Decentralization,spatial disequilibrium,and restructuring of coastal tourist destination-Empirical research from Sanya,China

The objective of this article is to speculate on resort restructuring in the market-oriented reform process in China.Previous studies show that spatial disequilibrium was aggravated by decentralization,which leads to the difference in tourism policy and investment,public goods,and service;a profound analytical framework is much needed for further empirical studies.This article has reviewed the relevant studies on links between decentralization and restructuring,spatial influences of decentralization on tourism,based on which we put forward the theoretical framework of resort spatial restructuring from the view of political economy analysis,then we elaborate on and discuss it based on the example of Sanya,China.In short,the article suggests that decentralization of fiscal responsibilities and institutional power contributes to the spatial disequilibrium of tourism industrial structure,land use,public infrastructure and service facilities,and to community inequality.Interests of government,investors,and community should be comprehensively coordinated in the resort spatial restructuring process from three aspects:restructuring government,optimizing space structure,and tourism industry.Furthermore,we argue that resort restructuring in the context of Sanya requires coordination of various interest groups through four ways:restructure the government power under administrative division adjustment,optimizing spatial structure,expanding industrial space to diversified tourism products,and building resort management services organization.Finally,we discussed some policy requirements for resort sustainable development.

Excess Commuting in Transitional Urban China:A Case Study of Guangzhou

During the reform era, Chinese cities witnessed dramatic institutional transformation and spatial restructuring in general and profound change of commuting patterns in particular. Using household surveys collected in Guangzhou, China, in 2001, 2005 and 2010, excess commuting measurements are estimated. Excess commuting shows an overall trend of increasing during 1990–1999, and then declining during 2000–2010. We argue that deepening marketization of the jobs and housing sectors has induced spatial separation of jobs and housing. In other words, institutional transition and urban spatial restructuring are underpinning the changes of commuting patterns in Chinese cities. Excess commuting has strong relationship with individual socio-demographic status, which is by and large due to the increasing flexibilities of jobs and housing location choices enjoyed by urban residents. The findings call for considerations on balancing jobs-housing in making public policies relevant to urban development in general, and land use and transportation in particular.

Land consolidation： An indispensable way of spatial restructuring in rural China

The implementation of new type industrialization and urbanization and agricultural modernization strategies lacks of a major hand grip and spatial supporting platform, due to long-term existed ＂dual-track＂ structure of rural-urban development in China as well as un- stable rural development institution and mechanism. It is necessary to restructure rural pro- duction, living and ecological space by carrying out land consolidation, so as to establish a new platform for building new countryside and realizing urban-rural integration development in China. This paper develops the concept and connotation of rural spatial restructuring. Basing on the effects analysis of industrialization and urbanization on rural production, living and ecological space, the mechanism of pushing forward rural spatial restructuring by carry- ing out land consolidation is probed. A conceptualization of the models of rural production, living and ecological spatial restructuring is analyzed combining with agricultural land con- solidation, hollowed villages consolidation and industrial and mining land consolidation. Fi- nally, the author argues that a ＂bottom-up＂ restructuring strategy accompanied by a few ＂top-down＂ elements is helpful for smoothly pushing forward rural spatial restructuring in China. In addition, the optimization and restructuring of rural production, living and ecological space will rely on the innovations of regional engineering technology, policy and mechanism, and mode of rural land consolidation, and more attentions should be paid to rural space, the foundation base and platform for realizing urban-rural integration development.

A strategy of the rural governance for territorial spatial planning in China

Rural spatial governance has become an important part of the spatial governance system under the unified management of urban and rural spaces.In-depth theoretical and practical research on rural spatial governance in terms of promoting national spatial planning can help improve the planning and regulation system of rural space.Beginning with a description of rural spatial governance,this paper constructs a theoretical analysis framework of rural spatial governance based on the comprehensive perspective of spatial governance.The study also discusses the internal processes and feasible paths of rural spatial governance in territorial spatial planning and outlines the theoretical and practical research for enhancing rural spatial governance.The conclusions are as follows:(1)Rural spatial governance starts with the coordination theory of human-land relationships in the rural regional system.Through planning and negotiation,governance has effective regulation of rural space and allocates spatial rights in an orderly manner.Rural spatial governance highlights the comprehensive governance processes that combine"top-down"and"bottom-up"participation by multiple subjects.(2)Through the"action-efficiency-target"system,the comprehensive governance analysis framework of"matter-organization-ownership"in rural space provides an effective scheme for constructing rural spatial governance.Rural spatial governance is characterized by both rigidity and flexibility,the interaction between physical space and spatial relationships,and the superposition of spatial ownership and spatial organization.(3)The rural spatial governance features of interconnecting various scales(regional–village–plot)are conducive to improving the rural spatial governance system.(4)The governance means,participation modes,and value-sharing mechanisms of rural spatial governance help enrich the territorial spatial planning system,promote the integration of multiple regulations,refine the regulation of land use,and ensure good rural governance and ecological governance.

Spatial restructuring and land consolidation of urban-rural settlement in mountainous areas based on ecological niche perspective

With the socio-economic development associated with urbanization, the urban-rural relationship has changed across the world. In China, due to the urban-rural dual structure, these changes turn out to be more complicated. Spatial restructuring are suggested as the main strategies and spatial supporting platforms for urban-rural development. However, the theory still lacks solid methodology and support from systematic empirical studies. This study seeks an adequate scientific methodology and discusses the difference of urban-rural transformation in plains and mountainous areas. A case in Shanghang County, China, demonstrates: 1) The compound ecological niche model can be a suitable approach in urban-rural restructuring, especially in mountainous areas. 2) The urban-rural development area with highly inappropriate, slightly appropriate, moderately appropriate, and highly appropriate areas are 1273.2 km2(44.69%); 906.1 km2(31.80%); 509.4 km2(17.88%); and 160.1 km2(5.62%), respectively. 3) The "deserting villages" in mountainous areas play positive synergistic roles in urbanization, in contrast to the "hollowing villages" common in plain areas. 4) The central town-village will become the most important settlement in mountainous areas. Therefore, we suggest more attention should be paid to environmental capacity in the construction of central town-villages. This study significantly extends the understanding of "hollowing village" theory and regional planning.

Rural restructuring in China： Theory, approaches and research prospect

Rural restructuring is a process of reshaping socio-economic morphology and spatial pattern in rural territory in response to the changes of elements both in kernel system and external system of rural development, by optimally allocating and efficiently managing the material and non-material elements in the two systems. It aims at ultimately optimizing the structure and promoting the function within rural territorial system as well as realizing the coordination of structure and complementation of function between urban and rural territorial system. This paper establishes a theoretical framework of rural restructuring through elabo- rating the concept and connotations as well as analyzing the mechanism pushing forward rural restructuring based on the evolution of ＂elements-structure-function＂, and probes the approaches from the three aspects of spatial restructuring, economic restructuring and social restructuring. Besides, the authors argue that the study of rural restructuring in China in the future needs to focus on the aspects of long-term and multi-scale process and pattern, mechanism, regional models, rural planning technology system and standard, policy and institutional innovations concerning rural restructuring as well as the impacts of globalization on rural restructuring, in order to serve the current national strategic demands and cope with the changes of rural development elements in the process of urban-rural development transformation.

Historic Districts in the Wake of Modern Adversities:Reflections from China and Norway

A shift to a market-led economy initialized due to globalization has caused massive restructuring–both economically and spatially.In the midst of such restructuring processes for place promotion and investment marketing,falls culture and heritage.The developed world identified the value of heritage and centered the restructuring around the global-local nexus,whereas the developing world,increasingly influenced by the far west,made progress towards'Americanization.'However different the approaches might be,a similarity in the situation of perception of culture can be found today–induced by the technical and global forces.A new debate emerged in the professional communities on preserving the essence of historic districts/neighborhoods based on the ideologies and perceptions of governments and communities alike.This paper aims to decipher the influence of the changing notion of'development'and the globalization on the historic districts in the developing and developed worlds,by detailing the case of the Drum Tower Muslim District in Xi’an and a mining town named R?ros(a world heritage site)in Norway.The study is primarily based on secondary sources,discussions with experts,field visits,and in depth interviews with local people.The findings from both the cases prove that there is no clear distinction in the current scenario of historic district preservation,although the governing processes and planning mechanisms of both countries have stark differences.