Category Archives: Books

Chinese research perspectives on the environment

Qi Ye (2013), Chinese Research Perspectives on the Environment, Special Volume. Annual Review of Low-Carbon Development in China (2011-12), Leiden, Brill. xvi, 362 p.

A special volume in the Chinese Research Perspectives on the Environment series, this English-language volume is an edited collection of articles from the Chinese-language volume of The Annual Review of Low-Carbon Development in China (2011-2012). This is a pioneering volume on China’s low-carbon development efforts, challenges, plans, trends, and policy recommendations, all based on research conducted by the Climate Policy Initiative at Tsinghua University, China. In this work, key results in China’s 11th Five-Year Plan are explored by reviewing China’s performance against targets, while the implementation of key policies and institutions are described with a focus on the effectiveness of low-carbon development policies in China during the period of 2005-2010. In addition, focus is placed on key indicators of low-carbon development such as energy consumption, CO2 emission, and low-carbon technologies. It discusses issues ranging from the low-carbon transformation of China’s economy to innovative low-carbon technologies, from low-carbon financing and incentive policies to changes in the business sector and consumer behaviors. The compilation offers not only insights on facts, but also introduces discussion on some of the more controversial issues China faces as it works to meet climate and energy challenges up through 2020.

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Sustainable Stockholm, Europe’s greenest city

Metzger, Jonathan and Olsson Amy Rader eds. (2014) Sustainable Stockholm: exploring urban sustainability in Europe’s greenest city. Routledge, 2014. 248 p.

Sustainable Stockholm provides a historical overview of Stockholm’s environmental development, and also discusses a number of cross-disciplinary themes presenting the urban sustainability work behind Stockholm’s unique position, and importantly the question of how well Stockholm’s practices can be exported and transposed to other places and contexts.

By using the case of Stockholm as the pivot of discussions, Sustainable Stockholm investigates the core issues of sustainable urban environmental development and planning, in all their entanglements. The book shows how intersecting fields such as urban planning and architecture, traffic planning, land-use regulation, building, waste management, regional development, water management, infrastructure engineering—together and in combination—have contributed to making Stockholm Europe’s “greenest” city.

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Cultural heritage politics in China

Blumenfield, Tami; Silverman, Helaine (Eds.) (2013),  Cultural heritage politics in China, New York, Springer verlag, XVIII, 297 p. 33 illus., 27 illus. in color.

This volume explores China’s cultural heritage ideology and policies from three interrelated perspectives: the State and World Heritage tourism; cultural heritage tourism at sites not designated through an international system; and the cultural politics of museums and collections . It also considers the broader implications of China as a heritage power as the nation mobilizes routes beyond its borders as essential components of its own patrimony. The volume is timely because a cultural heritage designation craze is underway in China. Officials at many levels now see heritage preservation as a means for commoditizing and developing their regions. They are devoting new resources and attention to national and international heritage designations, but contradictions and complications in the actual practices of designating and protecting heritage abound . Thus, addressing cultural heritage politics in a nation dedicated to designation is an important project, particularly in the context of a rapidly growing economy increasingly interested in asserting its cultural power beyond its borders. More information

 

Coordinating Urban and Rural Development in China: Learning from Chengdu

legates

A new book by Ye Yumin (Renmin University) and Richard LeGates (San Francisco State University) titled Coordinating Urban and Rural Development in China: Learning from Chengdu describes the programs Chengdu–one of China’s pilot regions for coordinated urban-rural development–have carried out over the last two decades, was published by Edward Elgar Press in September, 2013.

Information on the book is available on the Edward Elgar Press website.

New urbanisation strategy of China

Zhongguo Xinchengzhenhua Zhanlue (New Urbanization Strategy of China)

《中国新城镇化战略》由新华社社长李从军主编,日前由新华出版社出版,该书由新华社记者深入全国19个省区市采访调查,总结分析中国城镇化历史、成就经验以及面临的问题和矛盾。

该书约21万字,配有多幅照片、插图包括背景与现状、理念与路径、探索与实践、蓝图与红线四个部分。

详细资料请点击这里

 

 

 

 

 

Participatory processes in urban planning projects in China

Kern, Abigaïl-Laure1  and Bolay, Jean-Claude2 (2013). Participatory processes in urban planning projects in China: the example of Caoyang Village, Shanghai. In Silvia Hostettler and Eileen Hazboun (Ed.) Technologies for sustainable development : a way to reduce poverty? (pp.209-223). Springer International Publishing. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-00639-0_18

In order to provide the first elements of a participatory process initiated and led by Chinese authorities, this paper will look at the citizen’s involvement in an urban planning project in China and discuss possible avenues to sustain the process in a specific local context over the long-term. Since the end of the 1980s, most community participation projects in China have been implemented in rural environments. This participatory process was carried out in Shanghai’s historically and culturally symbolic Caoyang Workers’ Village, without the external influence of international bodies. Even if some constraints have emerged in the participation of citizens during the pre-project phase, this participatory process seems to have fostered local governance to make significant breakthroughs. It was also the opportunity to reflect upon the minimum conditions to ensure the sustainability of this type of practice in Chinese urban planning projects by adopting the vision of an adapted participatory process.
  1. Doctoral Program in Architecture and Science of the City, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
  2. Cooperation and Development Centre, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland

 

Ren-Urban China

Urban China

Ren, Xuefei. (2013) Urban China. Cambridge : Polity Press. 218 p (China today).

Ren Xuefei is assistant professor of sociology and global urban studies at Michigan State University.

Description

Currently there are more than 125 Chinese cities with a population exceeding one million. The Ren Xuefei - Urban Chinaunprecedented urban growth in China presents a crucial development for studies on globalization and urban transformation. This book examines the past trajectories, present conditions, and future prospects of Chinese urbanization, by investigating five key themes – governance, migration, landscape, inequality, and cultural economy.

Based on a comprehensive evaluation of the literature and original research materials, Ren offers a critical account of the Chinese urban condition after the first decade of the twenty-first century. She argues that the urban-rural dichotomy that was artificially constructed under socialism is no longer a meaningful lens for analyses and that Chinese cities have become strategic sites for reassembling citizenship rights for both urban residents and rural migrants.

For students and scholars of urban and development studies with a focus on China, and all interested in understanding the relationship between state, capitalism, and urbanization in the global context.

Table of Contents

  • Chapter 1 China Urbanized
  • Chapter 2 Governance
  • Chapter 3 Landscape
  • Chapter 4 Migration
  • Chapter 5 Inequality
  • Chapter 6 Cultural Economy
  • Conclusion

 Publisher’s website

Internal migration and urban dynamics in Shanghai

Zhao, Yeqin (2011). Construction des espaces urbains et rénovation d’un quartier de Shanghai : la problématique de la migration et du changement social. Shanghai : Sanlian shudian, 2011. (In French)

The book is based on a Ph. D. thesis in sociology, Cachan, École normale supérieure, co-tutoring with Shanghai Huadong shifan daxue, 2008.

Abstract

Since the economic reform in the late 1970’s, China has undergone trmendous changes in poltical, social and cultural aspects. Two of the most important transformations are the urban growth and the flow of internal migration which is unprecedented in the history of China. This flow of internal migration has transformed the urban population.

The objective of this research is to analyze the complexity of relationships between migrnats from rural China and the indigenous inhabitants, who are often former migrants, in the context of ownership of an urban space (a poor community of Shanghai) which is dedicated to the renovation. These issues affect urban dynamics of contemporary China. This research has conducted a thorough analysis of previous empirical research, both Western and Chinese. The close link between migration and the city has directed towards a broader debate, particularly on internal migration and urban dynamics. We adopted the method of micro-sociology and regarded Yuanhenong, a poor neighborhood of Shanghai, as the unit of observation.

The research seeks not only to describe the transformation of Shanghai through a neighbourhood. it intends to show more generally : 1) that one must study the urban transformations from the activities and choies of people who “organize” the city, 2) how the internal migration and the mobility of population are transforming the cities of the emerging countries and how to build the new urban societies, and 3) the need to consider the question of Chinese specificities and its limits.

Chinese perspectives on the environment and sustainable development

Chinese Perspectives on the Environment and Sustainable Development, edited by: Ye Wenhu, Peking University; translated by: Christopher Heselton at Brill.

With China’s rapid growth over the past several decades, the detrimental effects of industrial growth on the environment have become ever more apparent. In this collection of articles from some of China’s most distinguished political scientist, economist, and environmentalist, we find the emerging debate on environmentalism unfolding as Chinese try to find their own way. At the core of these concerns is a debate on balancing the needs of economic development with responsibilities to the planet, and the degree to which that responsibility applies to China as a developing country. These articles seek to illustrate broader principles for environmental policies and international support, as well as more specific projects in China that have been tested and those that have failed.

 

 

Green growth in Stockholm, Sweden

OECD. (2013) Green growth in Stockholm, Sweden. Paris : OECD Publishing. (OECD Green Growth Studies) DOI: 10.1787/9789264195158-en

 This report studies green growth trends, challenges and opportunities in the City of Stockholm, Sweden. It first analyses socio-economic trends and the environmental performance of the city and the county of Stockholm; then it reviews urban policies for land use, transport, buildings, waste, energy and water that contribute to economic growth and reduce pressure on the environment; thirdly assesses Stockholm’s green innovation potential in areas such as cleantech, ICT and university to business linkages; and finally it examines local, regional and national institutions, including horizontal and vertical coordination mechanisms that strengthen cross-sectoral and multilevel govenance for green growth.

Table of contents

  • Foreword and acknowledgements
  • Acronyms and abbreviations
  • Executive summary
  • Economic and environmental trends in Stockholm
  • Policies to further promote green growth in Stockholm
  • Green innovation in Stockholm
  • Governance of green growth in Stockholm

Read the full text on OECD Publishing Read

Downloadable version accessible to subscribers on the OECD iLibrary or to be purchased from the OECD Online Bookshop

China’s urban labor market: a structural econometric approach

Liu, Yang. (2013) China’s urban labor market: a structural econometric approach. Hong Kong :  Hong Kong University Press, 204 p. ISBN 9789888208043

In the last two decades, expanding China’s urban labor market has gone through a dynamic job creation and destruction, and large-scale rural-urban immigration. The marketization since early 1980s has made great progress in the transition to a real labor market. The author offers a novel analysis of China’s labor market using modern structural econometric models. The book examines issues of the disequilibrium of labor supply and demand, job and worker reallocations, and labor market matching in China. It also looks into the impact of rural–urban immigration on the urban labor market. The author analyzes the economic reasons behind the high unemployment rate in China and explains why it coexists with the shortage of workers in recent years.

Further reading

Liu, Yang. (2013) Job and worker reallocation in China.  APIR discussion papers 2013/01. Read the full text article on APIR website.

 

Keys to the city

Storper, Michael (2013) Keys to the city : how economics, institutions, social interaction, and politics shape development. Princeton University Press. 288 p. ISBN: 9781400846269

Why do some cities grow economically while others decline? Why do some show sustained economic performance while others cycle up and down? In Keys to the City, Michael Storper, one of the world’s leading economic geographers, looks at why we should consider economic development issues within a regional context–at the level of the city-region–and why urban economies develop unequally. Storper identifies four contexts that shape urban economic development: economic, institutional, innovational, interactional, and political. The book explores how these contexts operate and how they interact, leading to developmental success in some regions and failure in others. Demonstrating that the global economy is increasingly driven by its major cities, the keys to the city are the keys to global development. In his conclusion, Storper specifies eight rules of economic development targeted at policymakers. Keys to the City explains why economists, sociologists, and political scientists should take geography seriously.

中国城市竞争力报告 (2013 版) = Annual Report on Urban Competitiveness

倪鹏飞, 主编 Ni Pengfei, ed. (2013)中国城市竞争力报告 : 11 Zhongguo chengshi jingzhengli baogao. 北京 : 社会科学文献出版社 Shehui kexue wenxian chubanshe. 460 p. ISBN: 978-7-5097-4575-5

图书简介

ZG chengshi过去10年,中国城市在增长方式转变方面收效甚微,同时房价过高、环境恶化、社会问题多发等问题凸显,“城市病”不断加剧。寻求可持续的发展机制和走新型城市化道路成为中国城市当前所面对的迫切问题。本年度报告将“新基准:建设可持续竞争力理想城市”作为研究主题,就是对未来中国城市发展方向的一次追寻和探索。《中国城市竞争力报告No.11》在前十份报告十年研究的基础上,将城市竞争力理论又向前推进了一步,使其理论框架更加清晰,政策含义更加鲜明。首次将城市竞争力明确区分为产出的、当前的和短期的城市综合经济竞争力,城市产业体系竞争力与投入的、可持续的和长期的城市可持续竞争力三个组成部分。城市综合经济竞争力即城市创造价值的能力,体现为城市创造价值的规模、速度和效率,城市可持续竞争力即城市的要素与环境状况,体现为城市在主体素质、当地要素、当地需求、主体联系、公共制度和基础设施六个方面的状况。其中,以构建理想城市为目标,我们提出理想城市应该是以人为本的宜居城市、创业至上的宜商城市、公平包容的和谐城市、环境友好的生态城市、创新驱动的知识城市、城乡一体的全域城市、交流便捷的信息城市和开放多元的文化城市,并从城市可持续竞争力的六个方面提取出关键因素,按照理想城市的这八项特征重新组合,作为其构成成分。然后从这些构成成分出发,设计了可持续竞争力的指标体系。因此,城市可持续竞争力就反映了城市和理想城市的差距与城市不断迈向理想城市的能力。根据城市综合经济竞争力和城市可持续竞争力的指标体系,我们对中国293个城市的综合经济竞争力和287个城市的可持续竞争力进行了分析和比较,发现中国城市总体上在可持续竞争力及其八个方面距理想城市的标准都存在很大差距,每个方面都存在一系列迫切问题有待解决。未来中国城市的发展,必须以建设理想城市为目标,从可持续竞争力的八个方面入手,逐步解决各方面的问题,走新型城市化的可持续发展的道路。

 

Presentation

New Benchmark: Constructing the Ideal city with Sustainable Competitiveness” It is a quest to explore the future development directions for cities in China. Based on research in the past ten reports,Annual Report on Urban Competitiveness(No.11)has achieved new progress in urban competitiveness theories with clearer theoretical framework and policy implications. It is the first time we clearly distinguish among the three parts of urban competitiveness,of which urban general economic competitiveness is the output,current and short-term aspect of urban competitiveness; urban industrial system competitiveness and urban sustainable competitiveness are the input,sustainable and long-term aspect of urban competitiveness. Urban general economic competitiveness shows cities’ ability to create value,which is reflected by the scale,speed and efficiency of cities’ value creation activity. Urban sustainable competitiveness is cities’ conditions of factors and environment,which is illustrated from six aspects,including the quality of economic agents,local factors,local demand,local and global connections,social systems and infrastructure. Aimed at building an ideal city,we claim that an ideal city should be people-oriented, livable city,entrepreneurship and business-friendly fair, inclusive, harmonious,environment-friendly,innovation-driven, city,urban-rural integrated,an communication and information friendly,culturally open and diversified. We extract key elements from the six aspects of urban sustainable competitiveness,and recompose them according to the eight characteristics of an ideal city. Then we design the index system of urban sustainable competitiveness. Therefore,a city’s urban sustainable competitiveness reflects the gap between an ideal city and its current state,as well as real cities ability to achieve the ideal. Based on the index system of urban general economic competitiveness and urban sustainable competitiveness,we analyze the urban general economic competitiveness of 293 cities and the urban sustainable competitiveness of 287 cities in China. And we find that there are big gaps between Chinese cities and the ideal city in terms of urban sustainable competitiveness in eight aspects. Each field needs to deal with a series of urgent problems. In the future,in order to build ideal cities and solve these problems effectively,Chinese cities should take the new path of urbanization and achieve sustainable development.

 

Gardens of wisdom in China and Japan by Yolaine Escande

jardins-de-sagesse-3953482-250-400Yolaine Escande (2013), Jardins de sagesse en Chine et au Japon, Paris, éditions du Seuil, 144 p.

Chinese and Japanese gardens are the ultimate places of wisdom, spaces of meditation, self-cultivation as well as openness to the world. Just as wisdom is described as a journey, the garden, as a path physical, sensory and spiritual all at once that combines contemplation and travelling, guides man towards a state of inner availability and non-attachment.

This illustrated book by Yolaine Escande explores the significance of Chinese and Japanese gardens as paths towards wisdom, a wisdom which is truly the heart of the garden. With the guidance of Chinese and Japanese philosophy, Escande discusses the historic and contemporary relationship people have with these gardens: the simultaneous self-containment and openness of this stationary path, the transience found in the predominant presence of rocks in these gardens (a far more important feature than in Western gardens), the worthlessness of the trees and how these embody the wise man and his moral values, and the powerful aesthetics of crudeness and simplicity, the expression of the natural in opposition to the artificial. Throughout, the beautiful original images, photographs and paintings alike, provide a visual understanding of the concepts considered within the text.

  • Yolaine Escande, a director of research at the CNRS (CRAL, CNRS-EHESS) is a sinologist, a specialist of painting and art of gardens in China. She has published several books on Chinese art (L’Art en Chine – La résonance intérieure (Hermann, 2001), Traités chinois de peinture et de calligraphie (Klincksieck, 2010).

The Shanghai alleyway house: A vanishing urban vernacular

Bracken, Gregory. (2013) The Shanghai alleyway house : A vanishing urban vernacular. London : Routledge. 200 p. (Contemporary China series). ISBN 978-0-415-64071-8.

As a nineteenth-century commercial development, the alleyway house was a hybrid of the traditional Chinese courtyard house and the Western terraced one. Unique to Shanghai, the alleyway house was a space where the blurring of the boundaries of public and private life created a vibrant social community. In recent years however, the city’s rapid redevelopment has meant that the alleyway house is being destroyed, and this book seeks to understand it in terms of the lifestyle it engendered for those who called it home, whilst also looking to the future of the alleyway house.

Based on groundwork research, this book examines the Shanghai alleyway house in light of the complex history of the city, especially during the colonial era. It also explores the history of urban form (and governance) in China in order to question how the Eastern and Western traditions combined in Shanghai to produce a unique and dynamic housing typology. Construction techniques and different alleyway house sub-genres are also examined, as is the way of life they engendered, including some of the side-effects of alleyway house life, such as the literature it inspired, both foreign and local, as well as the portrayal of life in the laneways as seen in films set in the city. The book ends by posing the question: what next for the alleyway house? Does it even have a future, and if so, what lies ahead for this rapidly vanishing typology?

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