Competing Frameworks in Planning for the Aged in the Growth Corridors of Melbourne

The Ageing in the Growth Corridors Project was initiated as a partnership between the University of Melbourne and the Department of Health in the Northwest Metropolitan Region of Melbourne, Australia. It involved a research team working with six project officers appointed to stimulate development in relation to an aging population in the sprawling outer metropolitan growth corridors. This article identifies the key lessons learned in terms of project implementation relating to attitudinal and structural barriers to the development of an age-friendly environment in areas of rapid urban growth. The findings illustrate some of the dilemmas raised by competing program conceptions, a dynamic and changing federal/state policy context, and local resource and strategic management constraints. The partnership with the university, nevertheless, provided a point of stability and continuity for the project officers in implementing their mandate.     

‘Mafia Baroque’: post‐socialist architecture and urban planning in Bulgaria

This paper traces the reception of the architectural style known as ‘Mafia Baroque’ within the professions of architecture and urban planning in Bulgaria. The debate within these professions was strongly linked to the general decline of power among former intellectual elites and the specific decline of architects and planners, who were sidelined as arbiters of ‘good taste’ and disempowered as regulators of urban growth. The reaction to this style also highlights the rise in public concern over corruption and organized crime and dissatisfaction with post‐socialist urbanization. This paper chronicles the extent of changes in construction and regulation in Bulgaria during the 1990s and argues that planners and architects were challenged not only by their professional marginalization but also by a deeper embarrassment over cultural change. It then relates this debate to broader post‐socialist anxieties over insufficient regulation of urbanization and fear of failing to meet Western European goals for economic and political change.     

Who is Jobless? A Comparison of Joblessness in Rural and Urban Areas in China

Since market‐oriented economic reform was launched in China in the 1980s, unemployment has been recognized by the government. This paper focuses on the differences in joblessness in rural and urban areas between rural migrant workers, peasants, and urban citizens. The results indicate that people in rural areas frequently lose their jobs, which differs from the traditional perception. There is a significantly lower jobless rate in urban areas. In contrast to the results of previous studies, the employment situation of rural migrant workers is closer to urban citizens rather than peasants. Logistic regression results show that the elderly, women, and less educated citizens have a higher likelihood of joblessness, both in urban and rural areas. Minorities have a lower likelihood of joblessness in rural areas and a higher likelihood in urban areas. Chinese Communist Party members and people without dependent children have a lower likelihood of joblessness in urban areas.     

Developing Age-Friendly Cities: Case Studies From Brussels and Manchester and Implications for Policy and Practice

Developing environments responsive to the aspirations of older people has become a major concern for social and public policy. Policies and programs directed at achieving “age-friendly” communities are considered to require a wide range of interventions, including actions at the level of the social and physical environment. This article compares the age-friendly approaches of two European cities, Brussels and Manchester, with a particular focus on policies and initiatives that promote active aging in an urban context. The article examines, first, the demographic, social, and multicultural contexts of Brussels and Manchester; second, the way in which both cities became members of the World Health Organization Global Network of Age-Friendly Cities and Communities; third, similarities and differences in the age-friendly approaches and actions adopted by both cities; and fourth, opportunities and barriers to the implementation of age-friendly policies. The article concludes by discussing the key elements and resources needed to develop age-friendly cities.     

城市更新背景下的文化旅游发展研究——以广州为例

文化旅游的兴起是当今旅游业发展的一大趋势。城市更新是城市发展的一种重要途径。随着文化消费时代的来临、文化经济的快速发展,文化旅游在城市更新发展中扮演着日益重要的角色。本文主要以广州为例,探讨了城市更新背景下文化旅游发展的意义、面临的问题和挑战以及进一步的思考。     

Rural ageing in the United States: Trends and contexts

This paper examines rural population ageing in the United States with a particular focus on the contrasting contexts in which older rural residents live. We compare the characteristics of the older population by rural versus urban residence, and explore challenges and opportunities associated with the ageing of rural baby boomers. The United States is a vast territory, and rural areas in the US are diverse regionally, in poverty and income, principal forms of employment, proximity to metropolitan areas, population size, density and composition, the history of change in these parameters, and a number of other factors that affect the ageing process. Hence, the diversity across rural areas is an important consideration in what affects the well being of rural elderly individuals, as well as the community-level impacts of rural ageing. Further, the characteristics of the older rural population help shape community and rural development outcomes for diverse rural communities. We use data from various US Census Bureau sources, and cite other studies to provide a demographic overview of ageing in the rural United States, and to analyze how this situation differs in varying socio-demographic and regional contexts. In the concluding section, we focus on policy implications associated with rural ageing.     

城市文化软实力构建的“网都”范式

当前全球数字网络化的发展浪潮和历史背景下,"网都"型文化中心城市建设成为转变城市文化发展方式、提升城市文化软实力的新的战略路径和城市设计愿景。城市发展的"网都"形态具有多元文化范式,要根据不同城市的特点和文化基础,推进网络媒介城市(media city)、网络文化产业高地、网络文化名城、互联网总部基地、文化科技融合的创新引领中心、网络文化宜居之都、互联网枢纽城市等不同类型的"网都"建设。不同的网都范型(paradigm)关切到城市文化软实力的不同层面,存在着从硬文化实力向软文化实力的渐变和过渡谱系;既可以单独构建特色网络文化城市的核心性格与差异化竞争力,也可以综合构建城市文化软实力的体系化架构。     

中原经济区建设中的城建档案信息资源开发

城建档案信息对城市的发展具有重要价值。中原经济区建设战略的实施,必将使城市建设规模迅速扩大,由此形成的城建档案数量急剧增多。重视城建档案信息资源的收集、整理,充分开发利用城建档案资源,不断提高其利用率,是发挥档案信息资源效益服务中原经济区建设的一条重要途径。     

美学:爱美之学——从辞源学的角度为美学正名

美学与审美学是两个存在差异的学术范畴,由于西语只有aesthetics一个术语,致使长期以来二者混淆在一起。为了厘清二者的边界,为美学的复兴开辟道路,为美学正名成为当务之急。学界通常所谓的aesthetics("美学")其实是"审美学","美学"应该另有其名。两百年来,美学家为"美学"创造了多个名字,其中以callology最为恰当。但是,真正最为恰切精当的"美学"一词是源自古希腊的philocaly(爱美之学)。     

论特色文化城市理论体系建构研究与实践创新——中国本土化特色文化核心价值的理论体系与范式建构

本文从世界新文化产业分工理论和"城市文化资本"理论的双重视角出发,首次提出了本土化特色文化城市理论的结构框架、研究与建构入径、新的理论内核,特别是在总结、研究、比较国内外特色文化城市发展的历史经验和理论研究成果的前提下,提出了中国本土化的特色文化城市的核心价值论、"双核理论"和特色文化城市的理论研究与建构操作的整体范式。