Spatial patterns of interprovincial mountain geographical names in China and implications for regional governance

Suffering from fragile environment, poor accessibility and infrastructure, as well as social,political and economic marginality, the interprovincial mountain geographical entities are difficult areas for the regional governance in China.By analyzing the spatial patterns and the influencing factors of the interprovincial mountain geographical names(IMGNs), the goal of this research is to clarify the geographical features of IMGNs and offer alternatives for the management of interprovincial mountain regions in China. The spatial visualization,the analysis of spatial agglomeration and the influencing factors of IMGNs were all implemented under a geographical information system. Results showed that there were 6869 IMGNs in China according to the database of "China's Second National Survey of Geographical Names(2014-2018)",including 4209 mountain geographical names, 1684 mountain peak geographical names and 976 the other mountain geographical names. Hunan Province had the largest number of names while Shanghai had the smallest number of names. In addition, the spatial variance of the mountain peak names and the mountain names were larger than that of the other mountain geographical names, and the IMGNs showed a significant clustering phenomenon in the southern part of China. The relative elevation and the population had an impact on the distribution of the IMGNs. The largest number of the names occurred where the relative elevation was between 1000-2000 m and where the population was between 40-50 million. Density of unnamed interprovincial mountain geographical entities declined from west to east in China. The analysis of generic names of different types of IMGNs implied that the naming of IMGNs is inconsistent. Based on these analyses, it is suggested that the government should take the IMGNs as management units, strengthen the naming of unnamed interprovincial mountain geographical entities, standardize the generic names of IMGNs and identify areas of poverty based on the survey of IMGNs.

A General Overview on Children＇s Rights Situation in Kurdistan Regional Government

Undoubtedly, children are one of the biggest assets of any society and it is the duty of all authorities to have a systematic plan to educate the next generation and make a better life for children so that they can progress and be effective for their communities. In an effort, Kurdistan Regional Government （KRG） has adopted standards to improve the condition for children; however, there are challenges that remain, such as child abuse, child labor, children right＇s law, orphans, street children and etc.. In this paper, a descriptive-analytical method is used to discuss the general situation of children in today＇s Iraqi Kurdistan and the issues such as drug abuse, child labor, orphans and street children, forced marriages, sexual abuse, handicapped children, school dropouts, child soldiers, nutrition, immunization, female genital mutilation and etc. will be explained. The questions this research addresses are： How is the situation of children in Iraqi Kurdistan and what are their challenges？ Also, what is the KRG＇s strategy and through which ways can they make a better life for children and change their current status？ The author believes that nowadays, the KRG is trying to crack down on problems against children; however, their effort is not adequate and some other activities should be performed, one of which is passing the children＇s law against violence.

Research on the Collaborative Innovation Model in Regional Social Governance

Reforms in social governance are promoted by changes in social environments.Social governance models cannot be constant,and the rise of every innovative governance model is inseparable from an ever-changing society.The theoretical connotation of the collaborative innovation model in regional social governance is mainly reflected in its agents,actions,and processes.The fundamental requirements of the collaborative innovation model in regional social governance are de-administration and market-based.The key elements of the collaborative regional social governance model include:delegating power from central authorities,transferring selected social governance affairs,enhancing the development of governance capabilities in social governance agents,diversifying these agents by giving full play to the agency to strengthen the concept of collaborative governance for social governance agents,strengthening the establishment of the governance system,and ensuring the normal progress of the governance processes.The collaborative innovation model in regional social governance should be built in three aspects:a system of institutional norms,an evaluation indicator system,and law-based collaborative governance.

Understanding China's Economic Growth from a Regional Policy Perspective

There has been ongoing interest in China's economic growth.What were the drivers of China's economic growth in past years?What policies were used to promote China's economic growth?Although different lenses may be used to understand and explain China's economic growth,this paper draws on historical,theoretical,and empirical perspectives to discuss the nexus between China's regional policies and economic growth.First,we review the evolution of China's regional policy and the policy's changing emphasis in different development stages,from balanced,unbalanced,and coordinated development to synergistic development.Then we construct a theoretical model to illustrate the impact of regional policy on the local economy and conduct an empirical examination with a case study of regional policy using regression discontinuity design.This paper analyzes the concept of regional policy and the underpinning logic of economic growth and presents practical approaches to formulate a better regional policyframework.

Indonesia-UAE Relations in the Context of Regional Governance

This article analyzes the relationship between the United Arab Emirates(UAE)and Indonesia and describes its main drivers in the Regional Governance.The article provides an analysis of the main strategic interests of both Indonesia and the UAE considering four-overarching global and regional interests.It discusses reasons why this relationship will likely grow in the future,namely due to common interests in investment in Indonesia’s infrastructure,promoting moderate Islam and providing more ways to balance regional relations between the US,India and China.The article concludes with a synopsis of the key drivers of the UAE-Indonesian relationship and the role the Indian Ocean plays in enabling it.

China and the Middle East Economic Governance in New Era

The Middle East Region has been suffering serious economic difficulties and the governance deficit for a long time,which demands a global response.In this new era,China has become an important actor in the progression of the Middle East economic governance;the contents of China’s participation in the Middle East economic governance include energy,trade,investment,finance and developmental governance.Participation of China to the Middle East economic governance has improved economic climate and the terms of trade for the Middle Eastern countries,and enhanced their sustainable development ability,and also responded to the criticism from the Western countries accusing China of being a free rider with real actions.Compared to the Western countries,China’s participation to the Middle East economic governance exhibits its own characteristics in governance goals,ability,path,regime,contents and governance styles.“The Belt and Road”Initiative marks China’s participation in the Middle East economic governance enters new level.The depth and result of China’s participation in the Middle East economic governance are affected by various factors.

Metropolitan Area Evolving from Spatial Concept to Public Policy:A Case Study of Jiangsu Province

With the acceleration of China’s regional integrated development,some functions of large cities have been decentralized to the peripheral areas,resulting in the increasing phenomenon of commuting to and from school or work across administrative regions.As a spatial unit of various factors flowing across regions,the metropolitan area has gradually become a significant carrier in the background of high-quality urbanization development.However,due to existing policy limitation,it has been hard to avoid administrative barriers in metropolitan area development.To fill the gap in the traditional policy system,regional spatial governance is being widely used in practice at various levels.Therefore,from the perspective of spatial governance,this paper explores a new approach to the governance of metropolitan areas with Chinese characteristics based on the analysis of the connotation evolution of metropolitan areas and the international experience of metropolitan development and governance.By taking several metropolitan areas in Jiangsu Province as examples,this paper explains that the key to metropolitan governance is to treat a metropolitan area as"policy area"and to construct a spatial governance system suitable to regional integrated development,through the combination of spatial planning and public policy,so as to propel urban development towards regional coordination.