PROGRESS IN GEOGRAPHY

Land-use change and ecosystem services：concepts, methods and progress

FU Bojie, ZHANG Liwei

2014, 33 (4): 441-446.
doi: 10.11820/dlkxjz.2014.04.001

Abstract ( )

PDF (415KB) ( )

Save

As a frontier and hot topic in ecology and geography, the study of ecosystem services has attracted the interest of many scholars and research institutions. By changing the structure and processes of ecosystems, landuse change affects the provisioning capability of ecosystems for products and services. Study of the relationships between ecosystem processes and services, the relationships among multiple ecosystem services, and the integration and optimization of these services at the regional scale in the context of land-use change urgently needs to be enhanced. The results of such research will be critically important for informing and supporting activities of ecosystem management. This paper introduces the concepts and methods of the study of land- use change and ecosystem services and discusses the shortcomings of existing studies and future prospects of land-use change and ecosystem services research.

References | Related Articles | Metrics

Market segmentation and exports in cities of China

HE Canfei, MA Yan

2014, 33 (4): 447-456.
doi: 10.11820/dlkxjz.2014.04.002

Abstract ( )

PDF (3931KB) ( )

Save

This paper studies whether and how market segmentation affects exports from cities of China. Some existing research found that market segmentation promotes the export performance of firms in China, which is against what the New Economic Geography theories would predict. Although explanations were provided, these studies did not distinguish between short-term and long-run effects of market segmentation on exporting firms. Neither did they identify the mechanism of such impact. This paper tries to fill this gap. Based on the Chinese Industrial Enterprises Database, we use Heckman models to analyze the micro impacts of market segmentation on firms in 2007. The regression results of Heckman selection models show that market segmentation affects firms' behavior in two ways. Firstly, severe market segmentation reduces the scale of domestic market available to firms. As a result, firms enter the international market as a complementary market to pursue economy of scale. Secondly, market segmentation also restrains firms from specialisation because of the high cost of transporting intermediate goods between different areas. The impacts of these two pathways lead to the result that market segmentation increases the probability of firms' decision to export in the export decision-making stage to pursue economy of scale. After these firms are forced to enter the international market, however, their productivity and competitiveness decrease because they give up specialised production and lose the broad domestic market and are unable to benefit from the economy of scale. The characteristics of exports emerge from the microscopic analysis of firms' exporting behaviors. Market segmentation promotes exports of cities in the short term by increasing the number of exporting firms of a city. However, in the long run, market segmentation decreases the competitive of exporting firms. That is, the effect of market division policy is unsustainable. In addition, the impacts of market segmentation depend on enterprise ownership and geographic locations. The impacts are larger for state-owned enterprises and private enterprises, implying that foreign-owned enterprises hold super-national treatments. For firms in the central part of China, the impacts of market segmentation decrease when the distance from the city where the firms are located to the surrounding cities decreases. This phenomenon does not exist in the eastern and western regions. The role geographic location plays differs between regions, but there is little difference within the groups in eastern and western China. In eastern China, the transportation infrastructure is well developed, so transportation conditions do not seem to contribute significantly to creating market segmentation and therefore improving transport does not help decrease market segmentation. In western China, political barrier may have acted as the main reason causing market segmentation. Thus, improving transportation conditions, which are equally poor across the region, may not help as much as removing political barriers for reducing market segmentation. Although market segmentation promotes export of cities in the short term, it hurts export of firms in the long run. We recommend local governments make efforts to decrease domestic market segmentation to create a healthy environment for exporting firms. Local governments may open markets to neighboring provinces, encourage firms to balance between focusing on domestic and foreign markets, and improve transportation conditions. For cities in western China, it is necessary to take all these measures. In central China, it is more important to build high-quality roads and decrease transport costs.

References | Related Articles | Metrics

Spatial pattern and relationship between China’s urbanization and non-agriculture employment growth

LUO Kui, FANG Chuanglin, MA Haitao

2014, 33 (4): 457-466.
doi: 10.11820/dlkxjz.2014.04.003

Abstract ( )

PDF (5145KB) ( )

Save

Urbanization and employment are both key issues in China's current socioeconomic development; it is of practical significance to fully understand the interaction between these two key aspects of development for the purpose of facilitating a healthy and orderly transition of the Chinese economy and society. Using the Chenery model, existing studies have explored the interrelationship between urbanization level and non-agricultural employment in China but relatively little attention was paid to the issue of data quality. Therefore, based on a thorough understanding of statistic caliber changes in China's urban population and employment statistics, this paper used the data from the fifth census, the sixth census and relevant statistical yearbooks and employs the Moran's I index to investigate the spatial characteristics of urbanization and non-agricultural employment growth of prefecture- level administrative divisions of China; it also uses the geographically weighted regression (GWR) method to analyze the relationship between these two factors. The main conclusions are as follows. (1) Both China's urbanization and non- agricultural employment experienced considerable development during 2000- 2010, with urban population and non- agricultural employment increased by 13.46% and 14.18%, respectively; the growth was mainly distributed in the southeastern part of the country, with megacities leading the absolute growth and cities around megacities showing a faster relative growth. (2) The Moran's I index reveals that the spatial distribution of China's urbanization and non-agricultural employment growth show a polarized trend, and they have similar spatial distribution patterns; three regions had both high urbanization rate and high non-agricultural employment growth: the Yangtze River Delta, the Pearl River Delta and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Area. Meanwhile, Tibet, Qinghai Province, Gansu Province, western Inner Mongolia and parts of Northeast China had both low urbanization rate and low non-agricultural employment development. (3) There was a significant positive spatial autocorrelation in China's urbanization and non-agricultural employment growth and spatial econometric models are needed to analyze their relationship. GWR was employed to reflect the regional differences of non- agricultural employment growth in promoting urbanization. By classifying the correlation coefficient the types of relationship between urbanization and non-agricultural employment growth of different regions can be determined. Urbanization and non-agricultural employment development are well coordinated in most parts of China. But Qinghai Province, the eastern part of Gansu Province and central Sichuan Basin show a trend of under- urbanization; Chongqing Municipality and its surrounding areas, Xinjiang and some provincial capital cities show a trend of over-urbanization. Thus, local governments should adopt different development policies that are in line with local conditions in promoting the development of urbanization and employment growth.

References | Related Articles | Metrics

Urban accessibility evaluation and spatial differentiation in Guangzhou

CHEN Shaopei, QIU Jianni

2014, 33 (4): 467-478.
doi: 10.11820/dlkxjz.2014.04.004

Abstract ( )

PDF (7804KB) ( )

Save

The city of Guangzhou has proposed an urban spatial development strategy characterized by "advancing to the east, connecting with the west, expanding to the south, and optimizing in the north" in 2000. The initial target of this strategy was to form an urban spatial pattern of "two centers and four towns" in the city of Guangzhou by 2010. Later "adjusting in the central area" was added to the strategy to further optimize the layout of urban development, and to form a multi-center, clustering, and network type of urban spatial architecture by 2020.The implementation of this urban spatial development objective and the strategic adjustment require the essential support provided by the urban transport system, which demands higher quality development of the system. Urban transport infrastructure construction and the layout not only reflect the level of development of the city, but also are the important indicator and object of study and investigation of the differences in urban accessibility. With the development of urban transport in Guangzhou, especially the urban rail rapid transit (metro) network development in recent years, urban transport accessibility of the city has undergone significant changes, and also has an essential impact on and plays a key role in the structure and layout of urban spatial extension. In this context, this paper applies a grid-based partition method in a GIS (Geography Information System) environment to calculate the transportation infrastructure densities (including road density and bus line density) and analyze their spatial distribution. Moreover, this study measures the urban rail rapid transit network time-based accessibility based on matrix analysis and comprehensively investigates urban accessibility and its spatial characteristics in Guangzhou. The results show that the spatial pattern of urban accessibility in the city of Guangzhou is characterized by a concentric ring structure radiating outwards from the core area of the city. There are large regional variations between different areas in urban accessibility and the urban spatial pattern and structure of the city should be further improved and optimized. On the basis of multiple indicators, including time-based accessibility indices at each metro station and regional urban transport infrastructure densities, the study area is divided into different zones and the relationship between location and transportation accessibility is explored. At last, this paper integrates the spatial distributions and differences of urban public, commercial and residential facilities to further examine the characteristics and differentiation of urban spatial pattern in the city of Guangzhou, in order to provide scientific supports for the urban construction and spatial development.

Related Articles | Metrics

Effect of metro transfer stations on office space agglomeration in Beijing

ZHEN Maocheng, ZHANG Jingqiu, ZHU Haiyong

2014, 33 (4): 499-507.
doi: 10.11820/dlkxjz.2014.04.007

Abstract ( )

PDF (4298KB) ( )

Save

As an important part of city traffic, rail traffic has a profound impact on city space structure and resident travel behavior. Urban metro plays a critical role in the normal operation of the whole city system, attracting all sorts of city agglomeration in economic activities in surrounding areas, affecting the formation of agglomeration of different production and living space and to some extent, the development direction and landscape of a city. Metro construction also exerts a far-reaching influence on city spatial structure reorganization and distribution of industries. The relationship between metro and industrial agglomeration has become an urgent research question for scholars. This paper takes the business office space of Beijing urban area as an example for the study of such relationship. Using the GIS spatial analysis method this study examines the influence of urban metro transfer station on business office space agglomeration and distribution pattern of office space. It further analyzes the different stages of rail transportation development, and the dynamic change of Beijing urban business office concentration level and causes. The results show that: (1) There is a significant difference in business building density within different radius of metro transfer stations. Office building density is highest within 500 m from these stations, at 237.18/km2 and decreases to 118.40/km2 within 1500 m radius. (2) New office buildings tend to concentrate around the transfer sites: 54.3% of the new buildings are found within 1500 m from these stations. (3) With an increase of the range of influence of transfer stations, the number of high grade office agglomerations also increase. The most attractive zone for office activities is between 800~1500 m from transfer stations. (4) Dynamic analysis of Beijing metro transfer stations and office cluster scale before and after 2008 indicates that there is a clear difference between 800 and 1500 m radius for business office agglomeration degree; this is particularly true for the high-end office agglomerations. Some new transfer stations located in the concentrated area of existing business office buildings, such as the China World Trade Center station in the CBD core area and the Haidian Huangzhuang station in Zhongguancun, upgraded the original grade of existing office clusters and expanded their scope to a certain extent. (5) Functional properties of metro transfer stations influence the formation of office clusters. However, historical inertia, distance attenuation, external effects and dominant functions are the main factors that influence the numbers and grades of office clusters within different radius of metro transfer stations. Further studies should analyze functional properties of rail transit lines and transfer stations and their range of influence, define the functions and classes of metro lines and transfer stations, in order to guide the planning of residential and office space development along these lines and around these stations, and provide a reference for the construction of urban landscape corridors. In addition, in-depth investigation on the impact of urban metro on office space diffusion should be conducted as well.

References | Related Articles | Metrics

Structure and development of urban innovation capability in Heilongjiang Province during 2001-2010

TAN Juntao, ZHANG Pingyu, LI Jing

2014, 33 (4): 508-516.
doi: 10.11820/dlkxjz.2014.04.008

Abstract ( )

PDF (1713KB) ( )

Save

Under the background of globalization and information economy, innovation has become the key factor for economic development of countries, regions and cities. Innovation is becoming a primary strategic choice for development of all countries. Because city is the main site where innovation takes place, urban innovation becomes a new research focus. Heilongjiang Province, as an old industrial base of the country, has abundant technology stocks. But due to the impact of the planned economy, its regional innovation environment is not very favorable and technological advantage cannot be used adequately. This paper analyzes the structure and development of urban innovation capability in Heilongjiang Province. It first built an urban innovation capability evaluation index system with four indicators (knowledge innovation capacity, technology innovation capacity, government support and service capacity, and innovation environment) and 24 variables and normalized the raw data and determined the weight of each variable and indicator. Using the weighted sum method, it calculated innovation capacity of each city, and analyzed the structure of innovation capacity. Then the paper analyzed the process of innovation capacity development in recent 10 years and the differences of innovation capability among 12 cities in Heilongjiang Province. The main results are as follows. (1) Innovation capacity of Harbin is much higher than other cities. The cities are divided into three categories according to the level of innovation capacity with the method of integrated cluster analysis. Harbin is in the first group; Daqing, Qiqihar and Mudanjiang are in the second group; and the others are in the third group. High values of innovation capacity occur in the Hadaqi (Harbin- Daqing-Qiqihar) industrial corridor. (2) Absolute differences among the cities of Heilongjiang Province are very large. By calculating the correlation coefficient of the 24 variables and urban innovation capability, an explanatory variable under each indicator, which has the highest correlation with urban innovation capability, is selected to represent the evaluation criterion for absolute differences among cities. The absolute differences among 12 cities as reflected by the four evaluation criteria are very large. Harbin's number of research and development staff is 155 times of Heihe's. (3) The pattern of urban innovation capability in Heilongjiang Province was stable over recent 10 years. The innovation capability of coal mining cities, Jixi, Qitaihe and Shuangyashan is declining. The main reason for this trend is its industrial structure that relies heavily on resource exploitation and lacks diversification of local economy and alternative industries. The regional differences and spatial polarization of urban innovation capability tend to increase. Especially since the state implemented the Strategy of Revitalizing Northeast China and Other Old Industrial Bases in 2003, such spatial differentiation accelerated. The government should not only pay attention to increasing the innovation capability but also coordinate the development within the region. Finally, this paper analyzed the problems in improving urban innovation capability of the major cities in Heilongjiang Province and put forward some policy recommendations. In the process of upgrading the cities' innovation capacity, the old industrial cities should build rational industrial innovation strategy according to the cities' own development characteristics; emphasize the importance of enterprises in the process of innovation and encourage them to improve technological innovation capability; strengthen the awareness for innovation; break barriers in the traditional planning system; and attract high quality human resources.

References | Related Articles | Metrics

Spatio-temporal characteristics and impacting factors of non-agriculturalization of China’s rural population

LONG Dongping, LI Tongsheng, MIAO Yuanyuan, LIU Chao, LI Xiaoyue, MENG Huanhuan

2014, 33 (4): 517-530.
doi: 10.11820/dlkxjz.2014.04.009

Abstract ( )

PDF (6097KB) ( )

Save

Rural population non- agriculturalization is a geographical phenomenon conforming to the development trend and social progress of rural areas, and its study can provide important insights on the modernization of Chinese agriculture, acceleration of urban development, and resolution of the "Three Rural Issues". China's rural population non-agriculturalization reflects the evolution of the economic and social structures of the countryside. The prominent feature of this change is the transfer of rural laborers to non-agricultural sectors on a large scale. According to the "Report on the Development of China's Floating Population in 2010", China's proportion of non-agricultural employment will reach 65% by 2015 and 70% by 2020; the population of urban residents will rise to 77% by 2050, which means that hundred millions of rural population will transform into urban residents in the next 30 or 40 years. From a cross-disciplinary perspective, this study uses statistical data since the reform and opening up of the late 1970s and the exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA) and partial least squares (PLS) regression analysis methods to explore the spatial-temporal patterns of the rural population non-agriculturalization process and its impacting factors, for making appropriate policies and taking proper measures to facilitate the future development of non-agricultural employment of the rural population. The results indicate that: (1) In the temporal dimension, the non-agriculturalization of rural population has experienced three distinctive stages: nationwide and in the four regions, its growth rate has gone through an "inverted U- shaped" process of growth→fluctuating growth→steady growth since 1978. (2) Spatially, China's rural population non-agriculturalization shows clear regional differences. (3) Rural population non-agriculturalization has an apparent spatial polarization character—the growth hotspots moved from the north to the south and then to the central region, that is, the growth hotspots were first in two core agglomerations, then concentrated in one core area, and later diffused from a center of growth to the periphery in declining intensity. (4) The spatio-temporal differences of China's rural population non-agriculturalization is mainly controlled by the level of industrialization, urbanization, development of service industries, education, and agricultural modernization and the interaction of these factors, and the role each factor played during different time periods varied significantly. (5) Confronted with the new situations and challenges of non-agriculturalization of rural population in the transitional period at present, the research community of geography should come up with necessary theoretical frameworks for the study of this process and countermeasures for problems that occur.

References | Related Articles | Metrics

Rural development from viewpoints of transformation and coordination：a case in Shandong Province

LI Tingting, LONG Hualou

2014, 33 (4): 531-541.
doi: 10.11820/dlkxjz.2014.04.010

Abstract ( )

PDF (6263KB) ( )

Save

Rapid urbanization and industrialization are accompanied with rural-urban migration and the recombination and interaction of socioeconomic development factors, which result in the restructuring of rural socioeconomic system and spatial configuration, including the migration of rural people, non- agricultural transition of employment, industrial development, and land use change. These changes break the traditional rural-urban dual structure and result in the overall rural transformation and development. In reality, there is often a lack of coordination between the transformation of rural development factors, which means the transition speed of one rural development factor is faster or slower than that of others. To some extent, this uncoordinated transformation hinders the sustainable development of the rural or the whole rural-urban system. Therefore, it is particularly important to analyze the coordination of transition of rural development factors. Shandong Province, located in the coastal area of eastern China, has experienced drastic changes in land use since the initiation of economic reforms in 1978. Rapid urbanization and industrialization boosted the development in the rural areas. Shandong has similar primary industry structure and similar urbanization rate to China's average. In addition, there is a clear gradient of regional economic growth from the eastern to the central and western parts of the province, which is extremely similar to the general spatial pattern of economic development in China. As such, Shandong Province can be considered a miniature of rural economic development in China. This paper selects Shandong Province as the case study area to analyze the development of rural area from the viewpoints of transformation and coordination. This paper integrates the methods of traditional geographical research and analysis, simulation of quantitative model and decision support system based on the "3S" technology to establish a coordinated transformation degree model and a three- dimensional space of rural transformation degree, integrated coordination degree and coordinated transformation degree, based on the three major rural development elements of population, land and industry. The relationship between rural transformation speed and the coordination characteristics of transformations of rural development elements in Shandong Province was analyzed from the viewpoint of "transformation" and "coordination". The main conclusions are as follows. (1) The spatial pattern of rural transformation degree gradually changed from local clustering to overall dispersion; the distribution of integrated coordination degree took on a dispersion pattern with some small clusters; the spatial pattern of coordinated transformation degree was coupled with that of rural transformation degree during 1990-1995 and 1995-2000, coupled with that of rural transformation degree and integrated coordination degree during 2000-2005, and coupled with the spatial pattern of integrated coordination degree during 2005-2009. (2) The correlation coefficient of rural transformation degree and coordinated transformation degree, and that of integrated coordination degree and coordinated transformation degree are 0.92 and 0.61, respectively. These results indicate that the overall flow of the development elements of population, land and industry between rural and urban systems will promote the coordinated transformation of rural areas. (3) "Transformation" and "coordination" represent the "quantity" and "quality" of development, which should be paid equal attention during the process of rural transformation and development.

Related Articles | Metrics

Factors influencing farmers' adoption of new technology based on Logistic-ISM model：a case study of potato planting technology in Dingxi City, Gansu Province

LI Nannan, LI Tongsheng, YU Zhengsong, RUI Yang, MIAO Yuanyuan, LI Yongsheng

2014, 33 (4): 542-551.
doi: 10.11820/dlkxjz.2014.04.011

Abstract ( )

PDF (2121KB) ( )

Save

Farmers are the demanders and users of agricultural technology. Only when farmers accept, assimilate and use new technologies, can agricultural science and technology achievements be transformed into practical productive forces. So, it is worth paying attention to what farmers need, which factors influence farmers' behavior significantly and the relationship between these factors. To address these questions and understand the mechanisms of influence, we take potato planting technology adoption in Dingxi City, Gansu Province as an example. Questionnaire survey and interview were conducted to acquire data. Based on 575 survey samples, a Logistic regression model and the interpretative structure model (ISM), we analyze the significant factors influencing farmers' adoption behavior in the process of potato planting technology diffusion, and investigate the relationship among the various factors. The results are as follows. (1) Farmers' behaviors of adopting new potato planting technology is affected by five major characteristic variables, including farmers' background, awareness, production management, resource endowment, and environmental characteristics. These variables influence farmers' behavior to various degrees. (2) The result of Logistic regression shows that farmers' level of education, family structure, degree of specialization, degree of organization, awareness of science and technology park, awareness of new technology, agricultural income, climatic productivity, topography of the planting areas, grade of nearby roads and location are significant factors influencing farmers' adoption behavior. (3) The ISM model shows that there are various factors influencing farmers' adoption behavior, and these factors are at different levels of a hierarchy, which are interrelated and independent. Among these factors, degree of specialization, agricultural income, climatic productivity, location, terrain, and grade of nearby roads are the direct influencing factors. Awareness of science and technology park and awareness of new technology are the indirect factors. Education of farmers, family structure and the degree of organization are the root influencing factors. Based on these results, we recommend strengthening the development of production by orders from business and consumers, reconstructing diffusion model and adopting the annular diffusion model of "leading by enterprises, supporting by the government and participating by farmers". These measures will improve the enthusiasm of farmers to adopt new technology effectively. In addition, it is necessary to raise the farmers' awareness of science park and new technology and expand the range of influence of the Dingxi Agricultural Science and Technology Park, especially for the information-deprived remote villages, and enable them to be exposed to new technologies promptly and adequately. Likewise, strengthening infrastructure development and increasing agricultural income also should not be overlooked. Improving incentive structures can encourage farmers to adopt new technology. The government should invest in transportation infrastructure and improve accessibility to attract business and optimize the sales channels of agricultural products. Future research of rural agricultural technology diffusion should be directed toward these directions.

References | Related Articles | Metrics

Effect of agricultural laborer on cropland abandonment under land circulation at different levels in Wulong County, Chongqing City

ZHANG Ying, LI Xiubin, SONG Wei, SHI Tiechou

2014, 33 (4): 552-560.
doi: 10.11820/dlkxjz.2014.04.012

Abstract ( )

PDF (1462KB) ( )

Save

Given a market for land circulation, cropland abandonment due to lack of labor forces will be alleviated. Therefore, the correlation between agricultural laborer and cropland abandonment at the farm household level will be weakened to some degree. In this paper, we aimed to identify a reasonable level for analysis of agricultural laborer and size of cropland abandonment. Because land use property transfer primarily occurs within the village unit, we supposed this relationship may be more pronounced at the village level. To test this hypothesis, this study examines to what extent agricultural laborer impacts the size of cropland abandonment at the village level and at the farm household level, and compares these results. The data from a survey of 308 farm households in 40 villages from Wulong County of Chongqing Municipality were used in the analysis. Data for the two variables (agricultural laborer per unit of farm land area and abandoned cropland area in the household) were collected through the survey for each household, and they were aggregated to form the village level data for the corresponding village units. We first conducted two Logistic regressions for the two levels respectively. The results show that the size of agricultural laborer can effectively influence the cropland abandonment decision at the village level, but it had no significant influence at the farm household level. This finding confirms our hypothesis that the size of agricultural laborer affects cropland abandonment much stronger at the village level than the household level. We further explored the reason of this relationship by using a partial correlation analysis between agricultural laborer per unit of land area and the size of abandoned land at both the household level and the village level. Furthermore, the results are compared between with and without controlling for the rate of land transfer. The Spearman correlation between agricultural laborer for each unit of farm land (mu) and abandoned cropland area are not significant at the household level (the correlation coefficient is -0.027), but this relationship is remarkably strong when controlling the land circulation rate, with a coefficient of -0.273. The result at the village level shows that the two variables are significantly correlated with or without controlling for land circulation, and the two correlation coefficients are very close: -0.273 for the controlled analysis and -0.279 without land transfer control. That is, the correlation between the two variables is slightly enhanced at the village level with a market for land circulation. The Pearson partial correlation analysis shows that the correlation between agricultural laborer and cropland abandonment was weakened by land circulation at the farm household level, but enhanced at the village level. Through this analysis, we conclude that village level is a reasonable level for analysis of agricultural laborer affecting cropland abandonment. Due to the land circulation effects, at the household level agricultural laborer cannot be an effective explanatory variable for cropland abandonment. We recommend that the relationship between agricultural laborer and cropland abandonment should be analyzed at the village level.

References | Related Articles | Metrics

Review of crime geography in China

JIANG Chao, TANG Huanli, LIU Lin

2014, 33 (4): 561-573.
doi: 10.11820/dlkxjz.2014.04.013

Abstract ( )

PDF (892KB) ( )

Save

As crime is becoming a serious problem in today's society, there exists a great opportunity for anticrime studies in China. Crime geography, which focuses on the spatial aspect of crime from a comprehensive perspective, is playing an increasingly more important role in crime prevention and control. Although it emerged in the late 1980s in China, it has not gained much attention from academics and practitioners of law enforcement. The potential of crime geography studies is considerable. In order to promote disciplinary development and explore the application value of the subject, we review related studies in China based on articles published in scholarly journals, which are obtained from three popular e-databases in China: Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), WANFANG DATA, and VIP Database. Our analysis are divided into three parts. (1) we classify all articles into five research topics: introduction of foreign research and practices, discipline building and theoretical research, spatio-temporal characteristics of crime distribution, causes and mechanisms of crimes, and crime prevention strategies. Each theme is reviewed comprehensively. (2) We gain insights from a longitudinal and cross-over analysis on the development of the research areas (disciplinary backgrounds) and topics in Chinese crime geography. (3) We point out the priorities and directions in future research. The results show that crime geography in China has maintained a growing momentum during the past 25 years (1986-2010). It has attracted scholars from various disciplinary backgrounds, such as geography, policing management, urban planning and applied mathematics. Although their focuses vary, they all pay much attention to the introduction of foreign research and practices whilst crime prevention strategies research is gaining increasing attention. Until now, a primary anticrime system has been formed based on four different theories and techniques including comprehensive analysis, situational crime prevention, Crime Prevention through Environment Design (CPTED) and Policing Geographic Information System (PGIS). In terms of spatial- temporal distribution and causes of crimes, Chinese researchers have engaged in a broad range of research, yet in-depth studies are inadequate. Most studies employ simple indicators such as crime rate, crime density, and locational quotient to characterize the spatial distribution of crimes, while few pay attention to the temporal and temporal-spatial aspects, for example repeat and near repeat crimes. Quantitative methods such as correlation and regression are mainly used to analyze the causes of crimes, while few methods are put forward and used to explore the micro-level interactive mechanisms of crime. Considering the current state of research, much work needs to be done in the future. (1) Interdisciplinary academic exchanges should be encouraged to develop a commonly accepted framework of crime geography in China. (2) Chinese scholars should carry out more empirical case studies highlighting the domestic context, and explore unique theoretical contributions of Chinese scholars to the world. (3)We should deepen and broaden the research contents, especially the study of interactive relationships between crime and micro- environment, and behavioral spaces of agents in crime events. (4) Special attention should be given to the application of new research methods, for example agent-based crime simulation, in crime geography studies. (5) more collaboration between academics and practitioners should be made to satisfy the social needs and improve the quality of research.

References | Related Articles | Metrics

Construction of place identity and created folk festival：a case study of “Yuexiu Temple Fair” in Canton

LIU Bo, ZHU Hong

2014, 33 (4): 574-583.
doi: 10.11820/dlkxjz.2014.04.014

Abstract ( )

PDF (634KB) ( )

Save

Folk festivals usually play important roles in consolidating local groups and improving the local economy. However, various social groups who hold different opinions of the same place actively participate in the construction of local festivals, especially the created folk festivals, and therefore different place identities are represented and negotiated. The created folk festival "Yuexiu Temple Fair" is a hybridization of the Canton (Guangfu) culture and the north cultural symbol of "Temple Fair (Miaohui)" from the northern parts of China. It has acquired the official legitimacy and then been written with new meanings by various social groups who are actively engaging in the place-making process. However, "Yuexiu Temple Fair" itself is widely contested and negotiated about whether it is Canton or non-Canton. For the above reasons, a combination of research methods including participant observation, interview and literature analysis are adopted in this research for an in-depth exploration about how the different groups: the government, the media, the experts and the ordinary people-utilize the cultural representation power to express their understanding of Guangfu culture and construct place identity in the context of "Yuexiu Temple Fair". The findings are as follows: City is a conflict field where multicultural identities and place identity are negotiated and there are various cultural identities in one city. Culture is continually negotiated by different groups and there are different points of view between Guangzhou natives and newcomers and even within each group; Meanwhile, the created folk festivals become the fields in which place identity is constructed and whose place identity is represented largely depends on who can acquire the greater power of cultural representation. "Yuexiu Temple Fair" provides an opportunity for various actors to construct their imagined "Guangfu culture". More specifically, the local government leads the 1st "Yuexiu Temple Fair", the media objectively reflected the views of experts and ordinary citizen groups, and during the period, the government took an active attitude to hearken the discourse mainly on behalf of the local cultural identity. Then, native inhabitants in Canton, especially those holding opposite discourses successfully attracted more attention and the 2nd "Yuexiu Temple Fair" is full of "Guangfu taste". Thus the place identity of Guangzhou natives is represented in the "Yuexiu Temple Fair". Unfortunately, the newcomers did not make their opinions public and some newcomers even felt being marginalized, so the "Yuexiu Temple Fair" may not enhance their identity to the place. In addition, the experts are relatively independent and more like bystanders of "Yuexiu Temple Fair" instead of cooperating with the government. This study improves understanding of the role that the created folk festivals play in the construction of place identity theoretically and also has a positive implication for guiding the city using festivals to improve cultural infusion of different groups and enhance their place identity in practice.

References | Related Articles | Metrics

Structural relationship of residents’perception of tourism impacts：a case study in world natural heritage Mount Sanqingshan

LI Yicong, ZHANG Jie, LIU Zehua, WU Jialin, XIONG Jie

2014, 33 (4): 584-592.
doi: 10.11820/dlkxjz.2014.04.015

Abstract ( )

PDF (1160KB) ( )

Save

Resident is an important stakeholder of tourism. Sense of place, perception of benefits and costs affect residents' satisfaction, and further affect the sustainable development of tourism resorts. Previous studies were mostly about the one-way relationship of how sense of place affects the perception of tourism impacts, but what is the other way round? Based on an exploratory factor analysis, we find that residents' perception of tourism impacts can be classified into three parts: perceived costs, perceived psychic benefits and perceived physical benefits. Then is there any structural relationship within the residents' perception of tourism impacts? This article uses the world natural heritage Sanqingshan Resort as a case. Based on a review of existing literatures we build a structural equation model (SEM) using questionnaire survey and interview data. The survey questions include basic demographic characteristics of residents, sense of place, perception of tourism impacts, satisfaction and so on. The survey samples are located in the two entrances of the core scenic area of the research site and comprised of 271 residents who are greatly influenced by tourism. The result of this research indicates that: (1) Sense of place and the perception of tourism impacts influence each other. There is no significant mutual impact between cost perception and sense of place. Sense of place and the perceived benefits have a strong impact on each other, especially the perceived psychic benefits influence strongly residents' sense of place. Residents' sense of place as a kind of human emotion has a similar influence on the perceived psychic benefits. The deeper residents' sense of place, the more intense are the perceived psychic benefits, for example, image promotion of tourism resorts. Better psychic benefits improve residents' sense of place. (2) Perceived benefits including perceived psychic benefits and physical benefits play the most significant role on the sense of place and satisfaction in SEM, especially the perceived psychic benefits. These two parts in perceived benefits influence each other significantly. (3) Residents' sense of place has a positive significant impact on satisfaction, the same as perceived psychic benefits and perceived physical benefits, but perceived costs have negative and non-significant impact on satisfaction. Residents' perceived psychic benefits improve satisfaction more efficiently than physical benefits, but this does not mean perceived physical benefits are unimportant: perceived psychic benefits and perceived physical benefits have a strong mutual influence. As tourism develops, local residents feel pride for the place (which denotes a strong perception of psychic benefits), and this generates better expectation for physical benefits. As a result, perceived psychic benefits play a stronger role in connecting residents' sense of place and satisfaction than perceived physical benefits. (4) We also classified the surveyed residents into native and non-native by birthplace to test differences between natives and immigrants. Native residents' sense of place and perceived psychic benefits are higher than non-native, and are more sensitive about perceived costs, while the perceived physical benefits are lower than non-native residents. One shortcoming of this study is that, although the measured variables have high factor loadings, their number is small, which may not be enough to illustrate latent variables efficiently. The number of measured variables should be increased in future research to test the results.

References | Related Articles | Metrics

Table of Content

Submit an Article

Peer Review

Office Work

Editor in Chief

Production

Download