Heterogeneous development of metropolitan spatial structure: Evidence from commuting patterns in English and Welsh city-regions, 1981-2001

In the contemporary literature on urban systems, it is often suggested that the conceptualization of urban systems as monocentric spatial entities has become increasingly problematic. However, by analyzing employment and commuting patterns in English and Welsh city-regions between 1981 and 2001, it can be shown that not all city-regions are experiencing a shift toward a polycentric spatial structure. Although most city-regions in Southeast England and the Midlands are becoming more polycentric, the spatial structures of many city-regions in the North have not shown significant change. In fact, some are becoming more monocentric. In addition, polycentricity takes different forms, which indicates that the development of metropolitan spatial structure can be characterized as a heterogeneous spatial process.     

Effects of urban planning in guiding urban growth: Evidence from Shenzhen,China

Improved understanding the effects of urban planning in guiding urban growth is conducive to the establishment of orderly spatial control systems. Few findings emphasized and systematic interpreted on the effects directly caused by urban planning. Thus, the effects of urban planning and its detailed urban functional planning, as well as different planning combinations were studied in this paper, using Shenzhen as an example. The results show that: 1) During the study period of 2000–2010, urban planning has had a conspicuous controlling effect on urban growth of the Special Economic Zone (SEZ). However, disordered growth has occurred outside the SEZ. 2) Urban planning plays a not particularly significant role in guiding urban renewal and development. The influence of residential planning on residential renewal is not significant. Commercial renewal is positively correlated with traffic accessibility and the distance from subway stations. Industrial renewal only has a significant positive correlation with industrial planning. 3) The planning combinations have played a significant positive guiding role in land development. The renewal probability of residential land equipped with rail planning is increased 19.22 times compared by itself.     

Land readjustment and metropolitan growth: an examination of suburban land development and urban sprawl in the Tokyo metropolitan area

Land Readjustment (LR) is a land development technique used in many countries around the world including Germany, Sweden, Japan, Taiwan and Korea. In essence it is a method whereby an irregular pattern of agricultural land holdings is re-arranged into regular building plots and equipped with basic urban infrastructure such as roads and drains. A percentage of each landowner’s holding is contributed to provide land for roads and parks, and for some plots to sell to pay the costs of the project. Its use has been particularly widespread in Japan where it is responsible for some 30% of the existing urban area, and is commonly referred to as ‘The Mother of City Planning’ (Toshi Keikaku no Haha). LR has for 20 years also been the focus of an international effort to introduce the technique to the developing countries of South East Asia. Although there is now a large literature on Japanese LR as a result of that project, however, virtually all of that literature focusses on practical aspects of how to implement projects, and on case studies of individual projects. Little attention has been paid to the role of LR in Japanese urban growth and urban planning at a city or regional scale, although such an examination is necessary to understanding LR in Japan, and Japanese urbanisation and urban planning more generally. The present research examines the role of LR in shaping patterns of urban development in the rapidly growing northern suburbs of Tokyo in Saitama prefecture. In particular, the claim commonly made by Japanese writers that LR prevents urban sprawl is examined. Sprawl and its prevention have long been a preoccupation of both Western and Japanese urban planners for aesthetic and efficiency reasons. However, it has recently gained importance as the critical interconnections between urban form and urban travel patterns, and greenhouse gas emissions and global warming have become more widely recognised. The case studies examine the role of LR in land development and urban growth at the regional scale (Saitama prefecture) and at the local scale (Urawa, Omiya and Ageo cities). GIS mapping and analysis of the case study areas, and interviews with planners and participants are used to examine the role and impacts of LR projects in suburban land development in Japan. The research suggests that while there are various impacts of LR projects because they are so widely used, in a range of different contexts, it is fair to say that LR projects contribute to increased sprawl at the regional scale, while largely failing to prevent it at the local scale.     

A multi-scale analysis of urban form and commuting change in a small metropolitan area (1990–2000)

Issues of growth, especially the spatial nature of recent urban development and its implications for travel patterns, have received a great deal of attention. In particular, questions persist as to how the spatial distribution of workers and jobs influences commute patterns. This paper investigates changes in commuting and land use patterns using measures of jobs–housing balance, commuting efficiency and other statistics. A smaller urban area is chosen for study (Tallahassee, FL, USA)and data on its workers, jobs, and commute patterns are obtained from the Census Transportation Planning Package for 1990 and 2000. The key research questions investigated probe whether there were substantial changes in urban form and commuting over the period. A two-tiered approach is taken where change is explored at the regional and local scales using GIS, optimization procedures, and inferential statistical techniques. The results reveal the extent of the spatial changes in the study area between 1990 and 2000. Major findings included stability in urban structure over the time period, as well as a persistent strong relationship between land use and commute patterns. These results are discussed in light of their implications for other cities and for future work.     

统筹城乡发展下灾后小城镇的重建规划

本文首先讨论了统筹城乡发展的背景及本文的研究意义,随后提出了规划的原则。文章通过对聚源镇现状的分析,提出了具体的规划方案,并把功能分区作为全文的核心,在功能分区的意义、原则及具体方法上进行了重点论述,并绘制了功能分区图。     

Commuting time,public exposure and victimization: Evidence from Brazilian metropolitan regions

Routine activities theory establishes that the greater the exposure to public spaces with weak guardianship the higher the probability of being a victim of urban violence. Using a unique dataset for the year 2009 that includes all Brazilian metropolitan regions, we provide evidence for the causal effect of a long commute time on the chance of being a victim of violence in these urban centres. The set of evidence was obtained by applying propensity score matching techniques to create counterfactuals and is robust to different robustness checks and sensitivity analysis.     

On the performance of creative industries: Evidence from Mexican metropolitan areas

This paper evaluates the performance of creative industries in 56 Mexican metropolitan areas over the period 1998−2013. Derived from Florida's 3T theory, determinants of inefficiency are examined by focusing on metropolitan area-related variables. The analysis yields several interesting findings. First, there is a marked heterogeneity in performance, especially within the arts creative sector. Second, there is relatively little robust evidence that inefficiency can be reduced by increments in public investment (technology), “creative students” (talent) or cultural opportunity (tolerance). Thereby the role of local governments developing and implementing differentiated policy strategies could contribute to increase the efficiency of the creative sector.     

Labour mobility between cities and metropolitan integration: The role of high speed rail commuting in Spain

Although the link between transport accessibility and the regional and local scope of labour markets has been widely studied in the literature, high speed rail (HSR) commuting is a relatively new user behaviour and little research has been done to date on labour migration derived from inter-regional HSR commuting. This paper contributes to the limited existing literature by analysing the evolution of the impact of HSR on labour markets in commuting relations. The added value of this research is that it is the first assessment of a panel data regression analysis taking account of HSR as a variable and using labour inter-regional mobility data (2002–2014). The model has been validated using the HSR commuting areas that converge in the metropolitan areas of Madrid, Barcelona, Seville and Malaga.Results have highlighted the complexity of the variables involved in the decision to commute by HSR. This complexity is linked to the causal relations between the most representative variables, namely unemployment rates and housing prices, which are more difficult to study during periods of economic crisis. The location of the HSR station has been revealed as a key indicator, and is even more significant (in the case of the Madrid functional area) than the actual availability of the HSR commuting services.     

The history of urban growth management in South Africa: tracking the origin and current status of urban edge policies in three metropolitan municipalities

ABSTRACT

For many cities in the Global South, colonialism played a dominant role in shaping their urban form. The historical objective of planning in colonial mother-cities was dealing with poor health and living conditions, therefore a planning approach similar to that followed in post-war Britain would appear beneficial in post-colonial cities, characterized by environmental and physical infrastructure unable to cope with massive population growth. Urban growth management is a discourse born in an attempt to control the growing industrial city in the early twentieth century, and in recent years applied through instruments such as urban edges or growth boundaries to limit urban sprawl and encourage higher density urban development. In South Africa, the principles of compaction and urban growth management formed part of the post-apartheid planning agenda towards transforming the inefficient and fragmented landscape inherited from separate spatial development. Consequently, urban edges and urban growth boundaries formed key components of municipal spatial planning frameworks since the early 2000s. The purpose of this paper is to explore the origin and status of urban edges in three metropolitan municipalities in South Africa to aid in understanding of these spatial instruments in the south.     

The eagle and the dove: constructing catholic identity through word and image in nineteenth-century united states

ABSTRACT

In nineteenth-century United States the subject of Catholic devotional practices figured prominently in anti-Catholic polemical literature. To combat anti-Catholic sentiment the editors and illustrators of Catholic popular literature recast devotional practices through the lens of the Enlightenment and the American Revolution. Through images and narrative these authors forged connections between Catholic rituals and American practices of civil religion like the observance of national holidays and the veneration of the American flag. By recasting the practices like the veneration of relics, the lives of saints and devotions within the framework of an American civil religion, Catholics claimed that Americans engaged in similar practices and rituals. In this way Catholics naturalized their dogmas and interpreted them within a framework familiar to non-Catholic Americans, thus countering claims by detractors that they were superstitious and idolatrous.     

Utility governance,incentives, and performance: Evidence from India's urban water sector

In developing countries, managing trade-offs between socioeconomic and environmental objectives in water utilities is challenging. The Indian water sector suffers from financial losses, lack of access, and poor service quality. We use a stochastic frontier analysis approach to study 304 urban water supply services during 2010–2015. We examine the role of socioeconomic and environmental aspects. Results indicate that water supply exhibits significant inefficiencies and, thus, scope for improvement. Measures to reduce non-revenue water, increase water quality, and improve cost recovery and bill collection, may help induce efficiency. Results also indicate that increasing water supply hours would improve service performance.     

Diurnal population cycle and metropolitan commuter exchange: a formal investigation of an urban pattern

"Diurnal population change in subareas of metropolitan regions is of increasing importance to urban geographers...and planners.... The urban context of daytime populations is that of commuting. Commuting, in turn, has been investigated almost exclusively within the setting of empirical economic research.... The purpose of the present study is to continue some recent attempts to find an alternative to the empirical economic approach to commuting, in advancing a formal demographic and spatial concept of diurnal population cycle." Data from the 1991 census of Canada are used. (EXCERPT)     

Segregation in urban education: Evidence from public schools in Shanghai,China

The significant home price premium in top school attendance zones and the emerging evidence on residential segregation found in China's cities call for a study on the socioeconomic segregation in urban schools and its potential consequences. Using the 2009 and 2012 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) surveys, this paper documents the socioeconomic and academic segregation among 15-year-old students in middle and high schools in Shanghai. We illustrate the effects of residence-based enrollment by comparing middles schools (required to use residence-based enrollment) and high schools (allowed to use merit-based selection), and further quantifies the relationship between school socioeconomic composition and academic achievement. We find that middle schools are more socioeconomically segregated, while high schools are more academically segregated. However, school segregation lessened from 2009 to 2012, especially in middle schools, likely due to the weakening of residence-based enrollment. Public schools in Shanghai became somewhat more integrated socioeconomically, but such a progress in equity was accompanied by an increasingly positive correlation between individual socioeconomic background and student performance, and an increasingly negative correlation between school socioeconomic diversity and student performance, both requiring the attention of policymakers.     

Innovation in urban systems: The interrelationships between urban and national economic development

The theoretical basis for analysing the role of innovation in economic development is assessed, as is the application of such theories to urbanisation processes. It is concluded that innovation lies at the heart of economic development and that urban development has important feedback effects on national economic development. Analysing these feedbacks requires a sophisticated data set allowing the analysis of input-output relationships in urban systems over time. In the absence of such data, industry employment classifications are used as a proxy for economic structure in an analysis of United States and Australian cities. Particular kinds of cities in the urban hierarchy can be analysed in terms of their economic structure and this can then be related to national economic development trends. The contributions of categories of city (particularly by size class) to economic development can then be explored. Obviously, results will vary with the era of economic development covered by the data. However, in all eras, certain kinds of cities will emerge as leaders in the process of urban economic development and will also play a crucial role in national economic development.