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Our previous study showed that light-emitting diode modulation of the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN), which is the control center of the sympathetic nervous system, might attenuate neuroinflammation in the PVN and prevent ventricular arrhythmias (VAs) after myocardial infarction (MI). Low-intensity focused ultrasound (LIFU) has deeper penetration than does light-emitting diode, while its effect on the PVN has not been reported. This study aimed to explore the effect of LIFU modulation of the PVN on the inducibility of post-MI VAs. Fifty-four Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into acute control (n = 12, 22.22%), acute MI (AMI, n = 12, 22.22%), AMI + LIFU (n = 12, 22.22%), chronic control (n = 6, 11.11%), chronic MI (CMI, n = 6, 11.11%), and CMI + LIFU (n = 6, 11.11%) groups. MI was induced by left anterior artery ligation, and electrocardiographic recording for 0.5 hours after MI and programmed electrophysiological stimulation were used to test the vulnerability of VAs. Peripheral sympathetic neural activity was assessed by measuring left stellate ganglion neural activity. Finally, hearts and brains were extracted for Western blotting and histopathological analysis, respectively. Compared with the AMI group, AMI-induced VAs (P <.05) and left stellate ganglion neural activity (P <.05) were significantly attenuated in the AMI + LIFU group. In addition, LIFU resulted in a significant reduction of microglial activation in the PVN and expression of inflammatory cytokines in the peri-ischemic myocardium. In the CMI + LIFU group, there was no obvious tissue damage in the brain. LIFU modulation of the PVN may prevent the incidence of post-MI VAs by attenuating MI-induced sympathetic neural activation and inflammatory response. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • After nitrite soaking pretreatment, initial denitrifying NO 2 – accumulation emerged. • Longer soaking duration induced higher nitrite accumulating amount. • Nitrite accumulation benefited from soaking at a certain NO 2 – concentration range. • Substrates frequent feed and pH regulation improved denitrifying NO 2 – accumulation. • Further investigation on pretreatment ways for quickly starting PD is encouraged. Partial denitrification (PD) could be another method for obtaining nitrite. However, PD startup takes a long time limiting its investigation and application. This study proposed nitrite soaking as a pretreatment method for starting PD. Results showed that denitrifying nitrite accumulation (4.20 mg/L) emerged after previously soaking by 10 mg/L nitrite for 9 h. When the duration was 6 h, comparing different soaked nitrite concentrations, the highest denitrifying nitrite accumulation amount (4.92 mg/L) was obtained in the 20 mg/L group. Nevertheless, high pH of 9 and frequent feeding could further advantage denitrifying nitrite accumulation. Pretreatment as a disturbance would impel the microbial community to change from complete denitrification towards PD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Urban residential land supply is both driven by and significantly influences urbanisation processes, the optimisation of which are necessary to address housing issues. At present, China's urban housing system has three major problems, namely a shortage of affordable housing, rapidly increasing prices for regular commodity housing, and an under-supply, relative to market demands, of high-end commodity housing, calling into question the effectiveness of existing land supply policies. This paper first reviews policies governing residential land supply and then considers these policies in light of findings from semi-structured interviews conducted with key actors and a survey of households in Hangzhou, a city of more than nine million in eastern China. These analyses show that although the Chinese government has undertaken steps to reform land use allocation and increase housing affordability in its cities, significant opportunities for reform remain in both affordable and commodity housing sectors. Results from this study aid in formulation of a framework for residential land supply and a dynamic model for reform for Chinese governments to undertake to integrate housing provision across a range of household income and housing type classifications. The model demonstrates how reformation of the residential land supply system through improvements to the elasticity of residential land supply, optimisation of land supply for affordable housing, deregulation of land supply for and taxation of high-end commodity housing will significantly ease housing stress within Chinese cities. Finally, international experience indicates that the Chinese government can leverage revenues to acquire or otherwise support construction of additional affordable housing, with the increased volume of activity helping to arrest housing price inflation while achieving socialist ideals. Highlights • Current Chinese national government policies are insufficient to resolve urban housing shortfalls. • Demand for affordable housing far outstrips supply in urban China. • Limits on land allocation for villas increases competition for regular commodity housing. • Competition for regular commodity housing decreases access for moderate-income households. • A dynamic model for integrated housing provision across affordable and commodity sectors is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China is experiencing rapid progress in industrialization and urbanization. Characteristic towns (Tese Xiaozhen) are one of the important drivers for China's urbanization, industrialization and agricultural modernization in the 21st century. Each of the towns has its own characteristics. At present, however, it is unclear for them about (i) what characteristics should be promoted, (ii) how urban land should be planned and (iii) which industry should be focused on. The public infrastructure and services in towns are usually under-developed, compared to cities. This paper first explores the designation of a brand-new type of new towns in China, i.e. “characteristic towns”, to meet the need of the current urbanization in China. The paper focuses on the principles of “agglomeration” and “livability”, in socioeconomic and cultural contexts. This is exemplified by a case study of Zhejiang's version of characteristic towns. The findings suggest that the success of cultivation of towns is closely associated with agglomeration and livability. In the short term, identifying characteristics is the core element in the development. For the longer term, a comprehensive integration of industrial policy and land use policy is needed to ensure continuous capital investment and revenue generation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chinese urbanization has generated great impacts on the world since the reform and opening up. However, urban problems, e.g., environmental pollution, resources shortage, and traffic jam, have been more and more serious for urban management and development. Smart city has been put forward as an effective approach to achieve better urban management recently. Smart city aims to realize the integration of municipal service, business, transportation, water, energy source and other urban sub-systems through close combination of human wisdom and information communication techniques (ICTs). As a result, the link and synergy of information could be ultimately established with ICTs, e.g., internet, internet of things, cloud computing. Yet, few studies have been conducted to systematically link smart city with big data in China. This paper aims to put forward a development framework of smart city with Chinese characteristics against the background of big data. Key actions, including rational planning of city infrastructures, the establishment and improvement of long-acting mechanism, the effective performance of city managerial function, are proposed to realize the development idea. Meanwhile, this paper also investigates the risks embedded in development of smart city with Chinese characteristics, e.g., information safety, weak emergency responding capacity and poor independent research and development capacity of core technology. This study can facilitate Chinese local governments to systematically plan smart city before clinging the hot concept in a rush. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rural collective land system plays an important role in urbanization; however, it hinders the capitalization of rural homesteads. Despite the significance of this system, the existing literature mainly focused on debates on privatization and nationalization of rural homesteads. However, only a few studies have proposed feasible plans for capitalizing fixed assets. To fill this research gap, this study discusses the conflict between market demand and legal limitation of the marketization of rural homesteads. The weaknesses and strengths of radical nationalization and privatization are also comprehensively evaluated. The concept of market-driven nationalization is proposed to overcome the weakness of radical nationalization and privatization while maintaining their strengths as much as possible. Finally, an assessment of the proposed market-driven nationalization is conducted based on an institutional analysis and development (IAD) framework. The key contribution of this study is its investigation into whether radically changing the rural collective land system is appropriate in contemporary China. In addition, this study proposes a potentially feasible path for advancing the capitalization of rural homesteads. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Chinese central government launched two principal campaigns to maintain the quantity and quality of cultivated land across the country and to continuously sustain a growing population. Dynamic balance system and basic farmland zoning focus on protecting the quantity and quality of cultivated lands, respectively. Theoretically, two complementary campaigns can effectively protect the quantity and quality of cultivated land. However, these policies protect the quality of cultivated land minimally. Dynamic balance system replaces basic farmland protection system during implementation by transforming from control planning to development planning. The process increases the conversion of high quality cultivated land into industrial and residential uses, with the supplementary of cultivated land with low quality, thereby reducing the protection on the quality of this land. This study adopts Yiwu City as the study case and analyzes the administration efficiency of dynamic balance system and basic farmland zoning. Evidence suggests that the delimitation of permanent basic farmland is a feasible system arrangement. The central government should deal with the relationships among policies to protect the quantity, quality, and ecosystem of the cultivated land. The government can arrange permanent basic farmland zoning as the core system for cultivated land protection and practice grade protection system on basic farmlands to strictly limit their conversion into construction land, which inevitably weakens the dynamic balance system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since early 2016, the expiration of a part of the land-use rights in China has elicited widespread public concern because of the ambiguous interpretation of relevant legal clauses. Land-finance-based urbanization is the primary fiscal source of Chinese local governments, but it has been considered unsustainable by many scholars. Numerous studies have been conducted on these two issues, but a comprehensive study that combines both issues is needed. This study attempts to analyze the relations between the two concepts from the perspective of demographic change in the following decades. It proposes a compensatory mechanism based on land-use term and property tax to deal with the renewal of land-use term and the unsustainability caused by land finance. Results provide an alternative approach for the local government to realize sustainable urbanization in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marginalization of cultivated land, resulting from rapid urbanization, exists as an important form of land use change, and represents a new research direction in land-use and land-cover change (LUCC). This article proposes a classification of such marginalization on the basis of elasticity of input and income, categorizing marginalization of cultivated land as either policy-induced (PIM), nature-induced (NIM) or economy-induced (EIM) marginalization. These classifications are further explored as either positive or negative marginalization, depending on whether the land is transformed from or into cultivated land. This innovative framework is applied to analyses of marginalization in Lianjiang County, located in southeastern coastal China. This research analyzes characteristics of spatial-temporal evolution of categories of marginalization of cultivated land using 3D kernel density methods. Significant findings point to spatial-temporal processes and driving forces of marginalization, including: (1) Concentrations of positive (P-PIM) and negative (N-PIM) policy-induced marginalization both occur and agglomerate in separate spaces, with the former mainly in the southeastern portion of the county and the latter in the northwest. (2) By contrast, patterns of positive (P-NIM) and negative (N-NIM) nature-induced marginalization complement each other in space - N-NIM tends to be more discrete in areas with P-NIM aggregations, and vice versa. (3) Finally, areas with aggregations of positive (P-EIM) and negative (N-EIM) economy-induced marginalization overlap. The research suggests that relevant land use policies should be formulated in response to these characteristics of cultivated land marginalization so as to address marginalization of cultivated land, especially as associated with rapid urbanization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The planned economy system’s previous form of industrial land market control in China has led to current market failure because of a large amount of industrial land being sold at a very low price, causing extensive overuse of land and negative effects on land management. As the “World Factory”, the Pearl River Delta (PRD) is well known for its rapid urbanization largely driven by Foreign Direct Investment in labor-intensive industries. A low-land price strategy has been commonly adopted by the local government in order to attract industrial investment. In the past decade, the PRD has increasingly faced the increasing competition from its neighboring competition from its neighboring countries in Southeast Asia that have established preference policies to attract FDI and foreign enterprises. Despite a growing body of literature on the internal forces of industrial land in China, little is known of the external forces involved except for the importance of FDI and the intensity of interregional competition between China and other countries in attempting to attract foreign investment. This research fills the knowledge gap by modeling the situation in the form of an international cooperative game model aimed at revealing the industrial land price formation mechanism between the PRD region and Southeast Asian regions. The conditions of industrial land in the area and several Southeast Asian countries are first analyzed for their industrial land price movements in recent years. A game theoretic model is then built that exhibits similar characteristics. The result indicates that the governments’ low land price strategy and the competition between the PRD and its neighboring countries have created unnecessarily high social and environmental costs. Policy suggestions are made to encourage a more appropriate use of industrial land in China, and the most important being the need for a mindset shift from competition towards coopetition between the PRD and Southeast Asian regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land consolidation is considered an effective solution to revitalize rural areas internationally, and a variant, Rural Comprehensive Land Consolidation (RCLC), is widely practiced in China. RCLC is essentially a rural collective action which needs collaborative governance efforts from multiple stakeholders, who mainly are the local government, rural residents and social enterprises. Commonly, RCLC projects are led by the local government and rely on top-down approaches. In such a process, rural interests are often sacrificed due to the relatively weak status of the rural residents. Also, market forces are not motivated enough for low-cost performance of participation. These result in rural stakeholders' resistance and low future development vitality of the areas which implement RCLC. A more effective collaborative mechanism of RCLC is consequently called for. Under the guidance of collaborative governance theory, it is argued that the Rural Collective Organization (RCO) shows potential to provide 'facilitative leadership' to guide the collaboration in RCLC, by playing its multiple roles as a rural interest representative, a grass-roots manager and an independent legal entity in Chinese society. This research proposes a theoretical framework of the potentially optimized RCLC collaborative mechanism which facilitates the collaboration of stakeholders by setting the RCO as the collaborative leader and based on the flexibility of its multiple roles to strengthen bottom-up approaches and invoke multiple forces. A case study is constructed to demonstrate and support this potentially optimized approach. It is shown that the RCO, if flexibly playing its roles in different RCLC affairs, can provide balance between stakeholders and can catalyze stakeholders who may have a low incentive to participate, thus generating innovative outcomes. Based on above observations, we also refine a practice-oriented collaborative model, with prerequisites for its wider application being discussed. • Rural comprehensive land consolidation has been adopted as a main instrument to revitalize rural areas in China. • The rural collective organization plays multiple roles in Chinese rural political, economic and social areas. • The multiple roles of the rural collective organization show potential to facilitate rural comprehensive land consolidation. • Longgang city in China is chosen as a typical empirical case and a collaborative model is refined and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urbanization results in a considerable economic disparity between urban and rural areas in developing countries, which has had a consequent significant impact on CO 2 emissions. To accommodate this directly, this paper presents a modified version of the Kaya Identity formula, U-Kaya, that includes a direct urbanization factor to determine the relationship between energy consumption intensity, population growth, urbanization rates, urban and rural GDP per capita and the volume of carbon emissions, for application in the dynamic forecasting of carbon emissions by Monte Carlo simulation. The method is demonstrated in forecasting China's likely carbon emissions in 2020 by three different modes of urbanization policy: the government-dominant mode, market-dominant mode and a hybrid government market-dominant mode. The results indicate that a higher urbanization rate, energy carbon emission coefficient and energy intensity will lead to increased carbon emissions. Finally, three policy implications are identified, comprising the narrowing of the economic gap between urban and rural areas, adjustments to the energy structure and technical innovation, which will provide a valuable reference for developing countries in their efforts to reduce carbon emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's urbanization and industrialization process is replacing large amounts of farmland, which is strongly driven by the country's land finance regime, with the intensified regional/local competition for manufacturing investment opportunities pushing local governments to expropriate farmland at low prices while leasing land at high market value to property developers. The additional revenue obtained in this way, termed financial increment in land value , can drive local economic growth and provide associated infrastructure and other public services. At the same time, however, a floating population of large numbers of inadequately compensated land-lost farmers, although unable to become citizens, have to migrate into urban areas for work, causing overheated employment and housing markets, with rocketing unaffordable housing prices. This, together with various micro factors relating to the party/state's promotion/evaluation system, plays an essential role leading to serious economic, environment and social consequences, e.g., for migrant welfare, the displacement of peasants and loss of land resources, in need of immediate attention. Our question, therefore, is whether such type of urbanization is sustainable. What are the mechanisms behind China's phenomenal urbanization process? From the perspective of institutionalism, this paper investigates the institutional background of the urban growth dilemma and solutions in urban China by introducing an inter-regional game theoretical framework to indicate why the present urbanization pattern is unsustainable. Looking forward to 2030, major policy changes are made from the triple consideration of the floating population, social security and urban environmental pressures. This involves (1) changing the land increment based finance regime into a land stock finance system, (2) the citizenization of migrant workers with affordable housing and (3) creating a more enlightened local government officer appraisal system to better take into account societal issues such as welfare and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Academic studies on building industry have much to contribute to the mission of sustainable development and yet there has been a lack of proactive engagement with environmentalism in the project-based organizations (PBOs). The embedding of “green” in project-based organization is made particularly problematic due to the increasing conflict between organization-wide change initiatives and emerging cost occurred during daily operation. An independent environmental representative is introduced to develop a new mode of PBOs to help environmental paradigm shift in the construction industry. The paper is a contribution towards an environmental understanding of the project management process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In current practice, urban-rural development has been regarded as one of the key pillars in driving regenerative development that includes economic, social, and environmental balance. In association with rapid urbanization, an important contemporary issue in China is that its rural areas are increasingly lagging behind urban areas in their development and a coordinated provision of public facilities in rural areas is necessary to achieve a better balance. A model is therefore introduced for quantifying the effect of individual infrastructure projects on urban-rural balance (e-UR) by focusing on two attributes, namely, efficiency and equity. The model is demonstrated through a multi-criteria model, developed with data collected from infrastructure projects in Chongqing, with the criteria values for each project being scored by comparing data collected from the project involved with e-UR neutral “benchmark” values derived from a survey of experts in the field. The model helps evaluate the contribution of the projects to improving rural-urban balance and hence enable government decision-makers for the first time to prioritize future projects rigorously in terms of their likely contribution too. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, China has undergone an extremely rapid phase of urbanization, which has caused many acute problems between urban and rural areas. This paper identifies three categories of social, economic and environmental conflict, and investigates their significance according to the views of two different populations using a questionnaire survey and interviews. Using fuzzy set theory, the key causes of urban-rural conflict related to urbanization in China are identified. The differences in urban and rural people's perceptions of these key factors are discussed and the factors underlying these perceptions are analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Land Administration Domain Model (LADM), an international standard (ISO 19152:2012), provides a conceptual data model for land administration. This study applies the LADM model to a previously unexplored case: the administration of homestead lands (residential lands) in rural China. In China, rural homestead tenures have been altered through several iterations since 1949, variously serving economic development, political governance and social security objectives. An intended contemporary reform of the homestead tenure system is based upon: (1) collective ownership by local communities; (2) qualification rights, a kind of personal servitude to safeguard the social security of individual community members; and (3) use rights, usufructuary interests offering management options to promote economic development. This work shows it is possible to translate this tripartite entitlement reform of rural homesteads into an LADM profile, with rights, persons, and land forming the base components. Four (sub) packages are formed, namely, Party, Administrative, Spatial Unit and Surveying and Representation. The work finds the LADM-based model, applied to the administration of China's rural homesteads, could facilitate the land tenure reform of rural homesteads, enable interoperability with other aspects of land administration, and could support national responses to those Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) relating to poverty eradication, rural revitalization and intensive land use. • The evolution of rural homestead property system since the foundation of People's Republic of China is summarized. • The existing rural homestead rights structure after the tripartite entitlement reform is discussed. • An LADM-based rural homestead administration system for facilitating land tenure reform is developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between metropolitan scale expansion and land use intensity has been a hot research topic in Mainland China in the recent years. Even though many scholars have already discussed this topic from a theoretical standpoint, unfortunately, empirical research in this regard has been woefully lacking. In light of this, this study proffers an empirical investigation of 120 major Chinese cities in 2009, by first establishing an urban land use intensity index by means of a principal component analysis, followed by the application of the structural equation model (SEM) to verify said relationship. The findings show that urban land use intensity has both positive and negative effects on urban scale. In particular, while the agglomerate effect of land and capital is positive, the substitution effect between them is negative. The findings of this study particularly address the coupling relationship of urban scale and land use intensity in Mainland China. The results imply that when the levels of non-land factors rise, urban land use intensity will improve. In other words, following the implementation of the new urbanization policy in China, and the ever-growing significance of the dynamic agglomeration effect, there is a positive coupling relationship between urban scale and land use intensity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban and rural areas are two different yet coexisting systems. Developing countries such as China have been undergoing a rapid urbanization process. However, urbanization often causes competition for land resources between urban and rural areas, and such competition can result in conflicts between the two systems. To identify the risk factors of urban-rural conflict, this paper utilizes a research framework including content analysis, brainstorming and semi-structured interviews. The results indicated that the main risk factors between urban and rural areas comprise conflicts in property, resources and development. Suggestions are proposed to reduce the conflicts occurring between urban and rural areas during the urbanization process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] We model a dynamic game demonstrating the price war in industrial land transfer. [•] Inter-regional competition has resulted in low industrial land price strategy. [•] The low industrial land price policy results in urban sprawl. [•] To establish a cooperative partnership between the inter-regions is necessary. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Since China's economic reforms began in 1978, rural–urban migration has accelerated urban growth and the consequential need for regional planning. In order to make effective strategic decisions on regional planning, it is essential to identify the determinants that promote or restrain urban growth. Based on the theoretical underpinnings of classical economics, spatial economics and sustainable development, this paper establishes a theoretical model of urban population growth and uses a case study of China's Guangdong Province to test a hypothesis. The driving force of urban population growth is derived from natural and mechanical increases that include original urban size, living environment, industrial agglomeration, and location. Regression results from the case study reveal that during the period 2000–2010, factor of dominant industry significantly and consistently impacted urban growth, whereas the influence of living conditions and location on urban growth varied from year to year. These findings imply that local government pays less attention to residents' livelihood and more to the effect of location on urban growth. The paper concludes by proposing some regional planning policies for sustainable development. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Environmental impacts from construction waste have been increasingly becoming a major issue in urban management, particularly in the densely populated regions, such as Hong Kong. This paper presents the current practices of using low waste technologies (LWT) for design and construction in terms of their implementation level and barriers in application on site. Through two practical cases and the semi-structured interviews, the research presents discussions on of the major low waste technologies that have been adopted and the implementation extent of these LWTs in both design and construction stages. The study provides recommendations for improving the use of LWT, including the corresponding technology instruments and the government may develop and implement. The research result can help understand the current situation in applying LWT in design and construction and the findings are expected to assist the decision makers to formulate a set of design and technology toolkit for improving construction waste management. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: China has experienced an extraordinary level of economic development since the 1990s, following excessive competition between different regions. This has resulted in many resource and environmental problems. Land resources, for example, are either abused or wasted in many regions. The strategy of development priority zoning (DPZ), proposed by the Chinese National 11th Five-Year Plan, provides an opportunity to solve these problems by coordinating regional development and protection. In line with the rational utilization of land, it is proposed that the DPZ strategy should be integrated with regional land use policy. As there has been little research to date on this issue, this paper introduces a system dynamic (SD) model for assessing land use change in China led by the DPZ strategy. Land use is characterized by the prioritisation of land development, land utilization, land harness and land protection (D-U-H-P). By using the Delphi method, a corresponding suitable prioritisation of D-U-H-P for the four types of development priority zones, including optimized development zones (ODZ), key development zones (KDZ), restricted development zones (RDZ), and forbidden development zones (FDZ) are identified. Suichang County is used as a case study in which to conduct the simulation of land use change under the RDZ strategy. The findings enable a conceptualization of DPZ-led land use change and the identification of further implications for land use planning generally. The SD model also provides a potential tool for local government to combine DPZ strategy at the national level with land use planning at the local level. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The rapid urbanization has led to extensive land use change particularly in those developing countries. In line with the development of urbanization, arable land is decreasing dramatically, which presents the threat to the food security for human being. It is therefore essential to understand the level of impacts of urbanization on the land use change. This paper introduces a dynamic systems based method for assessing the impacts of urbanization policy on land use change with reference to the urbanization practice in China. Four typical policy scenarios are identified in implementing urbanization in China, including balanced development driven by planning, uneven development driven by planning, balanced development driven by market and uneven development driven by market and their impacts on land use change are analyzed through a dynamic system model. Land use change is considered as a dynamic system model composing five subsystems: urbanization, social, economic, environmental and land use subsystems. The key attributes in these five subsystems are interactive and they are dynamic variables. The assessment on the impacts of urbanization policy to land use change is demonstrated through employing the software iThink to the land use change dynamic model, using the data collected from the Jinyun County in China. The findings suggest that the urban construction land will continue to increase in the foreseeable future in China, whilst the agricultural land will gradually decrease. Nevertheless, different policy scenarios will have different impacts on these land changes. Thus decision makers can adopt different policies to control the rate of land use change. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The urban land use involves more severe sustainability challenges than agricultural land use. An effective approach for evaluating urban land use is essential for meeting this challenge to improve efficient land use management. This approach must fit into a coherent conceptual and analytical framework covering different aspects, including social, economic, environmental and rational land use structure. A major problem with this is the lack of the evaluation approach for objectively evaluating the sustainability of urban land use in practice. In this paper, an evaluation system for the sustainability of urban land use (ESULU) is presented aimed at rectifying this situation. This is based on 13 indicators drawn from previous literatures in consultation with a group of experts in this field. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is applied to assist in identifying the major factors for evaluating the sustainability of urban land use. Examination of the results provides a grouping analysis of the capital cities and municipalities, indicating a general disproportion between coastal and interior urban cities in China. The findings lead to further suggestions and recommendations for central and local government to design relevant policy in achieving the sustainable development of urban land use and planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Underground space is extremely important for the compact and spatial intensive development of cities in the world. The gap of underground space between developing countries and developed countries comes from the immaturity of the market and institutional environment, which leads to an urgent demand for new urban governance theories to guide practice. Governments often pay attention to safety, while the market is business-oriented and focuses on commercial value which leads to a trade-off between them. This paper explores the safety and commerciality from the viewpoint of urban governance theory, and uses case studies of three underground space projects in Hangzhou, China, finds that the logic behind safety and commerciality choices is actually the logical relationship between the government and the market. It is concluded that a logical conversion from complete government-led to market-oriented and government-assisted is needed to resolve the imbalance between safety and commerciality. This paper criticizes the shortcomings of traditional planning theories on urban governance and subject research, incorporates the system and time dimensions into the framework of urban governance theory, and proposes a multiple governance mechanism which can integrate safety and commerciality as a means of maximizing socio-economic benefits. • This paper reviews the irreconcilability of security and commerciality of underground space. • The paper uses case studies and examines three underground space projects in Hangzhou. • It is found that the logic behind security and commerciality choices is actually the logical relationship between the government and the market. • It is concluded that a logical conversion from complete government-led to market-oriented and government-assisted is needed to resolve the imbalance between security and commerciality. • propose a multiple governance mechanism which can integrate safety and commerciality as a means of maximizing socio-economic benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land use planning has become an important topic for research in China and a critical public management means to restrain and regulate land use behavior. China's current land use planning can be divided into different levels of planning, that is, national planning and local planning. The central government designs land use planning that emphasizes control and longer-term goals; whilst local governments tend to have shorter planning time scales and more market-oriented goals. This government-led type of planning system often caused mismatches between supply and demand and planning failures. This is a challenge facing researchers and policy makers in China at all levels. In this paper we propose the use of nudges as a new approach of government interventions to tackle this problem. We develop a theoretical framework to embed nudges in land use planning, and use Zhejiang Province as a case study to demonstrate the empirical implementation of the framework. We argue that nudge-based government interventions are efficient and effective alternatives for conventional, direct administrative orders. It facilitates decisions that can both improve private welfare and protect public interests; it strikes a balance between government interventions and market forces while still preserves the freedom of choices. It is a promising direction for the research and practice of land use policy in China and beyond. • Land use planning that emphasizes rigid control is difficult to adapt to the market demand for land. • Nudge has become a new method of public management reform. • The paper proposes a theoretical framework embedded with nudges. • The framework combines government interventions and market forces effectively. • The aim is to promote the balance between long-term planning and short-term planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Governance has recently been recognized as a crucial factor in sustainable urbanization. China, as a developing nation experiencing rapid urbanization, is facing governance challenges in urbanization due to changing socio-economic environment. However, the existing hierarchical governance mechanisms of urbanization, characterized by centralized decision-making, soft cost constraints and distorted incentives, makes it difficult to adapt to transition to sustainable urbanization. Thus, the development of governance mechanisms and capacities that are aligned with the urbanization transformation is a significant theoretical and practical issue in China. Nevertheless, the micro transformation mechanism of urbanization governance in China has not been analyzed systematically. In Chengdu, a town recently explored a contract-based governance mechanisms in urbanization that uses contracts as a means to encourage collaboration among various stakeholders in the urban construction and operation. This practice provides a new viewpoint on urbanization transformation. To explain its effectiveness and feasibility, the article develops a framework of "property rights-governance-performance". The results indicate that contract-based governance mechanisms, characterized by negotiated decision-making, cost constraints, value creation and benefit sharing, performs better than hierarchical governance mechanisms in governing urbanization. The transformation from hierarchical to contract-based governance mechanisms enhances the understanding of stakeholder interactions and contractual issues in urban governance, while also providing insights into the urbanization transition. • Urbanization governance mechanisms aligned with the urbanization stage is crucial to achieve sustainable urbanization. • A comparative analytical framework and case study approach are used to explain the effectiveness of contract-based governance mechanisms. • Contracts facilitate property rights transactions, integrate resources and interests, and promote collaboration. • The effectiveness of contract-based governance mechanisms lies in negotiated decision-making, cost constraints, added-value creation and benefit sharing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the negative image of public housing projects, housing policies globally tend to shift from government-led to market-led, from project-based subsidies to household-based subsidies. What theories does the Chinese government rely on to launch a large number of public housing construction projects since the beginning of 21th Century? In the past decades, what kind of impact has the supply of public housing produced on urban development? From the perspective of urban inclusive growth, a discussion on the impact of public housing supply policy is not sufficient to fully analyze this diversity. Therefore, this paper includes theoretical and empirical research to explore the association between the supply of public housing and urban inclusive growth in China. A data-driven method is adopted that provides analysis of China's socio-economic situation. Based on nationwide observations, the structural equation model is applied in testing the impact of public housing supply on urban inclusive growth. The results run counter to the stereotype and indicate that, at this stage, increasing the supply of public housing not only contributes to urban social integration, but also does not hinder urban economic growth. This study shares the Chinese experience of the impact of public housing supply on urban inclusive growth, and provides support for the urban development model based on inclusive growth theory. • An empirical study is conducted from both the economic growth and social integration perspectives. • Increasing the supply of public housing does not hinder urban economic growth. • The quantity of public housing supply has the greatest impact on urban inclusive growth. • Provides support for the urban development model based on inclusive growth theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Incorporation of two or more types of metallic atoms into carbon matrix is of particular interest in the fabrication of high performance electrode materials. This normally requires complex synthetic routes or intricate post-processing process. Moreover, the composition and morphology of the resultant carbon materials are uncontrollable. Herein, we show the first time that a bimetal ions (Sn4+ and Fe3+) etching method based on Kirkendall effect can transform boronate polymer assemblies into metallosupramolecular polymer hollow spheres, which can be carbonized into carbon shells comprising FeSn 2 alloy. The carbon shells display evidently improved activity towards oxygen reduction reaction with onset potential 0.94 V and half-wave potential 0.84 V vs. RHE, which are comparable to that of Pt/C. The as formed FeSn 2 alloy in the carbon matrix possesses characteristics of rich in electrons, excellent conductivity and high chemical activity. Our supramolecular approach is simple, and able to control both the composition and morphology of the carbon materials, which may afford a new strategy for the design of higher performance electrochemical catalysts. The well-designed carbon material co-doped with FeSn 2 alloy species accompanied with well ORR activity. Image 1 • Metallosupramolecular polymer precursors with hollow structure are prepared. • Carbon shells with FeSn 2 incorporated alloy in the matrix are fabricated. • The carbon shells show evidently improved catalytic activity towards ORR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This paper reviews the history of indemnificatory housing development and explores its effectiveness. • An optimization-based framework for housing subsidy system that focusing on housing voucher is designed. • We provide an effective alternative housing subsidy policy which can facilitate the settling down of migrants in cities. • Capitation grant, occasion for implementation and cost estimation are important elements in housing subsidy system. Rapid urbanization has transformed cities by improving the quality and quantity of production factors, such as population, land, and capital gain optimization. However, housing problems of the floating population (liudong renkou) have seriously increased during the urbanization process. This study reviews the history of indemnificatory housing development in China and explore its effectiveness in the context of sustainable urbanization. Difficulties in the housing subsidy policy are identified, and an optimization-based framework for housing subsidy system that focusing on housing voucher is designed with the consideration of capitation grant, occasion for implementation, cost estimation, implementation procedure, and supplementary policy. The appropriateness of the housing voucher policy was tested on Zhejiang Province, and expert interview was conducted to evaluate the proposed housing subsidy system. This study provides an effective alternative housing subsidy policy which can facilitate the settling down of floating population in cities and also contribute to sustainable urbanization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The evolution process of farmland right system since the foundation of new China is summarized. • The existing farmland right system after the tripartite entitlement reform is proposed. • An LADM-based farmland administration system is developed. • Some instance level diagrams for farmland administration activities is developed. Since the beginning of the 21st century, China has undergone a promotion of industrialisation, urbanisation and agricultural modernisation. This promotion has triggered the mass migration of rural labour forces into cities, leading to the virtual situation of the separation of farmland contract and operation rights. To respond to this issue, the central government proposed a strategy of farmland reform in China. Such reform aims to transform the former 'Bipartite Entitlement System' into a 'Tripartite Entitlement System (TES)'. 1 1 'Bipartite Entitlement System' refers to the separation of farmland contractual operation right and farmland ownership. 'Tripartite Entitlement System' is the second separation of farmland contractual operation rights, which is transformed into the contract and operation rights. Thus, the 'Tripartite Entitlement System' is composed of three individual farmland rights: ownership, contract right and operation right. Land registration provides the means for recognising formalised property rights and regulating the characteristics and transfer of land-related rights. As for farmland registration in China, it serves as a basis to explore effective forms of collective farmland ownership by implementing collective farmland ownership, stabilising farmers' contract rights and liberalising farmland operation rights. Thus, in this study, on the basis of the farmland tripartite entitlement (hereinafter referred to as 'FTE') reform in China, we develop a Land Administration Domain Model (LADM)-based TES model that will serve as the basis of subsequent system development. Specifically, first, we summarise the evolution process of China's farmland rights system since the foundation of new China. Second, we propose a farmland rights system after the FTE reform. Then, the corresponding TES model is developed based on the LADM standard and some instance-level diagrams for farmland administration activities. The new functionality of the model includes improved structuring of farmland rights and restrictions (and related source documents) and improved expansion of the land information infrastructure to rural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to rapid urbanization and urban-rural dual structure, urban villages in China have gradually become populated areas dominated by a large number of migrants. Similar to slums, the problems of urban villages need to be solved urgently and the governance of urban villages is a serious issue in urban management. Therefore, combining the past international experience of governance of slums with a case study of urban villages in Hangzhou, this paper develops a governance model framework for an urban village. This framework is designed to integrate inclusiveness with urban service boundaries (USB) and to take the social service system as the key to achieve people-oriented governance through active participation of government, the market, the community and social organizations. This paper proposes that wealth distribution, housing security, social integration, cultural identity should be combined with infrastructure to form three differentiated models: a high-quality service model, a gradual and comprehensive model, and a social security model, which are suitable for different urban villages and the needs of different groups. The policy implication of this paper is to put forward a way to alleviate the problems of urban villages and make the inhabitants of urban villages, especially low-income migrants, fit into the city. • The social service system can link inclusiveness and the USB. • The paper builds a new governance framework for Chinese urban villages. • 3 governance models are combined systematically to serve urban villages. • Transfer payments, affordable housing and subway are essential for the poor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pandemic, public crises, ageing, and social fragmentation have exposed the fragility of community systems. This paper proposes the hypothesis that governance structure and institution affect the functional system and adaptability of the community, and forms a framework of structural-institutional-functional adaptation. Using comparative analysis of cases from different governance structures and self-organizing foundations. The government governance structure and weak self-organization foundation of Hongmei community form the dependence on the government to improve the functional system. Qicai Community is a market governance structure, which realizes multi-functional adaptability in design, but the weak self-organization foundation increases the cost of operation and institution. Hemu Community is a multi-agent structure based on the self-organization institution, which improves the multi-functional adaptability under the cooperation of self-organization and the government. The case comparison shows that the governance structure and institutional adaptability are the basis of functional adaptation, which together constitute the system adaptability. From the perspective of CAS, the bottom-up self-organization structure has more flexible adaptability. The multi-agent governance structure based on the self-organization is more conducive to the improvement of functional adaptability. But market and government mechanisms each have their own irreplaceable roles. This paper proposes that the government and the market embedded in the multi-agent structure and institutional framework of self-organizing governance, and realize the collaborative adaptation of the three dimensions, which is of great significance for the transformation of community governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urbanization results in a considerable economic disparity between urban and rural areas in developing countries, which has had a consequent significant impact on CO 2 emissions. To accommodate this directly, this paper presents a modified version of the Kaya Identity formula, U-Kaya, that includes a direct urbanization factor to determine the relationship between energy consumption intensity, population growth, urbanization rates, urban and rural GDP per capita and the volume of carbon emissions, for application in the dynamic forecasting of carbon emissions by Monte Carlo simulation. The method is demonstrated in forecasting China’s likely carbon emissions in 2020 by three different modes of urbanization policy: the government-dominant mode, market-dominant mode and a hybrid government market-dominant mode. The results indicate that a higher urbanization rate, energy carbon emission coefficient and energy intensity will lead to increased carbon emissions. Finally, three policy implications are identified, comprising the narrowing of the economic gap between urban and rural areas, adjustments to the energy structure and technical innovation, which will provide a valuable reference for developing countries in their efforts to reduce carbon emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Revealing the temporal and spatial changes on built-up land expansion and population growth is extremely important for city's sustainable development. Although the differences in land and population growth have been examined, the range and the influential factors of such a gap have not been fully studied. In this research the ratio of the land expansion rate to the population growth rate is used as coordination degree to identify the trend of the “land-population” coordination with the case study of the Yangtze River Delta Region, China by means of spatial analysis and regression. Results indicate notable built-up land expansion and demographic change in the research area. The coordination degree increased from a value of 2.28 in Period I (1990–2000) to 3.12 in Period II (2001–2014), further away from the ideal value (i.e. 0.8–1.4). Overall, the coordination level in central region of the study area is better than those of the North and the South. Regression analysis shows that neighborhood and per capita GDP are two significant influential factors of built-up land expansion and population growth in both periods, and that the impact of “neighborhood” has intensified over time. These findings demonstrate that socioeconomic situation of geographically neighboring cities contribute a lot to the coordinated development of the local population and land. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a large amount of population moved from countryside to cities in China during its urbanization in the past two decades. The majority of these people have no formal qualifications for city residency, and they are so-called ‘floating population’. The increase of this group of people has induced the pressure of land use in cities, and the contradiction between the demand and the supply of urban land has been intensifying particularly in those developed regions in China. This paper examines the impacts of floating population on urban land by presenting the interrelations between floating population and urban land expansion from the perspective of production land and living land. Structural equation model (SEM) is employed in conducting the analysis. The result shows that the floating population alone does not have direct effect on urban land expansion, but have indirect impacts through engaging in the production or living process. It is particularly interesting that floating people's living conditions have no direct positive effect on the increase of construction land. Based on the research results, suggestions are offered for improvements in government policy towards a more sustainable and integrated urbanization, including the provision of housing support, the formation of more urbanized society and sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]