Search

Rural China is experiencing rapid socioeconomic transformations, including suburbanisation and rural gentrification. In this paper, we argue that to understand these processes, we have to take into account the changes in rural land rights. Based on an analysis of a pilot case for China's rural collective commercial construction land (RCCCL) reform policy at the edge of Chengdu City, we demonstrate how state-led rural land reform paves the way for stealthy land dispossession and rural gentrification. Our argument in this paper is threefold. First, given the entrenched collective land use rights of rural villagers in China, state-led land commodification, is a necessary condition for rural gentrification in China. Secondly, the prospect of capital accumulation through rural gentrification motivates entrepreneurial public and private actors to promote such reforms in ways that dispossess rural peasants and peasant collectives of their land (use) rights. Thirdly, the particularities of dispossession through state-led land reform result in particular experiences of displacement and displacement pressure on the side of affected rural communities. Our findings contribute to the decentring of rural gentrification theory, in that they underline the necessity to include the particular histories of land commodification and dispossession in our understanding of rural gentrification in contexts where rural land is partly or wholly shielded from market influences. In the case of China, dynamics of rural gentrification are blurring the rural-urban boundary on three dimensions: political economy (land use governance), material infrastructure (landscape and residential architecture), and socio-cultural practices (rural livelihoods and identity). • Rural land regimes structure peri-urban development in China. • Land commodification is a precondition for rural gentrification in China. • Original villagers are dispossessed and displaced. • Rural gentrification blurs the rural-urban boundary in terms of land use (rights), landscape and social relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The study area is typical, and has instructive and significant. • Compared with RSEI, the useful data of IRSEI for analysis increased by 3.26%. • We use GDP sub-industry spatialization model to represent the urbanization process. • Our study is important to know how urbanization affects the environment. As the fourth pole of China's economic growth, the Chengdu-Chongqing urban agglomeration plays a significant role in reinforcing the ecological barrier in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, and is crucial for ecological and environmental protection strategies. In this paper, Google Earth Engine (GEE) and the MODIS images from 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2022 were utilized to construct the Improved Remote Sensing Ecological Index (IRSEI) to characterize the ecological quality more accurately than RSEI. Additionally, combined with nighttime light remote sensing data, land use data and socio-economic data, the GDP sub-industry spatialization model was utilized to analyze the urbanization process in depth. To dynamically monitor and evaluate the interaction between urbanization and ecological environment quality, a coupling coordination model incorporating the above methods was developed. The results show that (1) The effective information of the IRSEI in ecological quality analysis increased by 3.26% compared to RSEI, and the correlation with each ecological index was higher; (2) The ecological environment quality of the Chengdu-Chongqing urban agglomeration peaked in 2005 and has been declining since then, with the rate of decline gradually slowing down from 2005 to 2022; (3) The GDP sub-industry spatialization model is more suitable for characterizing the scattered villages, and can effectively exhibit the urbanization process. From 2000 to 2022, urbanization was rapidly developed, and the level of core cities such as Chengdu and Chongqing far exceeded those of neighboring cities; (4) The coupling coordination level between IRSEI and GDP spatialization model generally increased, indicating ongoing improvements in the synergy between ecological environment and urbanization in the Chengdu-Chongqing urban agglomeration. This study developed a method for quickly monitoring and assessing the relationship between ecological environment quality and urbanization by using IRSEI and GDP sub-industry spatialization model, and provides scientific analytical methods and data support for monitoring and governing the ecological environment in emerging urban agglomerations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Present a methodology for investigating ring road investment and cordon tolling problems in a congested ring-radial city. • Establish a two-dimensional urban system equilibrium for a ring-radial city. • Develop two social welfare maximization models (a short-sighted decision and a far-sighted decision) to optimize ring road investment and cordon tolling schemes. • Carry out a case study on the city network of Chengdu China. Ring roads, as candidate cordons, provide a convenient condition for implementing cordon tolling schemes. This paper presents a methodology for investigating the ring road investment and cordon tolling problems in a congested ring-radial city. A two-dimensional urban system equilibrium for a ring-radial city is first formulated, in which interrelated equilibria among stakeholders, including the authorities, property developers, households and commuters, are explicitly considered. Two social welfare maximization models for optimizing the ring road investment and cordon tolling schemes, a short-sighted and a far-sighted one, are then proposed. In the short-sighted model, the ring road investment decision is first made, and then the cordon tolling scheme is optimized based on the determined ring road locations as candidate cordons. However, in the far-sighted model, a simultaneous decision of the ring road investment and cordon tolling is made. The proposed models explicitly incorporate the estimation of the intra-area travel. A case study applied to the city network of Chengdu China shows that ring road investment and cordon tolling can reshape the urban spatial structure as a result of the tug-of-war between the dispersion effects due to ring road investment and the concentration effects due to cordon tolling. The far-sighted solution entails building more ring roads than the short-sighted solution, and is closer to the social optimum solution. Whether all ring roads are tolled, or just one, the far-sighted solution yields an appreciably higher welfare gain. The optimal single-cordon tolling scheme performs nearly as well as the optimal multi-cordon tolling scheme in terms of the social welfare. Ignoring the household residential relocation behavior leads to underestimates of total cordon toll revenue and welfare gain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Changes in land-use, caused by rapid urbanization, lead to changes in the supply and demand for ecosystem services. Significant research has been conducted to investigate the impact of changes in the physical supply of ecosystem services on their value. However, quantifying the effects of simultaneous changes in supply and demand on the scarcity value of ecosystem services can provides a more reasonable assessment of ecosystem services, guiding their sustainable use. Therefore, this paper analyzed the changing trend of ecosystem services value in Chengdu in southwestern China from 1995 to 2015 by adjusting the value coefficients with relative changes in scarcity value. Naïve assessment, without considering the supply and demand effect on scarcity value, quantified a decline in the total value of the physical supply of ecosystem services from 1995 to 2015, with a reduction in the areas of cultivated land and woodland. However, the scarcity value of ecosystem services increased from US$ 6.04 billion in 1995 to US$ 12.03 billion (+99.17%) in 2015, when the effects of changes in supply and demand were considered. In addition, the demand for all the public-good ecosystem services increased during the study period, consistenting with Maslow's hierarchy of need and indicating that the demand structure of residents had changed during the process of urbanization. • The value of physical supply of ecosystem services declines along with the development of urbanization. • The scarcity value of ecosystem services has experienced a dramatically increase. • People's demand structure has changed with the increasing value of all the public-good ecosystem services. • The price elasticity of different ecosystem services is a key factor of scarcity value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The urbanization of China is changing from incremental growth to urban intensification, and urban compactness is a significant attribute for measuring the intensified degree of regional space and societal frameworks. We carefully outline the inadequacies of compactness measuring methodologies and associated research, and argue that compact cities and metro systems contribute to urban sustainable development in tandem. Thereby, this paper investigated 27 strategic region of metro stations on Chengdu Metro Line 1 and proposed a novel urban compactness model in three-dimensions. The result demonstrates that the old urban area before the development of the metro system and the new town thereafter have extreme compactness outcomes, resulting in significant contrasts in morphology and intensification indices. This study investigates the correlation and interaction processes among compactness, morphology, and intensive multiple variables in order to give theoretical and practical support for the intensification design of these two regions in Chengdu. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cities are faced with booming populations, limited resources, and intensified pollution. To remain its sustainability and resilience against the varying environment, a city has to tackle the challenges from both the nature and human ourselves. This paper aims at evaluating the sustainability and resilience of cities in terms of their capabilities for maintaining, in face of potential threats in the future. Five subsystems, i.e. economy, environment, population, resource, science & technology are incorporated in the conceptual framework of linked urban sustainability and resilience. Through scenario simulations, we measure the performance of system elements and evaluate the resilience process with water resources trial when disturbance occurs. With Chengdu, China as the case, we have found that: (1) Limited water resources could not meet the basic demand well, and the quality could not be significantly improved till 2035 under the current path, and the modifications could be done with ongoing strategies. (2) Impacts of disturbances could be largely expanded in resource-dependent period, for which improving resource use efficiency and conducting industry structural adjustment could make cities more resilient. (3) The greater the presence of resilience system elements, the more developed the sustainability system. • A dynamic hybrid framework system of urban sustainability and resilience is constructed. • The performance of sustainability system elements is measured through scenario simulations. • Disturbance is introduced in for evaluating urban resilience. • The greater the presence of resilience system elements, the more developed the sustainability system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]