Small City, Big Dreams

The Olympic facilities are ready in Qinhuangdao, but more personnel training and organizational development are needed before the 2008

Problems in the Development of Small Cities and Towns in West China and Countermeasures: A Case Study of Luzhou City, Sichuan Province

New urbanization targets at coordinated urban-rural development, and construction of ecological and livable environment, it is the foundation for breaking urban-rural dual structure of China and promoting the agricultural modernization. Small cities and towns as carriers of new urbanization have already become important paths of realizing new urbanization and solving problems concerning 300 million peasants in China. Considering the requirements of new urbanization, this paper took Luzhou City in Sichuan Province for example to explore development path suitable for small cities and towns in west China and gave pertinent suggestions.

Small and Scenic Fenghuang City

FENGHUANG(Chinese for phoenix), a small city under the jurisdiction of the Tujia Autonomous Prefecture of Hunan Province, borders northern Guizhou Province and eastern Chongqing Municipality. Surrounded by mountains and girdled by the Tuojiang River, this small, quiet city is famous for its beautiful landscape, and as birthplace of several celebrated Chinese personages.Fenghuang’s history dates back 1,316 years. It was originally named Weiyang, and its location was in today’s

Study on Landscape Character Assessment System in Small Cities and Towns

The paper elaborated landscape character assessment system of small cities and towns, defi ned the assessment objects, application range of assessment fruits, specifi c evaluation methods and procedures. Taking Gexianshan Town in Pengzhou City for example, technical means for assessing landscape characters were adopted for the landscape assessment, which provided professional support for the future planning.

Prediction of Traffic Volume of Motor Vehicles Based on Mobile Phone Signaling Technology

Urban traffic volume detection is an essential part of trafficplanning in terms of urban planning in China. To improve the statisticsefficiency of road traffic volume, this thesis proposes a method for predictingmotor vehicle traffic volume on urban roads in small and medium-sizedcities during the traffic peak hour by using mobile signal technology. Themethod is verified through simulation experiments, and the limitations andthe improvement methods are discussed. This research can be divided intothree parts: Firstly, the traffic patterns of small and medium-sized cities areobtained through a questionnaire survey. A total of 19745 residents weresurveyed in Luohe, a medium-sized city in China and five travel modes oflocal people were obtained. Secondly, after the characteristics of residents’rest and working time are investigated, a method is proposed in this studyfor the distribution of urban residential and working places based on mobilephone signaling technology. Finally, methods for predicting traffic volume ofthese travel modes are proposed after the characteristics of these travel modesand methods for the distribution of urban residential and working placesare analyzed. Based on the actual traffic volume data observed at offlineintersections, the project team takes Luohe city as the research object and itverifies the accuracy of the prediction method by comparing the predictiondata. The prediction simulation results of traffic volume show that the averageerror rate of traffic volume is unstable. The error rate ranges from 10% to 30%.In this thesis, simulation experiments and field investigations are adopted toanalyze why these errors occur.

Impact of City Scale and Regional Difference on Small & Medium-Sized Cities' Development and Its Implication

By studying the relationship between urban development performance and city scale and regional difference, this paper aims at revealing the real challenges faced by small and medium-sized cities(referred to as SMSC hereafter) in China. It analyzes the growth of different-sized cities, their positions in China's overall urban system, the influence of city scale on their capability in migrant absorption, economic development, public service, and environmental remediation, as well as the capability difference among SMSCs. Results show that city scale is less a determinant in economic development capability and per capita ownership of public service than in economic performance, quality of public service, and environmental remediation capabilities. Besides, there are many other factors determined by regional differences instead of city scale. Therefore, in the context when SMSC plays an increasingly important role in the process of urbanization, relevant parties should avoid the "trap of scale," and re-position urbanization within the framework of sustainable development.

Study on administrative division reform of China’s small and medium-sized cities in the urbanization process

Throughout the world,urbanization has been basically understood to refer to the process of increasing population flow from rural to urban areas.To adapt to this irreversible process,besides eradicating the urban-rural dual household system,China needs to accelerate the building of administrative system in small and medium-sized cities,which will enable them to absorb more migrants from rural areas,and thereby help ease the burden on large cities,and forge a sensible urban system.According to the statistics in this paper,by 2050,China’s urbanization rate will reach around 80%.This calls for as many as 1,050 small and medium-sized cities,i.e.,those capable of accommodating less than 500,000 residents.Currently,however,there are only 383 cities of that scale in China.Therefore,we need to think hard and clearly about how counties and towns are best developed under the urbanization drive,how to achieve optimal administrative structure through reclassification and adjustment of different administrative units,and how,in general,to enhance the quality of urbanization in China.

The Dilemma and Way-Out of Urban and Rural Planning Management in China's Small and Medium-Sized Cities

In China, for small and medium-sized cities, urban and rural planning management should play an important role during the process of urbanization. However, it failed to do that in reality due to a series of limits, such as local fiscal deficiency, scarce human resources, incomplete management systems, historic planning defects, inadequate supervisions, and imperfect regulations, etc. This paper made a comprehensive analysis on the dilemma of urban and rural planning management in China's small and medium-sized cities and the interests and status of the government, enterprises and public in space resource allocation and put forward the methods to improve the quality of planning management in China's small and medium-sized cities from the view of systems and mechanisms.