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This book examines the process, policies, and politics of urban development in China, with particular attention to city region governance, urban redevelopment, and urban–rural interaction through intensive theoretical discussions and extensive case studies. It offers ample data, pictures, and illustrations to provide readers with a deep understanding of urban policies and policies in China. The regional and metropolitan perspective is emphasized to analyze the urban–rural transition and how it affects urban governance. This book develops a well-grounded political economy analysis to examine how city region development and governance evolve in China. Such development is the focal point of China's continuing urbanization, and its impact needs to be carefully analyzed. In the end, this book aims to foster discussions that may lead to serious consideration on China's future urbanization route.

There is little question today that processes of globalization affect national and local economies, governance processes, and conditions for economic competitiveness in the major urban regions of the world. In most liberal-democratic countries, these processes are occurring according to a rationale which attempts to combine strategies of state-supported development with increasing local-regional governmental decentralization and autonomy. Against this background, the issue of metropolitan development is being redefined worldwide, along with its institutional frameworks, modes of governance, policy instruments, and spatial planning strategies. The overarching assumption of this volume is that ‘metropolitan space', far from being consolidated as a policy object, is currently being redefined and in some instances ‘constructed'and contested as a scale, through a variety of policy practices related to spatial-economic development objectives. Through case studies drawn from across four continents, the authors reveal a range of interesting cross-national commonalities concerning the power that state actors, situated at various spatial scales, exert as agents in these processes. This volume interrogates key research issues raised by these developments, and is intended as a contribution to the establishment of a globally comparative analysis of the construction of metropolitan spaces and scales under conditions of globalization and neoliberalization.

This edited collection examines seminal changes and major policy challenges in metropolitan governance in Asia and the Pacific Rim that are being faced by governments (national and sub-national) and their polities. The book builds upon the work of the largest stream at the Urban Affairs Association's (UAA) Annual Conference (Urban Issues in Asia and the Pacific Rim) – specifically, the chapters arose from presentations at the 2016 UAA Annual Conference in San Diego and ensuing discussions and debates. The book is framed by three over-arching narratives:•the increased importance (economic, political and cultural) of the Asian region within strategic discussions of planetary urbanism and the problematisation of the concept of the Asian region as an element of these discussions•the challenges engendered by the rapid pace of development (again, economic, political and cultural) and the endorsement, tacit or otherwise, of developmentalism in many of the polities under consideration•the increased salience of metropolitan and urban areas, vis-à-vis other levels of governance (national; local; supra-national), particularly how it is seen as key in addressing these challenges.

This book explores the process of urbanization and the profound challenges to China's urban governance. Economic productivity continues to rise, with increasingly uneven distribution of prosperity and accumulation of wealth. The emergence of individual autonomy including demands for more freedom and participation in the governing process has asked for a change of the traditional top-down control system. The vertical devolution between the central and local states and horizontal competition among local governments produced an uneasy political dynamics in Chinese cities. Many existing publications analyze the urban transformation in China but few focuses on the governance challenges. It is critical to investigate China's urbanization, paying special attention to its challenges to urban governance. This edited volume fills this gap by organizing ten chapters of distinctive urban development and governance issues.

The proceedings of the International Congress (c) include about 120 papers selected out of 160 papers submitted for presentations at APCF/SIF-2014, to be held in Sydney, Australia, December 9-12, 2014, and uniting the Asian-Pacific Conference on Fracture and Strength 2014 (APCFS-2014) with the International Conference on Structural Integrity and Failure (SIF-2014). The congress will be hosted by The University of Sydney and co-organized by Australia Fracture Group (AFG), the Chinese Mechanical Engineering Society, Materials Institution (CMES-MI), the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers, Materials and Fracture Division (KSME-MFD) and The Japanese Society of Mechanical Engineers, Materials and Mechanics Division (JSME-MMD). The congress follows the series of the previous very successful APCF and SIF international forums, in particular, APCFS 2012, Busan and the 8th SIF, Melbourne, 2013. - Characterisations of complex mechanisms of damage accumulation and failure - Application of new multi-scale modelling approaches in problems associated with structural integrity - Development of more accurate technologies for structural damage assessment

Lamb waves are guided waves that propagate in thin plate or shell structures. There has been a clear increase of interest in using Lamb waves for identifying structural damage, entailing intensive research and development in this field over the past two decades. Now on the verge of maturity for diverse engineering applications, this emerging technique serves as an encouraging candidate for facilitating continuous and automated surveillance of the integrity of engineering structures in a cost-effective manner. In comparison with conventional nondestructive evaluation techniques such as ultrasonic scanning and radiography which have been well developed over half a century, damage identification using Lamb waves is in a stage of burgeoning development, presenting a number of technical challenges in application that need to be addressed and circumvented. It is these two aspects that have encouraged us to write this book, with the intention of consolidating the knowledge and know-how in the field of Lamb-wave-based damage identification, and of promoting widespread attention to mature application of this technique in the practical engineering sphere. This book provides a comprehensive description of key facets of damage identification technique using Lamb waves, based on the authors'knowledge, comprehension and experience, ranging from fundamental theory through case studies to engineering applications.

Employing a uniform, easy-to-use format, Vitamin Analysis for the Health and Food Sciences, Second Edition provides the most current information on the methods of vitamin analysis applicable to foods, supplements, and pharmaceuticals. Highlighting the rapid advancement of vitamin assay methodology, this edition emphasizes the use of improved

Volume is indexed by Thomson Reuters CPCI-S (WoS).This special issue aims to provide up-to-date knowledge and the latest scientific concepts and technological developments in the processing, characterization, testing, mechanics, modeling and applications of a broad range of advanced materials.

Proceedings of the International Workshop on Polymer Blends and Polymer Composites, Sydney, Australia, July 1997