Place-based urban ecology: A century of park planning in Seattle

This research responds to calls from within the field of urban ecology to explicitly incorporate humanities-based research in order to achieve robust interdisciplinarity. Our research provides an example of a place-based urban ecological analysis. We use this framework to analyze over a century of park planning and development within the city of Seattle. We identify four eras of park planning that are linked by a comprehensive 100-year park plan. This case study examines how the political, cultural, and economic aspects of park planning have produced and been influenced by long-term trends and historical contingencies. This research also offers practical insights for effective contemporary urban planning, emphasizing the need for flexible and adaptive long-term plans when confronted with unpredictable events, emerging political arrangements, changing cultural priorities, and shifting fiscal climates.     

Habitat equivalency in urban estuaries: An analytical hierarchy process for planning ecological restoration

Ecosystem restoration is critically important in urbanized landscapes because habitat degradation is severe and ubiquitous in such areas. Because successful restoration requires specification of desired environmental endpoints, a generally applicable method for valuing and comparing possible restoration endpoints is needed. One method available for comparative valuation is the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). AHP allows a suite of alternatives to be valued on a rank scale based on simple, tractable, paired comparisons among all alternatives. Given a sound technical foundation for the paired comparisons, the method yields an objective set of rank values. By incorporating the relative values of various restoration alternatives in a restoration scaling evaluation such as a Habitat Equivalency Analysis (HEA), restoration programs can be designed effectively both qualitatively (in terms of the kinds of resources or habitats desired) and quantitatively (in terms of the amounts or areas of each). In this study, we develop and apply AHP in the context of a specimen HEA for US Mid-Atlantic coast estuaries. By ranking various habitat types as potential restoration targets based on their value for a suite of key natural resources, a series of restoration ratios is produced, relating relative habitat areas of each type needed to offset specific impairment levels. These ratios provide a basic tool for restoration planning in urbanized estuaries, as these comprise nearly entirely built environments with little or no natural habitat. Under these conditions, restoration planners must specify desired states of the ecosystem, and the restoration ratios allow various permutations of presumed post-restoration environments to be valued and compared.     

Urban environment, spatial fragmentation and social segration in Latin America: Where does innovation lie?

To “review the urban question” in terms of sustainable development, the premise is formulated that improving infrastructures, equipment and services to preserve the natural and built urban environment is costly and generates expenses of all kinds—at economic and social levels. Without the introduction of equalisation mechanisms, these expenses will increase inequalities between different parts of the urban population.As confirmed by 2 Latin American case studies in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and La Paz Bolivia, the quality of urban environment depends directly on improving living conditions for the resident population. The aim is to assist the poor in developing a rubbish disposal service for the families living in the informal settlements of La Paz, or to extend water supply to the poorer areas on the outskirts of Buenos Aires. The collective benefits of these “innovations” are self-evident. However, understanding the environmental issues involved, and evaluating the social impact of these innovations, means examining what motivates their implementation.The first difficulty was in finding financial and economic information on the global cost of the new technologies, due to the lack of managerial culture and the discretional attitude of private enterprises and public administration.A second observation is that the social dimension of the environmental upgrading process in Latin America cities has been neglected by the main urban decision-makers. In all the contexts, the evolution of the projects’ implementation clearly demonstrates that social issues cannot be dissociated from political ones. Although the players themselves often find it difficult to estimate economic costs, these are nonetheless real and represent burdens that should be distributed equitably among the beneficiaries of services; but which are, in practice, often viewed in terms of profit. This leads to conflicts between different population groups, the political authorities and private intermediaries.Rather than viewing technological action as an unique “source” of innovation, we must consider its global dimension via the social practices it generates. On the other hand, we should reposition every specific event in its immediate environment and see how it reflects contemporary macro-social processes, in a world of “globalisation”.     

论城市群与区域经济利益的实现

区域经济与城市群经济利益具有区域和行为主体特性,在利益属性上,两者均呈现出双重性。城市群与区域经济利益的实现,一方面要求区域内各领域的一体化,另一方面要求重视聚集经济效应。聚集经济是城市群和区域经济利益的一种实现方式,具体表现为近邻效应和专业化效应。城市群与区域经济利益的整合既可以通过城市职能分工整合模式实现,也可以通过产业集群化整合模式实现。     

Crime and the city: Domestic burglary and the built environment in Tehran

Environmental criminologists have correlated crime patterns with the environmental and physical layout of places where crimes occur. This paper reports on some of the findings derived from a major research carried out in Tehran, focusing on the link between built environment and residential burglary. After a brief review of crime prevention approaches in the built environment and their theoretical basis, the paper examines how burglars select their targets, and investigates the significance of geographical distance and target hardening for crime prevention. It shows the limitations of distance and target hardening as deterrents, their potential impact on deepening the city's socio-spatial divide, and their negative implications for the quality of the urban environment.     

People as partners: Facilitating people's participation in public–private partnerships for solid waste management

Cities in developing countries are facing a double dilemma. On one hand, the urban population is growing rapidly, causing a huge increase in demand for waste management services. On the other hand, the traditional public sector is failing to respond to the increased demand for service. The public sector is constrained by resource and institutional limitations. It is often proposed that the solution lies in private sector participation. It is expected that the private sector, with its dynamism and flexibility, may fill in the service delivery gaps by forming partnership with the public sector. However, a third tier—the people—is often overlooked in the service delivery framework. Citizens can contribute significantly to service delivery. They can support the private sector with payment of service charges. But more importantly, they can play an active role in improving accountability and service quality of both public and private sector. This radical shift in people's role, from passive service receivers to active service partners, however, may not occur endogenously. External help from facilitating agencies may enable the public and private sector to form partnership with people for better service delivery. This article examines the role of facilitating agencies in developing tripartite partnership for solid waste management service in Bangladesh. The key lessons learned are: a number of obstacles prevented spontaneous partnership among the public sector, private sector and people; facilitating agencies were able to overcome the obstacles to form partnership of the three; and, the tripartite arrangement resulted in higher accountability and better service delivery.     

Revitalization of Local Community and Ethnicity: Nagasaki's Lantern Festival Among the Immigrant Chinese

Abstract: The Nagasaki's Lantern Festival is gaining popularity through the continued partnership between the immigrant Chinese (Kakyo) and Nagasaki city, largely owing to the ethnic Chinese revitalization movement and the distinct way of life typical in Nagasaki. Following my past research, I would like to discuss the development and modification of Nagasaki's Lantern Festival, to examine the relationship between the features specific to the Nagasaki area and the changes in the Kakyo community's sense of ethnicity amid the wave of globalization. By the Meiji period, ethnic Chinese society in Nagasaki consisted mainly of immigrants from Fu Jian province. Today the community is experiencing rapid transformation. In particular, the restoration of Sino–Japanese relations and the wave of internationalization have led to the creation of the Nagasaki Shinchi Chinatown Shopping District Promotion Association and the renewal of Chinatown for the ethnic Chinese. The Chinese Spring Festival, originally aimed toward community vitalization, not only included the Kakyo (immigrant Chinese) but the Japanese in the district and private corporations. Nagasaki was transformed not only into a strategic point for East Asia's multilateral trade, but also served as a trading center for the entire nation. But as Japanese ports opened their doors to the world after 1850, Nagasaki was reduced to only one of the local trading centers. As for overseas business, Nagasaki took advantage of its heavy industry by expanding its share in the Asian international market and has been striving in the domestic market to activate the local economy through tourism. Such strategy hinges on the rich historical and cultural resources formed and nurtured within the 400 years of relations with Asian nations. The historical merger between the Kakyo community and its cultural tradition in Nagasaki society served as one of the incentives for such development and progress. The enlargement of Nagasaki's Lantern Festival has been achieved as part of this concept of “Asian‐oriented region”, in line with the city's plan on tourism promotion.     

构建人才培养新模式为东北振兴提供人才支持

党的十六大提出了"振兴东北老工业基地"的战略思想,为东北的发展带来了前所未有的发展机遇,同时也对高等教育提出了新的要求.高等学校作为培养人才的主体,应该抢抓机遇,积极发挥人才优势,树立新的办学理念,以市场需求为导向,紧紧围绕老工业基地的建设,加快学科专业的调整与改造,进一步深化教学改革,构建新的人才培养模式,培养适应社会发展需要的复合型、应用型、外向型和创新型人才,为东北老工业基地的振兴提供有力的人才支持.     

城市可持续发展综合评价指标体系研究

城市可持续发展指标体系的构建，应遵从科学性、可比性、可操作性、层次性、系统性和创新性六原则，应包含经济、社会和资源环境三个子系统，设立四个指标层次，41个指标。而各项指标的权重当采用客观赋权法中的熵值法确定。     

中国情境下的乡村创业:一个研究框架的构建

乡村创业是推进乡村产业振兴的关键抓手和实际切入点。“千村示范、万村整治”工程创造的成功经验和实践范例,不仅成为一份中国式现代化的乡村样本,还为我国乡村创业研究提供了丰富的素材,其中乡村情境是与创业活动紧密交互且不可剥离的要素,是实践和理论的研究焦点。通过梳理全球乡村创业研究脉络发现,异质性情境决定了乡村创业研究的侧重点,使不同区域开展的研究呈现发展不平衡且碎片化的特征。为推进我国乡村创业研究的内生理论发展,通过紧扣乡村创业活动与情境的互动这一核心特征,在梳理多维情境中乡村创业研究的基础上,构建中国情境下开展乡村创业研究的综合框架。该框架遵循资源依赖理论的逻辑,通过审视乡村情境各维度蕴含的资源,分析乡村创业同情境之间的资源依赖程度,强调最契合动态嵌入模式的选择。在时间、空间双重维度中,该嵌入模式的动态特征决定了乡村创业实现路径会不断演化甚至有双元嵌入融合的可能。结论进一步厘清了乡村创业的理论边界,有助于我国乡村创业研究的理论化和系统化发展,表明在学习“千村示范、万村整治”工程所蕴含的发展理念、工作方法和推进机制时需要因地制宜,分类施策,以当地乡村情境为核心,合理编排相适配的资源,选择恰当的嵌入模式以促进当地产业有序、良性发展。