Towns In China Research Articles

Green-production transitions and hazardous industrial discharge: A regional case study from China.

Green production, which reduces hazardous industrial discharges per unit output, is promoted throughout China. The Environmental Kuznets Curve suggests a negative correlation between hazardous industrial discharge and economic growth due to green innovation. This study expanded the EKC framework by including heterogeneity in evaluating the relationship between hazardous industrial discharges and economic growth to reflect green transformation. Administrative ranking disparity is identified as one of the fundamental driving forces of green production transition in a developing country. Building on an enriched EKC framework, we used a spatial estimation model to exclude spatial effects and obtained accurate estimates of the classified regions. The modified research method was used to examine whether industrial pollution has been reduced in 267 cities and towns in China from 2007 to 2021. Environmental protection performance was examined to estimate whether there is a switch to green manufacturing. As industrial hazards are of different types, the author sought to determine whether there was a decrease in industrial sulphur dioxide emissions, wastewater, solid waste, or dust, even though more industrial hazards were recycled than before. The spatial estimates indicated that (a) the national level of pollution remains positively linked with the total output, and every percentage of output growth increases sulphur dioxide emissions by 444.573 tons; (b) a positive relationship between economic growth and wastewater is altered by environmental protection in cities, while the general decoupling between economic growth and other types of industrial pollution, such as solid waste and industrial dust, was not observed; (c) growth in the southeast was decoupled from sulphur emissions, and its sulphur dioxide production per unit of output increased to 0.021 tons. Sulphur dioxide emissions per unit of economic growth along the southeast coast were 379. 048 tons, which was well below the overall average of 444.573 tons. High-income towns along the southeast coast have achieved clean production breakthroughs, realising a 15% reduction in industrial sulphur dioxide emissions by 2021. Although there were signs of a shift toward clean manufacturing in high administrative ranking cities, most regions of China are transitioning to environmentally friendly manufacturing and suffer from the hardships of green production transformation.

Research on the Interaction Space Evaluation of Aged Care Architecture in Villages and Towns from the Perspective of Inclusiveness: Take Wuyang County as an Example

As China’s population keeps aging, the hollowing-out problem in villages and towns gradually becomes prominent, accompanied by the increasing number of residents in aged care architecture. As one social occasion, the interaction space of aged care architecture is of great significance for the elderly. The present study, therefore, collects and analyzes relevant evaluation indicators from the perspective of inclusiveness. The AHP-Fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method was adopted to construct an evaluation system for the interaction space of aged care architecture in villages and towns in China. In order to verify the system’s accuracy and effectiveness, the evaluation of Xin’an Town in Wuyang County was carried out. The research is helpful for the design of interaction space of future aged care architecture in China and the improvement of the existing buildings, providing a certain reference for the inclusive evaluation of the interaction space of aged care architecture in villages and towns.

Spatial configuration of fire protection for historical streets in China using space syntax

Historical streets are greatly threatened by fires. However, current studies are qualitative and case specific, which makes their results impractical to apply in engineering. In this paper, a more quantitative and universal approach that focuses on the spatial forms of historical streets and fire protection design in historic districts is proposed. Notably, a holistic solution for renovation is proposed. The accessibility of the surrounding sections of an old town in China is assessed based on spatial design network analysis (sDNA), and the fire risk of buildings is determined with point of interest (POI) data. Areas with poor accessibility and high fire risk are identified. The areas recommended for demolition are selected by comparing the protection plans for areas with recent satellite maps. A plan that includes key fire protection areas, road network designs and micro fire stations is derived. Multisource data are used to examine possibilities for the spatial design of fire protection along historical streets from a spatial perspective. Then, this approach is validated to verify its feasibility. The validation results indicate that the sum, mean and standard deviation values of the closeness and betweenness of the renovated roads are significantly improved. The solution proposed in this paper enhances the fire safety level of historical streets, which is of great significance for the safety and protection of old town areas.

Debris flow gully zoning and risk assessment based on numerical simulation

In order to evaluate the zoning and risk of debris flow gully based on numerical simulation, a set of theoretical system and technical process of debris flow quantitative risk analysis suitable for mountainous towns in southwest China was constructed, taking buildings and roads as the research objects, in view of the particularity of disaster-bearing body types and debris flow disaster modes. It is mainly divided into three steps: (1) Using FLO-2D numerical model, the risk of debris flow is expressed by intensity index IDF; The simulation results of debris flow in Gully A 7·11 show that the area of correctly judged area is 50.02×104m2, the comprehensive accuracy index ω is 1.22, and the maximum IDF can reach 1013.25m3/s2, showing a general trend that the upstream is higher than the downstream, and the center of the drainage channel is higher than both sides. Using the data of debris flow damage in A ditch 7·11 in A city, a material vulnerability curve based on the probability of exceeding loss is constructed. Based on the establishment of disaster-bearing body database, the expected loss of disaster-bearing body can be expressed quantitatively by setting different future debris flow scenarios. The model verification and case application of A ditch in A city show that the quantitative risk analysis system of debris flow can well reflect the response mechanism of disaster-bearing body and debris flow, and can provide scientific basis for disaster prevention and mitigation in debris flow threat areas.

A Research of Emeralds from Panjshir Valley, Afghanistan

In recent years, emeralds from the Panjshir Valley in Afghanistan have taken a large share of the market, with high-quality emeralds comparable to Colombian emeralds. In order to meet the market demand for tracing the origin of emeralds, 20 emeralds from the region were tested using conventional gemology, laser Raman spectroscopy, Fourier infrared spectroscopy, ultraviolet-visible-near-infrared spectroscopy, and laser ablation plasma-mass spectrometry. The results show that the contents of the samples are mainly serrated three-phase inclusions, which are similar to those of Colombian emeralds. There are multiple solid inclusions and two liquids in the serrated voids. The main coloring elements of the sample are chromium and vanadium. The alkali metal content is moderate, among which rubidium (average content: 25.72 ppm) and cesium (average content: 33.15 ppm) content is lower. The near-infrared spectrum reveals that the absorption characteristic was dominated by type I water. A chemical composition analysis indicates that the chemical composition of Panjshir emeralds is similar to that of the emeralds of Davdar Township in China and Coscuez in Colombia, but they could be distinguished by an Na-Sc and Rb-Ga diagram.

Kerusakan Lingkungan Akibat Sampah Kulit Kerang di Situs Kota Cina Medan

The China Town in the past was one of the important trading ports in the archipelago, this is proven by the abundance of findings from archaeological excavations at the site. The decline of China Town as a trading city is recorded in people's memories in the form of speech stories. The story that is quite well known and developed in the community that makes China Town abandoned by its inhabitants is due to the attack of kepah (a type of sea shell) that comes from the sea. As a result, people flocked to leave the city. This story continues to this day. This paper aims to explain scientifically the speech stories that developed in the community associated with data from archaeological research that has been carried out at the site. From the results of excavations carried out, it is found that in various locations, kitchen waste is almost always found in the form of concentrations of shells. This results in environmental damage in the form of river silting, and the closure of the soil surface due to shell waste. These two things make China Town uncomfortable to live in and then abandoned.

Spatial Differentiation Patterns of Agricultural Industry Demonstration Towns in China

Industrial prosperity is the foundation of rural revitalization. Taking the 552 agricultural industry demonstration towns (AIDTs) as the research object, this paper explores the spatial layout and influence mechanism of AIDTs in China. The research is of great significance to the layout of China's agricultural industry and the revitalization of the rural agricultural industry. This paper adopts the ArcGIS 10.3 spatial analysis method to reveal the spatial distribution characteristics, density characteristics, spatial complexity, and spatial correlation of AIDTs in China. (1) The spatial distribution of AIDTs tends to be condensed distribution with remarkable spatial differentiation. (2) The kernel density of China's AIDTs is characterized by multiple independent mononuclear centers, secondary centered bands, and sporadic distribution. (3) The AIDTs system is characterized by scaleless areas, significant fractal features, and complexity of spatial structure. (4) The AIDTs belong to positive spatial correlation present different patterns of cold and hot spots with the more concentrated spatial distribution. The research indicates that the spatial distribution pattern of China's AIDTs is highly consistent with the distribution of major grain-producing areas. It is mainly determined by factors such as good natural conditions, convenient water resources, and good regional advantages and continuously implemented agricultural industry reform. With the “three changes” reform (i.e. change resources into assets, funds into shares, and farmers into shareholders) proposed by Liupanshui City in Guizhou Province in March 2015 as a strategy, take the agricultural industry scale development model and adheres to the guidance of the agricultural industry to contribute to rural revitalization. The research results are of essential guiding significance for China's agricultural industry reform, agricultural economic development, rural revitalization, and the characteristics of agricultural industry layout.

Newly constructed ancient towns in China: creating ‘heritage’ in theme parks

ABSTRACT China has been experiencing a boom in newly constructed ancient towns (NCAT). Under the influence of recent central policies, requiring heritage activation and cultural revitalisation, NCATs that were viewed as theme parks providing entertaining experiences have become a new type of heritage site. With a case study of Gubei Water Town, it is shown that under the name of revitalising traditional culture, ‘heritage’ is created following the decisions of the tourism developer based on tourist preference. We suggest that themed environments may aggravate the exclusion of local communities and reduce the possibility for bottom-up negotiations in the process of heritage interpretation. Also, the convergence of NCATs and ancient towns may speed up the decline in cultural diversity in China.

Design optimization of hilly water distribution network under different operation conditions

Abstract In order to optimize the water supply system for various operation models, this study uses a hilly water supply project as an example. In order to analyze the water supply network for optimization, this study uses two objective functions: cost and dependability. The designer can then select the best optimization strategy for his needs. The design of a real-world water supply network, a component of a water supply network in a seaside town in China, was done using this methodology. Based on the findings, it is crucial to improve the design of the water supply network under various operating models to get a more reliable design solution at a lower design cost.

Planning and developing a high-speed railway new town under state entrepreneurialism in China

ABSTRACT The development of high-speed railway (HSR) new towns in China represents a new phase of suburbanization and has had a significant impact on urban expansion, but not all of its mechanisms and drivers have been studied. This article aims to understand the booming development of HSR new towns in China through the theoretical lens of state entrepreneurialism. It dissects the entrepreneurial behaviors of the local state in a medium-sized city, which harnesses the HSR project strategically to develop a new town. Our findings reveal that local governments play out state entrepreneurialism in developing HSR new towns. They compete with other cities for HSR projects. They are motivated by land revenue generation, career advancement for officials, and maintaining state power. Furthermore, this article contributes to the understanding of interactions among multi-level governments. Local states in China can also exert influence on the policymaking and resource allocation of the national government.

Research on the Optimization of Street Space in the Old City of Wuhan from the Perspective of "Emotional Design"

As the core of the city, the old town carries the history of the city and people's memories. However, in the past ten years, the focus of urban construction has gradually shifted to the new urban area, the construction of the old town has gradually faded out of people's sight, at the same time, more and more high-rise buildings have risen up, and urban construction has been separated from the local cultural background, which has also caused the status quo of "one side of a thousand cities". Nowadays, people have begun to pursue spiritual needs after satisfying basic material needs, so they have new thinking in urban construction. Taking people's emotional needs as the starting point, combined with the regional characteristics of the old town in China, this paper analyzes, and in view of the existing problems in the street space of the old town in China, the principle of people-oriented and sustainable development is integrated into the space optimization strategy to create an "emotional" public space and stimulate new vitality in the old town.

Effects of the planning and implementation of housing reconstruction on community resilience in China

Many researchers agree that the current Chinese top-down housing reconstruction model guarantees both its enforcement and efficiency. However, many have also questioned its possible negative effects on the affected localities. Thus, this research conducted an empirical study on three recently serious-affected towns in China that were hit by earthquakes. Further, it identifies different types of housing projects according to their reconstruction methods, measures and compares their resilience levels, and proposes policy implications. Our findings clarify and indicate various implications. First, the housing reconstruction in China has been carried out primarily by on-site self-constructed housing (SCH) and relocated government-constructed housing (GCH). Second, SCH generally has high resilience levels and should thus be encouraged during the post-disaster resettlement period. Third, in the affected areas with developmental conditions, GCH should also be considered as it could also achieve a high-quality built environment and urban development. Fourth, this study found that, in less developed areas, large-scale relocation constructions always result in a low resilience and, thus, need to be avoided. Fifth, the mobilization of various external forces would provide strong support for achieving a high-quality reconstruction in both developed and less-developed areas. Therefore, a coordination method is important in leveraging their unique capacities without neglecting local demands. Finally, within the Chinese urban-rural divide, inhabitants with a transitional social identity are particularly vulnerable, requiring more attention and policy support in the long term.

‘What’s the problem? I am happy that you are my customer!’ African immigrant women’s emotional labour and resilience in a multilingual workplace

ABSTRACTRecent research on multilingualism and emotions in the immigrant context indicates that negative emotions such as anxiety related to monolingual or cultural norms may prevail in immigrants’ daily lives. Immigrants may respond to negative emotions with avoidance, for instance by avoiding using the language that makes them anxious. This study further examines emotion-related concepts of immigrant experience in a setting rarely researched: a highly multilingual workplace in Cape Town, South Africa. It focuses on immigrants’ emotional lived experiences, emotional labour, and coping strategies such as avoidance or resilience. We report on semi-structured interviews with four African immigrant women working as shop assistants in a China Town shopping centre in the Western Cape. Noting the diversity of experiences in emotional reactions and coping, findings reveal that negative emotions African immigrant women experience are associated more with threatened life chances, than with non-standard speech forms. Although reported experiences imply a significant burden of emotional labour, these African immigrant women do not get caught in negative emotions and avoidance; rather, they demonstrate emotional resilience and active coping strategies (e.g. positive emotions, humour, gratitude) that allow them to manage conflict and negativity.

The Non-Agriculturalization of Cultivated Land in Karst Mountainous Areas in China

When used for agricultural production, karst mountainous areas are susceptible to soil degradation due to the effects of soluble rocks and the climate. To mitigate the risk, the Grain for Green Project, a sizable initiative, was commenced to transition cultivated land away from agricultural use. This conversion of cultivated land to non-agricultural land has been significant. The study area considered in this research included four small towns in southwest China in karst mountainous areas with various morphologies. The investigation of the non-agriculturalization of cultivated land in the four sample areas revealed that the non-agriculturalization rate of cultivated land as a result of the Grain for Green Project has reached between 21.36% and 51.43% each decade. Thus, the Grain for Green Project has been advantageous for lowering the landscape ecological risk. Furthermore, because an increasing number of agricultural production materials have been introduced to the cultivated land, the conversion from cultivated land to non-agricultural land has not caused a staple food crisis on the national scale. However, it is impossible to observe all the potential drawbacks of the non-agriculturalization of cultivated land from satellite photos alone, and further social data collection is required. The findings of this study can offer precise information for policymaking in relation to the protection of rural cultivated land and rural spatial optimization in karst mountainous areas.

Social vulnerability assessment of landslide disaster based on improved TOPSIS method: Case study of eleven small towns in China

• Constructing evaluation index system of social vulnerability of small towns in China. • Exploring the spatial differences of social vulnerability landslide disaster areas. • Risk perception and social structure are the two key factors of social vulnerability in landslide disaster areas. • It provides a case and method reference for structural and non-structural disaster prevention & mitigation.a. There are few studies on the social vulnerability of small towns in landslide disaster areas. The occurrence of geological disasters will directly threaten the local socioeconomic growth, it is particularly important to identify vulnerable areas and populations by using the social vulnerability index system. Eleven small towns of landslide areas after Wenchuan earthquake were taken as examples, based on 863 questionnaires and statistical data, this study established a new comprehensive evaluation index system of social vulnerability evaluation in landslide areas, and conducted quantitative evaluation by using the improved TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution) model, the social vulnerability index was adopted to compare, classify and rank the social vulnerability levels in townships. The empirical results indicate that the social vulnerability showed the characteristics of regional heterogeneity, most towns showed a high or medium level of social vulnerability. Only Yingxiu showed a low level of social vulnerability, Shuimo presented the highest evaluation score of social vulnerability in eleven towns, the inter-group difference between these two towns is 0.286. Risk perception is an important factor affecting social vulnerability in landslide areas, involving disaster awareness, disaster cognitive approach, and community publicity. Additionally, social structure is another key factor affecting these areas based on the scores of the top three areas with the highest social vulnerability, including disaster prevention facilities, residents' income, and infrastructure accessibility. The index system can evaluate the social vulnerability scientifically in landslide areas, it can be used for urban disaster management and socioeconomic development in geological disaster areas.

County town shrinkage in China: Identification, spatiotemporal variations and the heterogeneity of influencing factors

Small town shrinkage has become a global social and economic phenomenon. County towns, which are characterized by large numbers, diverse types, important functions and wide distribution, are an indispensable component of small towns in China. The shrinkage of county towns in China is typical and unique in the global urban shrinkage system. Therefore, this study takes county towns in China as the basic unit, uses the rate of population change to identify shrinking towns, and analyzes the spatiotemporal patterns and distribution characteristics of the shrinking towns, from 2010 to 2018. Eleven indicators in six categories were selected, and temporal weighted regression (TWR) and geographically weighted regression (GWR) were used to explore the spatiotemporal heterogeneity of influencing factors. The results show that, during the study period, the number of shrinking towns in China increased. The phenomenon of urban shrinkage was common in seven geographical regions, mainly distributed in Northeast, Northwest, North and Southwest China during the study period. The shrinkage trajectory was dominated by two forms of shrinkage, namely potential shrinkage and segmented shrinkage. Both growing towns and shrinking towns were affected by population agglomeration, economic base, industrial structure, and space development. Traffic and location were unique factors that affected shrinking towns. The results also show that the influencing factors of shrinking towns were not significantly heterogeneous in time, but significantly heterogeneous in space. These findings help us to understand the complexity and diversity of small town shrinkage in China and also provide a reference for planners and decision makers to formulate corresponding governance strategies for shrinking towns in different regions.

거주 후 평가를 통한 실버타운 실외환경시설의 평가에 관한 연구

With the development of human civilization, the average life expectancy of the world's people is increasing, and the proportion of the elderly population in the social demographic structure is increasing significantly. Population aging, a social problem, followed. Today, the safety of the elderly has become one of the world's concerns. Resolving the housing problem of the elderly is an important part of strengthening the social security of the elderly, and the problem of housing for the elderly has become an important issue for social stability today. Today, as China's aging society rapidly develops, the elderly population who chooses to move into Silver Town is increasing year by year as family care capabilities are weakening. The purpose of this study is to investigate and analyze the needs and characteristics of the elderly living in Chinese elderly apartments mainly. While understanding the living conditions of the elderly living in Silver Town in China, evaluation and research on the external environmental facilities of Silver Town are conducted to reflect the level and completeness of the outdoor activity venues. This study aims to objectively identify the correlation between the characteristics of the elderly and their satisfaction with the elderly who have lived in Silver Town, focusing on the outdoor environmental facilities of Silver Town. For this, a method of filling in directly through a network and an online survey were conducted. Statistical analysis results were performed, and factors were secured through detailed reliability and validity verification. Based on this, the results of correlation analysis and regression analysis are summarized as follows. Combining the characteristics of outdoor activities of the elderly, safety, relative privacy, and relative openness had a positive effect on satisfaction. Therefore, it is very important to use the safety, relative privacy, and relative openness of outdoor activities for the elderly as standard factors for adjusting outdoor facilities.

Study on the Sustainable Development Factors of Agriculture-Oriented Characteristic Towns in China

In recent years, China’s agriculture-oriented characteristic towns (AOCTs) have developed rapidly. However, the development of AOCTs in different regions varies. Having examined 131 AOCTs in China, this paper constructs a comprehensive evaluation system for the sustainable development of AOCTs and applies a sub-constraint evaluation model to study the performance of AOCTs. The main findings are as follows. (1) The most important dimension for the sustainable development of AOCTs is “social development”, which implies that in order to build AOCTs, the government should pay attention to social development in rural areas, especially improving medical services and public service. (2) Under the dimension of “social development”, the three most important factors are the unemployment rate, per capita consumption expenditures of rural households, and per capita consumption expenditures of urban households. This implies that we must adhere to the policy for ensuring rural employment and encourage the development of local enterprises in order to provide more jobs and change their existing consumption structure. (3) Among the four main economic zones in China, the eastern region has the most advantageous factors, and the western region has the least; furthermore, regarding the disadvantaged factors, the western region has the most and the eastern region the least. This shows that AOCTs in different regions should determine their respective advantages and disadvantages, match resources accordingly, and formulate their own development strategy, which could also contribute to decreasing the gap between the eastern and western regions. Hence, the results of this study not only clearly point out the important factors for the sustainable development of AOCTs but also make them detailed and specific in order to provide the government with targeted and highly operable suggestions.

Rituals and Collective Memory in Social Media: A Case Study of the Lantern Festival in Baiqueyuan Town of China

The Lantern Festival in Baiqueyuan Town, Guangshan, is a long-standing traditional folk custom and the best-preserved folklore fire celebration in southern Henan Province. Through in-depth interviews, this study exam-ines how the Lantern Festival in Baiqueyuan Town, Guangshan, takes ad-vantage of modern media and plays to its strengths in the context of social media to culturally interpret the Lantern Festival in Baiqueyuan Town, and how the collective memory of the event as a ritual phenomenon is con-structed. The study also examines how the collective memory of the lantern festival as a ritual phenomenon is constructed.

Analysis of the Emotional Identification Mechanism of Campus Edible Landscape from the Perspective of Emotional Geography: An Empirical Study of a Chinese University Town.

Against the background of “the emotional turn” in geography, the study of emotional identification is attracting increasing attention among researchers. Edible landscape resources can satisfy the emotional needs of teachers and students by enabling them to experience pastoral landscapes that carry cultural and landscape values to campus environments. Based on a questionnaire survey of 419 students and teachers at Chenggong University Town in China, this study improved the structural equation modeling (SEM) method to construct a model to analyze the emotional identification mechanism of the campus edible landscape. The research found that emotional identification played an intermediary role between perception and behavioral intention, manifested as an association mechanism in which surface values influence perception, perception influences emotional identification, and emotional identification influences behavioral intention. The emotional identification model revealed the relationship between teachers and students’ emotional identification and the value of campus edible landscape resources for the first time. It also uncovered the universality of the association mechanism in the research of emotional geography.