Table of Content

25 May 2014, Volume 33 Issue 5 Previous Issue    Next Issue

Population and Health Geography

Impacting factors of population agglomeration areas on migration：a case study in Dongguan City LV Chen, SUN Wei 2014, 33 (5):  593-604.  doi: 10.11820/dlkxjz.2014.05.001 Abstract ( )   PDF (10003KB) ( )   Save Differences in characteristics of population agglomeration areas significantly affect migration. Research on the effect of location-specific characteristics of population agglomeration areas on migration would enrich the study of population geography and provide references for territorial function zoning and the provision of public service facilities. This article explores the effect of pull factors of population agglomeration areas on migration by investigating immigration in Dongguan, Guangdong Province in the period between 1995 and 2000, when the number of immigrants increased most rapidly. Based on the classic push and pull theory, an indicator system was built to calculate the pulling effect of population agglomeration areas. The relationship between different pull factors and population aggregation was analyzed using principle component analysis and multiple regression analysis. The results show that population aggregation varied greatly between different towns and its distribution was spatially uneven in Dongguan. There was a very large number of immigrants aggregated during 1995-2000 and the population aggregation was affected by employment opportunities, per capita income, and the migration path dependence in different towns. The large number of labor-intensive manufacturing industries characterized the industrial development in Dongguan, which provided great employment opportunities for migrant workers from areas lacking job opportunities. The large number of specialized industrial towns gained economies of agglomeration, which led to rapid economy growth and high salary that attracted lots of immigrants to the city. Migration path dependence also affected the immigration. The migrants often followed their predecessors' destination choices. This imitative behavior comes from the consideration of reducing migration risk and cost. These migrants are often countrymen or relatives. The early immigrants often help the late comers for example by introducing the latter to the companies they work and sometime providing accommodations for the new comers. Areas absorbed immigration in earlier period would attract more immigrants in the next period because of the migration path dependence. The regressive equation of the comprehensive pulling force and population aggregation was a cubic curve. The relative importance of the three pull factors to population aggregation, from most significant to least significant, is migration path dependence, employment opportunities, and per capita income. As a typical population aggregation area, Dongguan attracted a large number of immigrants. At the same time, some push factors such as the household registration system, high level of consumption and high housing price also expel the immigrants. This paper does not discuss the push factors because these factors are difficult to quantify, and the expelling force was less than the pulling force in areas of population aggregation. In addition, this paper only focuses on the immigration in Dongguan between 1995 and 2000. Surplus labor during this time period in China was abundant. Therefore, migration path dependence was significant. These three factors may affect migration differently in a different time period and a new relationship would require more empirical studies to test. References | Related Articles | Metrics

Characteristics of spatial-temporal evolution in population aging and driving mechanism at county level in Fujian Province during 1990-2010 ZHANG Kaizhou, CHEN Nan 2014, 33 (5):  605-615.  doi: 10.11820/dlkxjz.2014.05.002 Abstract ( )   PDF (11677KB) ( )   Save Currently, the studies on domestic population aging mostly focus on the demographic effects and social effects, where the present state, the development process, the causes and the effects of population aging have been widely discussed from a non-spatial perspective. However, a growing number of studies shows that population aging also has significant spatial-temporal evolution characteristics that are as important as the economic and social development aspects. This article attempts to describe regional disparity of population aging process in a different perspective, i.e., regional spatial heterogeneity. With this objective, we collected the census data of Fujian in 1990, 2000 and 2010 and various relevant statistical data of corresponding years from the Fujian Statistical Yearbook. A population aging geographical database was established with these data and the sub-county level administrative map of Fujian Province using ArcGIS9.3. Exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA) methods as well as Moran's I, Getis-Ord Gi*, function of variogram, and GWR (geographical weighted regression) were applied to examine population aging disparity in Fujian since 1990, aiming to explore the spatial agglomeration pattern, the process of the evolution and the underlying dynamic mechanisms of the spatial-temporal variation of the county level population aging distribution. The result provides further insight into the complexity and uncertainty of the regional disparity of population aging. The conclusions are as follows: (1) The county level population aging distribution of Fujian Province shows a strong spatial correlation with a downward temporal trend. (2) The spatial structures of hotspot and cold spot distributions also have clear differences. The hotspots moved from the coastal area to inland during the study period, while the cold spots shifted in the opposite direction, presenting reversed gradients. (3) In the overall variation, the influence of random factors has increased and structural difference has decreased. At the same time, regional spatial differences have become more significant, and the difference in the northwest-southeast direction was the primary contributor to the widening population aging regional disparity. (4) All factors that were considered affected population aging, but in different areas the direction and degree of influence varied considerably. In general, mortality rate and the number of hospital beds per thousand people played a positive role in prompting population aging, while birth rate, schooling years per capita, and immigration rate have an inhibitory influence on population aging. Per capita GDP affected population aging both positively and negatively. All in all, the dynamic mechanism of spatial-temporal variation of the county level population aging in Fujian Province has been extensively and quantitatively examined in this study from a spatial variability perspective. Admittedly, what have been discussed in this paper are far from complete, especially the population aging evaluation indexes—different evaluation indexes and variables may lead to some differences in parameter estimation and evaluation result. Further research should examine the appropriateness of indexes for evaluating population aging. References | Related Articles | Metrics

Measuring spatial accessibility to residential care facilities in Beijing TAO Zhuolin, CHENG Yang, DAI Teqi 2014, 33 (5):  616-624.  doi: 10.11820/dlkxjz.2014.05.003 Abstract ( )   PDF (4849KB) ( )   Save In recent years, residential care resources in Beijing have increased rapidly. The supply of residential care resources, however, is still in shortage due to the increase of demand. To reach the "9064" policy goal proposed by the Beijing municipal government, which means that 4 percent of elderly population in Beijing will live in residential care facilities in 2020, about 90 thousand beds of residential care facilities are still needed. An efficient method for measuring accessibility is of crucial importance for the spatial planning of residential care resources. Among a range of methods to measure the spatial accessibility of facilities, the two- step floating catchment area method (2SFCA) is most widely used. But the 2SFCA does not take distance decay among catchment areas into account, and catchment size is constant for facilities with different sizes, which may reduce the accuracy of the assessment. This study uses an improved two-step floating catchment area method, including the addition of a distance-decay function and variable catchment sizes depending on the size of residential care facility, to assess the spatial accessibility to residential care resources in Beijing. Two scenarios are set for comparison. The first scenario was analyzed using one hour catchment area and the second scenario was analyzed using three different catchment areas based on the sizes of residential care facilities. In both scenarios the distance-decay function was taken into account. The results show that the measurement of three catchment areas is a more effective method than the one catchment area for measuring the spatial accessibility to residential care facilities in Beijing. A map of spatial accessibility was developed to show the distribution of shortage areas of residential care resources in Beijing. This map indicates that the geographic distribution of spatial accessibility to residential care facilities in Beijing is fairly uneven. The spatial accessibility is higher in the western part, the northern part and the northeastern part as compared to the southern part of the city. The spatial accessibility in the central part is still poor in spite of a considerable number of residential care facilities located in the central city. This is due to the great size of elderly population in the central area of Beijing. Because land for constructing new residential care facilities is in great shortage in the core area of the city, such facilities should be located outside of the area or in the suburbs to provide services for elderly population in the central city. The spatial accessibility in the southern part is generally poor and very uneven, so new residential care facilities should be located across the area and more focus should be given to areas with relatively poorer spatial accessibility. These recommendations are consistent with the "Special Planning of Residential Care Facility for the Elderly in Beijing" by the Beijing municipal government. References | Related Articles | Metrics

Impact of environmental factors on snail distribution using geographical detector model TONG Laga, XU Xinliang, FU Ying, WEI FengHua 2014, 33 (5):  625-635.  doi: 10.11820/dlkxjz.2014.05.004 Abstract ( )   PDF (14974KB) ( )   Save Schistosomiasis japonica is a parasitic disease that debilitates human bodies and greatly impedes socioeconomic progress in endemic areas. It was widespread in southern China several decades ago and the disease prevention effort of the Chinese government and researchers achieved remarkable results in reducing infections. However, in recent year, the epidemic situation has worsened due to a series of changes in the natural environment and socioeconomic conditions. As the only intermediate host of Schistosome, Oncomelania hupensis plays an important role in the spread of this disease and its control is critical for the prevention and control of Schistosome. Therefore, identifying the environmental factors that determine the distribution of the snail could help predict the distribution and extent of snail breeding sites, obtain a macroscopic view on snail spreading trend, and take effective measures to eliminate the snails. In this paper, we aim to determine key indictors that could be used in remote sensing monitoring of Oncomelania hupensis breeding extent and density. Hubei Province is one of the serious epidemic areas in China. Oncomelania hupensis here can be classified into three subtypes: the subtype inside embankments, subtype outside embankments, and subtype in hilly areas, according to the geographical environment of snail habitats. We take into account several environmental factors including elevation, nearest distance to river (water), land use, soil and vegetation to analyze their influence on snail distribution. Geographical Detector Model used in this research is based on spatial variation analysis of the geographical strata to assess the health risks in different environment. It contains four geographical detectors: factor detector identifies which factors are responsible for the risk; ecological detector compares the relative importance of risk factors; risk detector discloses where the high risk areas are; and interaction detector reveals whether the risk factors interact or lead to disease independently. The main procedures of our analysis are as follows: first, both snail statistics and environmental data are collected and preprocessed with ArcGIS Desktop software; then the environmental indicators that are strongly related to snail distribution are identified by the factor detector and ecological detector; finally, favorable (suitable) type or range of each indicator as well as the reference factors that indirectly influence the snails can be computed from the risk detector and interaction detector. It is found that for the subtype inside embankments, vegetation coverage of epidemic season (March to October), especially July to September, determines the extent of distribution, while high density areas are characterized by moderate silt content in soil texture, yellowish red soil and submerged paddy soil, high vegetation coverage in the first quarter of the year. The subtype outsider embankments distributed mainly at lake beaches with high vegetation coverage, while high vegetation coverage in the first quarter, reed and amur silver grass vegetation contributes to its abundance. In hilly areas, there is no clear indicator for the extent of distribution of the subtype due to the relatively complex environment, yet woodland and farmland close to river, waterlogged paddy soil as well as submerged paddy soil are strongly related to high dense of the snails. This result is consistent with previous studies. The result and method of this research could provide scientific reference for policy makers and researchers to take efficient measures to control snail prevalence. References | Related Articles | Metrics

Application of combination forecasting model in geographic distribution of reference value of women’s peak expiratory flow rate XUE Ranyin, GE Miao, HE Jinwei, HU Yanyu, GU Linlin, YANG Shaofang 2014, 33 (5):  636-646.  doi: 10.11820/dlkxjz.2014.05.005 Abstract ( )   PDF (9169KB) ( )   Save With the development of geography and people's overall health concerns, medical geography as an emerging discipline has also experienced rapid developments. Given that most of the existing medical reference values take into little consideration the influence of geographical factors, a more comprehensive and scientific method should be developed to take these into account. This article takes healthy adult women's lung peak expiratory flow rate reference value as an example, using 3809 cases of healthy adult women's peak expiratory flow reference value collected throughout China to analyze the impact of geographic factors, calculate the differences of different regions' reference values, and explore the mechanism of geographical factor's influence on medical reference value in an effort to improve the methods of medical reference value analysis through analyzing the relationship between geographical factors and medical reference values. As a first step, correlation analysis was used to analyze the relationship between peak expiratory flow value of adult women and the selected 25 indicators of geographical factors. Based on the result, seven geographic indicators (latitude, altitude, average temperature, annual average relative humidity, annual rainfall, topsoil gravel percentage, and topsoil reference capacity) that have significant correlation with peak expiratory flow reference value were extracted for further analysis. Second, Moran's I (spatial autocorrelation module), one of the ArcGIS software's analytical tools, was used to determine if this group of data is impacted by spatial and geographical factors. Third, using the data for the seven selected indicators, ridge regression analysis and SVR (support vector regression) were used to create two regression models and interpolate values. Then the results of these two prediction models were given different weights to establish the optimal combination forecasting model of spatial differences. Student's T test was used to compare the accuracy of ridge regression analysis, SVR and the combination forecasting model. Meanwhile, differences between the true values and results of the above three models were also considered for evaluating the performance of the models. Finally, a spatial difference prediction map was made. Based on this map and the results of correlation analyses, this article discusses why and how these geographical factors influence human tissues/organs and medical reference values. The output of this study indicates that the relationship between geographical factors and healthy adult Chinese women's lung peak expiratory flow rate should not be overlooked. The selected geographical factors (classify into terrain, climatic and soil factors) affect the lung tissue, especially the structure and function of the bronchi, because different living environments impact human tissues and organs differently, and humans living in different regions develop some differences in tissues and organs. The result of this research also shows that the combination forecasting model, which combined ridge regression and SVR, performed better than the individual prediction methods. Combination forecasting model not only can be used in traditional prediction exercises using temporal data: it is also possible to use this method to predict differences in geographic distribution or spatial data. It has the potential to be further expanded and utilized. References | Related Articles | Metrics

Urban and Regional Development

Coordination and regional difference of urban land expansion and demographic urbanization in China during 1993-2008 ZHU Fengkai, ZHANG Fengrong, LI Can, JIAO Pengfei, WANG Jingxia 2014, 33 (5):  647-656.  doi: 10.11820/dlkxjz.2014.05.006 Abstract ( )   PDF (4830KB) ( )   Save Much global attention has been paid to China's stable and rapid economic growth and urbanization in recent 30 years since the economic reform and opening-up from the end of the 1970s. At present, China is experiencing rapid development and important transition of urbanization. However, under the background of the urbanrural dual system for population registration and social welfare, China's urbanization process is different from the western countries. It is regarded as a local government-oriented urbanization. Local governments' excessive dependence on land finance has led to a continuous rapid expansion of urban built-up areas. Meanwhile, the household registration system and the high living cost in cities hindered farmers to become real urban residents. Urban land expansion and demographic urbanization became increasingly uncoordinated. Understanding the coordination and regional differences of these two processes will be of great significance to China's new urbanization initiative, which promotes healthy, scientific and sustainable urban transition. In this paper, we focus on the widely existing phenomenon that demographic urbanization of rural population lags behind urban land expansion. A coordination model, Theil index and GIS were used to re-examine the process of urban land expansion and population absorption since the early 1990s, investigate the coordination of human-land relationship in the process of urbanization, and analyze the change of non-agricultural population density in the process of urbanization and its regional differences. We hope the conclusion provides certain references for regulating the development of regional urban land and population. The spatio-temporal evolution of the coordination of urban land expansion and demographic urbanization was analyzed based on the data from China City Statistical Yearbooks. By using the Theil index, the change and regional differences of non-agricultural population density of the builtup areas was also discussed. The results indicate that: (1) Dominated by the strong incentives of land finance, the speed of urban expansion of all provinces in China was generally very fast. The disharmony of urban land expansion and population urbanization extended from the eastern part to the rest of the country, which can be considered as a result of similar urban planning methods and urban development patterns; (2) The non-agricultural population density of the built-up areas generally declined due to this disharmony. Differences between and within regions have shown a tendency of convergence over time. The difference within region was the dominant cause of the interprovincial differences. The huge expansion of the urban built-up areas in direct-controlled municipalities and some other economically developed regions reduced the regional difference of the non-agricultural population density after 2004; (3) The development paradigm that local governments confiscates land without fully integrating the landless farmers into the urban welfare system and providing them with sustainable livelihood choices in urban areas must be abandoned. The new urbanization initiative should make urban housing, social security and medical care available for migrant workers. Local governments should treat them as regular urban residents. Reasonable allocation of construction land, that matches the non-agricultural population, is an effective way to achieve healthy and coordinated urbanization in the future. It is imperative for the government to develop strategies toward a coordinated urbanization in China. References | Related Articles | Metrics

Spatial disparities of economic growth rate of China’s National-level ETDZs and their determinants based on geographical detector analysis DING Yue, CAI Jianming, REN Zhoupeng, YANG Zhengshan 2014, 33 (5):  657-666.  doi: 10.11820/dlkxjz.2014.05.007 Abstract ( )   PDF (18364KB) ( )   Save Construction of National-level Economic and Technological Development Zones (NETDZs) is one of the most effective governmental policy measures in implementing the nation's regional development strategy and promoting economic development in China. In over 30 years with the widespread establishment of NETDZs in all areas of China, their spatial disparities have increasingly expanded due to various driving mechanism. Understanding and exploring these spatial disparities by Economic Growth Rate (EGR) and their key determinants behind will have a significant importance to understanding the development patterns of ETDZs, making locallytailored strategies and identifying highly efficient development approaches. This paper therefore uses the coefficient of variation and the geographical detector tool to analyze systematically the spatial disparities of NETDZs in China by their EGR in 2010. The result shows that: (1) Overall, EGR of NETDZs in China shows a large difference between eastern, central and western parts of the country with a U-shaped curve, that is, lowest growth rate in central China; (2) Within each region, the spatial disparity of EGR of NETDZs has different characteristics- such disparity is highest in western China followed by eastern China, and is lowest in central China; (3) The national scale factor detection shows that decision forces of the potential determinants vary only slightly. However, significant difference is detected in the analysis for individual regions, which means that the key determinants for the spatial disparities of EGR in NETDZs in the three regions are quite different; (4) Among the 5 key determinants, internal determinants from inside the NETDZs are more dominated in central China and western China while external determinants from host city and regional context are more dominated in eastern China: changes in labor cost, the volume of foreign trade, preferential policy in NETDZs, spatial accessibility of the host city, and industrial support from the host city are the top 5 determinants in the central area of China. Preferential policy change, industrial support from the host city, change in the volume of foreign trade, relative economies scale of NETDZ, and investment level of host city are the top 5 determinants in the western part of China. For NETDZs in eastern China, the top 5 determinants are changes in preferential policy and labor cost, the level of total investment, economic development, and economic growth rate of the host city. (5) The pattern of spatial disparities of EGRs and determinants in NETDZs in three regions in China reflects, to a certain extent, the evolution stage in the life circle of ETDZs development. Based on this, we recommend that in the near future, the development of NETDZs in central China and western China should focus on improving their internal factors such as lowering labor cost, increasing volume of foreign trade and applying more effective preferential policies, while in the long run, external factors, such as spatial accessibility of the host city and industrial support from the host city, will become increasingly important to NETDZ development, meaning that the development of NETDZs will be eventually more dependent on how well they can be integrated into the host city and to a large extent, the urban region. References | Related Articles | Metrics

Regulation of urban-rural harmony system based on land smart use CAO Wei, ZHOU Shenglu, WU Shaohua 2014, 33 (5):  667-677.  doi: 10.11820/dlkxjz.2014.05.008 Abstract ( )   PDF (2955KB) ( )   Save The purpose of this research is to study the realization of harmonized regional urban-rural development. Firstly, this study defines the concept, interface and properties of urban-rural harmonized system. Secondly, we analyze the main influencing factors of urban-rural development. Then, the research systematically studies the urban-rural harmonized system by the use of catastrophe theory, and employs urban smart growth theory to bring forward the idea of urban-rural harmonized development utilizing land smart use to regulate urban-rural system elements. Harmonized urban-rural development is to coordinate the relationship between a city and the countryside within a regional urban-rural system. A fuzzy interface exists between the city and the countryside because of the socioeconomic development gap and the dual social system structure in urban-rural areas. There is an obvious gap of social and economic development levels between the urban area and the rural area. Therefore, urban-rural system is defined by two subsystems of the city and the villages affected by a fuzzy interface. The fuzzy interface is determined by a series of urban-rural social, economic and environmental factors. The interface of urban-rural harmonized system includes three types: interface between cities and countries, interface between the urban-rural system prior to and after harmonization, and interface between one urban-rural system and the others. The properties of an urban-rural harmonized system include the complexity of the system elements; limited scope of the system; dynamic characteristic of the system and the transformation of overall system. Main factors affecting urban-rural system harmonization are urban-rural reality, farmers' will, and government policy. Urban-rural reality is the basic platform of urban-rural harmonized development. Farmers' will is the bottom-up intrinsic motivation. Government policy is the top-down guiding force. Land is not only the basic means of agricultural production, but also space for urban construction, so land is the bridge and linkage between urban and rural areas. The connotation of urban- rural development is similar to the thinking of smart growth theory. They all realize harmonious development of the resource and environment systems and effective allocation of the economic and production elements. Urban-rural harmonized development focuses on the interaction between urban and rural areas, whereas smart growth theory focuses on the internal flow of elements in inner city. This study proposes three land smart use tools-consolidation of agricultural land; reconstruction of villages and towns; elements' reallocation. The adjustment and optimization in the amount, structure and pattern of urban-rural land use will eliminate the barriers of elements' mobility between urban-rural systems and promote the two-way flow of various elements between urban and rural areas. Land smart use can enhance rural economic vitality, ensure urban economic development, narrow the gap between urban and rural areas, and achieve the urban-rural harmonized development goals characterized by a well-off living, prosperous production, commonly shared welfare, and healthy and beautiful environment. References | Related Articles | Metrics

Inter-city comparative study of urban morphology and mechanisms in the Pearl River Delta LI Ting, FU Wenying 2014, 33 (5):  678-688.  doi: 10.11820/dlkxjz.2014.05.009 Abstract ( )   PDF (7111KB) ( )   Save Since the opening-up and reform from the late 1970s, the economic growth and transformation of urban morphology in the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong Province, China has drawn enormous attention. After over 30 years of rapid development in this region, it is needy to study the developmental processes and underlying mechanisms of the urban morphology evolution. Although the cities in the Pearl River Delta share similar market environment, their resource endowment and governance mode differ from the very beginning of development, resulting in different evolutionary paths of urban morphology. The top-down and bottom-up modes of governance both have been identified in the literature, which have exerted constant influences on urban development. Therefore, a comparative study of urban morphology change under the two governance modes is able to provide insights into the underlying dynamics behind the formation of urban morphology. Through the technical method of remote sensing and GIS, this paper reviews the evolution of urban morphology in six cities in the Pearl River Delta, i.e. Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Foshan, Dongguan, Zhongshan and Zhuhai. It depicts the spatialtemporal change of urban morphology at the city scale by combining such factors as economy, politics and planning, and summarizes the process and underlying forces of each city. Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Zhuhai are categorized under the top-down governance mode, while Foshan, Dongguan and Zhongshan are categorized under the bottom-up governance mode. The result suggests different evolutionary path of urban morphology in each city from 1979 to 2008 owing to specific geographic locations and institutional arrangements. Guangzhou, a city with industrial tradition in heavy industries, has formed a polycentric networked morphology with several big industrial conglomerates and investment of mass transit system. Shenzhen, as a special economic zone in China, has benefited from the investment of large state-owned and foreign companies, and the land use pattern has gone through rapid expansion and then to in-filled adjustment. Zhuhai, another special economic zone in the region, expanded eastward by large projects. Overall, the three cities under the top-down mode underwent relatively concentrated and in-filled land use expansion. On the other hand, Foshan, Dongguan and Zhongshan represent the bottom-up development mode, and their spatial morphologies are generally dispersal and scattered. Foshan and Zhongshan developed loosely in spatial terms in the beginning of the opening- up and reform, through the growth of specialized towns. Foshan, unlike Zhongshan, however, has seen strengthening connections between the clusters in the later phase of development in response to the increasing needs for Guang(zhou) Fo(shan) integration. Dongguan is very typical of the village-based economies, which is driven by overseas Chinese investment. Compared to the urban morphology pattern under the top-down governance mode, the bottom-up mode of urban expansion has given rise to the "road economy" and "village and township economy", which poses great challenges to the agglomeration economy and comprehensive environmental improvement. The importance of this inter-city spatial-temporal comparative study lies in the urgent need to understand the dynamism of urban morphology in contemporary China. By taking a perspective of governance mode, this paper may provide some references for policy makers in spatial restructuring of urban space in the future. References | Related Articles | Metrics

Review of urban form, structure and morphology in China during 2003-2013 WANG Huifang, ZHOU Kai 2014, 33 (5):  689-701.  doi: 10.11820/dlkxjz.2014.05.010 Abstract ( )   PDF (4156KB) ( )   Save This paper reviews research on urban form, urban structure, and urban morphology of Chinese cities published in major geography, urban planning, and architecture academic journals in the last decade (from 2003 to 2013). By firstly clarifying the working definitions of these three concepts, this paper categorizes current literatures into six major research themes: impacting factors of urban forms, application of new methods and models, time- space dimensions, sustainable urban forms, planning and management of urban forms, and regional case studies. Perspectives, findings, methods, and limitations of the reviewed research were evaluated together with their implementations in planning practices in recent years. By comparing the differences between research approaches in Chinese and English literature, this review shows that Chinese scholars are searching for an "ideal urban form model", which is built on historical studies on reform and reconstruction of urban form and borrowing classic theories from the West, while researchers in the West are currently searching for operational knowledge about a "sustainable urban form" and exploring the development policy and planning approach towards sustainability. Looking into the outcomes of the rapid contemporary urbanization in China, the "ideal urban form model" is problematic due to its ignorance of the smoothness and continuity in spatial change and the unique local cultural context in China, which led to general spatial and social conflicts between the new and old districts and the disappearing of historical and cultural blocks. Therefore, this paper suggests that further efforts should be made on studying local, micro-scale morphological pattern, in order to provide constructive knowledge within a framework that crosses time-space dimensions. Therefore more inclusive and sustainable urban forms could be achieved in the future planning and management practices. References | Related Articles | Metrics

Relationship between transportation system and urban spatial expansion in Wuhan Urban Agglomeration GUAN Xingliang, LIN Xueqin, HU Shilin, LU Shasha 2014, 33 (5):  702-712.  doi: 10.11820/dlkxjz.2014.05.011 Abstract ( )   PDF (8486KB) ( )   Save Investigating the relationship between transportation system and urban spatial expansion is an important starting point for revealing interactions between transportation and economic growth. Existing studies in development economics and transportation economics frequently used indicators such as transportation investment and operating mileage of railways and highways to reflect the level of development of traffic infrastructure. These indicators can well demonstrate the investment and construction scale in relation to transportation system as well as well fit the inherent requirement of economic models, yet they are insufficient in reflecting the operation level and efficiency of transportation facilities and their spatio-temporal differentiation. Taking the Wuhan Urban Agglomeration (WUA) as an example, this paper extracted urban land area information and road network in 2000 and 2010 using Landsat imageries through the application of remote sensing and GIS technology. It investigates the spatio-temporal pattern, relationship and driving mechanism of accessibility as well as transport dominance and urban spatial expansion with the application of isochrone overlay and index classification methods. The results indicate that an interdependent and bi-directional relationship exists between transportation system and urban spatial expansion. The transportation system plays an important role in supporting and promoting economic growth and agglomeration of population and industry, which are intrinsically related to spatial expansion of urban land, through direct impacts, external effects as well as multiplier effects. Correspondingly, urban spatial expansion stimulates and ensures the improvements in the quantity and quality of transportation system. Unbalanced distribution of the transportation system is contended to be an important factor causing increased regional economic disparity. The policy implications are that, the government should attach more attention to formulating differentiated transportation development strategies and improving the integrated transportation system in the metropolitan area, which may facilitate accelerated economic growth and reducing regional economic disparities. References | Related Articles | Metrics

Correlation of marine economy and social change in coastal areas：a case study in Liaoning Province DI Qianbin, SUN Yang 2014, 33 (5):  713-720.  doi: 10.11820/dlkxjz.2014.05.012 Abstract ( )   PDF (877KB) ( )   Save Since the reform and opening up, coastal areas of eastern China have experienced very rapid economic development and social change as well as the development of the marine economy, resulting in a close correlation between the marine economy and various social changes. The development of marine economy promotes reorganization of social structures, improvement in quality of life, and advancement of science and technology. The interaction and coupling of the economic system and social system maintain the stability and healthy development of both and results in complex mutual balancing mechanisms. Understanding the relationship between marine economy and social change is an area of study of marine sociology. To make a reasonable correlation analysis, it is necessary to study specific economic and social systems in empirical research and to decompose the large complex systems into simple units. Through the analysis of the interrelations and interactions of these units in the two interrelated systems, a clearer understanding of the status of the overall system can be gained. In this study, by examining the complex interrelations and interaction mechanisms of the marine economy and the different factors associated with social change, we selected relevant indicators and analyzed and quantified the correlation of marine economy and social change in Liaoning Province between 2000-2010 through combined qualitative and quantitative research methods. The quantitative method includes an explanatory structural analysis model and gray relational analysis. The marine economic and social change correlation analysis shows that, among the selected factors affecting social change, marine science and technology contributed significantly to the larger marine economy and played a key role in the development of marine economy and social change; the contribution of social structure and quality of life of the communities to the development of marine economy is relatively small, but marine science and technology, social structure and qualify of life indicators together constitute the main contributing factors of marine economy development and social change. Marine science and technology directly enhance the degree of interdependence of the economic, social and human systems of coastal areas. Marine economy development, on the other hand, continues to influence and improve the social systems and promote the dynamic development of the society. In short, social progress depends on economic growth and development; certain social structures necessarily built on certain economic basis, that is, economic development is the driving force for social change and also a concrete manifestation of social change. References | Related Articles | Metrics