Evolution of Macao’s Urban Spatial Morphology and Its Influencing Factors

After more than 450 years’ development, Macao has evolved into a world heritage city and world tourism and leisure city from a traditional Chinese fishing village. Its urban spatial morphology has gone through six stages. Based on the analysis of the historic events in Macao at different stages, this paper elaborates the process, characteristics, and influencing factors of the urban spatial morphology evolution.     

The Review and Prospect of Chinese Urban Planning from 1980s to 1990s

Ⅰ.Chinese Cities and Towns in1980sThe development and changes ofChinese cities and towns over the last dec-ade had been most extraordinary,which at-tributed both to its thousand-year-civiliza-tion-history and development process sincethe founding of the P.R.China.The devel-opment changes are in both “quantity” and“quality”.Although it is a bit difficult tosummarize all the changes,at least,it is pos-sible to sum up the following subjects fordiscussion.     

Concept and Method of Asset-Based Community Development Planning: A Case Study on Minlecun Community in Chongqing’s Yuzhong District

With the transformation of the Chinese economy from an extensive growth to intensive development, city development is also gradually turning from incremental construction to stock management. Community, as a basic unit of human settlements, is an important platform to build and improve the social governance capability. In 2013, Shiyoulu Jiedao Offi ce of Yuzhong District led the 1st urban community development planning, which was a milestone of Chongqing’s city regeneration and governance innovation. This paper focuses on two key issues: how to understand the community values and make the community development planning based on the above, and how to integrate with the local forces so that the community development planning can be integrated into the action plan. Combined with the practice of Minlecun Community Development Planning, using the concept of asset-based community development, a comprehensive survey is conducted on community assets(including three aspects of physical, human, and social capital), and a community comprehensive planning strategy is formulated which covers two parts: the optimization of community spaces and the upgrading of community governance. The paper explores the local-based community planning theories and methods from such aspects as value attitude, public participation, role transformation of urban planners, and others.     

A Study on Trafic Congestion in Metropolises of China from the Perspective of People’s Livelihood

The traffic congestion is not only a social problem but also an issue about livelihood.To solve this problem,the key is to change the traffic model from automobile-based to people-oriented with focus on fair road rights and equalization of public service resources.Based on the understanding above,this paper puts forward some policy recommendations such as prior road right of public transport,limiting the use of private cars by economic levers,development of multi-level public transport system,improving slow traffic system,advocating green travel and friendly driving,achieving equalization of public resources,and so on.     

Why High-Speed Railway Stations Continue China’s Leapfrog Urbanization:Institutional Parameters of Urban Development

An ambitious program of High-Speed Railway (HSR) is under construction in China and already soon the network will overtake its counterparts in Europe. Reflecting on experiences in Europe, the authors explore the conditions for place making qualities of six new HSR station areas in China. The superb inter-city connectivity of the new infrastructure nodes raises a lot of expectations about the economic and social potential of the station areas, but the experiences in Europe thus far are very differentiated. With regards to the attraction of economic activities usually the existing differences between different economic regions are reproduced rather than shaping completely new conditions. Also the expectations of developing completely new integrated urban centers around stations in the urban periphery are rather ambitious. The paper questions the planning responses to HSR development in Chinese cities and investigates the institutional conditions that frame these responses. The authors explore how the plans for Chinese HSR station development account for their objectives and reflect on the potential of the station area planning by investigating the institutional parameters of urban development.     

An Institutional Analysis on China’s “Urban Disease”

This paper aims to clarify the institutional causes of China’s"urban disease"and propose solutions to counter it.The institutional causes summarized in the paper include the fiscal and taxation system,land system,planning system,the central-local relations,and so forth.By influencing the behavior of municipal governments,these factors not only produce excessive incentives for cities to pursue urban development,but also result in"urban disease"in Chinese cities.Based on such an analysis,this paper puts forward some thoughts and suggestions on gradual reforms in the future to help mitigate China’s"urban disease."     

The Two Facets of Lesotho’s Urban Land Law and Implications for Planning

Critical research and analysis of the link between urban development, urban law and judicial decisions in the cities of Sub-Saharan Africa is limited. Drawing on lessons from Maseru, Lesotho, this paper advances a critical analysis of the link between urban law, judicial decisions and urban development. The paper suggests that Lesotho’s urban land law, the Land Act of 1979 (LA 1979) has two facets. The first facet is that LA 1979 is exclusionary because in terms of access to urban housing land, it discriminates between individuals on the basis of their socioeconomic wealth and access to those who wield state power. The second facet is that LA 1979 is ostensibly empowering, as it has permitted urban residents who have acquired urban housing land through informal delivery processes to challenge state attempts to appropriate their land without compensation. The paper notes that the first facet has remained significantly unchanged since the enactment of LA 1979 in June 1980, while the second facet only emerged in 1993, when constitutional rule was reinstated after nearly 23 years of autocratic regimes. The paper concludes that the reinstatement of constitutional rule in 1993 has permitted the courts to reinterpret the rules-of-the-game in ways that have privileged the rights of ordinary urban residents over those of the state. In the process, the judiciary has established solid foundations for transparent, accountable, and participatory urban planning and governance, a culture that the planning profession in Lesotho is yet to internalise.

Spatial Logic and Risks in China’s Rapid Urbanization under Global Complexity

China’s rapid urbanization in the past 30 years can be abstracted as a spatial-temporal product of the socio-economic mechanism relying on productive factors, which represents the sustained dynamics from labor demographic bonus to land capital discount. In the context of the current increasing global complexity, this paper points out that this kind of productive factor-based spatial logic not only has structural deficiencies, but also potentially brings about the environmental, economic, social, and political risks in multiple dimensions as follows: first, the crises in regional resources and environment due to the market distortion of productive factors; second, the disappearance of industrial growth impetus due to the investment preference to land urbanization; third, the social polarization caused by the incomplete urbanization of immigrates; fourth, the overdraft of government credit as a result of the unbalanced urbanization of population, industry, and land. Under such a circumstance, the paper proposes a transition of China’s existing urbanization policies, so as to achieve the objective of sustainable urbanization in the future.     

Accommodation of China’s Industrial Heritage in Urban Conservation Practices (Ⅱ)

In recent years, the conservation of industrial heritage in China has gained increasing attention within the broader context of urban conservation practices. For both policy-makers and scholars, accommodating this industrial heritage will emerge as a pertinent issue for consideration as a growing number of industrial architectural legacies dating from the Republican and Maoist eras come under (re)development pressures. This paper thus traces the development of industrial heritage conservation practices in China and discusses several dilemmas intrinsic to this type of conservation, including issues of authenticity, representativeness, and distinction. Based on comparative case studies from China and other international precedents, this paper also seeks to illustrate the different approaches that could be pursued while still attaining a balance between competing interests and claims.     

Accommodation of China’s Industrial Heritage in Urban Conservation Practices (I)

In recent years, the conservation of industrial heritage in China has gained increasing attention within the broader context of urban conservation practices. For both policy-makers and scholars, accommodating this industrial heritage will emerge as a pertinent issue for consideration as a growing number of industrial architectural legacies dating from the Republican and Maoist eras come under (re)development pressures. This paper thus traces the development of industrial heritage conservation practices in China and discusses several dilemmas intrinsic to this type of conservation, including issues of authenticity, representativeness, and distinction. Based on comparative case studies from China and other international precedents, this paper also seeks to illustrate the different approaches that could be pursued while still attaining a balance between competing interests and claims.     

Old-age Care Modes and Facility Planning Based on the Concept of “Continuum of Care”

Through the comparative analysis on the theories and practical experience of the development of old-age care (OAC) in both China and other countries,and based on the interview and questionnaire survey in Zhejiang Province and Hangzhou City,this paper proposes the research and analysis framework for the old-age service system,i.e.,"OAC mode-OAC service system-OAC facility system." The paper argues that,oriented by OAC mode of "taking community-and home-based care as the main body and institution-based care as supplement," China should build an OAC facility system and planning thoughts that take "continuum of care" as concept and long-term care system as core.Taking Zhejiang Province and Hangzhou City as examples,the paper conducts the optimization research on current OAC facilities planning in terms of hierarchical system,scale,and differentiation,so as to formulate more systematic and operable planning standards for OAC facilities.     

A Research on the Evaluation of Urban Development Land-Use Intensity——A Views from Planning and Management

科学合理地确定评价指标体系是城市建设用地集约性评价的重要前提.从综述现有相关研究成果入手,对城市建设用地集约性的内涵进行了重新审视和剖析,在此基础上构建了基于规划编制和规划管理两个视角的城市建设用地集约性评价指标体系,即在规划编制层面重点引入城市总体用地、城市专项用地、城市配套用地层面的14项代表性指标;在规划管理层面重点引入居住类用地管理、产业类用地管理、公益性用地管理层面的12项代表性指标.最后提出了实现促进建设用地集约性的相关对策建议.     

A Study on People’s Attitude to the Use of Elevators for Fire Escape

Currently, elevators are not considered as a proper means of escape in fires and people have been educated and trained to use staircases for fire escape. However, it is difficult for all the occupants to evacuate only by staircases timely and safely in super high-rise buildings, especially for the old and disabled. Considering the fact that super high-rise buildings are constructed in increasing numbers in many Asian cities, it becomes much more necessary to reconsider the use of elevators for emergency escape. Besides a mechanically safe elevator system, people’s cooperation is of critical importance to assure an efficient egress process. To explore people’s attitude to the use of elevators for fire escape in high-rise buildings and the diversity based on demographics, a study was conducted via face-to-face interviews in two different cities of China. Respondents’ demographics and their responses to hypothetical fire scenarios were collected via a set of structured questions. The results showed that most people would consider using elevators for fire escape in super high-rise buildings. The main influencing factors of their attitude were firemen’s instruction and the height of their location in the building. Statistical diversity was found based on demographics. These results indicated that people’s attitude to elevator evacuation was positive and further study should be very important.     

Conceptual Model for Collaborative Planning in Iran with Emphasis on the Role of Urban Planners： A Case Study of Anzali＇s Development Strategy

Nowadays, public participation is one of the most important factors to improve the feasibility, legitimacy and quality of urban plans. In Iran, due to lack of comprehensive understanding about the participation notion and its necessary socio-economic and political infrastructures, participatory decision-making has faced with some serious challenges in both processes of preparing and implementing. The present paper focuses on providing practical strategies for preparing collaborative urban plans in Iran＇s conditions. Also it seeks to answer this question： What is the role of planners to prepare a real collaborative plan？ It is assumed that a conceptual model for collaborative planning can be fitted with Iran＇s conditions by means of integrating the fundamental philosophic ideas of participatory planning such as theories of Paul Michel Foucault and Jürgen Habermas, given the fact that the present situation of collaborative planning in Iran needs a supportive theory which is compatible with power structures of Iranian urban planning system. In this regard, the Habermas＇ theory of “communicative action” and the Foucault＇s theory of “power structures” are reviewed by a comparative analysis methodology to present an integrated conceptual model for collaborative planning in Iran＇s condition. At the end, the CDS （City Development Strategy）---making process of Anzali City of Iran is analysed to examine this claim in the practice. The results yield that enabling urban planners to act as communication facilitators during planning can direct the collaborative planning in Iran from theory to a real practice by means of integrating the positive aspects of communication and power.     

Images of the Future from the Past： The Metabolists and the Utopian Planning of the 1960s

During the 1960s, many changes reshaped the economy, the society and the arts. The Cold War, the Space Race, the construction of a new middle class in most western societies led by the postwar economic prosperity with unprecedented urban growth followed by severe environmental problems fostered the design of spectacular urban utopian cities and mega-architectures. In those years, Japan was the source of highly influential bold and visionary urban and architectural ideas which relied on advanced technology. These ideas were conceived on the thought that cities could be seen as gigantic but impermanent entities able to transform itself according to an organic process of adaptation of its elementary components. This paper briefly revisits and critically discusses the legacy of the iconic mega-strnctural projects of Japanese Metabolist Movement and other visionary architects and planners of the 1960s, such as Paolo Soleri, Buckminster Fuller, Archigram. It attempts to enlighten the continuity with contemporary innovative and experimental urban models and ideas for the society and the city of the future, such as the Smart Cities, Eco-Cities, Green Urbanism, whose design is led by concerns related to climate change, the necessity of energy efficiency, the improvement of urban landscape and the valorization of depleted natural resources.     

Psychological Studies on People’s Decision and Choice for Trips──A Case Study of Maanshan City

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