Impact of coupling coordination development of port and city environments on urban economic competitiveness:Evidence from the coastal port cities in eastern China

Promoting the coupling coordination development of port and its hinterland city environments is an important way to improve urban economic competitiveness.Based on relevant data of 13 coastal port cities in eastern China from 2000 to 2018,this study explores the coupling coordination development of port and city environments and its impact on urban economic competitiveness by constructing the coupling coordination degree model and the panel threshold model.The research results show that:(1)In terms of the coupling coordination development of port and city environments,most coastal ports and their hinterland cities are in a state of moderate or serious disorder.Overall,the degree of coupling coordination of port and city environments needs to be further improved;(2)The coupling coordination degree of port and city environments has a significant impact on urban economic competitiveness,and this effect gradually increases with the development of the ports and the urban economy.Among the variables that impact the urban economic competitiveness,fixed assets investment and foreign trade are significant factors that can enhance urban economic competitiveness.(3)At present,there is a“U-shaped”relationship between the coupling coordination degree of port-city environments and the urban economic competitiveness.This relationship lies on the right side of the inflection point of the“U-shaped”curve.Therefore,following the concept of assigning priority to ecological development,expanding fixed assets investment and actively developing foreign trade can further enhance the urban economic competitiveness.

Pedestrian street and its effect on economic sustainability of a historical Middle Eastern city:The case of Chaharbagh Abbasi in Isfahan,Iran

Pedestrianization is an urban revitalization strategy to enhance sustainability and livability in car-oriented cities.Despite many studies in this research field,the effects of pedestrianization on the economy of cities in developing countries still need further investigation.Additionally,the impact of this strategy on the tenant mix of com-mercial and historical areas in Middle East countries is nebulous.To address these inadequacies,we considered Chaharbagh Abbasi street,located in the heart of Isfahan,Iran,and investigated the impact of a pedestrianization project with particular emphasis on how it affects the economic sustainability of existent commercial fabric.Pre-and post-project data along with field observations and quantifications used to assess structural replacements in trade,were analyzed with SPSS and ArcGIS software.The results revealed unexpected outcomes,such as the closure of some traditional businesses(27.5%),a stagnation in sales(69%)and a decrease in job offers(84%)leading the local economy to a fragile situation.Conversely,it was found that the footfall volume increased by 64% and 73% from the retailers’and pedestrians’viewpoints.This evolution along with a wide opening of food and beverage stores(approximately 60%)makes the post-pedestrianization results more promising than earlier predictions.In conclusion,these findings reinforce the importance of pedestrian streets in revitalizing economic activities in historical and commercial areas from the perspective of economic sustainability.Due to the lack of similar investigations in Middle East countries,these findings can support decision-makers and urban planners to take preventive measures in preserving the diversity of individual small shops for upcoming urban rehabilitation projects in terms of pedestrianization.

Industrial Agglomeration Externalities, City Size, and Regional Economic Development： Empirical Research Based on Dynamic Panel Data of 283 Cities and GMM Method

Local governments have long been ardently pursuing the industrial specialization effect(MAR externalities) and industrial diversification effect(Jacobs externalities). Such a pursuit has resulted in severe distortion of resource allocation and negative effect on sustainability of local economic development. Regarding the effect from both MAR and Jacobs externalities on local economic development existing literature records notable disputes. Therefore, for local economic development, one important issue is which externality(MAR or Jacobs) can better bring the effect into play. By studying a panel data of 283 Chinese cities from 2003 to 2012 and applying dynamic plane data GMM method, this paper conducted a regression analysis of the relationship among industrial agglomeration externalities, city size, and regional economic development. The result indicates that with regard to the whole nation, MAR externalities are conducive to regional economy development whereas Jacobs externalities will, to an extent, restrain regional economic development. As regards eastern, middle, and western regions, MAR externalities are conducive only to the economic development of the eastern region; their effects on middle and western regions are insignificant. Moreover, the interaction item between MAR externalities and city size has a significant negative synergistic effect on national economic development and a certain acceleration effect on eastern region as well as a strong negative synergistic effect on the middle region and an insignificant effect on the western region. The interaction item between Jacobs externalities and city size has a positive synergistic effect on only the middle region and has an insignificant synergistic effect on both eastern and western regions. Capital stock and labor input have significant accelerating effects on GDP growth per capita of Chinese cities, whereas material capital and labor input remain primary driving forces for Chinese local economic development. Furthermore, human capital contributes to accelerating urban economic development, whereas government intervention restrains urban economic development.

Analysis on the Economical and Intensive Utilization of Regional Construction Land in Zunyi City of Guizhou Province

Taking Zunyi City of Guizhou Province as research area, the research performed spatial dynamic analysis and elastic coefficient method to evaluate the e- conomical and intensive utilization of the regional construction land, and to discuss the decision direction for economical and intensive utilization of the regional con- struction land. The results showed that, the population based land utilization both in Zunyi and the city districts and counties indicated extensive trend. The economy- based land utilization in Zunyi City, as well as in Huichun, Zunyi and Tongzi County presented intensive trend, however the other districts and counties were in extensive tendency. It concluded that the economical and intensive utilization of construction land should be focused on the rural collective construction land, and the potential tapping of rural collective construction land in rocky desertification area should be the first priority, otherwise, the regional economic development was unbalanced be- tween different district and county in Zunyi.

Economic Vulnerability of Mining City——A Case Study of Fuxin City,Liaoning Province,China

The economic system of mining city is of typical vulnerability characteristics that can be manifested by its high economic sensitivity and lack of response capacity to the gradual depletion of regional mineral resources. Taking Fuxin City of Liaoning Province as a case, this paper established an economic vulnerability assessment method integrating BP neural network with vulnerability index, then carried out an economic vulnerability assessment of Fuxin during 1989-2006. The results indicate that: 1) Affected by the gradual depletion of regional mineral resources, the economic development of Fuxin had kept high economic sensitivity from 1995 to 2001, and the response capacity to cope with and adapt to the impacts of the perturbation of mineral resources was weak and relatively lag. The evolution of economic vulnerability can be divided into three stages: in 1989-1994, the economic vulnerability of Fuxin City decreased slowly; in 1995-2001, the beginning stage of economic transformation, the economic vulnerability of Fuxin City went up rapidly; in 2002-2006, the economic vulnerability of Fuxin City descended and showed a trend to be stable. 2) The influence of economic sensitivity on Fuxin′s economic vulnerability is more evident than that of response capacity. 3) The decreasing supply of mineral resources and the simple industrial structure are main factors leading to the economic sensitivity of Fuxin. 4) The improvement of economic response capacity of Fuxin has typical characteristics of input-driven growth, and external assistance is of great importance to the rapid improvement of economic response capacity of Fuxin. And 5) the change from the simple industrial structure to diversified one of Fuxin is still unaccomplished, and the contribution of non-coal-based industry to local economic development is relatively limited.

Conceptualizing and Measuring Economic Resilience of Resource-based Cities： Case Study of Northeast China

This paper develops a conceptual model and an indicator system for measuring economic resilience of resource-based cities based on the theory of evolutionary resilience and the related concepts of persistence, adaptation, and transformation. Nineteen resource-based cities in Northeast China were analyzed using the indicator system. The results showed that Liaoning and Jilin provinces had higher economic resilience than Heilongjiang Province. Panjin, Benxi, and Anshan in Liaoning Province were the top three cities, while Shuangyashan and other coal-based cities in Heilongjiang Province ranked last. Metals-and petroleum-based cities had significantly higher resilience than coal-based cities. The differences in persistence, adaptability, transformation, and resilience among resource-based cities decreased since the introduction of the Northeast Revitalization Strategy in 2003. Forestry-based cities improved the most in terms of resilience, followed by metals-based and multiple-resource cities; however, resilience dropped for coal-based cities, and petroleum-based cities falling the most. The findings illustrate the importance and the way to develop a differentiated approach to improve resilience among resource-based cities.

The Evolution and Differentiation of Economic Convergence of Resource-based Cities in Northeast China

A key target of the overall strategy implementation for regional development since the 18th Party Congress of China has involved taking measures to narrow regional disparities. This is because resource-based cities' economic development has fallen below general levels due to resource exhaustion and an unbalanced industrial structure, among other factors. Further, an economic gap has long existed between Northeast China's large number of resource-based cities and non-resource-based cities. This article comprehensively studies the economic convergence of Northeast China's resource-based cities and non-resource-based cities from 1996 to 2015 by using a dynamic panel to analyze not only the economic development of different industries and types of cities, but also the main factors that influence economic development. The empirical results demonstrate that economic convergence exists in both resource-based and non-resource-based cities, but the economic gap between them has clearly narrowed since the implementation of a strategy to revitalize the Northeast's old industrial base. Shrinking cities are the fastest to converge, as mature cities are slower and regenerating cities are the slowest; regarding industry structure, the secondary industry dominates the economy in mature and shrinking cities, and the tertiary industry in regenerating cities. The primary stimulus in resource-based cities' economic development involves upgrading the industrial structure and investing in human capital. As China faces a ‘new normal' economy, resource-based cities in Northeast China should restructure the economy and perfect their market system to avoid again widening the economic gap.

Dynamic Analysis of Coupling Relationship between Economic Development and Ecological Environment Based on Entropy Method——A Case Study of Xi'an City

[Objective] The aim was to study the coupling relationship between economic development and ecological environment. [Method] Firstly, the evaluation index system for the coupling system of economic development and ecological environment in Xi’an City was established, then the dynamic variation of coupling relationship between economic development and ecological environment in Xi’an City from 2001 to 2010 was analyzed by using entropy method, finally some corresponding suggestions were put forward according to the problems in the current development model. [Result] The economic development and ecological environment of Xi’an have made a significant upgrading and improvement from 2001 to 2010, namely showing a stable upward trend on the whole, and were in a well-coordinated development state in 2010. However, the development level of ecological environment obviously lagged behind economic development level. In addition, there were obvious differences in the development rate of sub-systems, that is, economic efficiency and economic level developed rapidly, while the carrying capacity of ecological environment and economic vitality grew slowly and unstably. [Conclusion] The research could provide theoretical bases for the establishment of strategies for the coordinated development economy and environment in Xi’an City.

THE POSITION AND ROLE OF WUHAN CITY IN THE REGIONAL ECONOMIC MACRO-STRATEGIES OF CHINA

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Ecoeconomic construction and sustainable development of natural scenery cities in China

As a country of rich natural resources, China has many beautiful natural scenery resorts. Due to rapid growth in tourism, cities of various sizes have been formed with the development of these scenery resorts. The rapid growth of these cities, while bringing benefits to local people, also produces some serious problems. In this paper, general introduction is given to the studies of natural scenery cities in China. Types and functions of scenery cities in China are discussed, and their relation to tourism and urban ecosystem is defined. Special attention is given to the local and nationality factors in the construction of these cities. The problems the people are now facing in the construction of the natural scenery cities are analyzed and solutions presented.

Research on the coordinated utilization of land resource in the intergrated economic region of industry, farming and grazing-a case study of Baotou city in Inner Mongolia

Baotou City is an industrial city developed in the farming-grazing transitional zone in northern China. The development of industry, farming and grazing is very fast. It has become a typical intergrated economic region of industry, farming and grazing. Based on the analysis of utilization of land resources, this paper points out the main conflicts and problems on the utilization of land resources in the city, and puts forward a corresponding proposal.

Cooperative Game Among Cities in Urban Agglomerations and Economical Sustainable Development

This paper analyses redounded profits of cooperation and non-cooperation among cities in urban agglomerations based on game theory. It discusses the problems of economical development among cities with feeble cooperation, and deduces the conclusion that only cooperation of cities produces the maximum profits and realizes Pareto efficiency for cities and urban agglomerations. The paper states that cooperation is the cornerstone of economic sustainable development in urban agglomerations in profits produced by cooperation among cities. Some suggestions to accelerate cooperation among cities are proposed.

Economic Cost Analysis of the Urban Sustainable Development——A Case of Guiyang City,China

Based on the constitution identification of the urbanization economic costs,econometric model of urbanization economic costs is constructed from four aspects of the investment cost in employment opportunities,the investment cost in urban land use,the investment cost in urban infrastructure,and the investment cost in urban management.Taking Guiyang City as an example,economic cost for each additional urban population in Guiyang City is measured under the current level of social and economic development.Capital requirement for the urban development of Guiyang City in the next 10 years is forecasted.And it is pointed out that there will be significant financing gap in the sustainable development and urbanization process of Guiyang City in future,which provides the basis for the development speed and the reasonable goals of urban sustainable development in future.

Evaluation of carrying capacity of city clusters in China with the example of the Blue Economic Zone of Shandong Peninsula

The conflict between city development and urban carrying capacity is getting ever prominent.In order to study and predict the restriction factors and prominent problems in the development of the Shandong Peninsula Blue Economic Zone as well as promote the transfer of economic development pattern in this region,this study starts from four single factor carrying capacity indicators of water,earth,transportation and environment in the city and its comprehensive carrying capacity indicator,evaluates and analyzes its carrying capacity and then papooses policy suggestions for improving its carrying capacity.

THE RECENT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF CHINA'S 'MILLION' CITIES

Since the 1980's, two new trends have been emerging in the economic development of the Chinese ' million'cities.One is the development disparity, and the other is the industrial restructuring.Firstly,in terms of per capita GDP(Gross Domestic Product), 32 'million' cities are classified into 4 types.The paper thinks there are 3 main causes which bring about the development disparity.Then, the paper approaches the industrial restructuring of the 'million'cities. In order to shrink the gap between the coastal 'million' cities and the interior 'million' cities, the paper thinks that the central government should pay most attention to the economic development of the inland, meanwhile,the interior 'mllion' cities should speed up the economic reform and industrial restructuring.

The Dynamic Analysis of Agro-ecological Economic System on the Basis of Emergy: A Case Study of Wu'an City in Hebei Province

Using the method of emergy analysis, we analyze the input and output of agroecological economic system, and select five indicators (net emergy yield ratio, emergy investment ratio, environmental loading ratio, emergy sustainability index, and dominance of emergy yield system) for assessment. The results show that the emergy input-output in Wu'an City is in general on the rise; the emergy investment ratio rises constantly, but the net emergy yield ratio decreases, and the comparative advantage in the prices of agricultural products is gradually lost. At the same time, with increase in the non-renewable industrial support emergy, the environmental pressures are also mounting. In the future agricultural development, it is necessary to pay more attention to the coordination between agricultural development and ecological environment, achieving sustainable development of agriculture.

GROWTH OF NEW ECONOMIC SECTORS IN SECOND-TIER EXTENDED CITIES IN THE CHANGJIANG RIVER DELTA——Case of Suzhou, Wuxi, Changzhou

The second-tier extended metropolises in the Changjiang (Yangtze) River Delta, including Suzhou, Wuxi and Changzhou near Shanghai, are becoming the most active and new innovative industrial agglomerating areas. Manufacturing industries in these second-tier cities have been in rapid growth due to increasing foreign investment. Nevertheless, the economic prospect of these cities is still constrained by a lack of local R&D capacity and production services, which are mainly dependent upon Shanghai. This paper analyses the impact of globalization on the new economic sectors in these cities, the change of industrial structure, the limitation of urban development and the problem of sustainability. Then, the paper analyses the conditions for the high-tech industry and production services in these areas. Also, it applies the industrial organization theory to these cities and examines how these cities can cooperate with each other in terms of horizontal linkages. Finally, the paper gives the future growth prospects in high-tech industry and production services.

Coordination of economic development and ecological environment in resource exhausted cities

This paper establishes the evaluation index system of ecological environment and economic development in resource exhausted cities, and calculates the level of economic development and ecological environment during the year 2005-2012 by using the entropy method. Furthermore, this study analyzes the coordination degree and coordinated development degree by using the coordination model. The results show that the coordination relationship of economic development and ecological environment continues to improve from 2005 to 2012 in most of these resource exhausted cities. By 2012, other resource depletion cities are in all kinds of hierarchical coordination except Yichun and Hegang. From the standpoint of coordination development degree, although most of these resource exhausted cities have been increased continuously but the level is also lower except in Tongling and Xinyu. Finally, this paper puts forward the corresponding countermeasures and suggestions according to the results of the analysis.

The Study of Urban Planning Decision-Making in the Background of Rapid Economic Development —— A Case Study of Shanwei City

Urban planning decision-making is an activity for the decision-makers to collect information, judge function of cities, select project and make policy which is ainaed at the problem of urban planning that have taken place, is taking place and will take place. Using historical review and comparative analysis, the articles summarizes planning decision-makings of Shanwei city and it＇s problem, and makes some suggestions to urban planning decision-making system of Shanwei city in the new period.

Permanence of Economic Potential of Cities Based on Sector Development

The paper attempts to answer the following key question: how will a city′s world rank change in the face of crisis in its main economic sector? Crisis is defined here as a decline in financial performance in the given sector, which leads to the decline of its constituent firms and corporations on the world economic scene. The World Economic Center Index(WECI) has been created in order to rank cities based on the value of their resident corporations by sector and show their level of stability upon the removal of the most important sector. This provides information on the potential of each analyzed city as well as on its advanced features or area of specialization. Research has shown that nearly half the World Economic Centers are dominated by the financial and materials sectors of the economy. Different sectors dominate different regions of the world. For example, consumer staples and materials were dominant in North America, while information technology and financials were dominant in Europe. In Asia, several sectors tend to dominate the economy. Research has shown that the ability of a principal economic sector to resist economic crisis largely depends on the strength of the command and control function of a city. Finally, a high globalization level of a city is a key determinant of its susceptibility to economic crisis.