市场机制引入对城镇新增建设用地配置效率的影响

市场机制引入是否可以提高城镇新增建设用地配置效率优化城镇新增建设用地配置体系是学界和政界关注的热点问题。本文以实施"地票"交易政策,尝试引入市场机制配置城镇新增建设用地的重庆市为典型区域,结合理论分析与实证检验,通过构建以Logit模型为基础的"地票"指标流转模型,利用重庆市2008—2012年38个区县的"地票"交易数据,定量分析"地票"指标市场化流转行为及其关键影响因素,从而探究市场机制引入对城镇新增建设用地配置效率的影响。研究结果表明,重庆市各区县城镇建设用地边际产出与区域"地票"指标的流入行为存在正向的作用关系,而与"地票"指标的流出行为存在负向的作用关系。在市场机制的作用下,市场上的"地票"指标主要由城镇建设用地边际产出较低的区域提供,而"地票"指标最终流入了城镇建设用地边际产出相对较高的区域,从而拉平了区域之间城镇建设用地边际产出,一定程度上提高了城镇新增建设用地配置效率。为此,认为伴随着"地票"交易政策的实施,重庆市逐步形成了一种计划配置为主、市场配置为辅的混合型城镇新增建设用地配置体系,这种配置体系极大地增加了指标供给的弹性并优化了指标的配置效率。因此,我国应积极尝试在现有城镇新增建设用地配置体系中引入市场机制,引导地方政府从"增量"、"计划"的用地理念逐步向"存量"和"市场"的用地理念过渡,最终形成以区域资源禀赋和实际需求为导向的城镇新增建设用地配置体系。     

长江中游城市群人口分布与城镇化格局及其演化特征

城市群日益成为我国人口集聚和城镇化发展的重要载体,2015年4月《长江中游城市群发展规划》的提出标志着长江中游城市群建设正式上升为国家发展战略。基于2014年长江中游城市群人口和城镇化格局现状分析,采用湘鄂赣3省第四、五、六次人口普查数据,分析了1990~2010年长江中游城市群人口与城镇化格局的空间变化。研究发现:(1)1990~2010年,长江中游城市群人口分布不均衡,武汉、长沙、南昌3大省会城市一直是人口的主要集中地,人口集聚水平不断提升,但城市群整体的人口集聚水平有所下降,人口分布的空间格局呈现出由单核心结构向多核心结构的发展趋势;(2)人口"镇"化是长江中游城市群城镇化发展的主要驱动力,城镇化水平经历了由以长江为界北高南低分布向沿长江、京九和浙赣沿线地区分布的发展过程,形成了多核心结构的城镇化格局;(3)对比人口分布与城镇化格局的演变过程,反映出人口集聚度对城镇化格局的形成有着重要影响,但区域城镇化同时受到经济发展水平、工业化水平、基础设施等多种因素影响,其格局变化更加复杂、显著。     

中部3省城市建设用地功能时空演化特征

定量识别区域城市建设用地功能演化特征与模式,是推进可持续城市建设用地开发利用与管理、助力新型城镇化等国家战略的重要基础。从人口承载、生产与消费、公共服务3个方面构建了城市建设用地功能评价指标体系与模型,以地级市为研究单元探究了2000~2014年期间我国中部3省多尺度城市建设用地功能演化特征与模式。研究结果表明:(1)中部3省城市建设用地人口承载、生产与消费、公共服务和综合功能总体呈改善趋势,但演化过程复杂;(2)不同尺度尤其是城市群地区城市建设用地功能演化特征差异明显。沿长江和城市群地区城市建设用地功能演化强度高,但城市群地区空间异质性较强;(3)城市建设用地功能演化以复合型演化模式为主,演化格局复杂。其中,城市建设用地人口承载功能演化模式类型最多,且局部地区呈衰退型演化格局;城市建设用地生产与消费、公共服务功能和综合功能演化模式类型相对较少,且大多集中连片分布,武汉城市建设用地综合功能加速改善型演化特征显著。如何深入探究城市建设用地功能演化模式形成机理,并系统制定多级城市建设用地可持续利用管理策略,是实现我国新型城镇化和"美丽中国梦"等战略的重要任务。     

Assessing diversity and inclusivity within the Transition movement: an urban case study

The Transition movement has experienced remarkable growth in its first decade, yet there remains considerable doubt about its ability to appeal to a diverse audience. To date, few studies have explicitly examined diversity of participation in the movement. Addressing this gap in the literature, a case study is presented of Transition Town Tooting (TTT). Results from a mixed methods approach comprising semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and a quantitative survey indicate that the demographic profiles of TTT participants do not represent the diversity of the Tooting population. This disparity is exacerbated by TTT’s ‘passive’ approach to inclusivity within the core group. Reflecting upon the implications for Transition’s goal of local resilience, it is suggested that, particularly within dense urban communities, initiatives may have more potential for engaging diverse voices through a local ‘brokering’ role between various subcommunities.     

Young adult conservation jobs and worker health

Decades of research studies demonstrate links between healthy environment, healthy lifestyles, and healthy people. This study evaluated the correlations between young adult conservation workers' perceived stress, personal effectiveness, and nature experience using quantitative and qualitative social science methods. The study cohort numbered nearly 300 individuals serving on small crews for an entire year, and were dispersed across Washington State (USA) to participate in conservation projects in rural to urban landscapes. Pre- and post-test surveys, using validated measures of perceived stress, health dimensions, and personal resiliency, were further informed by mid-year, field-based interviews. Overall, the young adults expressed fatigue with the physical work but were quite healthy when compared to national benchmarks. They indicated a reduction in perceived stress, and indicated social function influences based on the conservation work. Conclusions address the importance and implications of expanding this work opportunity to a more diverse cohort and future research needs.     

Water-smart growth planning: linking water and land in the arid urbanizing American West

Linking water and land is essential in planning for the future of the western United States. We propose the concept of ‘water-smart growth’ and explore its implications through incorporating water considerations into the SLEUTH land-use model. The urban growth trajectory in Cache County, Utah, is modeled from 2007 to 2030 under four different scenarios: current trend; smart growth; water-smart growth with moderate implementation; and water-smart growth with full implementation. Comparisons of simulation results illustrate the extent and ways in which water-smart growth would alter current established land-use growth patterns. The approach represents an initial step to better integrate land and water in urban growth modeling and planning. This study's purposes are to provide improved understanding and representation of linkages between water and land in urbanizing environments, offer insights from a set of modeled options, and demonstrate the significance of integrating land and water in planning practices.     

Assessing the socio-economic impacts of green/blue space,urban residential and road infrastructure projects in the Confluence (Lyon): a hedonic pricing simulation approach

Urban green/blue spaces are put under pressure as urban areas grow, develop and evolve. It is increasingly recognized, however, that green/blue spaces provide important ecosystem services, stimulate higher real estate prices and prevent flooding problems. This paper aims to assess and compare the socio-economic impacts of potential green/blue space, urban residential and road infrastructure development scenarios in the Lyon Confluence project area (France), using the Sustainable Urbanizing Landscape Development (SULD) hedonic pricing simulation model. Results show four major tendencies regarding the value-added of green/blue spaces in urban landscapes: (1) cities become more compact; (2) population densities increase; (3) real estate values rise; and (4) demographic distribution patterns change. The magnitude of these impacts depends, however, on the quality and size of the intervention, the social classes attracted to the intervention area and on the location of the intervention relative to existing residential areas, urban centres, road infrastructure and environmental amenities.     

Climate change adaptation in the urban planning and design research: missing links and research agenda

This paper investigates the extent and the nature of how the urban planning literature has addressed climate change adaptation. It presents a longitudinal study of 157 peer-reviewed articles published from 2000 to 2013 in the leading urban planning and design journals whose selection considered earlier empirical studies that ranked them these journals. The findings reveal that the years 2006–07 represent a turning point, after which climate change studies appear more prominently and consistently in the urban planning and design literature; however, the majority of these studies address climate change mitigation rather than adaptation. Most adaptation studies deal with governance, social learning, and vulnerability assessments, while paying little attention to physical planning and urban design interventions. This paper identifies four gaps that pertain to the lack of interdisciplinary linkages, the absence of knowledge transfer, the presence of scale conflict, and the dearth of participatory research methods. It then advocates for the advancement of participatory and collaborative action research to meet the multifaceted challenges of climate change.     

Data Management Dimensions of Social Water Science: The iUTAH Experience

Integrating social and hydrologic sciences for understanding water systems is challenged by data management complexities. Contemporary mandates for open science and data sharing necessitate better understanding of the implications of social science data types. In the context of an interdisciplinary water research program that endeavors to integrate and share social science and biophysical data, we highlight the array of data types and issues associated with social water science. We present a multi‐dimensional classification of social water science data that provides insight into data management considerations for each data type. Recommendations for cyberinfrastructure, planning, and policy are offered.     

Critical reflections on the theory and practice of social sustainability in the built environment – a meta-analysis

This article presents a critical reflection on the theory and practice of social sustainability in the built environment, identifies areas of agreement and disagreement, explores theoretical and conceptual gaps and challenges, and suggests practical implications for future research and urban policy. It argues that despite revisionist approaches which challenge the tripartite structure of sustainable development, social dimension of sustainability remains an essential valid pillar. Utilising a qualitative meta-analysis methodology for undertaking critical analysis of previous research and publications on the topic, key themes of theory and practice of social sustainability are identified and critically examined. Accordingly, 10 key formative characteristics of social sustainability and their research and policy implications are introduced. The article concludes with institutional observations for policy-makers to achieve greater success in addressing largely underestimated dimensions of social sustainability in urban settings.