Medium-sized Cities In China Research Articles

The Influence of China’s Local Fiscal Revenue Targets on House Price Growth

ABSTRACT China’s administrative system practices a unique phenomenon of setting fiscal revenue targets that are often regarded as political tasks by local government officials. As land is the core resource of local government, land finance becomes the best strategy for local governments facing high fiscal revenue targets. With rising land value, house prices will continue to rise. Thus, the fiscal revenue target is an important political factor affecting house price growth, but the existing literature does not attend to this point. This article uses panel data on 35 large and medium-sized cities in China from 2011 to 2016 to study the influence of local fiscal revenue targets on house prices and its underlying mechanism. The results show that these targets are an important political factor in driving up house prices, and the intervening mechanism is local land finance. As gross domestic product per capita increases, the influence of fiscal revenue targets on house prices declines. Conversely, in areas where housing purchases are restricted and house prices are controlled, the influence of fiscal revenue targets on the fiscal burden for the public increases.

Study on Sustainable Development Strategy of Subway in Medium-sized Cities in China: Case Study of Fujian Cities

The development of the subway is closely related to the urban economy in China, and it is also a sign of the development of urban modernization. With sustainable transportation development becoming a global issue, the construction of medium-sized urban subways is limited by the economic volume and is often in the trade-off between construction speed and financial burden. This paper takes the subway cities of Fujian Province -Fuzhou and Xiamen as the research object and analyzes the relative positions of the metros of the two metropolitan areas in 38 metro cities in China. The result of linear regression analysis shows that Fuzhou's progress is slightly conservative, while Xiamen is slightly ahead. There is still space for improvement in the carrying intensity of the subways in the two cities. Comparing the relationship between subway construction and economic growth in medium-sized cities, there is still obvious room for development in subway construction in the two cities. During the research process, actual investigations were conducted to formulate corresponding improvement strategies and suggestions for the operation problems of the two cities for reference by the urban management departments.

The Dynamic Evolution of the Structure of an Urban Housing Investment Niche Network and Its Underlying Mechanisms: A Case Study of 35 Large and Medium-Sized Cities in China

With the growth of urban agglomerations, the spatial diffusion of housing investment is clear; however, little research has been carried out to address its network characteristics and underlying mechanisms of influence. Using data on 35 large and medium-sized cities, this paper applies niche theory to housing investment, constructing a housing investment niche index that includes resources, the housing market, the social economy, and policy. The purpose is to study the characteristics of the network structure and its mechanisms of influence based on an improved gravity model and a temporal exponential random graph model (TERGM). Supported by the analysis of the network structure, we find that the node degree within the network is low, the network density exhibits an inverted “V” shape, and the network level suggests the existence of a “rich cities club”. According to the local network clustering analysis, the cities are divided into three clusters: the Yangtze River Delta region, the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region, and the central and eastern regions. Furthermore, analysis of the endogeneity in the structure reveals that there is a hierarchy of cities with high economic development levels, which makes it difficult to establish an investment network with strong relationships. The effects of the attributes are consistent with the predictions of location theory and new economic geography theory. The external network effects conform to the law of the general gravity model. Our research provides insights into the ways in which the misplaced competition in housing investment between cities in a region and the flow of production factors can be reasonably guided.

AN EXPLORATION ON CONCEPT TEACHING KNOWLEDGE OF BIOLOGY TEACHERS IN LOWER-SECONDARY SCHOOLS

The topic ‘photosynthesis’ contains many intangible and abstract scientific concepts, regarding which students hold many preconceptions. Conceptual learning is a process of co-creation and flow that requires the teachers’ higher educational level on conceptual teaching. The present research considers photosynthesis as an example. Results of Ball's 2008 research on teachers' content knowledge for teaching served as the theoretical framework. In total, 30 biology teachers from 11 lower-middle schools in a medium-sized city in China were selected as the research objects. The conceptual learning achievements of 1442 students taught by those teachers were used as a yardstick, and two sets of self-designed questionnaires were used to demonstrate, describe, and discuss these elements and their current state in the teachers' mind and determine influencing factors. According to the results, except for the knowledge of concept and student element, all the other three elements attained the passing level. Specifically, the level of common concept knowledge was relatively high, but this element had not attained the perfect level. A scope for improvement was observed for the other three conceptual knowledge elements. No significant difference in the knowledge elements level was observed among the teachers from different schools. Keywords: concept teaching, teachers' concept teaching knowledge, teacher education, teacher knowledge

SPATIAL EFFECT OF MARKET SENTIMENT ON HOUSING PRICE: EVIDENCE FROM SOCIAL MEDIA DATA IN CHINA

Market sentiment has become more easily spread between cities through social media. This study investigates the spatial effect of market sentiment on housing price in a social media environment. In order to extract home-buyer sentiment from social media, we use text sentiment analysis techniques and build a novel housing market sentiment index. A spatial econometric model of housing price volatility is subsequently constructed and the housing market sentiment index is included as an independent variable in the model. Using panel data from 30 large and medium-sized cities in China for 20 quarters from 2016 to 2020, the spatial effect of market sentiment on housing price is empirically analyzed by calculating direct and indirect effects. The results show that market sentiment had a significant positive effect on housing prices in the local and neighboring cities over the research period. However, the impact of market sentiment on housing price was heterogeneous in terms of geographical region; the direct effect was stronger in the eastern region than in the central and western regions, and the indirect effect was significant only in the eastern region. These findings can provide references for government to formulate housing market regulation policies and measures based on market sentiment.

Nonlinear and interaction effects of land use and motorcycles/E-bikes on car ownership

Although many studies examine the relationship between the built environment and car ownership in large cities, few focus on smaller cities in developing countries. Their nonlinear and interaction relationships are often neglected. Using the 2019 data from Zhongshan, a medium-sized city in China, we employed gradient boosting decision trees to estimate the nonlinear and interaction effects of the built environment and motorcycles/E-bikes on car ownership. We found that wealth plays a crucial role in households’ car ownership decisions. Most built environment variables have threshold associations with car ownership, but the size of the associations is limited. The findings suggest that polycentricity and densification around centers help mitigate the growth of cars. More importantly, motorcycles and E-bikes, particularly owning a second one, attenuate the positive effects of income and/or distance to city center on car ownership. This challenges the policies of banning motorcycles and E-bikes.

Characteristics of VOCs and their Potentials for O3 and SOA Formation in a Medium-sized City in Eastern China

To understand the characteristics and environmental effects of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in a typical medium-sized city in China, manual measurements including 56 species of the nonmethane hydrocarbons (NMHCs) were taken at three urban and suburban sites in Huai’an from April to September 2019, and automatic measurements including 106 species of VOCs were taken at the urban center in May and August 2019. Spatial and temporal characteristics of the VOC concentrations were analyzed. Positive matrix factorization (PMF) model was applied to apportion VOC sources. Ozone (O3) formation potentials (OFPs) and secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation potentials (SOAFPs) were calculated. The results show that the mean VOC concentration was much lower in the urban center than in the suburbs. Generally, proportions of both alkenes and aromatic hydrocarbons were higher and proportion of alkanes was lower in Huai’an than that in big cities, indicating emissions from solvent usage and industrial process play a more important role in the medium-sized city. The results of source apportionment show that solvent usage and industrial process together contributed 53%, and vehicle emission contributed 27% to the ambient VOCs. The dependence of VOC concentrations on temperature indicates that a considerable part of VOCs may come from fugitive emissions. The two-peak pattern of diurnal variation suggests near-surface emissions contributed a lot to the VOCs. Aromatic hydrocarbons were identified as the key component to the formation of O3 and SOA. Furthermore, biogenic emission could contribute greatly (> 20%) to the ambient VOCs during daytime in summer, which may have significant effects on O3 formation. Aromatic hydrocarbons were identified as the key component to the formation of O3 and SOA, which should be given more attention in developing air pollution control strategies.

China’s Housing Provision System: Evolution, Purchase–Rental Gap Measurement, and Optimization Strategy

Abstract Continuously high housing prices in large and medium-sized cities in China indicate that the urban housing provision system (HPS) has some drawbacks. One reason is that the housing rental ...

Are Housing Prices Sustainable in 35 Large and Medium-Sized Chinese Cities? A Study Based on the Cheap Talk Game and Dynamic GMM

Focusing on the rapid rise of China’s housing prices in recent years, in this paper, we construct a model using the cheap talk game that centers on how information receivers in a market make inferences about the true state of the information based on the cost-free signals they receive and then make decisions based on these inferences, which in turn affect market equilibrium. By constructing a cheap talk game model of house prices, we examine the correlation between market expectations, economic fundamentals, and individual housing purchase decisions. Then, we conduct an empirical analysis using the dynamic GMM method based on the panel data of 35 large and medium-sized cities in China. The analysis reveals that: (1) when the whole of society expects housing prices to rise, housing prices will rise regardless of the true state of economic fundamentals; (2) when information on economic fundamentals is accurate and reliable, home buyers tend to make purchase decisions based on such information, thus maximizing the utility of society as a whole; but when information on economic fundamentals is unreliable, home buyers tend to make purchase decisions according to their own housing price expectations, which is not conducive to the optimization of the utility of society as a whole; (3) the empirical results also reveal that expectations are a non-negligible factor in the rise of housing prices, and the coefficient of expectations exceeds that of each economic fundamental; this demonstrates the investment-driven attribute of the housing market in China. At the same time, economic fundamentals have a definite effect on housing prices, which implies that the rise of housing prices in China is supported by objective conditions.

Measuring the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on crime in a medium-sized city in China.

ObjectivesThe study examines the variation in the daily incidence of eight acquisitive crimes: automobile theft, electromobile theft, motorcycle theft, bicycle theft, theft from automobiles, pickpocketing, residential burglary, and cyber-fraud before the lockdown and the duration of the lockdown for a medium-sized city in China.MethodsRegression discontinuity in time (RDiT) models are used to test the effect of the lockdown measures on crime by examining the daily variation of raw counts and rate.ResultsIt is indicated that in contrast to numerous violent crime categories such as domestic violence where findings have repeatedly found increases during the COVID-19 pandemic, acquisitive crimes in this city were reduced during the lockdown period for all categories, while “cyber-fraud” was found more resilient in the sense that its decrease was not as salient as for most other crime types, possibly due to people’s use of the internet during the lockdown period.ConclusionsThe findings provide further support to opportunity theories of crime that are contingent upon the need for a motivated offender to identify a suitable target in physical space.

The Impact of Urban Sprawl on Environmental Pollution: Empirical Analysis from Large and Medium-Sized Cities of China.

This research sought to uncover the environmental effects that urban sprawl brings about by using panel data of 35 large and medium-sized cities over the timespan 1998–2019. A nonlinear relationship between urban sprawl and environmental pollution might exist and be shown by constructing the conceptual mathematical model. The panel unit root test indicated that there exists a long-run equilibrium relationship between urban sprawl and environmental pollution. Regression results showed that there is a U-shaped curve relationship between the two core variables for the full sample. The impacts of urban sprawl on environmental conditions have regional heterogeneity. A significant U-shaped curve was discovered for eastern and western regions, while an insignificant inverted U-shaped curve was discovered for the central region. Furthermore, we found a significant U-shaped curve for cities with high and low degree of sprawl. By contrast, we found a significant inverted U-shaped curve for cities with a middle degree of sprawl, which indicated that moderate urban sprawl is beneficial for environmental conditions. We additionally discovered a significant U-shaped curve and inverted U-shaped curve for cities with low and middle pollution, respectively. Fixed-asset investments and foreign direct investments exacerbate urban environmental pollution. Market freedom and industrial structure adjustment are conducive to pollution reduction. The conclusions were consistent when we subdivided the sample by time periods and substituted with a systematic GMM (Generalized Method of Moments) estimation method in the robustness check. Policy recommendations were put forward according to the research findings.

TOD Typology Based on Urban Renewal: A Classification of Metro Stations for Ningbo City

In recent decades, the transit-oriented development (TOD) concept has been widely used all over the world, especially in China, for the massive construction of urban public transportation systems with rail transit as the backbone. However, it is not easy to make significant changes in a city while building a transportation system, and the transit-guided urban development expected by the TOD concept has not been completely realized. The transformation of nearby areas with the guidance of transit is also becoming the choice of many Chinese cities, especially for cities that have only had subways for a few years. Unlike other international metropolitan cities, with metro systems of considerable scale, the modernization process of most of the small and medium-sized cities in China is being carried out simultaneously with metro-based public transportation guidance. For cities which are still in their initial stage of the backbone public transportation system, there is not enough previous experience and evidence to support the suitability of TOD typological analysis based on the node-place model. More research based on the node-place model has also shown practical applications of the TOD in developed cities. However, there are very few studies that analyse cities in which rail transit and urban development are both in a period of rapid growth. The goal of this research is to identify which metro stations in these cities are suitable for TOD improvement and optimization. This article attempts to expand the willingness of residents on the basis of the traditional node-place model as one of the judgment indicators for evaluating whether existing stations and surrounding areas are suitable for TOD improvement. At the same time, traditional statistical analysis is combined with GIS and machine learning technology. Using this method, we propose the TOD improvement-oriented station area classification and identification method based on TOD typology theory. The results show that Ningbo's subway stations can be divided into four categories according to the suitability for TOD improvement, and we selected seven stations suitable for TOD improvement according to the characteristics of the node-place model. The practice in Ningbo has proved that this method is effective for identifying sites suitable for TOD improvement, especially for cities that have recently built subways.

Safety Evaluation of Super Deep Shaft Construction of Donghu Deep Tunnel in Wuhan

With the rapid development of infrastructure construction in large and medium-sized cities in China, the development and utilization of underground space has been developed rapidly. The sewage transmission system engineering of Donghu core area in Wuhan is faced with the construction of shaft under smaller section, deeper foundation pit and more complex environment. The safety of super-deep shaft construction is evaluated and the important risk influencing factors are identified. From the point of view of construction process and method, this paper identifies and constructs the evaluation index system of safety risk in deep tunnel shaft construction, and then constructs the evaluation model with binary semantics and AHP and entropy weight method. Finally, the empirical analysis is carried out through the example of Wuhan East Lake deep tunnel project. The empirical results show that the foundation pit support, water stop curtain, wellhead instability, vertical ventilation of shaft and rock entry blasting are the factors that affect the construction safety risk of the project, and the construction safety risk evaluation grade of the project is low. This paper also puts forward effective measures to improve the construction safety of the project.

The Association between Preterm Birth and Ambient Air Pollution Exposure in Shiyan, China, 2015-2017.

Shortening of the gestational duration has been found associated with ambient air pollution exposure. However, the critical exposure windows of ambient air pollution for gestational duration remain inconsistent, and the association between ambient air pollution and early term births (ETB, 37 to 38 weeks) has rarely been studied relative to preterm births (PTB, 28–37 weeks). A time-series study was conducted in Shiyan, a medium-sized city in China. Birth information was collected from the Shiyan Maternity and Child Health Hospital, and 13,111 pregnant women who gave birth between 2015 and 2017 were included. Data of the concentrations of air pollutants, including PM10, PM2.5, NO2, and SO2 and meteorological data, were collected in the corresponding gestational period. The Cox regression analysis was performed to estimate the relationship between ambient air pollution exposure and the risk of preterm birth after controlling the confounders, including maternal age, education, Gravidity, parity, fetal gender, and delivery mode. Very preterm birth (VPTB, 28–32 weeks) as a subtype of PTB was also incorporated in this study. The risk of VPTB and ETB was positively associated with maternal ambient air pollution exposure, and the correlation of gaseous pollutants was stronger than particulate matter. With respect to exposure windows, the critical trimester of air pollutants for different adverse pregnancy outcomes was different. The exposure windows of PM10, PM2.5, and SO2 for ETB were found in the third trimester, with HRs (hazard ratios) of 1.06 (95%CI: 1.04, 1.09), 1.07 (95%CI: 1.04, 1.11), and 1.28 (95%CI: 1.20, 1.35), respectively. However, for NO2, the second and third trimesters exhibited similar results, the HRs reaching 1.10 (95%CI: 1.03, 6.17) and 1.09 (95%CI: 1.03,1.15), respectively. This study extends and strengthen the evidence for a significant correlation between the ambient air pollution exposure during pregnancy and the risk of not only PTB but, also, ETB. Moreover, our findings suggest that the exposure windows during pregnancy vary with different air pollutants and pregnancy outcomes.

Analysis on the Housing Price Relationship Network of Large and Medium-Sized Cities in China Based on Gravity Model

The relationship among cities is getting closer, so are housing prices. Based on the sale price of stocking houses in thirty-five large and medium-sized cities in China from 2010 to 2021, this study established the modified gravity model and used the method of social network analysis to explore the spatial linkage of urban housing prices. The results show that: (1) from the overall network structure, the integration degree of housing price network in China is still at a low stage, and the influence of housing price is polarized; (2) from the individual network structure, Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Nanjing, Hangzhou, and Hefei have a higher degree of centrality. Chengdu, Xining, Kunming, Urumqi, and Lanzhou stay in an isolation position every year; (3) from the results of cohesive subgroup analysis, different cities play different roles in the block each year and have different influences on other cities. (4) Emergencies, such as outbreaks of COVID-19, also have an impact on the housing price network. Structural divergence among urban housing prices has become more pronounced, and the diversity of house price network has been somewhat reduced. Based on the above findings, this paper puts forward some recommendations for the healthy development of housing market from the perspective of housing price network.

Regional efficiency of the real estate industry in 35 large and medium-sized cities in China：a meta-frontier SBM approach

ABSTRACT As the inputs of investment and employees in real estate sectors have continued to increase in recent years, it is crucial to study the evaluation of real estate performance. However, these rarely take the differentiation of the research objects into account, which easily causes deviations of empirical results. In order to obtain more authentic efficiency values, this study systematically analyses the regional real estate efficiency of 35 large and medium-sized cities in China from 2013 to 2017 based on the meta-frontier data envelopment analysis (DEA) with a slacks-based measure (SBM). Specifically, this study firstly simulates the production process by designing a three-stage dynamic DEA model and subsequently conducts a grouping analysis of the evaluated cities by introducing the meta-frontier framework. Through empirical analysis, we find that: (1) grouping regional efficiency evaluation is a modification of ungrouping efficiency; (2) the simulation of the real estate production process contributes to identifying the key problem which influences real estate efficiency; (3) government policy has a certain influence on the regional real estate sector in China. Finally, policy recommendations are proposed from three dimensions: the dimension of national macro policy; the dimension of policy implementation in local governments; and the dimension of management in real estate companies.

Functionality analysis of an urban water supply network after strong earthquakes

An urban water supply network (WSN) is a crucial lifeline system that helps to maintain the normal functioning of modern society. However, the hydraulic analysis of a significantly damaged WSN that suffers from pipe breaks or leaks remains challenging. In this paper, a probability-based framework is proposed to assess the functionality of WSNs in the aftermath of powerful earthquakes. The serviceability of the WSN is quantified by using a comprehensive index that considers nodal water flow and nodal pressure. This index includes a coefficient that reflects the relative importance of these two parameters. The demand reduction (DR) method, which reduces the water flow of nodes while preventing the negative pressure of nodes, is proposed. The difference between the negative pressure elimination (NPE) method and the DR method is discussed by using the example of a WSN in a medium-sized city in China. The functionality values of the WSN are 0.76 and 0.99 when nodal pressure and nodal demands are used respectively as the index of system serviceability at an intensity level that would pertain to an earthquake considered to occur at a maximum level. When the intensity of ground motion is as high as 0.4 g, the DR method requires fewer samples than the NPE method to obtain accurate results. The NPE method eliminates most of the pipes, which may be unrealistic.

The Impact of Borrowing Size on the Economic Development of Small and Medium-Sized Cities in China

Sharing the economic agglomeration effects of large cities is considered an effective way to enhance economic growth in small and medium-sized cities, yet there remains a lack of relevant quantitative empirical research. In this study, the three dimensions of borrowing size of 285 prefecture-level cities and nighttime lighting data from 2004 to 2013 in China are used to assess its effect on economic development by a fixed-effects model with panel data. The results show that first, the effect of borrowing size on small and medium-sized cities’ economic development is significantly positive. In contrast, the effect of borrowing size on large cities is not significant. Second, the magnitude of the impact of borrowing size on small and medium-sized cities varies considerably across regions. In middle and western China, the most significant positive effect is from borrowing economic activity density and borrowing advanced functions. However, in eastern China, the most significant positive effect is from borrowing population, while borrowing advanced functions has a significant negative effect. In the northeast, borrowing economic activity density has a significant positive effect. This article provides policy recommendations in three areas: improving intercity accessibility, rationalizing the layout of urban industries, and supporting the development of education.

Seasonal occurrence and source analysis of pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) in aquatic environment in a small and medium-sized city, China

Pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) have been widely reported in most megacities in China but seldom in small and median-sized cities. The aim of this study is to investigate occurrence and distribution characteristics of PhACs in a typical small and medium-sized city in China and analyze their sources. 33 PhACs and 4 chiral drugs were selected for a four-season monitoring campaign in Wujin District, Jiangsu Province, a typical small and median-sized city, in 2018. PhACs concentration level in surface water, ranging from ng L−1 to μg L−1, was lower than in large-sized cities and areas in China. Impact from agricultural sources should be concerned in the study area: (1) Significant correlation between concentrations of antibiotics and NH4-N in surface water indicated the potential impact from agricultural sources (fishponds and livestock farms); (2) Government regulating measures on livestock and poultry farms since January 2018 have effectively decreased macrolides and lincosamides emissions into surface water. As for source analysis, CF/CBZ (Caffeine/Carbamazepine) was a feasible indicator to trace untreated wastewater and enantiomeric fraction values of metoprolol (MTP) were also suggested to be helpful for identifying untreated wastewater. The results of both two indicators indicated more input of untreated wastewater to surface water in the northeast area and upstream of Wuyi Canal. To our best knowledge, this is the first study to systematically analyze PhACs in aquatic environment for a small and medium-sized city in China.

Preliminary study on the integration control platform of construction waste based on “BIM+GIS” technology

In recent years, the output of construction waste in China has been increasing. 70% of more than 600 large and medium-sized cities in China are surrounded by waste, of which the contribution rate of construction waste reaches 40%. Compared with some developed countries, China lacks real-time monitoring and intelligent control of the whole process of construction waste. In this paper, the popular “BIM + GIS” technology is introduced into the field of construction waste supervision. Based on this technology, a real-time monitoring and intelligent management and control information management platform for construction waste is established, so as to achieve accurate management and control of construction waste.