Is financial development narrowing the urban–rural income gap? A cross-regional study of China

This paper investigates the causal relationship between financial development and the urban–rural income gap in China. Using a bootstrap Granger panel causality analysis, the result indicates that financial development influences urban–rural income gap mainly in Eastern China. The high level of financial development in this region enables rural areas to increase its income. Our results also confirm the existence of the financial Kuznets curve in Eastern China where urban–rural income gap would be first increased and afterwards decreased by financial development. The financial development itself is not dependent on urban–rural income gap as it largely depends on government policies and economic growth.     

New landscapes of conflict: land-use competition at the urban–rural fringe

Land-use conflict research generally focuses on conflicts where pre-existing opponents respond to the introduction of a new unwanted land-use. We select a 2008 land-use conflict to explore an understudied scenario: urban–rural fringe (URF) expansion can introduce new opposing stakeholders into areas with pre-existing unwanted land-uses. We use spatial analysis methods to measure the rate and direction of URF expansion in relation to a vacated cement facility that had been approved for revitalisation in 2008, motivating a land-use conflict between competing stakeholders. Findings indicate that the cement facility and surrounding land-uses had been continuously used for similar noxious activities since 1964, but URF expansion changed the area’s surrounding landscape from rural-majority to urban-majority prior to the 2008 land-use conflict. The association between URF expansion and space-related drivers of land-use conflict is a necessary consideration when studying increasingly urbanised landscapes.     

Understanding the role of centralization processes for cities – Evidence from a spatial perspective of urban Europe 1990–2010

In the 21st century, the urban systems in most countries have undergone constant change, ranging between shrinkage, growth, and non-linear trajectories. All trends have an effect on the hinterland and are discussed in the context of agglomeration effects or hinterland shrinkage due to reurbanization. Thus, cities' population trajectories are not independent but rather is reinforced or runs contrary to the hinterland development.In order to simultaneously capture trends in cities and their hinterlands, urban life-cycle models are used. Using a systematic differentiation between the trend in the core and the hinterland, it is possible to distinguish between a stronger population growth of core cities and a situation in which the hinterland is growing faster – labeled centralization and decentralization, respectively. Developed in the 1980s, the widely used model of van den Berg reveals, however, some major drawbacks.Against this background, the paper will revisit van den Berg's et al. model and test it against the urban conditions in Europe between 1990 and 2010 by asking whether cities are decentralizing or centralizing and whether there are differences between growing and shrinking cities. The paper develops a city delineation, covering large and small cities, uses data about age structure, and applies an adapted model by measuring the intensity of the trends. The rapidly changing population trends since the beginning of the global economic crisis and its effects in Europe since 2008 require that more attention be paid to changing configurations between cities and processes beyond cities' borders, which is essential for both scholars and urban planners.     

The dimensions of global urban expansion: Estimates and projections for all countries, 2000–2050

Our study of the expansion of a representative sample of 30 cities showed that 28 of them expanded more than 16-fold during the twentieth century. More generally, cities are now expanding at twice their population growth rates, on average, and now cover almost 0.5% of the planet's land area. We created a new dataset comprising the universe of all 3646 named metropolitan agglomerations and cities that had populations in excess of 100,000 in the year 2000, their populations in that year, and their built-up area identified in the Mod500 map, currently the best of eight satellite-based global maps of urban land cover. Using this dataset, we estimated urban land cover in smaller cities and towns in all countries and calculated total urban land cover in every country in the year 2000. We then employed multiple regression models that could explain more than 90% of the variations in our urban land cover estimates amongst countries. Then, using U.N. urban population projections in combination with three realistic density change scenarios based on our previous global and historical study of densities, we projected urban land cover in every country and world region from 2000 to 2050. According to our medium projection, urban land cover in developing countries will increase from 300,000 km² in 2000 to 770,000 km² in 2030 and to 1,200,000 km² in 2050. Containing this expansion is likely to fail. Minimal preparations for accommodating it – realistic projection of urban land needs, the extension of metropolitan boundaries, acquiring the rights-of-way for an arterial road grid that can carry infrastructure and public transport, and the selective protection of open space from incursion by formal and informal land development – are now in order.     

Pragmatism or idealism? An urban perspective onto the politics of interurban cooperation for sustainability in the EU

European cities have been committed to achieve urban sustainability, participating in interurban networks dealing with socio-ecological issues. By examining the incentives derived by the involvement in these networks and the municipal political milieu where the decision about network participation is taken, this article seeks to understand the motivations for European cities to take part in sustainability networks. To do so, a small-N qualitative analysis was undertaken. The results show that cities’ participation in socio-ecological urban networks (SEUNs) is motivated by the economic, political and formative incentives that membership provides, and is influenced by institutionalised values, political agency and previous cooperative experience.     

Natural amenities and their effects on migration along the urban–rural continuum

The importance of natural amenities in promoting development and population change has been addressed in a large body of literature with recent studies identifying rather obvious spatial heterogeneity in the effects of natural amenities on migration. This said, the potential variation along the urban–rural continuum has not been addressed empirically. In this study, we examine and compare the migration effects of natural amenities in five specific urban–rural continuum types at the minor civil division level in the US state of Wisconsin. Results of spatial analysis suggest that natural amenities do indeed have differing effects on migration along this urban–rural continuum. Overall, natural amenities have the largest effect on in-migration into rural areas adjacent to metro areas and no effect on in-migration into urban areas. The effects of natural amenities on in-migration into remote rural areas rely more on growth trends within these regions. These findings have important implications for rural development, land use policy, and natural resource management.     

A Preliminary Roof Typology for the North East of England c. 1200–1700

Abstract

The study of vernacular buildings in the North East of England has progressed sufficiently in recent decades to reach the point at which a preliminary roof typology for the region can be set out. This goal has been much aided by tree-ring dating. Early roofs include the most northerly crown posts found in England, while in the later-medieval period the truncated-principal truss develops as a regionally distinctive roof form. The medieval evidence for crucks is largely documentary, but post-medieval examples are plentiful, usually in upper or raised cruck form. The late-medieval tiebeam-and-principal roof gradually established itself as the most common regional roof form by the end of the seventeenth century.     

Has highway construction narrowed the urban–rural income gap? Evidence from Chinese cities

Using 2003–2016 panel data of 278 prefecture-level Chinese cities, we analysed the relationship between highway construction, resource flow, and urban–rural income gap using multiple spatial econometric models. Overall highway construction has narrowed the urban–rural income gap owing to better population mobility and goods flow. However, while goods flow has narrowed the gap, population mobility has aggravated it. A regional difference in the impact of highway construction also exists, that is, the effect is negative in central and western cities, but positive for eastern cities. Moreover, China's “4 trillion” fiscal and currency stimulus plan has strengthened highway construction in narrowing the income gap.     

Regional cost-of-living differentials,rural–urban migration,and the contribution to economic growth

Using a multi-region, multi-sector dynamic model of an economy with rural–urban migration fit to Turkish data, this paper explores the evolution of each region's output and factor allocation as well as inter-regional disparities that emerge with migration. Migration or residence decision of households is endogenous with respect to regional cost-of-living differentials. Results show that migration slows down and dampens the shift of labour from urban manufacturing to services, despite the increase in demand for urban services. It is also established that rural–urban migration contributes positively to growth while the reallocation of labour within each region proves to be unfavourable.     

Residential mobility in China: home ownership among rural–urban migrants after reform of the hukou registration system

This paper analyzes the housing tenure of China’s rural–urban migrants in eight destination municipalities in Jiangsu province after the reform of the urban registration system (called hukou in Chinese). The objective is to distill links between home ownership and formal residency status. Using binary logistic models, the paper explores the effects of demographics and institutional factors on home ownership. The analysis is based on the data from a survey conducted in 2009 in eight municipalities, representing the responses to the institutional reforms carried out from the 2000s on. The prevalence of home ownership proves to be affected by age, gender, educational level, household size, personal income, participation in an urban insurance scheme, and a Jiangsu hukou status. However, an inter-municipality comparison reveals divergent effects of a Jiangsu hukou. Registration plays a significant role in relatively more-developed municipalities, where the entitlements are higher but so is the threshold to obtain them. In contrast, its role is not significant in less-developed municipalities, where access to civil amenities is more readily granted.     

A new kind of production and value-added multiplier for assessing the scale and structure effects of demand shocks in input–output frameworks

The main purpose of this paper is to develop a new kind of input?Coutput multiplier that would be particularly well suited to quantifying the impacts of final demand changes on the sectoral output or value-added growth potential of an economy. Instead of using the traditional output multipliers, solving an appropriate optimization problem provides what can be called input?Coutput Euclidean distance multipliers. The method does not impose unitary final demand shocks with a fixed (predetermined) sectoral structure, thus allowing the economy to change across the spectrum of all possible final demand variations represented by vectors of modulus 1. It can be very helpful in measuring interindustry linkages and key sectors in a national or regional economy. An empirical illustration is made, using national (Spain and Portugal) and regional (Balearic Islands and the Azores) input?Coutput data.     

Futurescapes of urban regeneration: ten years of design for the unfolding urban legacy of London’s Olympic Games, 2008–2018

ABSTRACT

Much of the literature on the urban legacy of the 2012 Olympics Games emerging in recent years has emphasized the form that development has taken and the ways in which this aligns (or not) with specific promises made in terms of regeneration before the Games. Though plenty of discussion of planning procedure has occurred in this context, less emphasis has been placed on how the process, rather than the products, of urban change has been envisioned through legacy planning and urban design, and the significance of this for regeneration. Given that London’s much-heralded ‘regeneration legacy’ was, from the early days of the Olympic bid, portrayed as a long-term process aimed at addressing historical issues of socio-economic disparity in East London, and that planning and urban design would play key roles in anticipating it, this contribution to the literature is timely. The paper focuses on the period from 2008 to 2018, beginning with the launch of the what was called the Legacy Masterplan Framework. Drawing on empirical analysis of documents describing the main stages of legacy planning and design between these years, it then examines how regeneration as a ‘futurescape’ encompassing numerous aspects of timing and temporality has been anticipated, planned and evolved.     

Factors influencing farmers' intentions for urban–rural harmony in metropolitan fringes and regional differences therein

Farmers' intentions is the intrinsic motivation of the urban–rural harmony development. However, there are few reports examining the factors influencing farmers' intentions. Based on the household questionnaire survey in Pukou district of Nanjing City, the main driving factors to farmers' intentions in metropolitan fringes of China and regional differences therein were quantitatively analysed. The results show that: (i) many factors, especially farmers' education and satisfaction with urban–rural life, influence farmers' intentions to urban–rural harmony. It needs improve the level of farmers' knowledge to stimulate their intentions on urban–rural harmony; and (ii) dominating factors, including land scale-operation intentions, satisfactions with relocation, and worries about retirement, affect urban–rural harmony in different function zones. It should implement different modes of urban–rural harmony according to differentiations of regional characteristics and farmers' intentions.     

Spatial impact of urban expansion on surface water bodies—A case study of Wuhan,China

This study aims to raise the level of attention paid to surface water management issues in spatial planning and urban development processes. In the case of cities located in alluvial river plains, surface water bodies may occupy large areas but severe ecological and environmental consequences can arise if they are given insufficient weight in the planning and development processes. After discussing in general terms some of the connections between surface water bodies and urban land use we specifically examine the situation in Wuhan, one of the largest cities in China, which has many surface water bodies in its urban region. We measure and analyse land use changes between 1993 and 2004 to lakes and shallow water bodies and their riparian areas using data derived from detailed land use surveys of the city. Our results show that urban expansion has had a significant impact on Wuhan's surface water bodies and their riparian zones. The reduction, disappearance and pollution of surface water may contribute to the undervaluation of water bodies, thereby increasing the likelihood of further impacts taking place. An integrative and proactive land use planning and management system at regional strategic level and local action level is considered to be essential if surface water systems are to be conserved and improved. Increased recognition of their societal and ecological value should be reflected in more detailed attention to the spatial requirements of water bodies and riparian areas in urban planning policies.     

Living condition among China’s rural–urban migrants: recent dynamics and the inland–coastal differential

Using data from the Rural–Urban Migration in China (RUMiC) survey, this paper evaluates the very recent dynamics of living condition among China’s rural–urban migrants during 2008–2014, scrutinizing in particular the differential between the inland region and the coastal region. Along with their improved economic conditions, housing conditions of migrants have in general improved, although compared to urban locals their disadvantages persist over time. The improvement is especially fast among those migrants residing in the inland region. Multivariate regression results indicate that education, income, place of origin and family composition are important determinants of migrants’ housing conditions. Finally, decomposition analysis suggests that even after controlling for those observable factors, there is still a large inland–coastal differential. Over time, China’s rural–urban migrants are becoming more stable and settled in host cities. The temporary nature of China’s migrants, claimed in many previous studies, might be changing. Updated and regional-specific migrant policies are needed.     

The port–city relationships in two European inland ports: A geographical perspective on urban governance

Urban development projects involve some complex relationships between institutional public agents, who govern local territories, and economic agents, who make urban economies. These relationships between the stakeholders of the economic sectors (transport, water, housing, energy, industry…) and the territories shaped by public action thus define the type of urban governance which results from interactions. In this paper, we develop the hypothesis that the relation between these stakeholders has a major impact on the mechanisms that produce the city. In this perspective, we apply an analytical framework (sector/territory dialogues) to two river cities in order to understand how the interplay between the stakeholders modifies urban geography. Analysing the relationship between the city, the river and the port in Venlo (The Netherlands) and Strasbourg (France) provides examples of project-based urban planning that is founded on negotiation between the river stakeholders (port authorities, inland waterway managers, transport and logistics firms) and the different levels of public policies (municipal, intermunicipal, regional, national levels). Eventually, this approach allows us to consider the forms taken by the above sector-territory dialogue within the urban space in terms of tools and scales. Finally, the paper ends with a discussion about the value of a contribution from geography to an understanding of these governance issues.     

What can the urban designer do for children? Normative principles of child–friendly communities for responsive third places

This study explores the idea that all public urban places should be planned and designed keeping children in mind. Children from urban places are exposed to different types of urban and social problems. While many Western cities address the needs of children and young people, Egyptian cities overlook children’s needs and behaviours, especially in architectural terms. This study attempts to place Egyptian children at the centre of the urban agenda based on universal laws that secure children. The contribution provides procedures and design principles. A survey in Cairo was conducted through interviews with children and their parents. The results indicate that a child-friendly community can be created for positive social interaction between children, families and the built environment. The result also suggests that a third place will be the most appropriate area where a child-friendly community can be created. Such places are crucial for learning how children interact as they grow up because they are places where informal activities take place. The research concludes that for an improved built environment, it is important to focus on children’s lives in third places and what designers provide or hinder with normative design principles through the process of creating child-friendly cities.