Will polycentric cities cause more CO2 emissions? A case study of 232 Chinese cities

From 2000 to 2010 China experienced rapid economic development and urbanization. Many cities in economically developed areas have developed from a single-center status to polycentricity. In this study, we used exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA) to identify the population centers, which identified 232 cities in China as having urban centers. COMP was used to represent urban agglomeration, and POLYD (representing how far is the city's sub-centers to the main center), POLYC (representing the number of a city's centers), and POLYP (representing the population distributed between the main center and the sub-centers) were used to indicate urban polycentricity. Night light data were used to determine the CO₂ emissions from various cities in China. A mixed model was used to study the impact of urban aggregation and polycentric data on the CO₂ emission efficiency in 2000 and 2010. The study found that cities with higher compactness were distributed in coastal areas, and the cities with higher multicentricity were distributed in the Yangtze River Delta and Shandong Province. The more compact the city was, the less conducive it was to improving CO₂ emission efficiency. Polycentric development of the city was conducive to improving the CO₂ emission efficiency, but the number of urban centers had no significant relationship with the CO₂ emission efficiency. Our research showed that the compactness and multicentricity of the city had an impact on the CO₂ emission efficiency and provided some planning suggestions for the low carbon development of the city.     

创新集聚空间分布模式对霾污染的影响

为了比较分析创新集聚空间分布单中心与多中心两种模式对霾污染的影响机制,本文构建了省域面板数据模型和中介效应模型进行实证检验.结果表明：创新集聚可通过规模效应降低霾污染;但创新集聚空间分布模式对霾污染的影响具有异质性.其中,单中心模式诱发了霾污染,存在创新集聚环境效应悖论;多中心模式对霾污染具有改善效应;随着创新集聚多中心的提高,其霾污染改善效应增强,但具有边际递减特征;能源利用效率是创新集聚空间分布模式影响霾污染的重要渠道之一.基于此,本文建议省级政府推进空间协同创新发展战略,建构省域多中心的创新网络空间组织体系,以此形成多中心协同治霾机制,破解创新集聚环境效应悖论.     

Navigating multi‐level natural resource governance: an analytical guide

A plethora of terms are used to describe the form of governance of complex social‐ecological systems, such as multi‐level governance, polycentricity and network governance. This plethora of terms is associated with a diffuse literature from which it can be challenging to identify which variables are important for investigation of the governance system and what questions could be asked. The purpose of this article is to present the development of a guide for the analysis of the complex governance systems of renewable natural resources, informed by a breadth of literature from which key characteristics, challenges and concepts are identified. The guide consists of three dimensions: multiplicities of levels, actors and institutions; the existence, opportunities for, and challenges of, interactions within and between levels (vertical and horizontal interactions); and an assessment of governance performance through application of governance principles. The guide is applied to a case study of mangrove forests in Kenya, to illustrate its utility in generating understanding and identification of challenges and opportunities for more effective multi‐level governance. It is proposed that the guide could be beneficial to researchers and practitioners seeking to develop an understanding of structures, performance and outcomes of multi‐level governance.     

中国多中心城市空间结构与能源效率关系

当前,北京、深圳、武汉等城市纷纷提出多中心的发展思路。作为城市建设的一项重要举措,多中心战略必须符合可持续发展目标,然而多中心结构是否有助于提高能源效率亟待检验。利用2017年我国地级及以上城市数据,分别运用改进的社会网络法和超效率EBM模型测度城市多中心度与城市能源效率,实证检验多中心度对城市能源效率的影响。研究发现：城市多中心度与能源效率之间存在倒“U”形变动特征。然而,仅有约25%的样本城市的多中心度突破了拐点,且这些城市主要为大型城市或受地形约束的山地城市,表明对于大多数中小城市而言,多中心度的提升能够促进城市的能源效率。