The spatial distribution of urban population can reflect significantly urban functions and development status. Shenyang, as a typical old industrial city in China, has experienced considerable changes in spatial distr...The spatial distribution of urban population can reflect significantly urban functions and development status. Shenyang, as a typical old industrial city in China, has experienced considerable changes in spatial distribution of population in the process of urban transformation, resulting in the change of urban spatial structure. Based on the sub-district data of Chinese national population censuses in 1982, 1990 and 2000, this study simulates the evolution pattern of spatial distribution of urban population in Shenyang City. Using statistical method and exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA), we found that the population distribution, on the whole, has presented a balanced and decentralized trend since the 1980s, which characterizes with Chinese suburbanization. Furthermore, based on the investigation of the pattern of population distribution, it is concluded that the negative exponential model fitted the distribution best, and population concentration in the inner suburb kept increasing gradually, meanwhile, the spatial structure of population distribution has presented a polycentric feature since the 1980s. The parameters of the model show that population in the urban core concentrate significantly all the time. The increase of population in the inner suburb influences the population distribution pattern more and more importantly, but the concentration intensity of population cores in inner suburb is still low.展开更多
The middle class in metropolitan Chinese cities has become an important social group. With the rapid development of urbanization and constant advancement of suburbanization, the middle class has increasingly come to i...The middle class in metropolitan Chinese cities has become an important social group. With the rapid development of urbanization and constant advancement of suburbanization, the middle class has increasingly come to influence city traffic. Research into middle-class commuting activities thus has practical significance for improving traffic congestion and reducing the commuting burden in metropolitan cities. Based on a dataset formed by 816 completed surveys, this paper analyzes the commuting mode, time and distance of middle-class residents in Guangzhou City using the descriptive statistical method. The results indicate that private cars are the main commuting mode, followed by public transport. Meanwhile, middle-class residents mainly undertake medium-short time and medium-short distance commuting. The study subsequently uses multilevel logistic regression and multiple linear regression models to analyze the factors that influence commuting mode choice, time and distance. The gender, age, number of family cars, housing source and jobs-housing balance are the most important factors influencing commuting mode choice; housing, population density, jobs-housing balance and commuting mode significantly affect commuting time; and transport accessibility, jobs-housing balance and commuting mode are the notable factors affecting commuting distance. Finally, this paper analyzes what is affecting the commuting activities of middle-class residents and determines the differences in commuting activity characteristics and influence factors between middle-class and ordinary residents. Policy suggestions to improve urban planning and urban management are also proposed.展开更多
The role of retailing has diminished in the center of cities of Western countries since its heyday in the 1920s. This trend was caused by violent transformations in the economic, social and locational contexts which i...The role of retailing has diminished in the center of cities of Western countries since its heyday in the 1920s. This trend was caused by violent transformations in the economic, social and locational contexts which involve resi- dential suburbanization, as well as new forms of commercial development out of town. As far as transforming China is concerned, the downtown retailing center has also come to turning point of development in the context of suburbaniza- tion. Based on the survey of Beijing residents’ shopping behavior, the present research tends to making clear the actual change and development problem of downtown retailing center. Combining with the macro retailing environment, re- lated influencing factors are further discussed too. Study results show that downtown retailing still plays an important part in resident’s shopping activity. However, with rapid urban sprawl, retailing in urban center has been greatly threatened by booming out-of-town commerce. In the course of such spatial change, the suburbanization of resident, the prevalence of new commercial forms and the change of consumers’ life style all have exerted their own pressure on downtown retailing. But for the special socioeconomic background of development and the support of government policy, it will still keep its vitality of retailing for a long period of time.展开更多
The urban population and urbanized land in China have both increased markedly since the 1980 s. Urban and suburban developments have grown at unprecedented rates with unknown consequences for ecosystem functions. In p...The urban population and urbanized land in China have both increased markedly since the 1980 s. Urban and suburban developments have grown at unprecedented rates with unknown consequences for ecosystem functions. In particular, the effect of rapid urbanization on the storage of soil carbon has not been studied extensively. In this study, we compared the soil carbon stocks of different land use types in Beijing Municipality. We collected 490 top-soil samples(top 20 cm) from urban and suburban sites within the Sixth Ring Road of Beijing, which cover approximately 2400 km2, and the densities of soil organic carbon(SOC), soil inorganic carbon(SIC), and total carbon(TC) were analyzed to determine the spatial distribution of urban and suburban soil carbon characteristics across seven land use types. The results revealed significant differences in soil carbon densities among land use types. Additionally, urban soil had significantly higher SOC and SIC densities than suburban soil did, and suburban shelterbelts and productive plantations had lower SIC densities than the other land use types. The comparison of coefficients of variance(CVs) showed that carbon content of urban topsoil had a lower variability than that of suburban topsoil. Further findings revealed that soil carbon storage increased with built-up age. Urban soil built up for more than 20 years had higher densities of SOC, SIC and TC than both urban soil with less than 10 years and suburban soil. Correlation analyses indicated the existence of a significantly negative correlation between the SOC, SIC, and TC densities of urban soil and the distance to the urban core, and the distance variable alone explained 23.3% of the variation of SIC density and 13.8% of the variation of TC density. These results indicate that SOC and SIC accumulate in the urban topsoil under green space as a result of the conversion of agricultural land to urban land due to the urbanization in Beijing.展开更多
Suburbanization in large cities is an important phenomenon in the process of urbanization development in China in recent decades,which plays a very important role in promoting city development,whereas some side effect...Suburbanization in large cities is an important phenomenon in the process of urbanization development in China in recent decades,which plays a very important role in promoting city development,whereas some side effects on the eco-environment appeared at the same time.This paper,taking Xi'an City in China as a case study site,analyzed the features of population suburbanization and industry suburbanization and pointed out the impacts of suburbanization on urban eco-environment.Based on the research,suggestions of countermeasures for urban planning and municipal management of Xi'an City in protecting urban eco-environment and conserving natural ecology were put forward in the end.展开更多
This study focuses on the suburbanization and subcentering of population and examines the nature of spatial restructuring in terms of the population distribution in the Beijing metropolitan area.Instead of the classic...This study focuses on the suburbanization and subcentering of population and examines the nature of spatial restructuring in terms of the population distribution in the Beijing metropolitan area.Instead of the classic density function approach,we employ the nonparametric analysis to characterize the spatial pattern of population densities in the Beijing metropolitan area and identify the suburban subcenters.Our findings suggest that the population has spread with rapid urban growth in the Beijing metropolitan area,and the compact urban form has been replaced by a more dispersed polycentric spatial distribution.However,compared with the decentralization of western cities,the spatial extent of the decentralization of population in the Beijing metropolitan area is quite limited.The rapid growth of population in the near suburbs has expedited the sprawl of the central city,with a larger central agglomeration of population dominating the metropolitan area.In this sense,the spatial pattern of the Beijing metropolitan area is still characterized by the continuous compactness.However,our findings do provide the evidence that the city has been turning to a polycentric structure.We find significant population subcenters have emerged in the suburbs of Beijing since the 1980s.But the polycentricity emerged in the Beijing metropolitan area is very different by nature from that observed in Western cities.The subcenters emerged are adherent to the development scheme planned for the city,so it can be referred to as the so called 'planned polycentricity'.展开更多
This study aimed to examine the relationship between meteorological variables and the clearness index for three sites in Cuiaba city and one site in Chapada dos Guimaraes city, Brazil during 2007. It described the mic...This study aimed to examine the relationship between meteorological variables and the clearness index for three sites in Cuiaba city and one site in Chapada dos Guimaraes city, Brazil during 2007. It described the microclimate of each site on the basis of constructive elements and their surroundings, considering sky coverage using a daily clearness index. The results were that micrometeorological values were influenced by the natural elements and construction within the surrounding site, with higher air temperatures in more urbanized areas and sites with high diffuse radiation. When determining the sky coverage, on average, the days were partly cloudy or cloudy due to two reasons： （a） during the wet season, rainfall created cloudy conditions and （b） during the dry season, increases of particulates in the atmosphere as a result of anthropogenic emissions of gases and aerosols in this region of the state resulted in sky conditions classified as partly cloudy and cloudy. Future research should aim to better quantify the measurements taken inside an urban area, considering the topography and vegetation cover. This will improve the models that support urban planning, therefore favoring the thermal comfort of areas already occupied or to be urbanized.展开更多
The investment opportunities created by economic policies and increasing urbanization have enhanced demand for urban and peri-urban land. Fertile agricultural land is being converted to other uses. Around 1/3 more of ...The investment opportunities created by economic policies and increasing urbanization have enhanced demand for urban and peri-urban land. Fertile agricultural land is being converted to other uses. Around 1/3 more of the existing area under forests is needed to meet the targets of national forest policy. In the last two decades, 9% pastures have disappeared. The hills being removed cause threat to environment. The farmers seem to overuse land and other inputs. In the peri-urban areas agricultural fertile lands are many times forcefully acquired for non-agricultural uses, which result in violent protests and judicial interventions. A few cases of vast land use change, motive forces for such change, effect of change in land use on livelihood and on quality and costs of fresh vegetable supply are discussed in this paper. The partially used and unused data collected for earlier studies and some data collected for this paper have been used. The increase in land prices due to enhanced income of some sections, future need of prime land and returns from other than agricultural uses seem to be the driving force for change in land use, affecting the livelihood of people dependent upon farming who are migrating to nearby areas. Each shift of peri-urban agriculture will result in loss of quality, increase wastage by 6% and enhance costs of leafy vegetables by more than 5.5%. For an ideal urban land use, a balanced multi land use policy emphasizing peri-urban agriculture and forestry is suggested.展开更多
The most of studies conducted up till now have shown a frequent occurrence of schizophrenia and other psychoses in cities compared to rural and suburban areas. The following research work was done on the basis of addr...The most of studies conducted up till now have shown a frequent occurrence of schizophrenia and other psychoses in cities compared to rural and suburban areas. The following research work was done on the basis of address data in a medium size town of people placed in psychiatric hospitals schizophrenia and other psychoses in the years 1989-2002. ICD9 criteria were initially used for hospital diagnosis, and then ICD10 criteria. To study the differences among particular districts of the town the test for two proportions was conducted. The analyzed group of persons amounted to 380 patients, including 169 men and 211 women. It indicated that patients more frequently lived in more urbanized and postindustrial districts of town as well as men aged 20-29 years old in postindustrial districts. It should be mentioned that more of patients placed the inner city, but also in postindustrial district and in districts with city housinz oroiects.展开更多
基金Under the auspices of Knowledge Innovation Programs of Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. KZCX2-YW-342, KZCX2-YW-321-04)National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 40635030)
文摘The spatial distribution of urban population can reflect significantly urban functions and development status. Shenyang, as a typical old industrial city in China, has experienced considerable changes in spatial distribution of population in the process of urban transformation, resulting in the change of urban spatial structure. Based on the sub-district data of Chinese national population censuses in 1982, 1990 and 2000, this study simulates the evolution pattern of spatial distribution of urban population in Shenyang City. Using statistical method and exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA), we found that the population distribution, on the whole, has presented a balanced and decentralized trend since the 1980s, which characterizes with Chinese suburbanization. Furthermore, based on the investigation of the pattern of population distribution, it is concluded that the negative exponential model fitted the distribution best, and population concentration in the inner suburb kept increasing gradually, meanwhile, the spatial structure of population distribution has presented a polycentric feature since the 1980s. The parameters of the model show that population in the urban core concentrate significantly all the time. The increase of population in the inner suburb influences the population distribution pattern more and more importantly, but the concentration intensity of population cores in inner suburb is still low.
基金Under the auspices of National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.41271182)
文摘The middle class in metropolitan Chinese cities has become an important social group. With the rapid development of urbanization and constant advancement of suburbanization, the middle class has increasingly come to influence city traffic. Research into middle-class commuting activities thus has practical significance for improving traffic congestion and reducing the commuting burden in metropolitan cities. Based on a dataset formed by 816 completed surveys, this paper analyzes the commuting mode, time and distance of middle-class residents in Guangzhou City using the descriptive statistical method. The results indicate that private cars are the main commuting mode, followed by public transport. Meanwhile, middle-class residents mainly undertake medium-short time and medium-short distance commuting. The study subsequently uses multilevel logistic regression and multiple linear regression models to analyze the factors that influence commuting mode choice, time and distance. The gender, age, number of family cars, housing source and jobs-housing balance are the most important factors influencing commuting mode choice; housing, population density, jobs-housing balance and commuting mode significantly affect commuting time; and transport accessibility, jobs-housing balance and commuting mode are the notable factors affecting commuting distance. Finally, this paper analyzes what is affecting the commuting activities of middle-class residents and determines the differences in commuting activity characteristics and influence factors between middle-class and ordinary residents. Policy suggestions to improve urban planning and urban management are also proposed.
基金Under the auspices of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 40171034)
文摘The role of retailing has diminished in the center of cities of Western countries since its heyday in the 1920s. This trend was caused by violent transformations in the economic, social and locational contexts which involve resi- dential suburbanization, as well as new forms of commercial development out of town. As far as transforming China is concerned, the downtown retailing center has also come to turning point of development in the context of suburbaniza- tion. Based on the survey of Beijing residents’ shopping behavior, the present research tends to making clear the actual change and development problem of downtown retailing center. Combining with the macro retailing environment, re- lated influencing factors are further discussed too. Study results show that downtown retailing still plays an important part in resident’s shopping activity. However, with rapid urban sprawl, retailing in urban center has been greatly threatened by booming out-of-town commerce. In the course of such spatial change, the suburbanization of resident, the prevalence of new commercial forms and the change of consumers’ life style all have exerted their own pressure on downtown retailing. But for the special socioeconomic background of development and the support of government policy, it will still keep its vitality of retailing for a long period of time.
基金Under the auspices of National Key Technology Research and Development Program(No.2007BAC28B01)Innovation Project of State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology of China
文摘The urban population and urbanized land in China have both increased markedly since the 1980 s. Urban and suburban developments have grown at unprecedented rates with unknown consequences for ecosystem functions. In particular, the effect of rapid urbanization on the storage of soil carbon has not been studied extensively. In this study, we compared the soil carbon stocks of different land use types in Beijing Municipality. We collected 490 top-soil samples(top 20 cm) from urban and suburban sites within the Sixth Ring Road of Beijing, which cover approximately 2400 km2, and the densities of soil organic carbon(SOC), soil inorganic carbon(SIC), and total carbon(TC) were analyzed to determine the spatial distribution of urban and suburban soil carbon characteristics across seven land use types. The results revealed significant differences in soil carbon densities among land use types. Additionally, urban soil had significantly higher SOC and SIC densities than suburban soil did, and suburban shelterbelts and productive plantations had lower SIC densities than the other land use types. The comparison of coefficients of variance(CVs) showed that carbon content of urban topsoil had a lower variability than that of suburban topsoil. Further findings revealed that soil carbon storage increased with built-up age. Urban soil built up for more than 20 years had higher densities of SOC, SIC and TC than both urban soil with less than 10 years and suburban soil. Correlation analyses indicated the existence of a significantly negative correlation between the SOC, SIC, and TC densities of urban soil and the distance to the urban core, and the distance variable alone explained 23.3% of the variation of SIC density and 13.8% of the variation of TC density. These results indicate that SOC and SIC accumulate in the urban topsoil under green space as a result of the conversion of agricultural land to urban land due to the urbanization in Beijing.
文摘Suburbanization in large cities is an important phenomenon in the process of urbanization development in China in recent decades,which plays a very important role in promoting city development,whereas some side effects on the eco-environment appeared at the same time.This paper,taking Xi'an City in China as a case study site,analyzed the features of population suburbanization and industry suburbanization and pointed out the impacts of suburbanization on urban eco-environment.Based on the research,suggestions of countermeasures for urban planning and municipal management of Xi'an City in protecting urban eco-environment and conserving natural ecology were put forward in the end.
基金Under the auspices of National Key Basic Research Program of China (No. 2012CB955802)National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41001069)Grant Program of National Social Science Foundation of China (No.10zd&022)
文摘This study focuses on the suburbanization and subcentering of population and examines the nature of spatial restructuring in terms of the population distribution in the Beijing metropolitan area.Instead of the classic density function approach,we employ the nonparametric analysis to characterize the spatial pattern of population densities in the Beijing metropolitan area and identify the suburban subcenters.Our findings suggest that the population has spread with rapid urban growth in the Beijing metropolitan area,and the compact urban form has been replaced by a more dispersed polycentric spatial distribution.However,compared with the decentralization of western cities,the spatial extent of the decentralization of population in the Beijing metropolitan area is quite limited.The rapid growth of population in the near suburbs has expedited the sprawl of the central city,with a larger central agglomeration of population dominating the metropolitan area.In this sense,the spatial pattern of the Beijing metropolitan area is still characterized by the continuous compactness.However,our findings do provide the evidence that the city has been turning to a polycentric structure.We find significant population subcenters have emerged in the suburbs of Beijing since the 1980s.But the polycentricity emerged in the Beijing metropolitan area is very different by nature from that observed in Western cities.The subcenters emerged are adherent to the development scheme planned for the city,so it can be referred to as the so called 'planned polycentricity'.
文摘This study aimed to examine the relationship between meteorological variables and the clearness index for three sites in Cuiaba city and one site in Chapada dos Guimaraes city, Brazil during 2007. It described the microclimate of each site on the basis of constructive elements and their surroundings, considering sky coverage using a daily clearness index. The results were that micrometeorological values were influenced by the natural elements and construction within the surrounding site, with higher air temperatures in more urbanized areas and sites with high diffuse radiation. When determining the sky coverage, on average, the days were partly cloudy or cloudy due to two reasons： （a） during the wet season, rainfall created cloudy conditions and （b） during the dry season, increases of particulates in the atmosphere as a result of anthropogenic emissions of gases and aerosols in this region of the state resulted in sky conditions classified as partly cloudy and cloudy. Future research should aim to better quantify the measurements taken inside an urban area, considering the topography and vegetation cover. This will improve the models that support urban planning, therefore favoring the thermal comfort of areas already occupied or to be urbanized.
文摘The investment opportunities created by economic policies and increasing urbanization have enhanced demand for urban and peri-urban land. Fertile agricultural land is being converted to other uses. Around 1/3 more of the existing area under forests is needed to meet the targets of national forest policy. In the last two decades, 9% pastures have disappeared. The hills being removed cause threat to environment. The farmers seem to overuse land and other inputs. In the peri-urban areas agricultural fertile lands are many times forcefully acquired for non-agricultural uses, which result in violent protests and judicial interventions. A few cases of vast land use change, motive forces for such change, effect of change in land use on livelihood and on quality and costs of fresh vegetable supply are discussed in this paper. The partially used and unused data collected for earlier studies and some data collected for this paper have been used. The increase in land prices due to enhanced income of some sections, future need of prime land and returns from other than agricultural uses seem to be the driving force for change in land use, affecting the livelihood of people dependent upon farming who are migrating to nearby areas. Each shift of peri-urban agriculture will result in loss of quality, increase wastage by 6% and enhance costs of leafy vegetables by more than 5.5%. For an ideal urban land use, a balanced multi land use policy emphasizing peri-urban agriculture and forestry is suggested.
文摘The most of studies conducted up till now have shown a frequent occurrence of schizophrenia and other psychoses in cities compared to rural and suburban areas. The following research work was done on the basis of address data in a medium size town of people placed in psychiatric hospitals schizophrenia and other psychoses in the years 1989-2002. ICD9 criteria were initially used for hospital diagnosis, and then ICD10 criteria. To study the differences among particular districts of the town the test for two proportions was conducted. The analyzed group of persons amounted to 380 patients, including 169 men and 211 women. It indicated that patients more frequently lived in more urbanized and postindustrial districts of town as well as men aged 20-29 years old in postindustrial districts. It should be mentioned that more of patients placed the inner city, but also in postindustrial district and in districts with city housinz oroiects.
