Consequences of governance restructuring for quality of urban living in the transformation era in Beijing: A view of job accessibility

One of the major issues concerning present-day public policy in a transitional and developing country is its ability to enhance the quality of urban living and individual social well-being in the context of rapid urban growth. A dramatic decline in overall job accessibility due to increases in commuting time is already a serious problem affecting the quality of urban living in Beijing. Understanding the impact of governance restructuring on overall job accessibility is of primary importance if politicians are to make policy innovations in development management. This paper applies the institutionalist approach to analyse the impact of governance restructuring on job accessibility. The analysis shows that current governance restructuring has a negative effect on overall job accessibility due to competition between different local governments increasing the degree of spatial fragmentation; revenue-enhancing development introducing constraints affecting the local jobs-housing balance; and the coexistence of the old planning system alongside the new market system leading to a fragmented land-use right transfer mechanism, intensifying scattered and low-density development. With respect to future policy, stronger municipal development management might be one direction in implementing public policy to enhance overall job accessibility, insofar as it addresses the negative impact of fragmented development management in the current transformation process.     

The role of local actors in transforming the urban fringe

In interpreting the transformation of rural space, much attention has been given to the macro scale processes shaping capitalist society, particularly those of accumulation and uneven development. Often, the role of the individual and of local agency generally is relegated to that of a pawn. However, with the retreat of the central state from many domains, the role of the individual and particularly the local community in shaping development processes has received more and more attention. Proactive roles have been recognized increasingly for communities and individuals in relatively depressed regions as being an integral part of the emerging ‘new economy’, but the urban fringe has received little attention from this perspective. Glimpses of the role for local agency come partly from research into urban fringe agriculture over the past 20 years which has profiled the role of the individual farmer and farm family, but little progress has been made in the appreciation of locality, or socially constructed localized action space, in the urban fringe, particularly in its manifestation through the actions of local groups, organizations and communities. A conceptual framework is proposed to advance our understanding of local agency in the processes of differentiation within the urban fringe. Local agency acts upon the transformation of the local environment to become one of the driving forces behind the process of uneven development and, more generally, differentiation of urban fringe space.     

Bringing the Citizen Back In: Supporting Decentralisation in Fragile States ‐ A View from Burundi

While, in theory, decentralisation offers many benefits, empirical evidence of these benefits remains limited. Drawing on fieldwork conducted in Burundi in 2011, this article argues that the current donor emphasis on institution‐building alone proves insufficient. Evidence is presented to show that current support, while consolidating the authority of local political elites, reinforces political and horizontal inequalities, thereby paving the way for further disaffection and conflict. Reflecting back to the initial aims of the process, a re‐orientation is proposed, moving the focus of support beyond elite state actors and institutions and bringing citizens back into the process of state building and transformation.     

Financing of Urban Services in India: A Case for Appropriate Pricing and Cost Recovery

The paper makes an attempt to examine financing of urban services within the broader macro-economic liberalisation and decentralisation context in India. It estimates the resource gap between the present flow of funds and financial requirements for urban civic services on the basis of the existing un-met demand and projected population growth trends. While making a case for appropriate pricing and cost recovery for generating more resources for financing urban services, the paper focuses on the changing attitude towards full-cost recovery, existing practices of pricing and cost recovery of urban services, provides empirical evidence of poor cost recovery from four Indian cities and identifies key institutional, conceptual and managerial issues that need to be addressed. Finally, the paper presents the emerging directions for policy reforms and action for meeting the growing needs for urban infrastructure and services, which includes some measures for fiscal reforms to increase the flow of finances for urban infrastructure and services, strengthening the resource base of local agencies and capacity building of local agencies.     

加拿大与美国都市圈内政府治理差异分析

本文探讨地方公共机构尤其是地方行政机构如何改变其结构和手段，以应对新的地区化和都市化的挑战。通过分析35个美国和加拿大的城市群，评估政府机构在多大程度上采用了怎样的方法去规划、实施和监督都市化政策，并重点研究都市圈机构和都市圈的财税政策。     

Reform and the process of economic restructuring in rural China: a case study of Yuhang,Zhejiang

Chinese reforms initiated at the end of 1970s have brought a profound change to its rural economy. The rapid economic growth and restructuring over the last two decades spurs the interest of many scholars in studying the nature and process of change in rural China at different scales and from a variety of perspectives. Using Yuhang in Zhejiang Province as a case, this study reveals dynamic processes and operating mechanisms of rural economic changes at a local level, and the interweaving relationships among the state, local governments, and peasants under the reformed institutional framework of rural development. The political economy of decentralisation and liberalisation, local government initiatives, and spontaneous coping strategies of peasants have penetrated the entire process of economic growth and restructuring, as evidenced in the displacement of the agricultural sector and in the shift of the role played by township enterprises, villages enterprises, and household enterprises in Yuhang. The pattern of change unveiled in the case of Yuhang neither confirms nor denies entirely the experience of the Sunan, Wenzhou, or Zhujiang models studied extensively in the literature. What is involved in this restructuring process at the local level are the changing relations between peasants and the land, individuals and collectives, and peasant workers and rural enterprises.     

推出市政债券为新型城镇化建设融资

新型城镇化建设的融资需求已引起各方主体的高度重视,探索推出市政债券是其中一个重要举措。为此,当前应加快立法,加强法制建设,健全法律法规体系,完善相关法律制度;规范地方政府举债行为,强化对地方政府举债的市场约束,构建多元化的城镇化建设融资体系,建立可持续的城镇化建设融资机制;严格执行财经纪律,构建地方政府的财政信用,强化地方财政预算约束,提高地方财政预算执行的透明度;完善信用风险管理制度,加强信用风险管理,有效防范和控制市政债券的信用风险;制定市政债券投资的税收优惠政策,增强对投资者的吸引力,发展壮大投资者队伍。     

Envisioning Beijing 2020 through sketches of urban scenarios

To provide the decision-makers in Beijing, China, with an assessment of alternative development futures, we introduce scenario planning to process of drafting Beijing's 2020 Plan. The sketches of scenarios for Beijing are fruitful in several ways. First, the development of scenarios can meet the Beijing Municipal Commission of Urban Planning (BMCUP)'s needs to explore different urban development options. Second, scenario planning can accommodate uncertainty in economic and population growth caused in part by China's rapid social and economic transformation. Third, in the course of creating evaluation framework to assess scenarios, scenario planning informs decision-makers about choices regarding predicted outcomes. We demonstrate that in a city that is experiencing unforeseen growth in the era of transformations, the decision-making process can be informed by evaluating the performance of alternative development scenarios.     

Resisting motorization in Guangzhou

Private motorization has accompanied unprecedented urbanization in China, as a matter of public policy. Planning at the provincial and city levels has supported the rapid build-up of the private car fleet in major cities through the development of regional and urban highway networks, higher capacity local streets and much higher standards for car parking in new developments. By contrast, urban planning until 1994 concentrated on the building of community and the support for a non-motorized lifestyle. Guangzhou experienced particularly rapid city-building during this period because it was at the centre of the market reforms launched in 1978. The communities that were built form a broad ring around the historic core of the city, constituting one of the most significant obstacles to government ambitions to maintain the recent growth rates in car ownership. Guangyuan and Jiangnanxi are examples of such middle-class, home-owning communities where daily life remains almost exclusively non-motorized. Self-organized groups in the community are increasingly vocal and active in their demands to enhance local environmental quality and restrict local motorization. Local municipal authorities, although increasingly active and autonomous, try to strike a balance between government objectives and local demands. The application of motorization illustrates the growing gap between high-level policy and grassroots urban planning in Guangzhou.     

Le maire en action : gouvernement urbain et production de politiques publiques. Michel Delebarre à Dunkerque

Changes in the French political, administrative system and trends in the economy starting in the 1970s have reshaped power at the municipal level. The figure of the mayor as a “notable” has apparently taken a more entrepreneurial and managerial turn in line with changes in local government, its sources of revenue and contractual procedures. By studying the mayor through the prism of the production of public policy at the local level, this shift can be qualified: the role as a notable is tapped in mobilizing resources, while the dynamic entrepreneurial role comes into play in steering policies, timing interventions and assessing the related risks. The observation of the whole process of producing the two urban policies described in Dunkerque sheds light on how the “municipal team” led by the mayor defines the rules of the game, takes diverging interests into account and maintains an interdependence between the various actors involved in policy-implementation. This article seeks to open a dialog between a case study of a municipal government and the observation of local public policy so as to understand changes in the levers of local power.     

New community governance in small rural towns: the Australian experience

State and federal governments in Australia have developed a range of policy instruments for rural areas in Australia that are infused with a new sense of ‘community’, employing leading concepts like social capital, social enterprise, community development, partnerships and community building. This has encouraged local people and organisations to play a greater role in the provision of their local services and has led to the development of a variety of ‘community’ organisations aimed at stemming social and economic decline. In Victoria, local decision-making, before municipal amalgamations, gave small towns some sense of autonomy and some discretion over their affairs. However, following municipal amalgamations these small towns lost many of the resources—legal, financial, political, informational and organisational—associated with their former municipal status. This left a vacuum in these communities and the outcome was the emergence of local development groups. Some of these groups are new but many of them are organisations that have been reconstituted as groups with a broader community focus. The outcomes have varied from place to place but overall there has been a significant shift in governance processes at community level. This paper looks at the processes of ‘community governance’ and how it applies in a number of case studies in Victoria.     

Evolving Socio-economic Conditions in Central and Eastern Europe: A Myrdalian View

The debate about the effects of transformation policies will continue, given the impossibility of isolating their impact while holding constant other factors responsible for performance. However, one conclusion that can be drawn is that, using comparable performance indicators, trends in China, except for inflation and political democracy, are either similar to or more positive than corresponding results in CEE (Chai, 1992; Field, 1992; Harrold, 1993; Yeh, 1992). In nearly every year since 1978 China's actual performance has exceeded that planned, while in CEE the decline in economic activity following the implementation of transformation measures has consistently exceeded the most pessimistic forecasts of policy-makers and their foreign advisers. In consequence, the social and economic costs borne by the Chinese during their transformation have been much less than in CEE. Based upon his own goals and assessment of CEE policies and their expected and actual consequences (see Tables 1 and 2). Myrdal would evaluate the performance of CEE economies as relatively poor⁶ Negative assessments would be accorded to social and economic equalisation, rise in productivity, rise in living standards, and social discipline and rational planning. He would find both positive and negative aspects for each of the other four criteria.⁷ Overall, he would evaluate the ‘tendencies’ as unfavourable because of the absence of any clear positive trends throughout the region. This evaluation, combined with the comparison with China, calls into question the efficacy of CEE policies based upon the assumption that transformation requires rapid privatisation, elimination of subsidies to state-owned enterprises, and stabilisation measures prior to institutional reforms, or that the state ought to adopt a passive role concerning supply-side responses during the transformation process. As the consummate political economist, Myrdal would criticise CEE goals and policies and suggest alternatives consistent with his value premises and his theory of development.     

The limits of participatory democracy and the inclusion of social movements in local government

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the decentralisation of decision-making processes in local government. Empirically, I analyse how Brazilian housing movements are included in participatory processes by examining the ways in which participatory models integrate social movements in spaces of decision-making. I argue that the rules and focus on incremental policy-making limits the participation of social movements. Findings suggests that unequal power structures at local councils, barriers to the participation of citizens, and the lack of transparency of government decisions all prevent social movements from having a more influential voice in decision-making. Although previous studies in Brazil examined the integration of citizens in government institutions, this paper contributes to the literature in two ways: firstly, it provides new evidence on the impact of decentralisation in local government. Secondly, by examining the attitudes of housing council members towards popular political participation, it provides new insights into the limits of decentralisation and participatory governance in contemporary Brazil.     

The role of urban indicators in city management: a proposal for Croatian cities

Cities are dynamic economic and social structures that play a dominant role in both national and international economies. They are centers of population, production, consumption, and development. Cities utilize all advantages of economy of scale, proximity, and concentration. On the other hand, they produce high environmental pressures and diminish thereby the quality of life for urban residents. Indicators (environmental, economic, and governance and management) are seen as a tool that would help policy-makers in formulating urban policy that would lead cities towards sustainability and provide assistance for monitoring their development and municipal performance. The aim of this paper is to consider the role that urban indicators can play in city management. We present basic features of urban indicators that will determine their usefulness in urban management. This paper provides the framework to include environmental and economic indicators, as well as governance and management indicators, in successful urban management.     

Municipal subsidies to French associations

A significant aspect of public policies in France is the decentralisation of the public sector and the increased importance of local voluntary associations to implement programmes and influence local political arenas. Subsidies to local associations are an important vehicle for the central government in managing its decentralisation policy. Based on a locality sample, data on subsidies to associations were collected in nearly 400 municipalities. Results show that the allocation of subsidies is highly uneven, and part of a complex network in which private non-profit services are linked to the services that were previously part of the public sector. Implications for the French non-profit sector and for the government's decentralisation policy are discussed.     

Grassroots women's accountability mechanisms: strengthening urban governance through organising and partnerships

Women living in marginalised urban neighbourhoods are often excluded from the economic, political, and social resources available to other city dwellers. The focus on the decentralisation of services and resource provision in urban areas presents an opportunity to citizens, including women, to organise to hold local government to account. This article builds on case studies and lessons learned from 18 months of the Huairou Commission's Transparency & Accountability Initiative, with specific reference to initiatives in Metro Manila, Philippines, Thankot, Nepal, and Jinja, Uganda. Here, organised groups of grassroots women have established innovative, community-driven mechanisms to participate in and monitor decision-making and service delivery in cities.     

Bringing Aid Management Closer to Reality: The Experience of Danish Bilateral Development Cooperation

In 2003, the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs undertook a decentralisation of the management of bilateral aid to the embassies in major partner countries. However, while decentralisation appears to live up to the principles of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, the specific delegation of responsibilities as well as the political context of aid management may jeopardise the intended contribution to effective development co‐operation. This article explores some factors potentially limiting the usefulness of decentralised aid management in the Danish case, and discusses certain intra‐organisational dynamics and extra‐organisational pressures influencing ‘donor effectiveness’.     

Large urban developments as the new driver for land development in Jeddah

Land development in most Saudi cities including Jeddah is generated by formal land subdivision and informal land development usually referred to as unplanned settlements. Both types of developments contributed to urban sprawl and other urban challenges. Jeddah Municipality attempted to improve land development by encouraging large urban developments. Recently, Jeddah Municipality approved four large urban developments which appear to manifest encouraging implications for urban growth and land development that this paper aims to explore. The paper examines the policy and market contexts that govern land development in general and large urban developments in particular, in order to pave the way to uncover their implications for city growth and land development. The data gathered for this purpose is drawn from published and unpublished reports from relevant authorities. It is found that large urban developments as new mechanisms of land development appear incapable of overcoming key challenges that face city growth and existing land development.     

莫斯科的国际中心城市地位研究

20世纪90年代，莫斯科的政治、经济和社会结构经历了重大变革，改变了莫斯科的国家地位和国际排名。本文研究莫斯科在俄罗斯国内和在欧洲城市中的地位。毫无疑问，莫斯科的发展特点是：在逐渐脱离国家城市体系的同时，也逐渐朝着国际方向发展。以经济指标来衡量，莫斯科在国内找不到竞争对手。它远远领先于国内其他城市，因为这些城市正快速融入国内和区域经济的潮流，只在很小的程度上参与经济全球化。相反，莫斯科越来越多地争取融入跨国公司和国际经济体系的行列。虽然莫斯科作为一个国际性城市的概念往往只是城市的政治工具，但事实上，如果俄罗斯的首都想要融入世界，其资本是有限的。从中欧的角度来看，目前莫斯科最重要的功能，是连结中欧、西欧和俄罗斯。但现实是，莫斯科与俄罗斯其他城市之间的差距将会继续扩大。     

Dangers of Decentralisation in Urban Slums: A Comparative Study of Water Supply and Drainage Service Delivery in Kolkata,India

Clientelism may lead to the underprovision of services which are deemed suitable for decentralisation. Water distribution and drainage services, managed from a lower level of municipal authority, are liable to be affected by clientelism and consequent underprovision. Water quality, maintained from a higher municipal layer, is not likely to be affected by clientelism. Capture by politically influential and dominant social and religious groups is likely to take place for important services like water supply. The article suggests that awareness, measurability, importance and resource intensiveness of service are additional factors to be considered for assessing the suitability of a sector for decentralisation.