China City Planning Review (No.1, 2014)

♦An Empirical Analysis on Interactive Relationship Between Urbanization and Motorization in China over the Period 1985 – 2010

Author：Chuan DING, Ting MA, Yaoyu LIN, Chao LIU

Abstract: In theory, there is a close interactive relationship between urbanization and motorization. This paper investigates the interactive relationship between urbanization and motorization in China after its reform and opening-up by using the urbanization and motorization data during the period 1985 – 2010. The research finds that during the period 1985 – 2000, there indeed was a long-run stable interactive relationship between urbanization and motorization in China. It proves that motorization has a time lagged impact on urbanization, whereas urbanization alone has less effect on motorization growth than the influence of motorization growth on the rapid growth of urbanization.

Keywords: urbanization; motorization; interactive relationship

♦Institutional Change and Urban Redevelopment Process: A Case Study of Changshoujie, Shanghai

Author: Ze LI, Pei-ju Perry YANG, Tianjie ZHANG

Abstract: Through investigating the institutional change and urban development in Shanghai since 1978, this research identifies that the gradual economic reforms have generated dynamic forces for urban development. As an example, this paper examines Changshoujie in detail to uncover its physical changes and to explore how the actors’ roles and interests interplay as well as how the transitional institutions of property rights and urban planning have impacted the shaping of urban space. 117 projects constructed since 1978 are classified into six development modes according to the characteristics of land users and developers. Although there is a time lag, the path depending on institutional change has a direct impact on urban development and the consequent spatial structure.

Keywords: urban redevelopment; institutional change; path dependent; actors

♦New-Type Urbanization and the Development of the Sciences of Human Settlements in China

Author: Liangyong WU

Abstract: As urbanization is an evolutionary process of the open giant system of complex spaces, solutions should be sought based on the scientific method of “limited solutions to complex problems.” Firstly, as people are the core of human settlements, urbanization should show its care for humans and thus for human settlements; secondly, a human settlement civilization should be cultivated on the basis of ecological civilization; thirdly, rural development should be promoted in units of county, in order to coordinate the urban-rural development; fourthly, it should encourage the decision-makers and think tanks to improve the management mechanism. As transformation becomes the general trend of this era, we need also to understand the Sciences of Human Settlements from the perspective of scientific transformation, which is expected to break new grounds in the Sciences of Human Settlements.

Keywords: urbanization; human settlements; limited solutions to complex problems

♦In Search of Humanity in Human Settlements 

Author: Vassilis Sgoutas

Abstract: This paper explores the relationship between humans, human settlements, and cities from the perspectives of citizen participation, migration of population, sustainability, etc., and puts forward some suggestions to improve humanity through judicious planning and people-centered urban planning and design.

Keywords: human settlements; humanity; cities

♦Beautiful Village Planning and Construction: A Practice of Human Settlement Improvement in Jiangsu Province

Author: Lan ZHOU, Chun YU

Abstract: The 18th CPC National Congress set forth a development goal to build a beautiful China. Particularly, it emphasized the integration of urban and rural development as a fundamental way to solve issues relating to agriculture, rural areas, and farmers. Consequently, how to integrate urban and rural development, and how to construct beautiful villages under national arrangements turns into distinctive historical responsibilities of the contemporary urban and rural planners. Nevertheless, due to the profound impact of the urban-rural dual system, there has been a huge disparity between rural and urban in both construction management and planning. Simply put, we know less about the rural but more about the urban. Taking the beautiful village construction in Jiangsu Province as an example, the paper draws from the empirical practices on village planning, farmers’ wishes survey, and environmental remediation, in the hope to contest current village planning and construction concepts and to initiate more heated debates on rural areas at large. It seeks a new route for village construction and rural human settlement improvement that better respects the characteristics of China’s rural areas, and meanwhile more faithfully reflects farmers’ demands.

Keywords: beautiful village; planning; human settlements; construction; Jiangsu

♦Urbanization Quality and Human Settlement Construction

Author: Kai WANG

Abstract: Based on the gains and losses learned from the experience of the world urbanization over the last two centuries, this paper first of all evaluates China’s urbanization quality at both the provincial and municipal levels. It then puts forward connotations of the new-type urbanization with Chinese characteristics which concern five aspects: the people-oriented principle, the interactions among industrialization, informatization, urbanization, and agricultural modernization, ecological civilization, rational layout, and culture promotion. It further predicts the economic and urbanization growth rates, the proportions of the primary, secondary, and tertiary industries, and the migrant population in future from the perspectives of the baseline, optimistic, and stable development scenarios, proposing that the Sciences of Human Settlements will play an important role in the process of the new-type urbanization.

Keywords: new-type urbanization; urbanization quality; urbanization trends; the Sciences of Human Settlements

♦Muth-Mills Model of Urban Spatial Structure: Theory and Implications for Cities in China

Author: Yaowu WANG, Chuan DING, Yaoyu LIN, Chao LIU, Ting MA

Abstract: Given the differences between cities in the United States and China, and the changing structure of Chinese cities, this paper examines the viability of some basic predictions of the Muth-Mills model of urban spatial structure for modern cities in China, using data for the year 2010. Chinese cities are experiencing rapid motorization and road construction over the last two decades, so we have tried to use different measurements for commuting cost in these cities to estimate the empirical model, and concluded that most results support the Muth-Mills assertion. The elasticities of the urban spatial size with respect to the significant variables are discussed, comparing to those for cities in the United States. The results we obtain from both theoretical and empirical analyses can further increase our understanding on the model as a tool for a policy analysis on cities in China.

Keywords: urban spatial structure; monocentric urban model; urban economics; transportation

♦Change and Continuity: Chinese Villages in Transition (III) – Hailong Village

Author: Nick R. Smith

Abstract: This is the third in a series of four articles ethnographically exploring instances of village transformation in peri-urban China. Each article presents an in-depth case study of a single village and its unique combination of change and continuity. Together, these case studies demonstrate the specificity and idiosyncrasy of village transformation and the need for planners to “take actions that suit local conditions” (yindi zhiyi). This installment investigates Hailong Village in the Jiulongpo District of Chongqing. Hailong’s leaders have encouraged economic transformation through the conversion of agricultural land to industrial uses, while seeking to maintain the continuity of the village’s political institutions. Meanwhile, villagers have responded to rapid change by seeking to preserve the continuity of family and community networks of mutual support embedded in the socio-spatial fabric of their natural villages. The tension between change and continuity has led to contradictions in Hailong’s development, and the village has experienced increasing fragmentation and unsustainable land use intensification. A subsequent planning initiative has sought to balance the desire for economic growth with the need to maintain Hailong’s rurality by steering the village toward agro-tourism and real estate development. As Hailong moves down this path, it is unclear how much longer its socio-spatial identity as a village can be maintained.

Keywords: village planning; peri-urbanization; ethnography; Chongqing