Wrestling Sprawl to the Ground: Defining and measuring an elusive concept

Abstract

The literature on urban sprawl confuses causes, consequences, and conditions. This article presents a conceptual definition of sprawl based on eight distinct dimensions of land use patterns: density, continuity, concentration, clustering, centrality, nuclearity mixed uses, and proximity. Sprawl is defined as a condition of land use that is represented by low values on one or more of these dimensions.

Each dimension is operationally defined and tested in 13 urbanized areas. Results for six dimensions are reported for each area, and an initial comparison of the extent of sprawl in the 13 areas is provided. The test confirms the utility of the approach and suggests that a clearer conceptual and operational definition can facilitate research on the causes and consequences of sprawl.     

Rangeland Degradation in North China Revisited? A Preliminary Statistical Analysis to Validate Non-Equilibrium Range Ecology

Over the past decades, the concepts of carrying capacity and Clementsian vegetation succession have come under attack from the theory of Non-Equilibrium Range Ecology. The new theory hypothesises that in arid regions with high rainfall variability the ecology is mainly determined by climatic and not biotic factors, such as animal grazing. The argument carried further implies that 'rangeland degradation' or 'desertification' are not caused by overgrazing but are part of a natural process of vegetation decline and growth in response to rainfall, which ruminant numbers merely follow. Few empirical studies involving time-series data have been executed to substantiate Non-Equilibrium Range Ecology. This article, hopes to make a contribution to the current debate with a statistical validation of one of its main postulates: the correlation between ruminant numbers and rainfall. The analysis is conducted with figures from the People's Republic of China: a state in which rangeland policy is an outstanding example of management on the basis of carrying capacities and Clementsian succession theory.     

Values,Communication Behavior,and Political Participation

This article examines how communication patterns mediate the influences of values on political participation. We find that the positive effects of postmaterial values on participation are mediated through reading public affairs content in newspapers. In contrast, materialist values negatively affect participation through watching television entertainment. Interpersonal discussion in which disagreement occurs mediates both the positive effect of reading public affairs and the negative effect of materialism on political participation. We also provide what may be a better explanation of the influence of communication patterns on political participation by going beyond acquisition of factual political knowledge. We show that individuals' efforts to think about news and search for additional information and perspectives modify what people "get from" media. Reflecting about news and integrating information from various sources promote better understanding of the political world and may provide a stronger cognitive base for political participation than factual political knowledge.     

关于构建土地非诉行政案件“裁执分离”模式的调研报告

基于现行土地管理法律规范并没有赋予土地行政管理机关行政强制执行权,针对非法占地建筑物和设施所作的行政决定的强制执行,需要向人民法院申请,由人民法院强制执行。由于非法占地建筑物和设施形成的原因及强制执行,与其他非诉行政执行案件有诸多不同的特点,由法院进行审查并执行的"审执一体"模式,弊端日益凸显。为有效破解土地非诉行政案件"执行难",本文以数据、案例等为基础,在分析现有模式的前提下,对土地管理领域的非诉行政案件实践"裁执分离"模式,从适用范围、理论基础、法律依据、实践经验等方面展开论证,提出在宏观层面完善立法、中观层面建立协作、微观层面细化规定,构建土地非诉行政案件"裁执分离"新型模式。     

Exploring the two trigger fingers thesis: racial and ethnic differences in officer involved shootings

This article provides a comparative, qualitative and quantitative, analysis of officer-involved shootings of residents who were white, black, or Latino in the City and County of Denver, Colorado from 1983 to 2012. This research project combined district attorney summaries, police shooting files, and police shooting video interviews to understand the patterns involving 213 officer-involved shootings resulting in 103 deaths. Thematically, the differences by race and ethnicity are outlined by three themes including (1) suspect characteristics, (2) officer characteristics, and (3) contextual factors. The findings highlight similarities and differences between incident narratives and compare these observations with aggregated statistics to explore whether law enforcement officers possess one trigger finger for whites and another for blacks and Latinos. This comprehensive analysis of racial and ethnic differences in officer-involved shootings indicates the intersectionality of suspect and officer characteristics along with contextual factors.     

论土地利用中的规制性征收

公共建设是现代行政结构下行政任务的基本构成。城市化背景下,公共建设任务的扩张以及行政任务的多元化,使行政主体难以独自达成庞杂的公共建设任务。规制性征收是通过城市规划将公共建设任务从行政主体转移至私的土地利用主体的法律机制。规制性征收的社会正义性基础在于引导土地利用迈向公平与正义。这种替代性的公共建设模式面临诸多法律问题,因而需要从多维的视角审视其制度合法性。     

Judicial Murder‐Suicides in Van Diemen's Land

On the morning of December 17, 1827, nine convicts were executed by public hanging in Hobart Town, the capital of the British colony of Van Diemen's Land (now the Australian state of Tasmania). Two months previously they had drowned senior Constable George Rex on Small Island, which was part of the penal settlement at Macquarie Harbor, in front of five bound and gagged witnesses. They offered no defence at their trial. Examination of the Tasmanian colonial convict records shows that “suicide by lottery” involved convicts choosing two men, one to die and the other to kill him. The witnesses would earn a respite when taken away for the trial, and the murderer would be executed. “Death by gallows” could be considered a nineteenth‐century version of an orchestrated suicide reminiscent of more modern “death by cop.” This category of “judicial” murder‐suicide expands the range of contemporary classifications of dyadic deaths.     

中国民法典的三个创新

新中国第一部以法典命名的法律终于颁布施行了.建国70多年以来,民法典先后经历了五次的起草编纂,这一次我们终于把我国这么多年来现行的民商事法律法规编纂成一部法典.民法典在编纂上既没有采取德国五编制或法国三编制,而是采取了中国特色的七编制,单独设立了人格权编、侵权责任编,摈弃债法总则.民法典内容上的创新也不少.民事主体采用...     

土地征收的私权保护——兼论我国土地立法的完善

我国由于现行土地征收立法本身存在内在冲突和漏洞 ,又加观念、制度、操作等方面的问题 ,造成土地征收中公权侵害私权 ,产生了严重的社会后果。解决问题的根本出路在于 :更新立法理念 ,贯彻私权保护原则 ;明确界定公共利益范围 ,严格限制征收权的滥用 ;开放农村建设用地市场 ,促进土地资源高效配置 ;健全土地征收程序 ,增强公开性、公正性 ;完善土地征收补偿制度等