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This paper analyzes the role of the prevalent formal and informal institutions in Guangzhou in alleviating deteriorating water quality in the Pearl River. In addition to the dominating role of the local government, it examines the influences of other relevant factors such as the role of environmental non-governmental organizations, the media, and the impact of social and cultural norms. It concludes that the current institutional framework is not sufficiently competent to handle water pollution problems and that a multi-dimensional and cross-sectoral approach is necessary for water pollution control in the Pearl River in Guangzhou. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Rapid land development in rapidly growing countries has created a series of land-use problems. The implementation of sustainable land use can alleviate some of these problems. It needs a set of tools for the exploration, design, modification, illustration, and evaluation of alternative planning scenarios. This paper demonstrates that the integration of cellular automata and agent-based modelling can provide a spatial exploratory tool for generating alternative development patterns. Sustainable development strategies are embedded in the modelling to regulate agents' behaviours. The use of agents can help to represent human-environment interactions in solving complex land-use problems. It is able to examine the effects of different stakeholders in influencing the process of land development. The proposed model has been applied to the simulation of planning scenarios for residential development in a rapidly expanding city in the Pearl River Delta. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's agricultural reforms and open door policy adopted since 1978 have had impact on the country's economic structure, population characteristics, and urban development. This paper examines the spatial implications of such changes in the light of the development of Zhujiang Delta located in the coastal region of South China. Market-oriented agricultural production, rural industrialization, migration of surplus farm labor, and the spread of small towns in the rural areas are some of the consequences of the reforms and are placed in the perspective of the coreperiphery theory of regional development. It is argued that the hybrid ’center-downward’ and ’periphery-upward’ approach in spatial development was adopted because it was politically more adaptable to the Chinese objectives of economic development, which continue to uphold Marxism, Maoism and Communist Party leadership. Through careful control of the destination of the rural migrants in conjunction with the policy of small town development, China hopes to establish a new spatial relationship between the core and the periphery on more equal footing. Currently the spatial structure of Zhujiang Delta displays a well-integrated network of towns of varying sizes being established to fill in gaps in the settlement hierarchy to effect spread of benefits from the core to its periphery. But contrary to expectations, spatial inequity in development persists as the core has advanced at a much faster pace than its periphery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the issue of transboundary water pollution between the Pearl River Delta Region and Hong Kong in China. Ordinances to tackle environmental pollution introduced by the Hong Kong government since 1980; Contrasting picture presented by the Delta Region; Marine water quality in Hong Kong and pollution control measures; Water quality in the Pearl River.

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Despite significant economic benefits of manufacture upgrade from original equipment manufacturing, through to original design manufacturing to own brand manufacturing, research on interfirm relationship development during the process of manufacture upgrade has remained underdeveloped. This article examines different types of interfirm relationships and their impact on manufacture upgrade using case studies of electronics firms located in the Pearl River Delta. The findings suggest that three iterative processes support relationship development: resource seeking, learning and networking. These processes influence relationship development for both vertical and horizontal relations through trust-based personal relationships. In particular, the insights provided by relational view of interfirm relationships appear to complement and support economic goals of governance mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Labor contracts are a central institution in the normal operation of the market economy, and are one of the fields undergoing major changes in China's transitioning economy. Labor contract studies are heavily focused on the major practical problem of protecting the rights and interests of migrant workers. This article relies upon a field survey of enterprises in the Pearl river delta to make an empirical analysis of migrant-worker labor contracts from the standpoint of interactions between state interference and organizational fields and study the move from asymmetric employment contracts to the three new types of employment contracts (the patriarchal welfare system, quota contracts, and standard contracts) that is occurring in the current migrant-labor market. On this basis, the author holds that a standard and obligatory binding mechanism for labor contracts must be formed to build a new order of stable and harmonious labor-capital relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An Aerodyne quadrupole aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS) was deployed in China in the summer of 2006. The measurements were made in the Pearl River Delta region in July 2006 (PRD campaign) and also in Beijing in August-September 2006 (CAREBEIJING campaign). The AMS successfully measured size-resolved chemical composition of submicron non-refractory aerosol (vaporized at 600°C in vacuum) with a time resolution of 10 min, although some quantification issues have been identified. We observed extremely large signals at m/z 39 (39K+) and 41 (41K+), which significantly exceeded m/z 28 (N+2) signals. We also found large signals of m/z 85 (85Rb+), 87 (87Rb+), and 133 (Cs+). Laboratory experiments suggest that the large enhancement of K+ could have been due to the presence of K-containing particles in ambient air. The interferences of alkali metals at m/z 41, 85, 87, and 133 were significant and need to be corrected for better quantification of organic aerosol. The AMS measurements are compared with other, collocated measurements: a particle-into-liquid sampler combined with an ion chromatograph (PILS-IC), a Sunset Laboratory semi-continuous carbonaceous aerosol analyzer, and a Berner impactor sampler followed by off-line ion chromatography analysis (for major inorganic ions). We have found good agreement between the AMS and the other instruments when we assume an AMS particle collection efficiency (CE) of 0.5 for the PRD data and CE = 1.0 for the CAREBEIJING data. These results suggest that the AMS CE could be significantly different in different locations. Possible factors affecting the variability in the CE values are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a study which demonstrates the application of the integration of remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS) in the management of urban growth in in the Pearl River Delta in China. Utilization of GIS; Purpose of remote sensing techniques; Discussion of the concept of sustainable development.

The article focuses on rural urbanization in Guangdong's Pearl river delta in China. The Pearl River Delta is situated in the south central part of Guangdong province and faces the South China Sea. It is an open economic zone encompassing twenty-eight municipalities and counties, one open city-Guangzhou; and two Special Economic Zones Shenzhen and Zhuhai. The delta has caught much attention because it was one of the first areas to engage in reform and the open policy and is, today, an area with one of the highest degrees of urbanization. Based on geographic location, administrative level and other factors, the authors have divided the Pearl River Delta's rural urbanization into different types. "City Periphery Village Communities" are a type of community widely found in the Chinese urbanization process, a product of China's special policies on land requisition and household registration. Such communities are situated in places where cities and rural areas have become integrated and possess elements of the way of life of both. They are different from city outskirts or villages in the ordinary sense.

In this study, we cloned and sequenced the complete mitochondrial DNAs of Chinese mandarin fish, Siniperca scherzeri populations from four different areas of the Yangtze River and the Pearl River systems in China. In the Yangtze River system, fish samples were taken from three regions, Dongting Lake (DT), Poyang Lake (PL) and Xiangjiang River (XR). In the Pearl River system, fish samples were collected from the Lijiang River (LR). The sizes of their complete mitochondrial genome were 16,502 bp (LR), 16,508 bp (PL), 16,502 bp (XR) and 16,508 bp (DT), respectively. The organization of the S. scherzeri mitochondrial genomes was similar to those reported from other fish mitochondrial genomes. Phylogenetic analyses using N-J computational algorithms showed that the Sinipercidaes are monophyletic and can be divided into two genera, Siniperca and Coreoperca. The S. scherzeri could be divided into two groups along the Yangtze River system and the Pearl River. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]