China City Planning Review (No.2, 2021)

♦Evolution of Planning Rationality and Its Implications for Urban Planning in Public Health Crises

Author: Han Haoying

Translated by Li Caige / Proofread by Liu Jiayan

Abstract: Rationality is the cornerstone of planning. In recent years, increasing frequency of public health crises and the powerlessness of planning in dealing with such crises have prompted us to rethink the role of planning rationality. This paper argues that both reason as a term specific in philosophy and rationality in decision science are finite, diverse, and complex, and should be understood and applied moderately. Those features also apply to planning rationality, which is based on both philosophical reasoning and decision rationality. In addition, frequent public health crises have greatly undermined the ideal thinking of optimization in a complex city and highlighted the importance of knowledge and methods, and communications and collaborations between professional and non-professional areas. Therefore, it is necessary to put the discussion of planning rationality in terms of its concept, categories, and evolution in the domain of public reason. This can be achieved through joint actions including communication and collaboration.

Keywords: planning rationality; public health crises; complex system; wicked problem; resilience

♦A Study on the Legislation of Territorial and Spatial Planning in Relation to Public Health Emergencies

Author: Zhao Yongge, Zhao Guangying, Li Chen

Translated by Liu Jinxin / Proofread by Liu Jian

Abstract: The government’s attention to and intervention in public health emergencies is one of the causes for the legislation on modern urban planning. It is now a critical period in the legislative formulation of China’s territorial and spatial planning, which coincides with the unexpected onslaught of COVID-19. This study examines the relationship between public health emergencies and the legislations of territorial and spatial planning. It argues that the problems of spatial planning in response to public health emergencies primarily lie in the gaps between planning regulations and public health, emergency management, the overdue institutionalization of planning techniques, the lack of focus of planning legislations, etc. The legislation of territorial and spatial planning should be based on the governance of urban safety, health, and emergency service facilities, which aims to improve the emergency service facility system, the innovation of planning formulation technical system, and strengthen the responsiveness of planning to public health emergencies, so as to create high-quality, high-class, and resilient urban and rural spaces.

Keywords: legal and regulatory system; governance; emergency service facilities; planning formulation

♦Inter-Firm Linkages: Distribution Network of Patent Consulting Businesses in Cities of the Yangtze River Delta

Author: Cai Tong, Zhang Ze

Translated by Qian Fang / Proofread by Tang Yan

Abstract: Corporate-based networks have provided an important lens for the understanding of regional configuration, but the sole focus on intrafirm linkages limited the revealing of the whole picture of a region. In this regard, this study centers at the inter-firm linkages in the Yangtze River Delta, and employs the data concerning business interactions between patent consulting companies and their clients to supplement the analysis on the urban network in the region. The results show that the local administrative power represented by provincial government is still decisive in determining the economic relations among enterprises. Provincial capital cities including Nanjing, Hangzhou, and Hefei occupy the center positions of the regional network, while Shanghai, due to its lack of administrative hinterland, fails to show significant centralized functions. A comparative analysis on urban network from multiple perspectives shows that although the Yangtze River Delta region presents the characteristics of a flat spatial structure in certain fields, significant administrative constraints are still observed in the advanced producer service functions, demonstrating a distinctive feature of market division in the region. By employing new data, this study introduces a new lens for the research on urban network, and, to a certain extent, achieves a breakthrough in the existing theoretical framework of related research.

Keywords: inter-firm linkages; patent consulting business; the Yangtze River Delta; urban network

♦Similarities, Differences, and Clustering Features of the International Catering Industry in Chongqing City

Author: Zhou Huiquan, Wang Li

Edited by Liu Jinxin / Proofread by Liang Sisi

Abstract: The international catering industry is a way to represent the international lifestyle of a city. The study of the spatial distribution of international restaurants can reveal the sociological characteristics of the globalization-intensive areas within the city, and it is also the external manifestation of the degree of urban globalization and social sustainability. Taking the international restaurants of Chongqing as its research object, this paper adopts the DBSCAN algorithm to investigate the spatial distribution and social-cultural significance in respect of urban living in the context of globalization. It is found that there are mainly four types of international restaurants in Chongqing, namely Western, Japanese, Korean, and Southeast Asian restaurants. Overall, the spatial distribution of international restaurants showcases that the restaurants mostly agglomerate in the urban core, and alongside Jichang Road (also the rail transit line 3). The spatial distribution of the international restaurants overlaps with local daily life space, but is separated from local industrial spaces; the clusters of fine dining restaurants and fast food restaurants are isolated from each other. International restaurants are adjacent to commercial areas, transportation stations, universities, and tourist destinations. Moreover, the street corners, surroundings of banks, and shopping malls are considered micro-location factors for international restaurants.

Keywords: international restaurant; DBSCAN algorithm; catering space; customer services; globalization

♦Functional Spatial Pattern of the Yangtze River Delta Region Based on the B2B E-Commerce Enterprise Network

Author: Yang Zhuo, Wang Xin, Luo Zhendong

Translated by Li Caige / Proofread by Tang Yan

Abstract: With the increasing impact of globalization and informatization, the functional spatial pattern of the Yangtze River Delta, being reshaped by the new economy led by “Internet Plus,” is becoming more complicated. Hence, the study on the spatial pattern of e-commerce has much practical significance. Considering that B2B e-commerce is a typical representative of the e-commerce economy currently in China, this paper analyzes the B2B e-commerce enterprise network and explores whether the globalization and informatization processes have brought about a new spatial pattern in the Yangtze River Delta, to improve its spatial structure recognition. It is found that: ① the status of Shanghai and Yiwu as two cores of the network has become prominent, while the status of Nanjing and Ningbo as traditional network centers has been weakened; ② the regional axis has changed, with the Shanghai-Hangzhou-Yiwu axis rising and the traditional economic corridors such as the Shanghai-Nanjing axis and the Hangzhou-Ningbo axis being weakened; ③ the core area of the network connection has expanded, with the Jinhua-Yiwu region and the Wenzhou-Taizhou region becoming areas with close connections.

Keywords: e-commerce enterprise; the Yangtze River Delta; network; spatial pattern

♦Research on the Driving Forces and Network Organization of Urban Express Joint Distribution

Author: Xu Junjie, Cao Xi

Translated by Li Min / Proofread by Mao Qizhi

Abstract: In a context where express delivery service is indispensable in urban production and life in China, urban express joint distribution will help reduce the negative impact of logistics activities on urban traffic and environment, and eventually promote the coordinated development of the express delivery industry and the city. This paper summarizes the background of urban express joint distribution based on its four driving forces: saving resources, green development, traffic avoidance, and public service. Then it establishes a network structure model of urban express joint distribution based on systems thinking, elaborates the functional orientations of the four layers in the model – the distribution layer, the feeder transport layer, the terminal station layer, and the collection and delivery layer, and discusses the implementation ideas of joint distribution at all layers. Finally, it puts forward four suggestions for promoting the joint distribution: improving inter-departmental coordination mechanism, maintaining a diversified distribution pattern, promoting in-depth cooperation among companies, and practicing a high-tech development path.

Keywords: urban logistics; joint distribution; express delivery industry; package locker; network organization

♦Evolution Characteristics of the Ecological Space Network of Resource-Based Cities: A Case Study on Xuzhou

Author: Liang Xinbin, Ji Xiang, Guo Nana, Meng Lingran

Translated by Qian Fang / Proofread by Liang Sisi

Abstract: The territorial and spatial planning is an essential tool for ecological civilization construction in spatial development and urban governance. Since ecological space has been an important part of the territorial and spatial planning, this study established a spatial structural pattern of “ecological source-ecological corridor-ecological node” along with methods including landscape connectivity analysis and ecological resistance surface analysis. Taking the ecological space of Xuzhou City, a typical resource-based city, as a case study, this research analyzed the ecological spatial network structure and evaluated the evolution characteristics before judging the breadth threshold value of the ecological corridor and providing planning control strategy. The study found that since the urbanization of Xuzhou City resumed its growth, the quantity of ecological sources, corridors, and nodes have grown along. The resistance of the ecological corridor increases year by year, with the proper breadth threshold value around 100 – 200 m. The development of an ecological network structure shows a single-polarization evolution characteristic that is high quality and high resistance.

Keywords: ecological space; landscape connectivity; ecological resistance surface; ecological space network structure; ecological corridor; Xuzhou City

♦Map-Based Analysis on the Toponymic Culture of Beijing

Author: Wen Zongyong (facilitator), Xing Xiaojuan, Lou Weisi, Cao Yu’ao, Li Chengcheng

Translated by Li Min / Proofread by Liu Jiayan

Abstract: Geographical names or toponyms in Beijing boast a long history, distinctive characteristics, and rich cultural connotations and humanistic values, thus the toponymic culture protection in Beijing is of great significance. Based on the results of the Second National Census of Geographical Names in Beijing, this paper summarizes the characteristics of geographical names in Beijing and their distribution pattern presented in maps, and puts forward suggestions for protecting the toponymic culture.

Keywords: geographical names in Beijing; characteristics; toponymic culture; protection