航运中心与城市协调发展的国际经验与上海策略

国际重要的经济中心城市大多同时也是重要的国际航运中心,如中国香港、新加坡、伦敦、纽约、鹿特丹等。＂十二五＂期间,上海处在一个发展的关键时期。＂创新驱动、转型发展＂成为上海建设国际航运中心的迫切要求,因此,处于城市经济转型时期的上海必须建设具有全球航运资源配置能力的国际航运中心,实现上海国际航运中心与上海城市的协调发展。本文结合世界主要国际航运中心的实际,分析国际航运中心与城市协调发展可供借鉴的经验,提出目前上海国际航运中心建设与城市发展之间面临的矛盾与问题,并从集疏运体系和港城一体化角度提出上海国际航运中心与城市实现协调发展的对策建议。     

保持上海工业投资适度增长的对策研究

＂十二五＂时期,是上海经济社会和产业发展的关键时期,也是上海工业转变经济发展方式、调整产业结构、实现产业升级的关键时期。作为推进经济发展方式转变和产业结构调整重要抓手的上海工业投资,同样面临着调整投资方向、明确投资重点、转变投资方式和提高投资质量的艰难抉择。因此,对上海工业和上海工业投资在发展中面临的问题和保持＂十二五＂期间上海工业投资适度增长作初步研究。     

公共租赁房建设与新型城镇化

上海推进的公共租赁住房建设,是上海＂十二五＂期间住房保障体系的重要组成部分,符合深化住房制度改革和加快完善住房保障体系的总体要求,同时也与上海推进新型城镇化建设相呼应。新型城镇化的核心是＂人的城镇化＂,人的安居乐业是新型城镇化的关键所在。上海公租房政策对推动＂人的城镇化＂,具有极为重要的引导作用：强化了对非沪籍居民和中等收入阶层居住权的保障;有助于对工作者居住权利的保障;有助于带动整个区域的和谐、均衡发展。政府在推动公共租赁住房建设的过程中,还须适度扩大规模,改变产权式保障的传统思路;从严实行进出筛选机制,鼓励向上流动;坚持运作市场化、社区社会化、政策政府化;关注产业布局,突出其人才属性。     

把握上海“十二五”发展历史方位

＂十二五＂时期,国内外发展环境的重大调整和变化,给上海加快建设＂四个中心＂和国际化大都市既带来了复杂性和不确定性,同时也提供了重要历史机遇。上海面临着加快转变经济发展方式、实现＂四个率先＂和加速建设＂四个中心＂、参与全球竞争的双重任务,必须以加快转变发展方式为主线,以创新为龙头,全面推进＂四个中心＂建设,加快城市转型发展。     

创新驱动 转型发展 加快推进上海新农村建设思考

通过深入分析上海新农村建设面临的新情况和新问题,结合贯彻＂十二五＂规划,围绕创新驱动、转型发展,研究提出上海新农村建设目标和主要任务,明确当前上海推进新农村建设的主要工作。     

现代服务业集聚区“软实力”：城市服务经济发展新引擎——上海长风生态商务区文化品牌建设与发展的思考

现代服务业集聚区（MCBD）是现代服务业发展的新高地,城市服务功能的新载体,经济增长方式转变的新动力和城市形象的新名片。上海现代服务业集聚区建设与发展不仅强调经济、产业、配套设施等＂硬实力＂的目标与定位,更要关注文化、品牌等＂软实力＂的不断提升,以便将上海真正建设成为名副其实的现代化国际大都市。以上海长风生态商务区为例,针对商务区文化品牌建设与发展的成效与不足,提出针对推进现代服务业聚集区文化品牌建设与发展的对策建议。     

上海建设“四个中心”的就业结构探微——基于纽约就业结构的比较分析

纽约作为世界金融中心和公认的国际化大都市,分析其就业结构,对于上海建设＂四个中心＂具有重要的借鉴意义。通过收集纽约2000-2010年的就业数据,研究纽约的就业结构现状、变化走势和结构特征,并与上海就业结构加以对比,找出上海与纽约在就业结构方面的共同点和不同点,在此基础上对上海建设＂四个中心＂的就业结构提出对策建议。     

“十二五”上海青少年工作的战略性与布局性研究

上海＂十二五＂青少年发展的整体战略规划事关上海未来十年＂四个中心＂的人才供给及更长一段时间内的城市发展潜力。在全球化激荡、城市化推进、信息化提速、市场化延展的背景下,上海青少年工作的对象已发生了重要变化,工作体制也遇到重大挑战。＂十二五＂上海青少年规划应围绕上海城市＂四个中心＂建设,把教育并引导好一代人,培养对接＂四个中心＂的高素质人才,千方百计为青少年提供良好的成长和成才环境作为工作的重心和重点：进一步做实拓展现有的青年联席会议制度;构建青少年工作的社会化组织体系;强化青少年专业教育的针对性并将职业能力考试体系向在校大学生适度开放;建立青少年工作的资源筹集平台与交换平台;充分运用市场化、信息化、社会化等政策工具实现绩效管理;全面构建青少年的社会参与及诉求应对体制;授予权青少年部门成为行政主体;推动上海建立青少年发展配套改革试验区等。     

构筑“后危机”时代上海对外开放新格局——2010年上海对外开放形势研究报告

2010年,世界经济复苏总体上呈现艰难、曲折和不平衡的特点。面对严峻复杂的外部环境和自身转型发展的繁重任务,上海开放经济以世博会的召开为契机,以人民币国际地位提升为背景,以＂四个中心＂建设为抓手,把握＂后危机＂时代的发展机遇,加快由出口导向型向资源配置型的开放增长模式转变,搭建区域性、全球性的资金、技术、信息、人才等要素交流配置平台,表现令人满意。展望2011年,上海开放经济转型发展的任务更为繁重,需要进一步创新思维、创新机制、创新政策,提升上海对全球经济活动的影响力、控制力和管理力,构筑＂后危机＂时代全方位、多层次、宽领域的对外开放新格局。     

上海“十二五”发展主线与目标探讨

＂十二五＂时期是上海重要的历史性转折期,是发展动力大转变、经济结构大转换、城市功能大提升、社会结构大调整、开放格局大转型、区域关系大整合的时期。上海＂十二五＂的发展应当突出＂创新＂和＂转型＂两大主题,以＂创新驱动城市转型发展＂作为发展主线。     

Hydrology of the Brooklyn Grange,an urban rooftop farm

Intensive agriculture is an emerging theme of green roof technology. Production of affordable, nutritious vegetables for local consumption and stormwater management are among the ecosystem services emphasized in studies of rooftop farming. However, intensive vegetable production requires irrigation, which can reduce stormwater retention, and there is little empirical data from full-scale operational rooftop farms. In this paper, we report the hydrologic performance of the Brooklyn Grange Navy Yard Farm, a 0.61-ha rooftop farm atop an 11-story building in New York City USA. We monitored soil water content, precipitation, irrigation, drainage, and crop yields to provide water balance and water use efficiency. We found cumulative discharge exceeded precipitation by 11% during the entire study period, hence the farm was a net source of water in the urban hydrologic cycle. Depending on crop types, water use efficiency at the Grange was lower than in-ground agriculture in dry regions with high irrigation demands. For the Brooklyn Grange to integrate stormwater management and water-efficient crop production, it will be important to increase soil water storage, to reduce irrigation demands and drainage loss of water while maintaining average soil moisture levels in the range of readily available water between 10 and 100 kPa of soil water tension.     

A comparative study of the water budgets of lawns under three management scenarios

The fate of irrigation in urban ecosystems is highly uncertain, due to uncertainties in urban ecohydrology. We compared irrigation rates, soil moisture, evapotranspiration (ET), stomatal conductance, and water budgets of landscape ecosystems managed with different turfgrass species and irrigation technologies. The “Typical” landscape had a cool-season fescue and was irrigated by an automatic timer. The “Alternative1” landscape had a warm-season paspalum and a “smart” soil moisture sensor-based irrigation system. The “Alternative2” landscape had a cool-season native sedge and a “smart” weather station-based drip irrigation system. ET was measured with a portable closed chamber and modeled using a Penman-Monteith approach, and the two methods agreed well. The water applied to the Alternative1 was 54 % less than the water applied to the Typical landscape, and the water applied to the Alternative2 was 24 % less. Soil moisture was similar in the Typical and Alternative2, while Alternative1 was drier in spring. The stomatal conductance of sedge was lower than the other two species, but its ET was not lower due to higher leaf area. Irrigation efficiencies (ET/applied irrigation) were 57 - 58 %, 86 – 97 %, and 78 - 80 % for the Typical, Alternative1, and Alternative2 landscapes, respectively. Runoff was less than 2 % in each landscape, and excess irrigation primarily drained below the root zone. Differences in irrigation efficiency between landscapes were due mainly to irrigation application, which varied more than species water use. Smart irrigation systems provided substantial water savings relative to a timer-based system, and prevented significant drainage losses. The utilization of smart sensors was more important than the choice of turfgrass species for irrigation efficiency.     

Water pressure: irrigation,governance and land use intensification in Maungatapere,New Zealand

This paper considers the ways in which state-supported proposals for an irrigation scheme contributed to reorienting land use and community dynamics in Maungatapere, a semi-rural locality in Northland, New Zealand. This scheme was first proposed in the early 1980s — a time when key preoccupations of the state included protecting primary industry and promoting land-based production. Soon after, however, such intervention was seriously challenged by free-market philosophies, and state ownership and maintenance of irrigation schemes gave way to user pays and privatisation. At Maungatapere, these changes resulted in delays in approval for the irrigation scheme, a reduction in its area, and the eventual development of an infrastructure which was rapidly sold to private interests. We draw on historical evidence and 1997 survey data to explore land-owner decision-making and perceptions. Our analysis incorporates contemporary concerns for land use intensification, governance and community sustainability. We interpret the irrigation scheme as always having been an object of governance, from its initial conception as a community scheme in the context of assisted agriculture, through to its subsequent metamorphosis into a proprietary scheme reflecting a more market-oriented government vision. We conclude that a focus on one specific place offers insights into the processes whereby policy is translated into practices.     

Initial agronomic performances of Mediterranean xerophytes in simulated dry green roofs

The growing desire to make the urban environment more sustainable from an ecological point of view has stimulated research on the architectural and agronomic aspects of green roofs. The practical realisation of green roofs, is however limited by economic and ecological issues. More specifically, water availability is the most limiting factor, and is likely to be ever more so in the future in the light of climate change. For this reason, we evaluated the agronomic performance of several xerophytes in a simulated dry green roof. Seeds of 20 species were collected in typically dry habitats (abandoned quarries, rocky soils, dunes, etc.) and studied in the laboratory for germination ecology. In cases of strong dormancy, methods were tested to stimulate germination and their germination ecology was studied. The resulting seedlings were transplanted in spring 2008 in two green roof types that differ in substrate depth (150 and 200 mm) made up of lapil, pumice, zeolites and peat, resting on a drainage layer of hydroperlite. Temperature and humidity in the substrate and drainage layer were measured during the whole test period. Survival of the seedlings in both substrate depths was almost 100%, favoured by a rainy spring. Most of the tested species showed an excellent performance during the hot and dry summer months in terms of survival rates, growth, and vegetation cover dynamics, notwithstanding the difficult ecological conditions (temperatures around 50°C; hydric potential Ψ -15 bars). Furthermore, most of the species had a long flowering stage in the first year of growth. Plants in the green roof with the deeper substrate depth produced, for most of the tested taxa, a significantly higher vegetation cover and growth compared to when they were placed in the 150 mm substrate. The results of this study show that some Mediterranean xerophytes have biological characteristics suitable for their use in dry green roofs, although an irrigation system for emergency use seems advisable. To conclude, further research should focus on long term evaluation of green roof vegetation in terms of plant survival and flowering dynamics.     

Vulnerability to climate change in rural Saskatchewan: Case study of the Rural Municipality of Rudy No. 284

With the likelihood of future changes in climate and climate variability, it is important to understand how human systems may be vulnerable. Rural communities in Saskatchewan having agricultural-based economies are particularly dependent on climate and could be among the most vulnerable human systems in Canada. Future changes in climate are likely to have significant impacts on rural livelihoods, and rural populations will face the challenge of coping with climate change in light of a multitude of other changing socio-economic and environmental conditions. The Rural Municipality of Rudy No. 284 was chosen as a case study due to its access to irrigation, a key tool in climate adaptation for the agricultural system in the area against one of its most notorious climatic features - severe multi-year droughts. Further irrigation development would continue to reduce climate vulnerabilities. Even with irrigation however, the compounding effects of climate and other socio-economic changes will likely require modifications in current practices and policies in order to secure adequate livelihoods. Climate change adaptation in the RM must ensure equitable access to water and potentially irrigation, reduce barriers to collaboration when addressing communal problems, and provide more certainty in government programs.     

Rural electrification and irrigation in the U.S. High Plains

The U.S. government's rural electrification program played a critical role in the development of the agricultural economy of the High Plains, a region characterized by low precipitation, extreme temperatures and recurring drought. Rural electric co-operatives and low-cost, government-supplied electricity made large-scale, groundwater-based irrigation farming both profitable and very productive. For many of the High Plains rural electric co-operatives, groundwater-based irrigation generates a very large share of their total electricity sales and operating revenues. Declining groundwater levels and rising irrigation energy costs, however, have caused significant reductions in total irrigated cropland. Many of the electric co-operatives will continue to be confronted with declining revenues unless electric rates are raised or government subsidies for the rural electrification program increase. This raises serious questions about the continued economic viability of the High Plains rural electrification industry, as well as about the future of the region's agricultural economy.     

Institutionalized corruption in Indonesian irrigation: An analysis of the upeti system

This article analyzes the internal logic of the upeti system in Indonesian irrigation and brings to light how corruption rules are shaped through complex socio‐political relationships reflected in the organizational culture of the irrigation agency. Based on 100 interviews with water sector professionals the article highlights: (1) the importance of social relations in shaping institutionalized corruption, (2) how the upeti system justifies corruption practices as the prevailing social norm, and (3) the need for structural change to eradicate corruption. Illustrating how corruption rules are embedded in project management procedures, with projects highly dependent on donor funding, the article highlights the importance of the issue for international agencies and the need to be more politically grounded in promoting their development agenda.     

The Enchantment of Agriculture: State Decentering and Irrigated Rice Production in Bali

This article explores state involvement in the ‘enchanted’ aspects of irrigated rice production in Bali, Indonesia. Modernising states invariably forward what Max Weber called the rationalisation and disenchantment of the world. In irrigation management, the Indonesian colonial and postcolonial states operated staunchly on this model. ‘Enchanted’ elements of Balinese rice production involving temples and rituals were assumed irrelevant and sidelined. Recently, however, bursts of state-funded construction of irrigation temples and shrines suggest a surprising shift. The post-Suharto decentralised state appears to be supporting the enchantment of irrigated agriculture. This article deals with the relationship between legislation under the decentralised state and ritual building activities in Balinese irrigation associations (subak). We examine how contemporary farmers view the new emphasis on ‘ritual technology’. Does it constitute decentralised support of the farmers' world, of local priorities and variance, or a new homogenising project?     

Impact Assessment of Drip Irrigation in India: The Case of Sugarcane

Against the background of the rapid decline in irrigation water potential and low water‐use efficiency in the flood (conventional) method of irrigation, drip irrigation has recently been introduced in Indian agriculture. Besides saving a substantial amount of water, it also helps to increase the productivity of crops. This study attempts to evaluate its impact on sugarcane using farm‐level data from Maharashtra. Using a discounted cash flow technique, it was found that productivity was 23% higher than that under the flood method of irrigation, with water saving of about 44% per hectare and electricity saving of about 1059 kwh/ha — in short, drip investment in sugarcane cultivation remains economically viable even without subsidy.     

Potential of decentralized wastewater management for urban development: Case of Bangkok

Decentralized wastewater management (DWWM) has recently gained much attention in wastewater management (WWM) due to its build-as-you-go principal. Rapid urban development and the widespread impact of wastewater require sustainable ways to test the DWWM approach. This paper aims to examine and discuss the potential of Bangkok’s current WWM approaches for urban development, focusing on decentralized management approaches. General WWM approaches were examined using case study research methods. Three WWM cases were selected for detailed investigation. Residential wastewater user surveys and expert interviews were used to support system performance findings of service providers and recipients, as well as to draw lessons learned. Results show that DWWM is economically and technically efficient, demonstrating potential for sustainable urban development (SUD) in the study area. The competitive cost found is a result of less sewer line, simple technology, and limited additional costs, while the high efficiency is a result of good operation and maintenance. Also the reclaimed water has been used for landscape irrigation of the urban greenery. Sustainability of the system lies in social value of public amenity it provides, and the urban planning implication that it could be an option for smart growth. The results also show that even in an inner urban area DWWM does not conflict with any SUD considerations. Thus, the study recommends using DWWM for new development within both public and private properties based on Bangkok’s case as part of long-term urban development.