2017 Vol. 27, No. 6

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Articles
China's Urbanization in 1949-2015:Processes and Driving Forces
GU Chaolin, HU Lingqian, Ian G. COOK
2017, 27(6): 847-859. doi: 10.1007/s11769-017-0911-9
Abstract:
The pace and scale of China's contemporary urbanization are stunning. This paper reviews process and the underlying driving forces of China's urbanization between 1949-2015. Contemporary China's urbanization has experienced four stages, and each has had different driving forces:1) economic re-construction and industrialization-led urbanization (1949-1977); 2) economic reform and market-led urbanization (1978-1995); 3) economic globalization and the global-local urbanization (1996-2010); and 4) the land-economyled urbanization (2010-). These urbanization processes and driving forces will undoubtedly provide scientific reference and have significant implications for developing countries, especially African countries, to formulate their urbanization public policies.
Applicability and Prospect of China's Development Zone Model in Africa
WANG Xingping, ZHU Kai, LI Yingcheng, XU Jiabo
2017, 27(6): 860-874. doi: 10.1007/s11769-017-0918-2
Abstract:
Development zones have been an important spatial approach to promoting economic development since China's reform and opening-up. They have also been major contributors to the processes of China's industrialization and urbanization. Along with improvements in the worldwide industrial division of labor and the gradual implementation of China's development zones' Go Global strategy, it is necessary for Africa, a hot spot of global industrialization in recent years, to learn from China's development zone model. By attracting China's capital, technology and enterprises to Africa via Sino-African co-built development zones, a pattern of high complementarity and mutual development between China and Africa can be formed which does favor further improvement of the global industrial division of labor. In order to study the applicability and prospect of China's development zone model in Africa as per the above-mentioned international situation, this paper first sorts out the development course of China's development zones and discusses their roles in China's industrialization and urbanization. Subsequently, this paper analyzes the status quo of industrial development in Africa as a whole and the differences in industrial development between China and Africa, aiming to justify the timing of industrial transfer from China to Africa by constructing Sino-African co-built development zones. Lastly, this paper analyzes the current situation of six Sino-African co-built development zones by focusing on their operation modes, industry types and investment promotion models. In the authors' view, Sino-African co-built development zones can function as a new window of China-African cooperation, a new carrier of African industrialization, and a new engine of global industrial restructuring. China should adhere to the general principles of ‘Sino-African Integration, Multi-Cooperation, Mutual Benefit, Scientific Location, Systematic Planning, Cluster Growth and Open Development’ in the planning and construction of development zones in Africa, effectively promoting Africa as the very important part of the global industry system.
Measuring Spatio-temporal Characteristics of City Expansion and Its Driving Forces in Shanghai from 1990 to 2015
TIAN Li, LI Yongfu, SHAO Lei, ZHANG Yue
2017, 27(6): 875-890. doi: 10.1007/s11769-017-0883-9
Abstract:
Urbanization has both direct and indirect impacts on land use change, and analyzing spatio-temporal characteristics of land use change is essential for understanding these impacts. By comparing Landsat TM images, this paper examines the changes of land use structure and landscape patterns in Shanghai from 1990 to 2015. It finds that the city doubled in size, with the growth of isolated construction land being most significant among eight land use types. A land use change matrix was established and landscape indices were selected to evaluate the change of spatial structure in Shanghai. In order to identify the main driving forces of city expansion in Shanghai, this research ran partial least square regression models to assess the impact of 10 social-economic factors on land use change of Shanghai from 1990 to 2015. It then conducted bivariate correlation analysis to explore the drivers of change of various land use types:urban settlement, rural settlement and isolated construction land. Besides quantitative analysis, this paper analyzes the influence of policy-dimensional factors in land use change. It concludes with future potential research topics on land use change in a rapidly urbanizing context.
Administrative Urbanization and City-making in Post-reform China:A Case Study of Ordos City, Inner Mongolia
YIN Guanwen, LIU Yungang
2017, 27(6): 891-903. doi: 10.1007/s11769-017-0919-1
Abstract:
In post-reform China, local governments, instead of the central state, have become major promoters of urbanization. Differing from the existing literature based on Western theories, this article argues that a localized perspective, ‘administrative urbanization’, can provide a contextual explanation for the mechanism of urbanization in the reform era. The case study of Ordos indicates that new town construction, especially in the inland area, has become the main strategy for investment attraction and economic development. The local government has played a dominant role in this construction through a series of administrative measures, including avoidance of central state regulations, land leasing, high standard infrastructure construction, relocation policies and industrial attraction. This article also explores the issue of unsustainability in the new town, and identifies that underdeveloped industrialization, slow population agglomeration and real estate bubbles are primary threats to the sustainability of administrative urbanization.
Spatial-temporal Heterogeneity of Industrial Structure Transformation and Carbon Emission Effects in Xuzhou Metropolitan Area
QIU Fangdao, YUAN He, BAI Liangyu, LI Fei
2017, 27(6): 904-917. doi: 10.1007/s11769-017-0920-8
Abstract:
Employing decoupling index and industrial structure characteristic bias index methods, this study analyzed the spatial-temporal characteristics of industrial structure transformations and their resulting carbon emissions in the Xuzhou Metropolitan Area from 2000 to 2014, with a focus on their relationships and driving factors. Our research indicates that carbon emission intensity from industrial structures in the Xuzhou Metropolitan Area at first showed an increasing trend, which then decreased. Furthermore, the relationship between emissions and industrial economic growth has been trending toward absolute decoupling. From the perspective of the center-periphery, the Xuzhou Metropolitan Area formed a concentric pattern, where both progress towards low emissions and the level of technological advancement gradually diminished from the center to the periphery. In terms of variation across provinces, the ISCB index in the eastern Henan has decreased the slowest, followed by the southern Shandong and the northern Anhui, with the northern Jiangsu ranking last. During this period, resource-and labor-intensive industries were the primary growth industries in the northern Anhui and the eastern Henan, while labor-intensive industries dominated the southern Shandong and capital-intensive industries dominated the northern Jiangsu. In terms of city types, the spatial pattern for industrial structure indicates that recession resource-based cities had higher carbon emission intensities than mature resource-based cities, followed by non-resource-based cities and regenerative resource-based cities. Generally, the industrial structure in the Xuzhou Metropolitan Area has transformed from being resource-intensive to capital-intensive, and has been trending toward technology-intensive as resource availability has been exploited to exhaustion and then been regenerated. Industrial structure has been the leading factor causing heterogeneity of carbon emission intensities between metropolitan cities. Therefore, the key to optimizing the industrial structure and layout of metropolitan areas is to promote industrial structure transformation and improve the system controlling collaborative industrial development between cities.
Assessing Spatio-temporal Characteristics of Water Storage Changes in the Mountainous Areas of Central Asia Based on GRACE
ZHANG Pengfei, CHEN Xi, BAO Anming, LIU Tie, Felix NDAYISABA
2017, 27(6): 918-933. doi: 10.1007/s11769-017-0914-6
Abstract:
The mountainous areas of Central Asia provide substantial water resources, and studying change in water storage and the impacts of precipitation and snow cover in the mountain ranges of Central Asia is of the greatest importance for understanding regional water shortages and the main factors. Data from the GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) satellites, precipitation products and snow-covered area data were used to analyze the spatio-temporal characteristics of water storage changes and the effects of precipitation and snow cover from April 2002 to December 2013. The results were computed for each mountain ranges, and the following conclusions were drawn. The water storage in the mountainous areas of Central Asia as a whole increases in summer and winter, whereas it decreases in autumn. The water storage is affected by precipitation to some extent and some areas exhibit hysteresis. The area of positive water storage changes moves from west to east over the course of the year. The water storage declined during the period 2002-2004. It then returned to a higher level in 2005-2006 and featured lower levels in 2007-2009 Subsequently, the water storage increased gradually from 2010 to 2013. The Eastern Tianshan Mountains and Western Tianshan Mountain subzones examined in this study display similar tendencies, and the trends observed in the Karakorum Mountains and the Kunlun Mountains are also similar. However, the Eastern Tianshan Mountains and Western Tianshan Mountains were influenced by precipitation to a greater degree than the latter two ranges. The water storage in Qilian Mountains showed a pronounced increasing trend, and this range is the most strongly affected by precipitation. Based on an analysis of all investigated subzones, precipitation has the greatest influence on total water storage relative to the snow covered area in some areas of Central Asia. The results obtained from this study will be of value for scientists studying the mechanisms that influence changes in water storage in Central Asia.
Remote Sensing Retrieval of Surface Suspended Sediment Concentration in the Yellow River Estuary
ZHAN Chao, YU Junbao, WANG Qing, LI Yunzhao, ZHOU Di, XING Qinghui, CHU Xiaojing
2017, 27(6): 934-947. doi: 10.1007/s11769-017-0921-7
Abstract:
Accurate assessment of surface suspended sediment concentration (SSSC) in estuary is essential to address several important issues:erosion, water pollution, human health risks, etc. In this study, an empirical cubic retrieval model was developed for the retrieval of SSSC from Yellow River Estuary. Based on sediments and seawater collected from the Yellow River and southeastern Laizhou Bay, SSSC conditions were reproduced in the laboratory at increasing concentrations within a range common to field observations. Continuous spectrum measurements of the various SSSCs ranging from 1 to 5700 mg/l were carried out using an AvaField-3 spectrometer. The results indicated the good correlation between water SSSC and spectral reflectance (Rrs) was obtained in the spectral range of 726-900 nm. At SSSC greater than 2700 mg/L, the 740-900 nm spectral range was less susceptible to the effects of spectral reflectance saturation and more suitable for retrieval of high sediment concentrations. The best correlations were obtained for the reflectance ratio of 820 nm to 490 nm. Informed by the correlation between Rrs and SSSC, a retrieval model was developed (R2=0.992). The novel cubic model, which used the ratio of a near-infrared (NIR) band (740-900 nm) to a visible band (400-600 nm) as factors, provided robust quantification of high SSSC water samples. Two high SSSC centers, with an order of 103 mg/l, were found in the inversion results around the abandoned Diaokou River mouth, the present Yellow River mouth to the abandoned Qingshuigou River mouth. There was little sediment exchange between the two high SSSC centers due to the directions of the residual currents and vertical mixing.
Spatio-temporal Pattern of Net Primary Productivity in Hengduan Mountains area, China:Impacts of Climate Change and Human Activities
CHEN Tiantian, PENG Li, LIU Shaoquan, WANG Qiang
2017, 27(6): 948-962. doi: 10.1007/s11769-017-0895-5
Abstract:
Net primary productivity (NPP), a metric used to define and identify changes in plant communities, is greatly affected by climate change, human activities and other factors. Here, we used the Carnegie-Ames-Stanford Approach (CASA) model to estimate the NPP of plant communities in Hengduan Mountains area of China, and to explore the relationship between NPP and altitude in this region. We examined the mechanisms underlying vegetation growth responses to climate change and quantitatively assessed the effects of ecological protection measures by partitioning the contributions of climate change and human activities to NPP changes. The results demonstrated that:1) the average total and annual NPP values over the years were 209.15 Tg C and 468.06 g C/(m2·yr), respectively. Their trend increasingly fluctuated, with spatial distribution strongly linked to altitude (i.e., lower and higher NPP in high altitude and low altitude areas, respectively) and 2400 m represented the marginal altitude for vegetation differentiation; 2) areas where climate was the main factor affecting NPP accounted for 18.2% of the total research area, whereas human activities were the primary factor influencing NPP in 81.8% of the total research area, which indicated that human activity was the main force driving changes in NPP. Areas where climatic factors (i.e., temperature and precipitation) were the main driving factors occupied 13.6% (temperature) and 6.0% (precipitation) of the total research area, respectively. Therefore, the effect of temperature on NPP changes was stronger than that of precipitation; and 3) the majority of NPP residuals from 2001 to 2014 were positive, with human activities playing an active role in determining regional vegetation growth, possibly due to the return of farmland back to forest and natural forest protection. However, this positive trend is decreasing. This clearly shows the periodical nature of ecological projects and a lack of long-term effectiveness.
Evaluation of Potential Productivity of Woody Energy Crops on Marginal Land in China
WANG Jinzhu, GAO Ming, HE Xinhua, ZHANG Qian, Natamba LEO, XU Chang
2017, 27(6): 963-973. doi: 10.1007/s11769-017-0916-4
Abstract:
Energy crops are a basic material in the bioenergy industry, and they can also mitigate carbon emissions and have environmental benefits when planted on marginal lands. The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential productivity of energy crops on marginal lands in China. A mechanistic model, combined with energy crop and land use characteristics, and meteorological and soil parameters, was used to simulate the potential productivity of energy crops. There were three main results. 1) The total marginal land in China was determined to be 104.78×106 ha. The 400-mm precipitation boundary line, which is the dividing line between the semi-humid and semi-arid zones in China, also divided the marginal land into shrub land and sparse forest land in the southeast and bare land, bare rock land, and saline alkali land in the northeast. 2) The total area of the marginal land suitable for planting energy crops was determined to be 55.82×106 ha, with Xanthoceras sorbifolia and Cerasus humilis mainly grown in the northern China, Jatropha curcas and Cornus wilsoniana mainly grown in the southwest and southeast, and Pistacia chinensis mainly grown in the central area, while also having a northeast-southwest zonal distribution. 3) Taking the highest yield in overlapping areas, the potential productivity of target energy crops was determined to be 32.63×106 t/yr. Without considering the overlapping areas, the potential productivity was 6.81×106 t/yr from X. sorbifolia, 8.86×106 t/yr from C. humilis, 7.18×106 t/yr from J. curcas, 9.55×106 t/yr from P. chinensis, and 7.78×106 t/yr from C. wilsoniana.
An Uncertain Programming Model for Land Use Structure Optimization to Promote Effectiveness of Land Use Planning
LI Xin, MA Xiaodong
2017, 27(6): 974-988. doi: 10.1007/s11769-017-0896-4
Abstract:
Land use structure optimization (LUSO) is an important issue for land use planning. In order for land use planning to have reasonable flexibility, uncertain optimization should be applied for LUSO. In this paper, the researcher first expounded the uncertainties of LUSO. Based on this, an interval programming model was developed, of which interval variables were to hold land use uncertainties. To solve the model, a heuristics based on Genetic Algorithm was designed according to Pareto Optimum principle with a confidence interval under given significance level to represent LUSO result. Proposed method was applied to a real case of Yangzhou, an eastern city in China. The following conclusions were reached. 1) Different forms of uncertainties ranged from certainty to indeterminacy lay in the five steps of LUSO, indicating necessary need of comprehensive approach to quantify them. 2) With regards to trade-offs of conflicted objectives and preferences to uncertainties, our proposed model displayed good ability of making planning decision process transparent, therefore providing an effective tool for flexible land use planning compiling. 3) Under uncertain conditions, land use planning effectiveness can be primarily enhanced by flexible management with reserved space to percept and hold uncertainties in advance.
Characteristics and Cause Analysis of Heavy Haze in Changchun City in Northeast China
MA Siqi, CHEN Weiwei, ZHANG Shichun, TONG Quansong, BAO Qiuyang, GAO Zongting
2017, 27(6): 989-1002. doi: 10.1007/s11769-017-0922-6
Abstract:
Northeast China has been reported as having serious air pollution in China with increasing occurrences of severe haze episodes. Changchun City, as the center of Northeast China, has longstanding industry and is an important agricultural base. Additionally, Changchun City has a long winter requiring heating of buildings emitting pollution into the air. These factors contribute to the complexity of haze pollution in this area. In order to analyze the causes of heavy haze, surface air quality has been monitored from 2013 to 2015. By using satellite and meteorological data, atmospheric pollution status, spatio-temporal variations and formation have been analyzed. Results indicated that the air quality in 88.9% of days exceeding air quality index (AQI) level-1 standard (AQI >50) according to the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) of China. Conversely, 33.7% of the days showed a higher level with AQI > 100. Extreme haze events (AQI > 300) occurred frequently during agricultural harvesting period (from October 10 to November 10), intensive winter heating period (from Late-December to February) and period of spring windblown dust (April and May). Most daily concentrations of gaseous pollutants, i.e., NO2 (43.8 μg/m3), CO (0.9 mg/m3), SO2 (37.9 μg/m3), and O3 (74.9 μg/m3) were evaluated within level-1 concentration limits of NAAQS standards. However, particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10) concentrations (67.3 μg/m3 and 115.2 μg/m3, respectively) were significantly higher than their level-1 limits. Severe haze in spring was caused by offsite transported dust and windblown surface soil. Heavy haze periods during fall and winter were mainly formed by intensive emissions of atmospheric pollutants and steady weather conditions (i.e., low wind speed and inversion layer). The overlay emissions of widespread straw burning and coal combustion for heating were the dominant factors contributing to haze in autumn, while intensive coal burning during the coldest time was the primary component of total emissions. In addition, general emissions including automobile exhaust, road and construction dust, residential and industrial activities, have significantly increased in recent years, making heavy haze a more frequent occurrence. Therefore, both improved technological strategies and optimized pollution management on a regional scale are necessary to minimize emissions in specified seasons in Changchun City, as well as comprehensive control measures in Northeast China.
Spatial Distribution and Sources Identification of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Wolong Lake, Northeast China
ZHAO Guanghui, CHANG Wenyue, YAN Jinxia, LI Xiaojun, TONG Dongli, ZHAO Ranran, Sharley James DAVID, TAI Peidong
2017, 27(6): 1003-1012. doi: 10.1007/s11769-017-0923-5
Abstract:
The aquatic ecosystem maybe significantly affected by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) released from fresh water sediments. In order to protect biodiversity, the spatial distribution and sources of PAHs in the sediment of Wolong Lake in Northeast China were studied. A total of 17 surface sediment samples were collected and 12 PAHs were analyzed. The results were as follows. The concentration of total PAHs (TPAHs) ranged between 1412.9 μg/kg and 3948.3 μg/kg (dry weight). Indeno[1, 2, 3-c, d] pyrene was the dominant contaminant which accounted for 87%-98% of TPAHs. Diagnostic ratios of PAHs and principal component analysis showed that biomass combustion and vehicle emissions were likely to be the dominant sources of PAHs in the sediment. PAHs can be considered safe in the context of environmental and human health protection, based on the overall toxicity. Individual PAHs were positively correlated with total organic carbons. These results will be helpful to control PAHs and protect the aquatic ecosystem in the lake.