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This paper investigates the life experiences of creative expats and the associated impact of, and on, the built environment of their host localities. Grounded on participants' testimonies, we develop the concept of transient mentality as a potential mediating factor in-between such reciprocal relations. Employing an interview and survey-based research approach and drawing on grounded theory for data collection and analysis in Beijing, China, we found that the prevalence of a transient mentality among creative expats is influenced by the nature of their occupations, the fluidity of their social relationships, and the rapid transformations in the built environment. This transient mentality, in turn, affects the production of the cityscape through the consumption preferences of these expats. We argue that understanding such a transient mentality is crucial for urban planning and cultural policy, particularly in (emerging) global cities that work to brand themselves as international creative hubs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is interest among planners in autonomous behaviour and non-linear processes supporting urban development. Self-organization has attracted attention as a potential driver for urban transformations. This paper aims to explore the mechanisms behind urban land use patterns resulting from the interdependence of self-organization and institutions. Our argument is based on an empirical study of two land development cases in urban Beijing. The paper argues that urban land transformations include characteristics of symmetry breaks, self-organizing processes, unintended collective behaviour and spontaneous patterns while simultaneously being institutionally framed. The interdependence between self-organization and institutional rules builds upon a circular causality framework at various spatial levels. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Beijing has built 267 urban rainwater harvesting projects (URHPs) in order to alleviate severe water problems; however, these projects are lacking in effective and full-scale cost-benefit analysis (CBA). In this paper, a CBA model for URHPs is put forward to evaluate projects. Results indicate the following: (1) URHPs can bring remarkable benefits, with an average benefit index α of 2.0; (2) in addition, 66.7% of the districts have α values exceeding 1.0; (3) The distribution of α, along with regression analysis shows that suburban areas have received more benefits because of fewer space limitations than urban areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]