Locating Chinese urban housing policy in an international context

China’s economic development has often been contrasted with that of other transition economies in Europe, but academics have fought shy of making direct comparisons of urban housing reform in the two systems. This paper fills this gap by making such direct comparisons. Adopting the market - housing model advocated by the World Bank as an analytical framework it finds that extensive housing privatisation in China is supported by a system of urban housing property rights and a growing residential mortgage market. Although China has a distinctive institutional framework, there is also much variety among the European transition countries, and a distinctive Chinese model was not identified; so this micro-level analysis did not support the contention that China represents a form of "contested modernity." Nonetheless, a crucial point arises from China's hybrid status as a developing as well as a transition country. The bulk of the urban migrant population remains excluded from formal housing policy and enabling strategies that form an element of the market - housing model especially in developing countries are not so much replaced by a distinctive Chinese model as by a yawning gap.     

Transport disadvantage within aboriginal communities in an urban environment

Abstract

Recent research into the transport needs of three Aboriginal communities in Sydney, Australia, has shown that in certain circumstances several of their members experienced disadvantage that differed from non‐Aboriginal transport users. This difference is driven by transport needs that relate to cultural activity. It is suggested that mobility for Aboriginal people who live in an urban environment is linked to their cultural survival.     

Transport disadvantage within aboriginal communities in an urban environment

Recent research into the transport needs of three Aboriginal communities in Sydney, Australia, has shown that in certain circumstances several of their members experienced disadvantage that differed from non-Aboriginal transport users. This difference is driven by transport needs that relate to cultural activity. It is suggested that mobility for Aboriginal people who live in an urban environment is linked to their cultural survival.     

高密度城市中心区的交通策略——以香港城市中心区为例

香港是土地资源少、人口密度大的代表城市,面对城市中心区高密度的发展环境,香港采取一系列措施以解决交通问题,并取得了成效。     

Tourism and externalities in an urban context: Theoretical model and empirical evidence

Although the majority of economists defend the positive role of tourism growth in global development, a number of tourism geography studies present divergent views on the local impact of tourism overgrowth on host communities. To examine the issue, this study develops a simple theoretical framework to illustrate that liberal economic doctrines shape host communities' policy-making towards a higher degree of inbound tourism than is optimal without considering the externalities accompanying tourism booms. Evidence from Macao and Hong Kong shows that massive inflows of tourists in the face of greater tourism openness tend to generate divergent impacts on both cities depending on their physical and socioeconomic conditions and thus lend support to the theoretical predictions.     

Microclimatic coupling as a solution to improve building energy simulation in an urban context

To streamline the design of the energy efficient buildings, appropriate tools are needed to assess their energy performance taking into account the microclimatic context.Numerical simulation seems to be the most suitable issue, but none tool is dedicate to the direct evaluation of the microclimate influence on the building energy consumption. A complete solution could be to use both CFD and thermoradiative simulation tools complementary with the coupling technique perspective. This paper presents both a developed CFD-thermoradiative coupled simulation tool and a typical application on an urban fragment.The results lead to two kind of observations:

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Integration of the thermal model of a building in the microclimatic simulation platform enable a quantitative evaluation of the building energy demand regarding different urban design scenarii (e.g. mineralized vs vegetated).

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Different physical phenomena do not contribute as much in the energy balance and it is important to compute precisely each one to obtain the small scale microclimatic influence.

     

Transport of traffic-related aerosols in urban areas

This study was undertaken to assess the influence of traffic on particulate air pollution in an urban area, and to characterise the short-range transport of the aerosols generated by traffic. The study was conducted in Kraków, a city located in southern Poland with a population of approximately 800,000. Aerosol samples were collected using automatic sampling equipment at five sites located at different distances from the main road in Kraków, ranging from 5 to 1500 m. The sampling set-up allowed standardisation of the results due to continuous determination of the meteorological parameters (temperature, atmospheric pressure, wind speed and direction, rainfall and humidity). Aerosol particles were separated according to aerodynamic diameter into two size fractions: > 1.9 microm (coarse fraction); and 1.9-72 microm (fine fraction). The concentrations of 27 elements were measured in both size fractions (Na, Mg, Al, Si, P, S, Cl, K, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ga, Ge, As, Se, Br, Rb, Sr, Zr, Ba, Pb). The multielement analyses were performed by Particle-Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE) spectrometry. Traffic contribution to particulate air pollution was determined on the basis of 13 elements which were present above the detection limit in all samples (Mg, Al, Si, P, S, K, Ca, Ti, Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, Pb). It was found that the traffic contribution in the coarse size fraction was approximately 80% up to 150 m from the road; it dropped abruptly by a factor of 2 over a distance of 150-200 m and declined further to 20% at 1500 m from the road. Traffic contribution for the fine particle concentrations of individual elements was 50-70% in the close vicinity of the road (5 m); then there was a decrease, followed by an increase at a greater distance from the road. Possible explanations for this behaviour of the fine particles are given.     

利用城市文脉塑造城市景观特色

在对城市文脉和城市景观特色的概念进行辨析的基础上,认为城市文脉和城市景观特色存在密切的逻辑联系,得出只有建立在城市文脉基础上的城市景观特色才具有外在美的价值,才能使我国城市景观设计源远流长。     

品味城市建筑演绎的历史文脉与城市特质

建筑是凝固的艺术,也是城市的历史文脉。保留历史建筑,也即保留了城市历史文脉;品味建筑,便可品味城市特质。     

城市滨水区文脉系统构建的探讨

根据城市滨水区设计和开发的现状,阐明了城市滨水区中文脉的重要性,针对构建城市滨水区文脉系统的要素进行分析,以建立城市滨水区的文脉系统。     

太原市城市文脉形象的认知与验证

回顾了城市文脉形象的研究背景，介绍了太原历代文脉的演变，从城市古代文脉和城市现代文脉两个方面分析了太原市城市文脉形象的现状，并应用结构法的调查方法对城市文脉形象进行了验证，为赋予城市文脉以新的内涵提供了理论依据。     

Transport of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and pesticides during snowmelt within an urban watershed

During snowmelt events in urban watersheds large amounts of organic contaminants are mobilized, potentially affecting the quality of surface and groundwater resources. The transport of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and two pesticides in the highly urbanized Highland Creek watershed within the city of Toronto, Canada, was investigated by sampling river water during two snowmelt periods. The dissolved and the particulate fractions were separately extracted and analyzed. While during normal flow conditions levels of the sum of nine PAHs including phenanthrene, anthracene, fluoranthene, pyrene, benzo(b)fluoranthene, benzo(k)fluoranthene, benzo(a)pyrene, indeno(1,2,3-c,d)pyrene, and benzo(ghi)perylene ranged between 18 and 45 ng/L, concentrations at the onset of melting varied from 550 to 4500 ng/L. Considering enhanced stream discharge rates during snowmelt the contaminant flux in the river increased by three orders of magnitude. The intensity of the melt event largely determined the extent of the PAH concentration increase in the river. The relatively water soluble pesticides chlorothalonil and lindane (γ-HCH) also tended to appear early during melting. Their enrichment in river water may be influenced by the thickness of the snow pack at the onset of melting, and the mode of melt water ablation from the snow pack to the stream, i.e. whether it occurs by overland or sub-surface flow.     

Exploring an integrated method for measuring the relative spatial equity in public facilities in the context of urban parks

This paper proposes a new integrated modeling framework that contributes to the evaluation of public facility distribution for spatial equity in urban development. The framework consists of two integrated models—accessibility and mobility—that, based on the gravity model, are integrated as a framework for measuring the relative spatial equities of urban public facilities. They are presented as geographic information system (GIS) and spatial analysis models. The models consider individual traffic behavioral abilities and simulate regional differences in the spatial equities of urban parks. The results show unequal regional spatial development that affects mismatches between urban park services. The accumulated travel time costs associated with different resident traffic mobility and urban park location types affect the access opportunities of residents. This integrated model could be a useful reference to help urban planners analyze, investigate, and adjust the distribution of public facilities in a more equitable manner.     

浅析基于城市环境(文脉)的包头城市设计

围绕城市设计应该从自我的城市环境(文脉)出发,在自然因素、人文因素、发展因素三个城市设计起点上对包头城市设计进行了阐释,意在从包头市环境上寻找城市设计理论和实践的根本性突破,从而准确把握城市性质,合理进行未来规划。     

城市更新与历史文脉保护并行

针对目前国内城市旧城改造过程中出现的一些问题,提出城市更新与历史文脉保护并不矛盾,并对旧城改建工作提出了一些建议,指出城市更新应与历史文脉保护并行,从而创建富有中国特色的现代城市。     

Valuing vegetation in an urban watershed

This study uses the hedonic price method to examine if land cover types-trees, shrubs, water and impervious surface areas-affect the sale price of single-family residential properties in Multnomah County, Oregon. We combine detailed structural and location information for 36,753 single-family residential property sales with the percentage of land cover on each property and within three buffers surrounding each property. Trees contribute positively to a property's sale price, but the estimated increase may be less than the costs of planting and caring for trees. Benefits received by nearby property owners may justify actions by government agencies to expand canopy coverage.