Spatial and Temporal Variability of Farm Size in China in Context of Rapid Urbanization

During the last 30 years, China has witnessed rapid economic growth and dramatic urbanization, with about 1.2 x 107 rural people migrating annually into urban areas. Meanwhile, especially since 1995, the rural population has been declining, which is closely linked to land circulation and the increase in farm size in many villages. Increasing scale of farming operations is often regarded as a key to avoiding the abandonment of farmland and to increasing the income of rural farmers. However, until now, there has been little research on the spatial and temporal variability of farm size at the national level in China. Using data from the national agricultural cen- sus and rural household surveys, this study examines the characteristics of land use circulation and the consequent changes in the area of farmland per household. The results show that： 1） 12.2% of rural households were involved in land circulation at the national level. The highest amounts of land circulation have occurred in those provinces where the farmland per capita is more than 0.2 ha or less than 0.1 ha; 2） over 80% of households operate less than 0.6 ha of farmland; 3） the proportion of mid-sized farms （between 0.2 ha and 0.6 ha per household） has decreased while the smallest and the largest farms have increased. This bears some similarity with the phenomenon known as the ＇disappearing middle＇, referring to the changes in farm size. This study establishes a framework for interpreting the factors affecting the changes in farm size in China, which include two promoting factors （urbanization and agriculture） and four hindering fac- tors （agricultual land system, household registration, stable clan system, and farmland loss）.

An Overview of Smart City in China

The year of 2013 is considered the first year of smart city in China. With the development of informationization and urbanization in China, city diseases(traffic jam, medical problem and unbalanced education) are more and more apparent. Smart city is the key to solving these diseases. This paper presents the overall smart city development in China in term of market scale and development stages, the technology standards, and industry layout. The paper claims that the issues and challenges facing smart city development in China and proposes to make polices to support smart city development.

Socio-cultural Embeddedness of Spatial Agglomeration of Creative Industries in Shanghai

Rapidly emerged creative industries receive increasing attention from a variety of disciplines. However, the space features of creative industries and its association with local socio-cultural contexts have not been fully understood, especially at a micro-city level. This study attempts to understand the agglomeration of creative industries in Shanghai from the sociology perspective. For this study, this paper utilizes primarily a questionnaire survey to explain the space features of creative industries in Shanghai. The results indicate an extensive socio-cultural embeddedness of the agglomeration of creative industries in Shanghai. First, strong emphasis on face-to-face contacts by creative professionals makes geographical agglomeration necessary for creative industries. Second, the reason why inner city of Shanghai is popular among creative professionals and enterprises lies in the diversity of cultures and special environment of the former colonial zones of Shanghai. Additionally, highly concentrated dining and entertainment facilities in the central city of Shanghai offer creative workers social networking places and nightlife venues. Third, as the educational attainment of local citizens and the protection of intellectual property are highly stressed by creative professionals, research and design specialized creative industries are more likely located near universities and research institutes.

Social Construction Functions of Consumption Space under Stratification:The Case of Guangzhou

As Chinese cities rapidly transformed themselves into consumerist societies,the relationship between consumers and consumption space under stratification has become a new research area in the field of urban social geography.Based on a consumer behavior analysis,this study explores the relationship between consumption space and the social strata of consumers in typical shopping malls in Guangzhou where the first shopping mall in China was built.The result shows that shopping malls have performed significant constructive functions of organizing consumers from different social classes into different consumption space.For middle-and upper-class consumers,the function of shopping malls centers on utilitarian consumption,identity recognition,and identity construction;whereas for lower-class consumers,its function revolves around pleasure and enjoyment.The symbolism of consumption space is the underlying reason for shopping malls to have their social constructive function.The findings of this research suggest that:1) a shopping mall is a productive consumption space and a geographical space with subjectivity;2) the micro-location of a shopping mall has social construction function;and 3) symbolic consumption is the core of social construction.

Local Government Debt Management Solutions

Two rounds of leveraging-up have led to a high debt ratio in the Chinese economy, triggered liquidity mismatch and increased systemic financial risks. The key causes of local government liabilities are soft budget constraints and non-market-based factor allocation. Currently, the risks of local government liabilities are generally controllable. This paper concludes that the long-term solution to managing local government liabilities is to enhance budget constraint and institutional assurance and proposes countermeasures in the reform of urban construction investment and ftnancing mechanisms.

Study on Urban Hierarchy Status of Sports Population in Jiangxi Province

The survey shows that urban sports population in Jiangxi Province have the following characteristics： the ＂jobless or unemployed＂ , ＂retired＂ vastly outnumber office workers, which reflects the uneven distribution of various strata; men outnumber women among the young and mid-aged and women are slightly outnumber men among the elderly, which reflects the uneven gender distribution; sports participation investment of higher income strata is relatively high, and low-income people are taking universal sports activities. To optimize the structure of sports population, the government needs to increase public investment in sports venues and facilities and publicity of the national fitness program, using legislation to protect off work time and raising the minimum income standards, and urging enterprises to set staff room, sports venues and facilities.

Shifts in the Cervo Stream near Vercelli （16th-17th Century）

In the 16th-17th century, the Cervo stream flowed N-S, following the northern and eastern margins of the city of Vercelli, in northwest Italy. For centuries, the stream served as a waterway, as a gravel quarry, and for fishing. Besides being an important resource, the Cervo stream was also a constant threat to the integrity of the urban centre of VerceUi： Erosion was very high along the right bank and continuously damaged the city walls, as well as the eastern settlements between the city and the stream （＂Borghetto＂）. In the 16th-17th century, according to records of the Vercelli municipality, there is often reference to the ＂damage＂ to the city walls or to the city itself caused by stream flooding and erosion. There is also reference to the numerous attempts made to shift the course of the stream eastward, away from the city.

Measuring Bubble Levels in China＇s Urban Housing Market

In this paper we demonstrate that price-to-income ratio （PIR） is the most precise indicator of measuring bubble levels in China＇s urban hoasing market under current conditions. We have built a model to measure the reasonable PIR ceiling. Based on current mortgage rates, loan terms and down payment ratios, we conclude that the reasonable PIR for China ＇s urban residents should lie between 4.38-6.78 and should not exceed 7. 7hen, using statistical data, we calculate current PIR in China ＇s major cities. With reference to proper PIR, we conclude the existence of bubbles in China ＇s urban housing market; in particular, bubbles hace grown enormously large in some first-tier cities, which pose a huge financial risk. Based on the above analysis, we propose some policy suggestions to carefully deflate the bubbles in these housing markets.

The Human Capital Return and Social Integration of Migrants in China

From the perspective of migrants ＇self-selection and skill transferability theories, this paper compares human capital return rates of different migrant groups in urban China and discuss the possibility of economic status identified by migrants as local labors. Results suggest that positive self-selection works for all types of migrant labors. Migrant workers with non-agricultural household registration or feinong hukou have no trouble to be integrated into the labor market of destination. They even have higher income and human capital return rates than local urban workers. Newly-arrived migrant peasants earn less than local labors. However, after a certain period, the skilled migrant workers catch up with local labors and are economically integrated into the local labor market while the low-skilled migrant group still earns less. Therefore the integration of migrant labors in urban labor market is yet a kind of segregated integration.

Influence of traditional values for migrant workers to participate in endowment insurance

Since the reform and opening up, labor force from countryside turn to cities with the developing of market economy, migrant workers have become a new class in our social stratum which has made a great contribution for the Chinese construction and the national economy. The related interests about endowment insurance to migrant workers have a great significance on their old life. The latest information released by the National Bureau of Statistics show that the proportion of migrant workers to participate in endowment insurance is only 15.7%. The actively of migrant workers attend pension insurance is not very high. The article through learning the literature, a method combining empirical research and the interview, find that the traditional values are still an important aspect to bound migrant workers to attend endowment insurance. Especially their traditional concepts of ＂raise children to provide against old age＂ are still very strong.

Hukou, Labour Markets and the Chinese Developmental State

The East Asian development model ascribes an interventionist role to a state which uses regulations to govern the market in the early stages of devdopment. Many scholars have ascribed this role to the Chinese state in the post- planning era. However, a major difference between China and other East Asian economies is the massive size of China＇s population. In Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore, the role of the state governing labor marl^ets and labor transfers from rural to urban areas has not been considered central to their development model. In China, the size of its rural population has led the Chinese state to take a more proactive approach to governing the labor market and the urbanization process by using the hukou system to institutionalize a temporary laboring class, to guide urbanization to low population density areas and to create competitive residency schemes in desirable urban areas. Such a developmental function differs considerably to the role of the state during the early development of East Asian economies and presents an additional barrier to the realization of a mature market economy and modern polity.