. The results reveal that during the sprawl process, residential land expanded rapidly in the first half of the study period while industrial land expanded rapidly in the second half. Residential land sprawl illustrated “radial sprawl”, with a trend of “living suburbanization”; commercial land tended to follow the pattern of “ribbon sprawl along the main roads”; and industrial land sprawl was scattered in a “leapfrog sprawl” pattern. These results reveal the particular characteristics of the coexistence of market mechanisms and government macro-control of the land market in China. The land analysed in this study does not present the high-efficiency circle-layer land-use structure. Driven by top-down power allocations and the GDP-dominated views of local governments, the land supply inclined toward structural imbalance, which generated a disordered urban spatial structure. Hence, we suggest formulating a market-driven land supply mechanism to adjust the land-use supply structure, which has important implications for optimizing urban land-use structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The creative industries and the digital economy have become the drivers for the metropolises of China. Despite the rapid transformation towards knowledge production in China, the understanding of the role of informalities (like urban villages) in creative cities is still lacking. This paper examines the following interrelated questions: a) why have urban villages become the cluster/assemblages for a circuit of knowledge production (e.g. , digital work, media, and arts); and b) how is the assemblage of creative communities created by the growing rent-gap seeking regimes with different agency and everyday practices as shown in Beijing's artist and IT worker villages? Our investigations of the Heiqiao and Shigezhuang Villages in Beijing reveal that the Chinese rural land system has shaped the porous and interstitial spaces (e.g. , urban villages as the " semi-commons " for landowners and migrant tenants) in the regime-specific community-making and is distinctive from Western models of creative cluster formation. This study refines Florida's elitist-oriented analysis where the "creative class" prefers the "quality of place," and the city thus needs to enhance the quality of life to attract creative workers. The artist and IT worker villages, as a microcosm of the like-minded creative worker assemblage, are also sites for establishing contacts and fostering interaction in creative production. It is the quality of the public realm and networking (beyond the quality of the built environment) that shapes the assemblage of creative communities in urban villages. The networking and grass-roots alliance (as " semi-commons ") can help cope with the appropriation and provision problems facing " commons." • Urban village as semi-commons is a floating oasis for low-wage creative workers. • We need a relational and negotiated view on temporary land use in semi-commons. • Creative workers can unleash creativity in the Rent Gap Seeking Stage II . • Artist and IT worker villages take varied spatial forms and neighborhood activity. • Urban planning can become "softer" to allow for temporary uses of space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose meta-synthetic ideas and knowledge asset management approaches to build a comprehensive strategic framework for Beijing City in China. Design/methodology/approach – Methods include a review of relevant literature in both English and Chinese, case studies of different types of support frameworks in the UK, the USA, Singapore and Hong Kong, formulation of a meta-synthetic support framework for Beijing City, and justification of its application to policy development by various studies. Three stages of meta-synthetic support frameworks are proposed. Findings – The suggested meta-synthetic support frameworks are highly appropriate for the optimisation of, and innovation in, management and services systems of government information resources. The proposed knowledge asset management approaches offer significant practical value in improving the competence and capabilities of service-oriented government, providing a set of solutions to identified, urgent problems, including a joint administration system for creating value, a release and distribution management system for sharing and protecting value, and a licensing and authorisation management system for adding value. Research limitations/implications – This paper focuses on the formulation of a theoretical support framework for the reuse of government information resources and the justification of its effectiveness to guide policy development at strategic level. Case studies of its application at operational level are ongoing and will be discussed in future papers. Practical implications – The suggested meta-synthetic support frameworks support the efficiency, effectiveness and economy of intelligent traffic administration, good governance of value-added services based on government information resources, and intellectual activity around city travel and traffic. The study has wide implications for the improvement of service-oriented government performance, public satisfaction and the image of government. Originality/value – The paper presents the adaptation of meta-synthetic ideas and knowledge asset management approaches to collaboration, optimisation, innovation and compliance management issues in the reuse of government information resources. The advantages of different types of support systems and frameworks are integrated as a coherent whole for a strategic framework of legal, regulatory and standards support to China and Beijing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The links between urban form and travel behaviour have been widely studied in the field of travel demand management. However, the existing literature is dominated by case studies from the developed countries. A study of a city in a developing and industrialising country can add some fresh evidence to the debate on the impacts of urban form on travel patterns. Using household survey data from Beijing, this paper finds that aspects of urban form have significant effects on workers' car use and the duration of travel by car in journeys to work, while controlling for socio-economic factors and households' preferences related to residential location. The sprawling patterns of land development play a negative role in reducing motorised commuting trips and shortening vehicle hours travelled in the current processes of rapid urban expansion and motorisation. Since urban sprawl is greatly influenced by growing market forces, the findings in this paper reveal the negative effects of regulation-liberation of land development management on travel behaviour modification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Urban containment policies, including urban growth boundaries, urban service boundaries and greenbelts, have been extensively discussed worldwide for managing urban growth. This paper focuses on the issues associated with supporting an urban containment plan and its application in China using a planning support system. The background is that the urban containment plan has been enacted as a new component of the urban plan under the City Planning Law of the People’s Republic of China. In China, the accommodating or restrictive features are integrated as control factors (CFs), which include control indicators for land-use type control, urban activity control, building height control, as well as underground development control. This paper proposes an urban containment planning support system (UC-PSS) based on ArcGIS for automatically compiling the Beijing urban containment plan considering 60 control factors with various control indicators. The compiled plan was also applied for reviewing urban master and district detail plans in Beijing supported by the UC-PSS. The effectiveness of UC-PSS was comprehensively evaluated from the perspectives of planning compilation and planning review via interviewing urban containment planners (main users of the UC-PSS) in Beijing. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: There is a strong need to explore the determinants of worker’s commuting time as the declines in job accessibility associated with the dramatic growth of commuting time have become a serious negative effect on the quality of urban life in megacities of China. Most well-developed theories exploring change in commuting time are based on neo-classical economic theory. This paper argues however that in the case of China institutional factors of the housing provision system and labour mobility management have been more important. The paper conceptualizes an institutionalist approach incorporating housing and controls over labour mobility and applies it to analyse these influences on workers’ commuting time in Beijing. The analysis shows that the interaction of housing provision, the market system and the Hukou system together have significant impact upon individual commuting time allowing for worker’s annual household income, occupation and transport mode. The findings suggest that the market-oriented housing reforms have changed the local jobs–housing balance that prevailed in pre-reform era and have thus induced growth of commuting time; the remaining the unfair treatment of residents according to their Hukou status may influence the floating worker’s ability to connect housing and workplace opportunities that could reduce commuting time. With respect to future studies, the institutionalist approach seems to be an efficient means of exploring particular factors that emerge in the transformation of an economy. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The morphology of a city affects its ecological and socioeconomic functions, and thus how a city is spatially structured has important bearings on urban sustainability. The paper analyzes the spatial pattern of Beijing in relation to its urban functions. Our results show that the 6 concentric ring-roads in Beijing provide a basic framework for the city''s overall spatial pattern, and also give its apparent resemblance to the classic concentric zone theory. The paper identifies 5 concentric zones for Beijing based on a suite of urban functions. However, there are significant differences between the urban spatial pattern of Beijing and that depicted in the classic concentric zone theory. The study sheds new light on the urban morphology of one of the major Chinese cities, and provides needed information for developing plans to diffuse urban functions in Beijing. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Despite modes of governance having been recently identified, little research has explained the impetus for the formation and transformation of these modes of governance in an authoritarian political setting. This paper aims to close the gap by combining fragmented state and grassroots governance with institutionalism's “structure–agency” framework. A case study of Jiuxianqiao's redevelopment was undertaken to analyze its shifting modes of governance. The research found that the mobilized citizens and the Central government with its priority on social stability indirectly resulted in the formation of an alliance, which strongly counteracted the pro-growth coalition between Chaoyang's District Government and private enterprises in Jiuxianqiao redevelopment. Consequently, the alliance of the Central government and society moved the transformation from the realm of public–private governance to a more inclusive type of governance in urban redevelopment. However, additional research is needed to verify its generality in China's urban redevelopment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aims to provide a complete picture of the spatial distribution of industries in China, a country which is presently undergoing a transition from a planned economy to a market economy. It also seeks to explore the reasons behind that distribution. We employ the negative exponential function to analyze the spatial distribution of 57 economic sectors in Beijing. Comparison of the preferred location of each sector can reveal the overall industrial spatial pattern, which functions as a spatial reflection of the influence of the government and the market on economic activities. The findings of the study suggest that the governmental force is more powerful than the market force in the urban core, although the overall spatial distribution of industries is found to comply with the laws of the market economy. The power of the government and the market also shape the industrial spatial pattern in other Chinese cities, in ways that are similar to the case of Beijing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses the traditional hutong street system and siheyuan courtyard house as an urban development model in contemporary Beijing by comparing it with the practiced alternative. Official government standards are used as criteria for measuring the performance of the urban form types. Criteria derived from government documents emphasise the efficiency and low-carbon emission of the transportation system and efficiency in land use, via higher densities. Minimum site areas devoted to green space are also specified. We compared the use of land resources in a sample of 9 hutong areas with those of a sample of 22 newly built communities. We collected traffic data and interviewed residents in these areas. We also examined transportation as a user of urban land, as well as the implications for land resources if the 2002 conservation plan is fully implemented. It was found that the hutong development models underperform with regard to building density depending on form type, but achieve much higher population densities than suburban housing. Motor traffic infrastructure in contemporary development takes up 3 times as much of the development area as the hutong do in their development area. The hutong outperform the rest of the urban fabric with regard to sustainable transport with 0.17 of the car mode proportion for all of Beijing. There is heavy dependency on three-wheeled vehicles for goods transport and high levels of walking. Moving the remaining population of the hutong as planned would require about 1800 ha of new residential land more than 30 km from the city centre. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the spatial, temporal distribution, transformation and source simulation of NO3- were analyzed systematically based on the monitoring data, literature review and numerical simulation (CMAQ4.7.1). Analysis results showed that annual average concentration of NO3- in Beijing was between 6.69 and 12.48 Mg/m3 with an increasing trend in recent years; concentration of NO3- in Beijing in 2013 was higher in winter and autumn than that in spring and summer and diurnal variation of NO3- showed bimodal distribution and spatial distribution of NO3- showed significant north-south gradient distribution; annual average N0R in Beijing was between 0.12 and 0.17 while it was between 0.17 and 0.20 during heavy air pollution days in 2013; the average ratio of NO3-/S02- was between 0.97 and 1. 06 while it was between 1. 00 and 1. 07 during heavy air pollution days in 2013; the emission sources of Beijing was being changed from fixed source to both fixed and moving sources in feature development; simulated local, external transportation, background and boundary condition were 40%, 44% and 16% respectively to the annual average concentration of NO3- in Beijing in 2013 while they were 31%, 57% and 12% respectively in heavy air pollution days, which indicated that external source played an important role to the concentration of NO3- in Beijing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, atmospheric environmental background, weather conditions and formation mechanism of one typical air pollution episode in Beijing during October 6th -12th, 2014 were investigated by combining observed data with numerical model CAMx. Results showed that the occurrence of heavy air pollution resulted mainly from stable atmospheric conditions regionally or locally. Observed heavy pollution episodes were characterized by a stagnant atmospheric structure with average wind speed of 1.56 m/s, high humidity of 83.13%, large inversion strength of 3.42 cC/100 m which were disadvantageous to the dispersal of air pollutants. The air pollution episode during October 8th -11th was the most serious with daily average PM25 concentration of 264 μ/m³ in Beijing, and heavily polluted land area at Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei districts was about 2 × 105 km². Model research showed that regional transmission contributions to the receptor sites in Beijing were between 61% -69% during 8th -11th, and regional transportation played a more important role in this serious air pollution episode. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2004, two auction mechanisms – listing auctions and tender auctions – have played a dominant role in land lease arrangements for real estate development in Beijing. Listing auctions in land markets are similar to general English auctions, where bidders offer the highest price to win. However, in tender auctions, winners are determined by the bidding price and the bidder’s financial capability and reputation. Based on granted land parcels from 2006 to 2012 in Beijing, this paper attempts to examine the price differences between the two auctions and the role of land auction in urban development and price stabilisation. We find that land policy in Beijing, which aims to stabilise land prices and to provide low-price residences, has been integrated with urban development planning in terms of spatial and density pattern. Land leasing in Beijing is not only a land policy but also a part of the strategy framework of local development. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Land-use suitability analyses are of considerable use in the planning of mega-cities. An Urban Development Land-use Suitability Mapping (UDLSM) approach has been constructed, based on opportunity and constraint criteria. Two Multi-criteria Evaluation (MCE) methods, the Ideal Point Method (IPM) and Ordered Weighted Averaging (OWA), were used to generate the opportunity map. The protection map was obtained by means of constraint criteria, utilizing the Boolean union operator. A suitability map was then generated by overlaying the opportunity and protection maps. By applying the UDLSM approach to Beijing, its urban development land-use suitability was mapped, and a sensitivity analysis undertaken to examine the robustness of the proposed approach. Indirect validation was achieved by mutual comparisons of suitability maps resulting from the two MCE methods, where the overall agreement of 91% and kappa coefficient of 0.78 indicated that both methods provide very similar spatial land-use suitability distributions. The suitability level decreases from central Beijing to its periphery, and the area classed as suitable amounts to 28% of the total area. Leading attributes of each opportunity factor for suitability were revealed, with 2256 km 2 , i.e. 70%, of existing development land being overlaid by suitable areas in Beijing. Conflicting parcels of land were identified by overlaying the resultant map with two previous development blueprints for Beijing. The paper includes several recommendations aimed at improving the long-term urban development plans for Beijing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chinese cities are plagued by the rise in resource and energy input and output over the last decade. At the same time, the scale and pace of economic development sweeping across Chinese cities have revived the debate about urban metabolisms, which could be simply seen as the ratio of output to resource and energy input in urban systems. In this study, an emergy (meaning the equivalent solar energy) accounting, sustainable indices of urban metabolisms, and an urban metabolic system dynamics model, are developed in support of the research task on Chinese cities 'metabolisms and their related policies. The dynamic simulation model used in the paper is capable of synthesizing component-level knowledge into system behavior simulation at an integrated level, which is directly useful for simulating and evaluating a variety of decision actions and their dynamic consequences. For the study case, interactions among a number of Beijing's urban emergy components within a time frame of 20 years (from 2010 to 2030) are examined dynamically. Six alternative policy scenarios are implemented into the system simulation. Our results indicate that Beijing's current model of urban metabolism-tertiary industry oriented development mode-would deliver prosperity to the city. However, the analysis also shows that this mode of urban metabolism would weaken urban self-support capacity due primarily to the large share of imported and exported emergy in the urban metabolic system. The keys of improving the efficiency of urban metabolism include the priority on the renewable resource and energy, increase in environmental investment and encouragement on innovative technologies of resource and energy utilization, et al. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Air pollution has become an increasingly serious environmental problem in China. Especially in winter, the air pollution in northern China becomes even worse due to winter heating. The "coal to gas" policy, which uses natural gas to replace coal in the heating system in winter, was implemented in Beijing in the year 2013. However, the effects of this policy reform have not been examined. Using a panel dataset of 16 districts in Beijing, this paper employs a first difference model to examine the impact of the "coal to gas" policy on air quality. Strong evidence shows that the "coal to gas" policy has significantly improved the air quality in Beijing. On average, the "coal to gas" policy reduced sulfur dioxide ( SO 2 ), nitrogen dioxide ( NO 2 ), particulate matter smaller than 10 µm (PM10), particulate matter smaller than 2.5 µm (PM2.5) and carbon monoxide (CO) by 12.08%, 4.89%, 13.07%, 11.94% and 11.10% per year, respectively. We find that the "coal to gas" policy is more effective in areas with less energy use efficiency. The finding of this paper suggests that the government should continue to implement the "coal to gas" policy, so as to alleviate the air pollution in Beijing, China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Despite the rapid transformation of art villages in Beijing, an understanding of their location dynamics has been lacking. This paper will supply that insight by exploring three interrelated questions: What are the location characteristics of Beijing's art villages? How has economic transformation shaped their location? Is there anything unique about the evolution of Beijing's art villages? Analyses of information gathered through field reconnaissance and secondary sources reveal that these art villages have expanded rapidly in the urban fringe of metropolitan Beijing. Major factors influencing its location and relocation include the cost of rental properties, the quality of the creative environment, attributes of the transitional land and art markets, and public policies for Beijing's metropolitan development. Rapid economic transition and urban growth in China have shaped a trajectory of art village evolvement distinctive from that in Western metropolises. The fate of art villages in Beijing is determined by the transitional characteristics of urban development, art markets and state policies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Urban form takes on properties similar to random growing fractals and can be described in terms of fractal geometry. However, a model of simple fractals is not effectual enough to characterize both the global and local features of urban patterns. In this paper multifractal measurements are employed to model urban form and analyze urban growth. The capacity dimension D0, information dimension D1, and correlation dimension D2 of a city's pattern can be estimated utilizing the box-counting method. If D0 < D1 < D2 significantly, the city can be treated as a system of multifractals, and two sets of fractal parameters, including global and local parameters, can be used to spatially analyze urban growth. In this case study, multifractal geometry was applied to Beijing city, China. The results based on the remote-sensing images taken in 1988, 1992, 1999, 2006, and 2009 show that the urban landscape of Beijing bears multiscaling fractal attributes. The dimension spectrum curves show several abnormal aspects, especially the upper limit of the global dimension breaks through the Euclidean dimension of embedding space and the local dimension fails to converge in a proper way. The geographical features of Beijing's spatiotemporal evolution are discussed, and the conclusions may be instructive for spatial optimization and city planning in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid urbanisation has resulted in a series of urban sustainability challenges. Green infrastructure, with its associated emphasis on multifunctionality, has been advocated by scholars and practitioners alike as a key part of responses seeking the transition to sustainable urban environments. In support of this, a number of assessment frameworks have emerged which seek to assess green infrastructure needs and opportunities. Increasingly it has been recognised that such frameworks will need to provide a greater degree of emphasis upon social and perceptual values and focus more actively upon the neighbourhood scale. This need is particularly apparent within a Chinese context. Research on the role of green infrastructure within China, however, has tended to prioritise comprehensive city-wide or regional assessments. To date, there have been very few studies at the neighbourhood level which have attempted to consider both objective and subjective GI characteristics and how barriers might be mediated. In response, this paper seeks to develop an improved understanding of neighbourhood level GI needs. Through the use of both objective and subjective indicators linked to levels of green infrastructure provision and satisfaction, we outline how strategic responses might be developed to different neighbourhood contexts to aid a more adaptive and spatially sensitive approach to sustainable urbanisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides the first estimates of housing price movements for Beijing in late pre-modern China. We hand-collect from archival sources transaction prices and other house attribute information from the 498 surviving house sale contracts for Beijing during the first two centuries of the Qing Dynasty ( 1644-1840), a long period without major wars, political turmoil, or significant institutional change in the Chinese capital. We use hedonic methods to construct a real estate price index for Beijing for the period. The regression analysis explains a major proportion of the variance of housing prices. We find that house prices grew steadily for the first half-century of the Qing Dynasty and declined afterwards in both nominal and real terms through the late eighteenth century. Nominal prices grew starting in the late eighteenth century and declined from the early nineteenth century through 1840. But these price changes occurred with contemporaneous price changes in basic measures of the cost of living: there was little change in real tenns to the end of our period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper analyses the duration of housing project sales in the city of Beijing, China. In the housing market, new properties sometimes experience delays before they are sold. Such delays reflect the preferences of buyers with regard to the characteristics of the dwelling. Therefore, it is important for managerial purposes to identify the causes of delays in the sales of housing projects. A survival model with heterogeneity is adopted in the present research. The principal finding of this study is that delays are largely explained by the characteristics and the location of the housing project. Policy implications of the research findings, particularly those related to means of reducing the delays, are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Submicron aerosols (PM) in Beijing were studied using an Aerodyne aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS) from January to October 2008. This paper presents seasonal variations of different chemical components (sulfate, nitrate, ammonium, chloride and organics) and size distributions of PM. Results show that mass concentration of PM was highest in summer, and lowest in autumn. Organics represented the dominant species in all seasons, accounting for 36%-58% of PM, and their concentrations were highest in winter. Concentrations of inorganic components, sulfate, nitrate, and ammonium were highest in summer. Based on principal component analysis, organics were deconvolved and quantified as hydrocarbon-like and oxygenated organic aerosol (HOA and OOA, respectively). HOA was highest in winter, accounting for about 70% of organics. However, OOA was highest in summer, and had lower values in autumn and winter. A similar diurnal pattern of various components was observed, which is higher at nighttime and lower during daytime. HOA increased more dramatically than other species between 17:00 and 21:00 and peaked at noon, which could be related to cooking emissions. OOA, sulfate, nitrate, ammonium and chloride varied with the same trend. Their concentrations increased with solar radiation from 9:00 to 13:00, and declined with weakening solar radiation. Size distributions of all species showed apparent peaks in the range 500-600 nm. Size distributions of organics were much broader than other species, particularly in autumn and winter. Distributions of sulfate, nitrate and ammonium had similar patterns, broadening in winter. Contributions of different species were size-dependent; the finer the particle, the greater the contribution of organics. Organics represented more than 60% of particles smaller than 200 nm, contributing 50% to PM in winter. In spring and summer, HOA was the dominant organic fraction for particles smaller than 200 nm, while OOA contributed more to particles larger than 300 nm. In winter, HOA contributed more than OOA to all PM particles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using datasets on high-tech industries in Beijing as empirical studies, this paper attempts to interpret spatial shift of high-tech manufacturing firms and to examine the main determinants that have had the greatest effect on this spatial evolution. We aimed at merging these two aspects by using firm level databases in 1996 and 2010. To explain spatial change of the high-tech firms in Beijing, the Kernel density estimation method was used for hotspot analysis and detection by comparing their locations in 1996 and 2010, through which spatial features and their temporal changes could be approximately plotted. Furthermore, to provide quantitative results, Ripley's K-function was used as an instrument to reveal spatial shift and the dispersion distance of high-tech manufacturing firms in Beijing. By employing a negative binominal regression model, we evaluated the main determinants that have significantly affected the spatial evolution of high-tech manufacturing firms and compared differential influence of these locational factors on overall high-tech firms and each sub-sectors. The empirical analysis shows that high-tech industries in Beijing, in general, have evident agglomeration characteristics, and that the hotspot has shifted from the central city to suburban areas. In combination with the Ripley index, this study concludes that high-tech firms are now more scattered in metropolitan areas of Beijing as compared with 1996. The results of regression model indicate that the firms' locational decisions are significantly influenced by the spatial planning and regulation policies of the municipal government. In addition, market processes involving transportation accessibility and agglomeration economy have been found to be important in explaining the dynamics of locational variation of high-tech manufacturing firms in Beijing. Research into how markets and the government interact to determine the location of high-tech manufacturing production will be helpful for policymakers to enact effective policies toward a more efficient urban spatial structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Taking Beijing as a case study, this paper analyses new trends in peri-urbanisation and the city’s planning responses after 2000 in China. The results of the analysis show that the percentage of temporary migrant residents continues to grow in the peri-urban region and the social inequalities in relation to quality of life between local people and migrants have increased there. In particular, there is a concentration of thousands of young and well-educated migrants in the peri-urban region, resulting in a new kind of urban slum. Sprawling development still dominates Beijing’s fringe. New planning policies related to an urban–rural integration strategy have played a positive role in improving living conditions in rural areas and reducing the social and economic gaps between urban and rural areas in the peri-urban region. However, planning in the peri-urban region is still facing new challenges due to vertically and horizontally fragmented management, growing market forces, and social discrimination caused by the remnants of the hukou mechanism. This suggests that it will not be easy to achieve the planning goal of urban–rural integration and harmony society unless further actions are taken to enhance political capacity of planning system in Beijing. The capacity-building of planning should be facilitated if institutional innovations can be made in arrangements of power, rights, public resources, accountability, and legitimacy in the planning system. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper contributes to the study of planning for low-carbon cities by providing empirical evidence on the relationship between planning parameters (i.e., density, land use mix, accessibility to public transportation and jobs-housing balance) and household carbon emission in Beijing, China. Five neighborhoods representing different levels of carbon emission are selected using a household survey dataset that includes 1227 sample households; these neighborhoods are analyzed using the survey dataset together with land use data provided by the Beijing Municipal Urban Planning Commission. Findings confirm that higher population density, mixed land-use patterns, better accessibility to public transportation, and job-housing balance are important planning parameters that reduce household carbon emission in Beijing. This research provides the first empirical evidence from a large Asian city that can assist planners and policy makers in estimating the impact that planning principles can have on reducing household carbon emission. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

As responses to metropolitan suburbanization and rural urbanization, the formation and evolution of urban fringes should be understood against the background of overall economic development and spatial reconstruction of entire metropolises. At the same time, however, endogenous interactions between industrial structure and spatial patterns of non-agricultural activities are also worthy of scholarly attention. Since the 1980s, studies on urban fringes in China have been restricted by the lack of micro-level data. This paper investigates the spatial expansion and structural evolution of the urban fringe by taking the case of Beijing and uses systematic firm-level data in 1996 and 2001 from the National Census of Basic Units. The diversity of distribution patterns across industrial sectors brings about two interrelated results. On the one hand, structural adjustment of non-agricultural industries promotes the expansion and spatial evolution of the urban fringe. On the other hand, the stability and dynamics of industrial structure coexist in the moving urban fringe. This study also reveals that the outward-moving urban fringe is the optimal location for manufacturing, especially heavy manufacturing, as well as traditional producer and consumer services. However, industries with spatial stickiness such as tourism and sports have not moved with the fringe. Most advanced services remain concentrated in the city center. The authors argue that it is essential for understanding and managing urban fringes to take into account spatial evolution and industrial structural adjustment together with their interaction with each other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: An identification of economic clusters and analysing their changing spatial patterns is important for understanding urban economic space dynamics. Previous studies, however, suffer from limitations as a consequence of using fixed geographically areas and not combining functional and spatial dynamics. The paper presents an approach, based on local spatial statistics and the case of Beijing to understand the spatial clustering of industries that are functionally interconnected by common or complementary patterns of demand or supply relations. Using register data of business establishments, it identifies economic clusters and analyses their pattern based on postcodes at different time slices during the period 1983–2002. The study shows how the advanced services occupy the urban centre and key sub centres. The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) cluster is mainly concentrated in the north part of the city and circles the urban centre, and the main manufacturing clusters are evolved in the key sub centers. This type of outcomes improves understanding of urban-economic dynamics, which can support spatial and economic planning. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Urbanization involves the replacement of vegetated surfaces with impervious built surfaces, and it often results in an increase in the rate and volume of rainwater surface runoff. Urban green spaces play a positive role in rainwater-runoff reduction. However, few studies have explored the benefits of rainwater-runoff reduction by urban green spaces. Based on inventory data of urban green spaces in Beijing, the paper evaluated the economic benefits of rainwater-runoff reduction by urban green spaces, using the rainwater-runoff-coefficient method as well as the economic valuation methods. The results showed that, 2494 cubic meters of potential runoff was reduced per hectare of green area and a total volume of 154 million cubic meters rainwater was stored in these urban green spaces, which almost corresponds to the annual water needs of the urban ecological landscape in Beijing. The total economic benefit was 1.34 billion RMB in 2009 (RMB: Chinese currency, US$1=RMB6.83), which is equivalent to three-quarters of the maintenance cost of Beijing’s green spaces; the value of rainwater-runoff reduction was 21.77 thousand RMB per hectare. In addition, the benefits in different districts and counties were ranked in the same order as urban green areas, and the average benefits per hectare of green space showed different trends, which may be related to the impervious surface index in different regions. This research will contribute to an understanding of the role that Beijing’s green spaces play in rainwater regulation and in the creation and scientific management of urban green spaces. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this paper we propose an approach to identify the spatial policy parameters (termed the implementation intensity reflecting planning controls on corresponding spatial constraint) associated with a predefined alternative plan, namely, a predefined-binary urban form. During plan implementation, the alternative plan cannot be fully realized in some cases due to practical urban growth driven by both institutional forces and market incentives, which are comprehensive and complex. Few researchers have investigated spatial policies appropriate for an alternative plan. We aim to propose a novel approach incorporating constrained cellular automata and regionalized sensitivity analysis, a method for global sensitivity analysis to calculate the realization possibility and identify the spatial policy parameters for an alternative plan. This approach is first tested in a virtual space with four predefined urban forms and various point, line, and polygon spatial constraints, with both positive and negative impacts on urban growth. Finally, the approach is also tested in the Beijing Metropolitan Area to identify the required spatial policy parameters for four alternative plans with seven spatial constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: To improve the air quality during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the Beijing Municipal Government enforced a series of emission control measures. This provided a valuable case study to evaluate the effectiveness of these aggressive measures on mitigating air pollution and improving the atmospheric environment. In this paper, we report the first results of the chemical and Sr isotopic compositions of the rainwater in Beijing during the 2008 Olympic year. The ionic composition of samples show that Ca2+ and NH4 + were the dominant cations, accounting for about 76–97% of the total cations, and that SO4 2− and NO3 − were the major anions, accounting for 61–91% of the total anions measured. Using Na as the indicator of marine origin and Al as that of terrestrial inputs, the proportions of sea salt and terrestrial elements were estimated from elemental ratios. The calculated results indicate that the major chemical components were mainly of non-sea-salt origin. Good correlation between Ca2+ and Sr2+ (R 2 =0.85) in rainwater samples indicates the potential of Sr as a provenance tracer for Ca. Sr2+ concentrations in rainwater samples ranged from 0.01 to 2.87μmoll−1, with 87Sr/86Sr ratios from 0.7092 to 0.7109. All of the samples had a 87Sr/86Sr ratio higher than that of seawater. The 87Sr/86Sr isotopic and elemental ratio systems show that the data set of rainwater was mainly distributed between the seawater end-member (~0.70917) and the soil dust end-member (0.7111–0.7115), and the analysis indicate that the effect of anthropogenic inputs could decrease in 2008. Comparisons of the chemical composition of the rainwater in different periods show that all chemical components, except NH4 +, had the lowest concentration levels during the Olympic Game period. The VWM concentrations of major ions in the rainwater decreased significantly during the Olympic period by up to 29% for SO4 2−, 39% for NO3 −, 38% for Ca2+, 51% for Mg2+, 57% for K+, and 44% for Na+, compared with the pre-control period. The concentrations of almost all species decreased during the 2008 Olympics, most likely due to both strict emission controls and favorable meteorological conditions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper reports results from comparative studies of residents and businesses in Shi Cha Hai Hutong, Beijing, for 2006 and 2008. The study illustrates the speed and scale of tourism development in China and is based on the global literature describing social, economic, environmental and cultural impacts of tourism as well as place attachment and identity. The 2006 sample comprised 400 residents, while the 2008 sample had 352; in both years, approximately 40 business managers and owners were interviewed. Results show that while businesses welcome tourism, residents are more ambiguous in their response patterns, which are characterized by “desirable” response sets, to some extent an unwillingness to criticize planning authorities and a sense that many respondents have little say in planning processes. Nonetheless, contrary to Doxey's Irridex model, the passing of time brings greater tolerance of tourism – a conclusion based in part on findings derived from a cluster analysis. It is noted that other factors also impinge on the Hutong, including a process of gentrification. Two key suggestions emerge, namely (1) city-based tourism research can be more closely linked with that of urban planning, and (2) processes of urban gentrification must be incorporated into the Butler model of destination evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) aerosol optical depth (AOD) and almucantar retrievals (single scattering albedo (SSA) and aerosol size distribution) from 2005–2009 in Beijing and Kanpur are used to analyze differences and similarities in aerosol optical properties over these two regions. The examination of monthly mean AOD (440 nm) shows that maximum and minimum values occurred in summer and winter, respectively, for Beijing, while the range in AOD in Kanpur was lower. Precipitation in both Beijing and Kanpur peaked in summer; however, the columnar water vapor (CWV) exhibited a high correlation with AOD in Beijing (R 2 = 0.79) but had a weak relationship with AOD in Kanpur (R 2 = 0.13). The Angstrom exponent (α, 440–870 nm) generally increased linearly as the fine mode fraction (FMF) of AOD (500 nm) increased for FMF < 90% in both regions, with a high correlation of R 2 > 0.96. However a clear decrease in α for FMF > 90% found in Beijing is not shown distinctly in Kanpur, and is mainly due to the higher aerosol loading in this FMF bin at Beijing (AOD at 440 nm > 2.2) which results in a stronger coagulation of fine mode particles. Bimodal seasonally-averaged size distributions reveals similar aerosol mixtures composed of fine pollution particles and coarse dust particles in both regions. The analysis of spectral SSA as a function of α is emphasized in this paper. The average SSA at 440 nm in both regions shows a similar low dynamic range of ∼0.03 for α < 1.4. The obvious increase in SSA at 440 nm for α > 1.4 in both regions can be attributed to a higher FMF leading to fine mode coagulation. However, the distinctly smaller increase in Kanpur suggests that fine mode aerosols at Beijing are less absorbing than those at Kanpur. The visibly lower SSA at 675 nm at Kanpur compared to that at Beijing for α > 0.4 is due to a larger find-coarse mode separation radius of ∼0.76 μm in Beijing versus a value lower than ∼0.58 μm in Kanpur. Another reason lies in the weaker absorption by fine mode aerosols in Beijing. The distinctly lower near-infrared SSA in Kanpur when α < 1.4, compared to Beijing, may be attributed to lower aerosol concentrations in all α bins, resulting in less aggregation of absorbing black carbon particles on coarse particles in Kanpur. The classification of aerosol properties shows that the AOD accumulation mode in all seasons, even including spring, in Beijing and in post-monsoon and winter seasons in Kanpur can be attributed to fine particle coagulation or hygroscopic growth; during pre-monsoon and monsoon seasons in Kanpur, it is due to coarse mode particle accumulation or cloud contamination. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Based on multi-source data, this paper evaluated the economic value of ecological services in the Yeyahu Wetland Nature Reserve, Beijing, China. The ecological services of wetland included gas regulation, water quality improvement, biodiversity maintenance, erosion control, water supply, recreational opportunity, raw material supply and existence value. Multiple conventional evaluation methods were used to calculate the value of eight wetland services. The results showed that significant values came from biodiversity maintenance and recreational opportunity. The main reasons were as follows. Firstly, Yeyahu Wetland Nature Reserve was the habitat for migrant birds, and government had payed more efforts to protect precious birds. Secondly, the population is large in Beijing. People enjoyed going outside and enjoyed the natural and artificial wetland scenes. At the same time, most people were prepared to pay for wetland conservation. The decline of vegetation cover made the economic value of erosion control the lowest. While the shrink of water resource and the deteriorative water quality caused the economic value of water supply lower. The evaluation results could help decision-makers understand the present status of the Yeyahu Wetland Nature Reserve and provide a scientific basis for strategic decision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]