Characteristics and Causes of the Spatial Evolution of Urban Villages:A Case Study of Shenzhen Special Economic Zone

Studies on the renovation and governance of urban villages have become the interest of human geography since the 1990s.However up to now,there is little literature focusing on the development patterns and dynamic mechanism of the spatial evolution of urban villages based on the theoretical system of urban spatial structure,and there are few scholars doing analyses on the relationship between urban villages and general urban areas in terms of spatial development.In this paper,Shenzhen,the most representative city of China in terms of urban village development,is taken as a case for exploring the characteristics and modes of the spatial evolution of urban villages.With census data of urban village construction in 1999 and 2004 in terms of built-up area,floor area,and construction intensity,the spatial and temporal evolution of the 91 administrative urban villages in the original Shenzhen Special Economic Zone have been analyzed in comparison with that of Shenzhen’s general urban areas.It is indicated that the spatial evolution of urban villages matches with the general rules of the spatial development of general urban areas in three aspects.First,land expansion is the most remarkable mode of spatial evolution in the early stage of development;second,in the period of rapid development,there is the obvious tendency of "distance-decay" in terms of construction intensity accompanied by some anomalous fluctuations at certain points;third,renewal and redevelopment are carried out gradually in the mature stage of development.However,because of historical and institutional restrictions,the spatial evolution of urban villages shows its unique characteristics in the aspects of original spatial distribution and spatial expansion mode in the period of rapid development,etc.The outcomes of this study would help not only enrich the theoretical study on the evolution mode of urban spatial structure,but also strengthen the administration over urban villages,in particular with the suggestions that the spatial evolution of urban villages as a type of urban space should not be the same as that of general urban areas and its unique characteristics should not be ignored;specific rules should be set up to guide the rational spatial evolution of urban villages according to the economic development of the city,as well as the housing demands of various kinds of residents.     

Theory and Countermeasures on Stakeholder Governance in Redevelopment of Urban Villages

While urban villages are combinations of interests of different stakeholders,the redevelopment of urban villages is the benefit rearrangement among these stakeholders,whose target is to create values for all stakeholders and the society effectively.The principle of urban village redevelopment is to meet the multiple requirements of all stakeholders and balance the benefits of the dynamic environment.This paper discusses the utilization of theory of stakeholder governance amid urban village redevelopment.It proposes a "four in one" benefit coordination mechanism from the view of city planning.Some valuable policy suggestions on that are also put forward at last.     

Urban Village Renovation Planning from the Perspective of Human Settlements Theory:A Case Study on Wuhan

Based on the analysis on the characteristics of human settlement of urban villages in Wuhan,the paper examines the special urban social functions of urban villages during their self-evolution process.The totally market-led mode of urban village renovation has neglected existing positive social effects and failed to provide fair development opportunities for disadvantaged groups,and it will hinder the construction of a diversified and vigorous urban socio-ecological environment.In view of the situation,the paper suggests that in order to meet the urban socio-spatial demands during the specific period of social transition,measures should be adopted to re-examine and adjust the strategies and planning techniques concerning market-led urban village renovation with the improvement of sustainable human settlement as the goal.     

Study on Gregarious Low-Income College Graduates in Beijing: Tangjialing Phenomenon and Its Afterefect

During China’s rapid urbanization process, the survival condition of low-income college graduates who live in urban villages has become a serious issue that attracts the attention of policy-makers and sociologists. Based on existing literatures, relevant information, and independent field investigations, this paper focuses on Tangjialing, an urban village where low-income college graduates gather, investigating on their current situations of sociological features and settlements, as well as the reasons for the formation of urban villages.     

传统村落地质灾害的“多尺度”分布特征及空间关联——以四川阿坝州为例

Identifying the types of disasters and analyzing the distribution pattern of and the spatial correlation between villages and disasters are important prerequisite for the disaster prevention and mitigation of traditional villages.Taking Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture as an example and using the tools of kernel density evaluation and spatial statistics,this paper analyzes the distribution pattern of and the spatial correlation between traditional villages and typical geological disasters on the three spatial scales of Aba Prefecture,village agglomeration area,and village administrative area with necessary explanations.It concludes that most of the traditional villages in Aba Prefecture agglomerate in the middle-and high-level alpine gorges and some are clustered at either the border area or the central hinterland of counties;with the increase of maximum seismic intensity and frequency of earthquakes,it appears there is an increase of traditional villages and their trend of agglomeration,which implies an overlap of the areas of dense traditional villages and high-density geological disasters,as well as the synchronous increase of traditional village density and geological disaster density;and the traditional villages in Aba Prefecture are affected by multiple disasters,in particular landslide and debris flow.Finally,the paper discusses the issue of disaster prevention and mitigation in the protection and development planning of traditional villages.     

城市集水区管理和污染控制

The evolution of human civilization and urbanization has been centered around catchment (watershed, river basins) areas. As evident from the archaeological ruins of the earlier civilizations, the decision makers and planners recognized the importance of catchment areas as the physical planning units for urban development.However, in the post-industrial era, the practice of catchment management has often been ignored. With the increasing industrialization and transport network, the pace of urbanization has gained momentum. The cities,which were earlier created for specific functions and carrying capacities, are increasingly expected to meet the demands of multiple economic activities and growing population. The run-away growth in urbanization without commensurate backup infrastructure for civic amenities has taken its toll through increasing pollution.Pollution and associated problems are, to a great extent, attributable to lack of environmental considerations in planning and management of urban systems. The urban centres are confronted with various kinds of pollution,the nature and extent of which depend on the sources of pollution as well as physiographic conditions such as watershed and airshed. The present proper focuses on water pollution, which has a direct bearing on the urban catchment management. This article gives an introduction to urban catchment management and pollution control.     

Glossary

Editor’s Note:When talking about the rapid urbanization of China taking place unprecedentedly in the past decades,due attention should be paid to some unique issues full of Chinese characteristics,which include the development of urban villages.Simply speaking,the urban villages refer to the villages in the rural areas at the     

Power,Society,and Living Space: Evolution and Formation Mechanism of Urban Streets in China

Being one of the most important elements of urban public space, streets have contained rich social lives as well as the social and political connotations in Chinese cities with specific local characteristics, while most of them have been long neglected in the researches focusing on grand narratives and center-based perspectives. The paper retrospectively analyzes the evolution process of urban streets in China, dividing it into four critical periods. With the perspective of socio-spatial analysis, the unique formation mechanisms of Chinese urban streets are summarized in different contexts including power system, social domain, and living space, thus to provide references for the exploration of street development mode and revitalization mechanism facing the multiple challenges of globalization, modernity, as well as local social and cultural traditions.     

Some Empirical Examples of Central Place Model in China

At the beginning of 1980s,the Central Place Theory was introduced into China from the West.The authors ofthis article are the initiators of applying this model to China's urban and regional planning as well as to the allocationof commercial activities.Since the commodity economy has been developing in China for thousands of years,most ofthe areas in eastern plains and inland basins of China show the spatial structure of typical central places scene.Duringsome six years,the authors participated in a lot of rural,urban and regional planning projects in which the spatialphenomena and relevant internal mechanism proved this model and its deformation.This paper gives only a few ex-amples of the application of central place theory in China:1.the distribution of rural markets,the empirical study isbased mainly on the situation in Shengfang town and its vicinal area;2.the spatial combination of urban systems,problems about city allocation in North China are emphasized;3.commercial centers in city and the network,a cru-cial study on commercial centers in city and the network,a crucial study on commercial distribution of themetropolis.Beijing is done by using central place model.     

Gross Pollutants Study in Urban Areas under Tropical Climates

Gross pollutants are the primary targeted pollutants in urban catchment management for urban water quality improvement as well as mitigation of flood. Apart from aesthetically unattractive because of its visibility, gross pollutants also contributes to degradation of river water quality and loss of aquatic habitat as it carries harmful pollutants such as oxygen demanding material, hydrocarbons and heavy metals. This study analyzed trend of gross pollutant generated from two urban residential areas located in Selangor, Malaysia. The median value of gross pollutant load obtained fi＇om the Amanah Apartment and Bandar Botanic are 347.41 kg/ha/year and 32.46 kg/ha/year, respectively. Relationship between gross pollutant wet load with rainfall depths was derived using regression equation. A significant trend of increasing gross pollutant wet load into drainage system with increasing rainfall depth was observed. The behavior of pollutant load is related to the one observed in Australia.     

Joining Paths and Dividing Paths： Juiz de Fora, Brazil

The aim of this paper is to present the urban history of Juiz de Fora, a city with some 500,000 inhabitants in southeastern Brazil, and discuss how strategic decisions about the planning and construction of roads and highways can determine ways of life in a city. While paths may integrate landholdings and territories, they may also segregate communities and environments, causing deep rifts in the fabric of urban and land areas. The growth of Juiz de Fora is particularly marked by the construction of paths. This article reviews the local urban history from the establishment of paths in the city, to an analysis of the major impact and benefits they have had, notably on the local economy and demographics, as well as on the conservation of the local environment： Issues that are frequently relegated to a secondary role in the cost-benefit analysis of the city＇s planning decisions. After analysis of the case study, the authors concluded that citizens should be included on the agenda of the city, from spectators to actors of daily urban life.     

Establishing an Operational Mechanism of Urban Planning in Line with the Socialist Market Economy

The 14th National Congress of the Communist Partyof China pointed out clearly that socialist market economicstructure should be gradually established in China beforethe end of the century so as to further emancipate and devel-op the productive forces. What kind of impact will the gradual establishment ofthe socialist market economic structure in China produceon urban planning?How will the work of urban planningsuit the needs of the new situation?These are the issues re-quiring careful study.I would like,herewith,to explain myrough ideas in this regard.     

Analysis of Urban Morphology in Core Towns＇ Neighborhoods of Mexico： Santa Barbara＇s Neighborhood as a Case Study

Cities＇ urban morphology is the result of historic, cultural, political and social processes. The historical cores in Mexican cities have high cultural diversity, which also intermingle pre-Hispanic cultures with colonial forms, as well with modernity and post-modernity irruption. The case study is Santa Barbara＇s neighborhood in Toluca City, which was founded in 1524, and the case study was the first neighborhood in Toluca＇s historical core. At present time, this neighborhood is considered as one of the most dangerous places in the city＇s historical core, therefore, it has been abandoned. This paper will display the changes in urban morphology of the neighborhood through the years from 1877 to 2010. For site evaluation, the methodologies of Ashihara （1982） and Lynch＇s （1961） were used in order to analyze positive and negative spaces, as well as main street visual features, street and avenue directions, street circulation and street circulation path configuration. The results show that the focal nodes are a key factor for economic and social reactivation, with which, through urban activation of vacant lots and the traditional use of the streets as public space, is possible to generate centripetal development to restructure the neighborhood.     

An Analysis of China''''s Urban Population Migration

The major trend in the population mi-gration in China at present is the gradualurbanization of the rural population.Theimmediate important tasks and objectives ofcontrolling China's urban population mi-gration are to check the flow of rural popu-lation into cities, to control the growth ofurban population and implement the policyfor urban development. The cities referred to in this article are     

The Internal Layout of the Wards of Chang’an in the Tang Dynasty

The authors conduct a textual research on the internal layout of the wards of Chang’an in the Tang Dynasty and challenge the existing hypotheses and the conjectural model of the ward. Questions are raised from the aspects of spatial cognition, street hierarchy, and the regularity of urban fabric. The significant contrast of block dimensions between eastern and western cities is revealed, by comparing the layout pattern of the urban blocks of Tang Chang’an with that of Kahun of ancient Egypt, Olynthus of ancient Greece, Timgad of ancient Rome, and Mirande of the Middle Ages, as well as Old Herat of Afghanistan. It is concluded that a typical ward of Tang Chang’an had a dual structure of strict super-grid placed over residential quarters in an organic growth pattern. The socio-economic causes of this unique structure are also explored. Finally, the authors make a quantitative comparison between a ward in Tang Chang’an and Heijo-kyo of Japan respectively and illustrate the essential difference on concept and structure between the two models.     

Spatial Distribution Characteristics and Evolution Trends of Urban Aging Population

This paper selects Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Wuhan as examples and builds a database based on the statistics of the ? fth and sixth national population censuses and the latest statistics of aging population collected by ministries and commissions of the Central Government and local departments, as well as by our research team from 2000 to 2010. With its data unit accurate to Jiedao~① level, it is the ? rst time to analyze the micro-level spatial distribution characteristics of the aging population in China's mega cities in comparison with research accomplishments in geography, which lays a foundation for further relevant studies and strategy formulation. The paper draws spatial distribution maps of the aging population in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Wuhan by Geograpic Information System(GIS), and uses Aging Degree Index and Population Gravitational Center respectively to analyze the spatial distribution characteristics and spatial evolution trends of aging population in these mega cities. The research indicates that, on the one hand, the spatial distribution of the aging population shows similar characteristics with that of developed countries when they were at the same urbanization level, especially with Japan which shares a cultural homology with China; on the other hand, it is greatly in? uenced by the distribution of af? liated residential space of large industrial sectors, enterprises, and research institutes under the early planned economic system. There are two trends: one is centrifugal spread, namely, the elderly are moving from the city center to the outside; the other is centripetal concentration, namely, the elderly who lived in the outer suburbs are moving towards the city center. These phenomena, such as centripetal concentration, suburban spread, exurban concentration, and socio-spatial differentiation of urban aging population, are driven by selective development in the city center, city function upgrading, re-hollowing of villages, and occupation and income differentiation of the elderly before retirement.     

Urban Wildness—A More Correct Term Than “Urban Wilderness”

The concept of wilderness (荒野) has multiple characteristics and values relating to three principal areas: biological, socio-economic, and iconic. To provide clarity of concept, the term was included in the IUCN’s list of Protected Area Categories in 1992. More recently, a current and fashionable expression “urban wilderness” has emerged. For those who believe in the critical importance of natural wilderness areas to the future health and wellbeing of our planet, and who work to protect these areas, the term “urban wilderness” causes much consternation. It is very possible that such usages will create confusion in the mind of urban dwellers—now the majority of the global population—as to what “real” wilderness is. By definition, cities cannot be “wilderness” technically. However, elements of wilderness can and should be present in and around urban areas to enhance human health and quality of life. Rather than calling this urban wilderness, however, the term should be “urban wildness (野境).” This paper presents a rationale for using “urban wildness” to replace “urban wilderness,” citing some of the characteristics and benefits of urban wildness; provides case studies of urban areas that are working successfully with the concept; elucidates the role and challenges of wild animals (especially predators) in urban areas; and finally, gives an example of an engagement and educational methodology connecting urban dwellers to wild values and benefits.     

泰国城市社区发展基金

In Thailand, the project of harnessing community resources for urban poverty reduction focuses on how the Urban Development Fund was created as a tool for poverty eradication, empowering both the urban and rural poor. The project covers 53 provinces out of 75 throughout the country, and has resulted in about 950 community saving groups out of a total of 2,000 urban communities, as well as more than 100 community networks. The article introduces the experience of Urban Community Development of Thailand.     

世界城市住房状况

More than one billion of the world‘s city residents live in inadequate housing, mostly in the sprawling slums and squatter settlements in developing countries. The lack of adequate housing in the cities of developing countries is one of the most pressing problems of the 21 st century. During the 1990s, some developing countries achieved an improvement in urban housing conditions, though many were unable to cope even with current needs. The situation may become even worse, as household sizes decrease in most countries, and the number of urban households grows considerably faster than urban population. Below is a brief introduction of housing conditions throughout the world.     

有利于城市贫民的城市发展和住房战略

The purpose of the present theme paper is to consider how approaches to urban development have evolved over time, and most recently with the advent of the above-mentioned international concern for urban poverty reduction.Specifically, how local actors, including governments at all levels, non-governmental organizations, professionals and people living and working in slums, have attempted to improve cities and urban centres in ways that are favourable to the urban poor. For ease of analysis, the paper considers two elements of urban development-urban management and shelter strategies. Chapter one begins with a review of the evolution of urban planning and management approaches, from master plans to pro-poor urban governance. Chapter two examines the evolution of shelter strategies, from direct government supply to an emphasis on security of tenure for the poor.Some of the key lessons learned from both approaches are summarized in chapter three. Examples of current innovations in approaches to urban poverty reduction are described in chapter four, looking at contributions at the local, national and international levels.