Assessing local planning capacity to promote environmentally sustainable residential development

Smart growth and sustainability planning have, in recent years, become central issues in planning discourse. Scholars have argued that planning capacity at the local government level is critical for smart growth planning, and that planners have a fundamental role to play in advancing local and regional sustainability. In this paper, we investigate the extent to which local planning capacity enables communities to promote more sustainable, smart growth residential development. Based on a 2013 survey of 38 county and 53 municipal governments in the state of Wisconsin, USA, this study finds that the majority of the sample communities have permitted residential developments characterized as transit-oriented, New Urbanist, mixed use, infill developments, or conservation subdivisions as alternatives to low-density, automobile-dependent conventional developments. The study also finds that jurisdictions with higher planning capacities are more likely to overcome significant barriers to more sustainable residential development.     

长江经济带人口城镇化与土地城镇化协调发展时空差异研究

长江经济带是我国经济发展的战略区域,人口城镇化和土地城镇化的协调发展是推进新型城镇化发展的战略重点之一。本文以2006-2013年长江经济带126个地级市的人口、土地数据为基础,从长江经济带、区域和市域视角,采用熵值法、发展水平评价模型和均衡发展模型测度人口城镇化和土地城镇化协调发展度,结合空间分析方法对协调发展度进行分析,并使用ArcGIS10.2得出二者协调发展度的空间分布图。研究发现,从整体来看长江经济带2006-2013年人口城镇化与土地城镇化协调发展水平不断提高,并呈现相对平稳增长,2013年总体上达到较高协调发展水平。从区域视角来看,协调发展度呈现阶梯特征即下游地区中游地区上游地区的状态,且自2009年起3大区域协调发展度差距呈扩大趋势。从市域视角分析,长江经济带126个地级市2006-2008年协调发展度的发展速度慢,2009年后发展速度显著提升;在空间上呈现"东北-西南"的空间非均衡性和空间异质性,东北高、西南低,并表现明显的"城市群集聚"发展特征。长江经济带在人口城镇化和土地城镇化进程中应不断推进区域经济发展,加快中上游城市的城镇化进程,充分发挥"城市群"的经济辐射带动作用,同时转变土地财政思想,真正实现地区发展水平的提高,最终实现人口城镇化和土地城镇化协调发展。     

长江经济带后备适宜建设用地潜力

随着中央政府将长江经济带发展提到国家区域战略的新高度,其对建设用地的需求将进一步增加。作为客观反映地区剩余或潜在建设用地对未来人口集聚、工业化和城镇化发展承载能力的指标,后备适宜建设用地潜力成为决定研究区域能否持续稳定发展的关键因素。基于此,本文根据后备适宜建设用地的计算方法和评价技术流程,测算了长江经济带后备适宜建设用地潜力,并对其空间分布特征进行了分析。结果表明:长江经济带后备适宜建设用地面积为85 672.35 km2,约占研究区总面积的4.18%,总体潜力不大,空间上呈现出长江北部高于南部,中游、下游、上游地区依次递减的分布趋势;人均后备适宜建设用地0.22亩/人,下、中、上游地区呈现出依次递减的趋势;四川盆地、两湖平原、皖北等区域的后备适宜建设用地潜力较大,长三角、大城市市辖区以及川西地区不仅后备适宜建设用地较缺乏,人均后备适宜建设用地面积也较低。     

Quantity and biochemical composition of sedimentary organic matter around offshore gas extraction platforms of the Adriatic Sea

Gas platforms can exert relevant effects on various ecosystem properties of the hosting area, modifying patterns of productivity and particle sedimentation. We hypothesised that the presence of gas platforms is associated with higher organic matter (OM) contents and we tested the null hypothesis by which benthic trophic conditions do not vary significantly among gas structures with different architectural characteristics. To test these hypotheses, we investigated sedimentary OM contents and biochemical composition at increasing distance from two distinct structures: one subsea well-site and one four-leg platform (FLP). We found that sediments surrounding the structures were characterised by similar OM contents, but different biochemical compositions, and that sedimentary OM compositional change with increasing distance from the structure is confirmed only at the FLP. These results suggest that: (i) benthic eutrophication is not consistent among different structures; (ii) OM biochemical composition changes are more evident than those in OM quantity; and (iii) the effect, wherever present, disappears at a very narrow distance from the platform. As biochemical composition of OM reflects food availability for benthic organisms, our results suggest that the enrichment of macrozoobenthic communities around these structures could be the consequence of increased nutritional quality of resources.     

Accounting for monogastric livestock as a driver in global land use and cover change assessments

Land systems are described based on various characteristics, including land cover composition and agricultural production. However, it is uncertain to what extent livestock, particularly monogastric livestock, determines land systems. We included monogastrics in a land system classification, and statistically analyzed the land cover composition and agricultural production of otherwise similar land systems with and without monogastric livestock. The results indicate that land systems with monogastrics are statistically different from their counterparts in the classification without monogastrics in terms of grassland area and crop yields, but are less different in terms of tree area, crop area, and ruminant livestock production. We then used a land systems map that includes monogastrics in the classification and a similar map that does not include monogastrics to project future changes in a novel manner that integrates livestock as a determinant of land systems. The results show that including monogastrics in otherwise similar projections yields less cropland intensification and more cropland expansion in several world regions, including Northern Africa and the Middle East. Other regions, such as Europe and Australia, were characterized by less decrease or more increase in tree area in the application with monogastrics, mainly due to the occurrence of open forests with monogastrics. This study prompts a call for improved characterization of land systems for land use and cover change (LUCC) assessments in order to better represent LUCC driven by monogastric livestock.     

长三角快速城市化地区土地利用变化对生态系统服务价值的影响——以嘉兴市为例

基于浙江省嘉兴市1979~2012年的土地利用数据,评估了各种土地利用类型的生态系统服务价值,分析了30多年来嘉兴市土地生态系统服务价值的动态变化及其对土地利用变化和景观格局变化的响应。结果表明:(1)1979~2012年,嘉兴市建设用地面积变化最大,增加了136.6%,相应的耕地面积减少了15.5%。(2)1979~2012年,嘉兴市景观破碎度指数从0.6531上升到0.8762,随着城市化进程的加剧,耕地景观破碎度指数不断增加、聚集度指数减小。(3)1979~2012年,嘉兴市的总生态系统服务价值减少了14.7%,2000~2012年嘉兴市总的生态系统服务价值减少尤为显著,生态系统各单项服务价值整体也呈现下降趋势,耕地为嘉兴市提供的生态系统服务占嘉兴市总生态系统服务的70%以上。(4)运用相关分析方法对嘉兴市土地利用类型和景观格局对土地生态系统服务价值的影响分析表明,耕地和水域与生态服务价值呈正相关,而建设用地和未利用地与生态服务价值呈负相关;景观多样性指数(SHDI)和耕地破碎度指数与生态系统服务总价值呈显著负相关关系。     

地方政府土地出让策略互动行为的检验及其影响分析

本文以山东省设区市地方政府土地出让行为作为研究对象,通过构建空间面板模型,从价格和数量两个维度,全面检验了地方政府商服、住宅、工业用地出让的策略互动行为,并利用空间计量工具,分析了地方政府土地出让策略互动行为的影响。研究发现:(1)山东省内地方政府商服、住宅、工业用地出让价格以及工业用地出让量存在显著的策略互动,地方政府的商服、住宅、工业用地出让价格以及工业用地出让量,不仅会受城市自身情况的约束,还会受邻近地区地方政府土地出让行为的影响,外在表现为你涨我跌、你增我减的反向变动格局;(2)由于未考虑策略互动,传统计量经济学非空间面板模型对地方政府土地出让行为影响因素的估计普遍存在偏误。对于商服用地出让价格,第三产业比重、人口密度的影响分别被低估了33.33%、13.08%;对于住宅用地出让价格,人口城镇化率、人均可支配收入的影响分别被低估了20.00%、9.98%,人口密度的影响被高估了32.34%;对于工业用地出让价格,人均外商直接投资的影响被高估了3.68%;对于工业用地出让量,第二产业比重、地均工业产值的影响分别被高估了13.95%、31.36%;(3)地方政府土地出让行为的影响因素普遍存在明显的空间溢出效应。对于商服用地出让价格,具有空间溢出效应的影响因素为人口密度;对于住宅用地出让价格,具有空间溢出效应的影响因素为人口城镇化率、人口密度、人均可支配收入;对于工业用地出让价格,具有空间溢出效应的影响因素为人均外商直接投资、地均固定资产投资;对于工业用地出让量,具有空间溢出效应的影响因素为第二产业比重、地均固定资产投资。     

Considering climate change and regional differences: An efficiency assessment of coal mine use and land restoration

China is the country with the largest coal mining production and consumption in the world, but due to a large amount of coal burning, air pollution and climate change are exasperating related problems. The previous literature mainly has discussed coal mine production and environmental pollution, but failed to take into account external factors such as climate change and seldom discussed the relationship between coal mine land use and land restoration. Therefore, this study uses the meta-Epsilon-Based Measure two-stage Data Envelopment Analysis under the exogenous model and incorporates coal mine land use and land restoration use into the model to explore the relationship between the two under climate change. The research results are as follows. (1) If the external climate factors are not considered, then the phenomenon of overestimation or underestimation of the technology gap arises. (2) The efficiency value of the coal mining stage in most provinces is generally higher than the land restoration efficiency value.     

Coalition of injustice? Bodies,business, and the biosphere in struggles against unwanted land uses

Scholars of environmental injustice have pushed to see beyond the spatial distribution of environmental harms in studies of unwanted land uses. Building upon this work, this article examines how the complex geographies of environmental injustice play out in a coalition to prevent the construction of a coal-fired power plant in Surry County, Virginia. While spatially dispersed coalitions of negatively affected actors can strengthen efforts to prevent the construction of an unwanted land use, they can also perpetuate the environmental injustices surrounding it. To make this argument, particular attention is paid to the diverse reasons and ways differentially situated actors oppose an unwanted land use. It is demonstrated how the disparate concerns and differential tactics deployed by actors in coalitions against unwanted land uses are often embedded in and potentially contribute to longer histories of social injustice.     

Politics of distributive justice in the siting of waste disposal facilities: the case of Tokyo

Distributive justice is a crucial aspect of disputes over locally unwanted land uses. This study examines the rise and fall in influence of a particular idea of distributive justice that originated in the 23 wards of Tokyo in the early 1970s – namely, that each of the wards should be required to dispose of its own waste within the ward. This idea – in-ward waste disposal (IWWD) – was adopted as a significant principle in waste facility siting plans, but its influence rose and fell over time until the idea was finally abandoned in 2003. Critically reviewing ideational approaches in political studies, the causes and mechanisms behind the changes in IWWD’s influence are elucidated. The result shows the importance of considering multiple, different types of variables and examining the interaction between them to explain the prominence of an idea and its change over time.