Institutional Setting,Politics and Planning: Private Property,Public Interest and Land Reform in Japan

Taking an historical view, the paper considers how Japan has struggled to regulate development and examines the impact of land reform in the immediate post-WWII era. This is seen as a key institutional change that precipitated numerous political and policy shifts in subsequent decades and acted as a critical factor in shaping Japanese land use. The focus of the paper demonstrates how the political and economic transformation of Japan just prior to and after land reform in 1946 led to a situation where successive governments have tried but ultimately failed to intervene successfully in the development process, contributing to unsustainable outcomes derived largely from a sustained period of growth and economic development. In our view, this was supported by the legal framework reinforced under the Allied Occupation (1945–1951), alongside the outcomes of the land reform process. This has also led to a remarkably consistent set of institutional conditions. In order to highlight the impact of land reform the case of Japanese green belt policies between 1927 and 1965 are used to provide a more detailed account of the difficulties that planning and land use regulation has experienced in Japan.     

Regulating Land Use at Sale: Public Improvement from Private Investment

Coordinated private investments create many neighborhood public improvements. This paper proposes regulating land use at sale as a way to coordinate private investments that create public improvements. The proposal is illustrated by a requirement that landowners plant street trees before they sell their properties. Census data and the Los Angeles County Assessor's records show that about half of all properties are sold within ten years, so regulation at sale should affect about half of a city per decade. Regulation at sale offers a pragmatic, low-cost method to improve older neighborhoods and stimulate local economic development.     

China's Urban Housing Reform: Recent Achievements and New Inequities

China's urban housing reform started in the early 1980s, as a part of comprehensive economic reform. The old system was dominated by work units that provided substantial in-kind services to their employees, including heavily subsidised housing. It brought three serious problems: housing shortages, corruption and inequities. The goals of housing reform were to solve these problems through urban housing privatisation, commercialisation and socialisation. This study examines China's urban housing reform through a case study of the city of Jinan. It first reviews the history of housing development in Jinan from the 1950s to the 1980s, and then analyses Jinan's reform practices in the 1990s. Its finding is that, after many years' efforts, housing reform in Jinan has made substantial progress, but mostly with respect to privatisation. The problem of housing shortages has been addressed and crowding has lessened considerably. Anecdotal evidence suggests that corruption is less widespread than in the past. The other important housing problem, inequity, still exists and, in some respects, has even worsened. In particular, a new form of horizontal inequity has arisen due to the persistent role of work units in housing provision. This paper suggests that, in the future, the government should take a more positive role rather than leaving the market alone to deal with the problem of housing inequity.     

Evolution of the Metaponto District,Southern Italy: From Land Reform to New Sustainable Scenarios

In this paper we have represented the economic, environmental and territorial transformation of Metaponto district (southern Italy) generated by the land reform since 1950. The coastal area, once inhospitable and unproductive, through land reform has become a point of development for the entire Basilicata Region. The intensive model of economic development applied to agriculture and tourism today represents the main critical points of high environmental impact. In particular, the great human pressure exerted by economic activities has led to an insufficient capacity of water purification systems in the area and such criticism is amplified in the summer mainly for seaside tourism. In this study we have measured the environmental load exerted on the territory and we have estimated the human pressure on the district in the year 2030 and made proposals for amendments to current patterns of development in the agricultural and tourist sectors.     

Restricted Mobilities: Access to,and Activities in,Public and Private Spaces

Privatization of public spaces in the contemporary city has increased over the past few decades, but only a few studies have approached this trend from a mobility perspective. Therefore, this article seeks to make a contribution to the field by exploring two Australian examples of private spaces in the city, gated communities and shopping centres, through the ‘mobility’ lenses. The article illustrates how different mobility systems enable and/or restrict public access to private–public spaces, and it points out that proprietary communities create an unequal potential for human movement and access in the city. The main argument in the article is that many mobility systems enable specialization of places that are targeted at a special section of the population. This means that various forms of mobilities (e.g. automobility, virtual mobile communication technologies) not only create new opportunities for urban life, but also serve as one of the most critical components in the production of new exclusion and stratification. In conclusion, the article therefore suggests that future urban research and planning also need to apply the mobility perspective in order to understand the mechanisms between flows of movement and the understanding fixed spaces in the cities, and how different mobility systems play an important role in sustaining the exclusiveness that often characterizes private/public spaces. Likewise, from a mobility perspective, the specific consequences that the proprietary communities have on the surrounding communities seem to be an important further question for research and planning.     

城乡规划与土地使用及储备制度的改革

城乡规划的体制改革与完善是一个伴随着社会主义市场经济体制建设的渐进过程,是一个需要行业内外共同探索和实践的重大课题,更是一个依赖于制度改革的整体进步和协同运作的领域。本期特载《城乡规划与土地使用及储备制度的改革》一文,试图通过中国土地使用与储备制度改革的研究,紧扣当前社会发展的重大问题,立足于城乡规划的综合调控作用,致力于城乡规划改革成因的探讨,关注微观层次城乡规划管理环境的建设,并对规范城乡规划与土地使用及储备工作提出了制度性建议,相信会引起读者的共鸣、思索与探讨。     

郑州燃气改革十年的成就与梦想

中国改革开放近30年,中国发生了翻天覆地的变化,中国燃气行业在顺应大潮的洗礼下,也发生着巨变:私有、兼并、合资.     

Renegotiating the Public‐Private Partnership: Efforts to Reform Section 8 Assisted Housing

This article examines the federal housing policy implications of the 1997 legislation resolving the Section 8 contract renewal crisis. The history of housing policy prior to this new legislation is described. The political and economic forces shaping the debate over the new legislation are discussed and analyzed. The future of Section 8 assisted housing is critically evaluated. Several policy recommendations are derived from the critical analysis.     

墙材革新迎来发展新阶段--访国家发改委环境与资源综合利用司副司长李静

经过3年的努力,170个大中城市限时“禁实”工作取得了阶段性的成果,今后墙材革新与建筑节能工作的重点是什么?在树立全面、协调、可持续的发展观,促进经济社会和人的全面发展的国家总体发展战略指导下,墙材革新与建筑节能工作如何找准定位取得新的突破?新年伊始,本刊记者专访国家发改委环境和资源综合利用司副司长李静。     

论中国建筑业跨境贸易和投资之市场准入障碍与对策

近年来,中国建筑企业海外拓展遭遇到其他国家设置的市场准入限制.本文结合WTO服务贸易以部分国家为例,从发达国家和发展中国家角度,对我国建筑企业海外拓展所遇到的市场准入限制进行分析,并提出相应对策,以期服务于走出国门的建筑企业.     

Land Reform beyond the Reformed Land: A Baseline Study of Unplanned Site Allocations in Brazil

This paper brings to light some of the problems deriving from not systematically using regional planning as a strategic governance tool in land reform policy. With concrete examples from land reform sites in Northeast Brazil, we argue that factors leading to suboptimal results include the lack of a suited space for planned conjunct actions as a means to propel broader regional development. Empirically, the paper identifies causes of the meagre regional implications of the Land Bill Programme, a government initiative aimed to fight rural poverty associated with landlessness. As a policy implication, we argue that regional planning can be an efficient tool for the placement of land through land reform, which would require not only providing land loans, but also designing concerted actions that would benefit an entire region.     

Negotiating Within the Context of Planning Reform: Public and Private Reflections from New South Wales,Australia

The process of negotiation has long been recognized as central in plan creation and development assessment. Nevertheless, the appropriateness and willingness to engage in negotiated planning and development outcomes varies between planning systems, development locations and individuals. On one hand, negotiation is seen to facilitate responsive planning outcomes that recognize the unique institutional and development environment. Alternatively, the process of negotiation has been identified as one that delays plan making and development assessment, while simultaneously opening the door for corruption and regulatory capture. Drawing on the reflections and experiences of senior local council officers and private development actors, this article explores the process of negotiation in development assessment in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Within the context of neoliberal planning reform in NSW, the article explores the appropriateness and willingness of different types of councils and developers to pursue negotiated outcomes. The article also identifies the types of developments/developers councils are more likely to negotiate with, and explores how the process of planning reform constrains the scope for negotiated outcomes.     

Motivation and Marginalization in African Urban Agriculture: The Case of Lusaka,Zambia

Urban agriculture in Africa has been identified as an important income generation and survival strategy among poor and not so poor households. However, official attitudes to urban agriculture vary considerably between and within different African countries. Recent field-based research undertaken in Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, reveals that urban agriculture makes a significant contribution to the food basket of many urban households in the city. Despite this contribution, urban agriculture in Lusaka has remained a peripheral issue in urban development strategies and planning policy. Interviews with urban farmers and professionals from various government departments and non-governmental organisations indicate that urban agriculture suffers from a number of factors such as a shortage of land and unsupportive official policy. This paper attempts to illuminate the patterns, processes and decision-making strategies associated with the production of foodstuffs for sale and/or household consumption. The extent to which urban agriculture is being supported or marginalized in Lusaka is examined in the context of evolving strategies for achieving sustainable urban development, poverty alleviation and food security.

城乡统筹规划实施的二元土地困境:基于产权创新的破解之道

针对目前我国城乡统筹规划中存在的误区和实施的制度困境,首先对建国以来我国城乡差异的变化进行回顾,结合集体土地产权变迁的两种模式:以诱致性土地制度变迁为特色的顺德模式和以强制性土地制度变迁为特色的成都模式,研究了土地产权对城乡统筹发展的影响;最后,基于集体土地产权创新的角度,对城乡统筹规划的新思路进行了探讨。     

Monitoring the Supply of Urban Land: The Role of Private Individuals in the Adelaide Market

Cyclical booms in the Australian Housing market are generally accompanied by a shortfall in the supply of residential allotments from new subdivision. The role of allotments owned by private individuals in the Adelaide land market is examined. Attention is drawn to the need for more refined indicators of land supply and a pro-active approach to planning to meet changing demand in an increasingly finely balanced market.     

Measuring Trends in Urban Inequality and Poverty in the Copperbelt,Zambia

This article is a discussion of how to measure urban inequality using the results of large household samples. It has two aims. The first is to de-mystify the methods of measuring earnings inequality by discussing their logic and their results in plain language that is suitable for a non-specialist audience. The second is to persuade the reader that such surveys can be suitable for measuring income derived from all kinds of livelihood strategies, including informal sector activities. The results show persistently high levels of inequality over time among income earners on the Copperbelt. Disaggregation of the employed workforce by major occupational groups reveals increasingly more elementary and middle-income workers than higher income managers, professionals, and technicians. This pattern differs by gender, however, with only women experiencing a marked increase in low-skill, low-wage employment.     

Inclusion Through Housing: Limitations and Alternatives in Johannesburg

Cities concerned with the inclusion of marginalised inhabitants search for practical strategies towards this end. In Johannesburg, ownership of formal housing is seen as one such means. Home ownership is assumed to foster urban inclusion in various ways. An additional appeal is the wealth-creating potential of the property ladder, but findings from the neighbourhood of Alexandra demonstrate that home ownership is neither desirable nor feasible for some residents. Furthermore, the state's current housing programme has diverse meanings for people in terms of notions of home and of property ownership. If the objective is to promote inclusion, opportunities can be found by shifting the focus away from home ownership towards the constituent parts of ‘housing’. Access to services is a key dimension of the notion of inclusion and need not be linked to place of residence, or to home ownership, but can also be promoted at key public parts of the city.     

The Social Exclusion Perspective and Housing Studies: Origins,Applications and Limitations

The idea of 'social exclusion' has emerged over a relatively short space of time to take centre stage in political and popular debates about social disadvantage in many European states. In Britain it now dominates policy discourse on strategies to combat disadvantage.This paper explores the origins of the concept of social exclusion and the meanings that have been ascribed to it. The paper poses questions which remain outstanding in the debate over social exclusion. It then considers the relationship between housing and social exclusion and introduces each of the papers in the special issue. It finishes by noting that the papers in this issue make a significant contribution to enhancing our understanding of processes of disadvantage,but that there is much that remains to be done.