“Don’t Frack with Our Karoo”: Water,Landscape, and Congregational Song in Kroonvale,South Africa

There is a new environmental threat to the South African Karoo region in the form of hydraulic fracturing (or “fracking”) for natural gas reserves buried deep underground. In this article, I use the issue of fracking in the Karoo to investigate the power of this landscape over its people and focus particularly on the question of how the cultural traditions of the Karoo would be affected. In contrast, W.J.T. Mitchell argues that landscape exerts a relatively weak power over its residents. My work serves as a critique of theories that see landscape as exerting only marginal influence over people. I argue that not only does landscape exert a palpable power over its inhabitants, but also that landscape affects the musical traditions of these residents and, ultimately, the configuration of the Karoo soundscape. To investigate this, I draw on my research of music in three churches with coloured people’s membership in the town of Graaff-Reinet and examine this tradition in the context of its surrounding landscape.     

Mapping Urban Revitalization: Using GIS Spatial Analysis to Evaluate a New Housing Policy

This longitudinal, multimethod study uses geographical information system (GIS) software to evaluate the community-wide impact of a neighborhood revitalization project. Unsystematic visual examination and analysis of GIS maps are offered as a complementary tool to quantitative analysis and one that is much more compelling, meaningful, and effective in presentation to community and nonscientific professional audiences. The centerpiece of the intervention was the development of a new, middle-class housing subdivision in an area that was declining physically and economically. This represents three major urban/housing policy directions: (1) the emphasis on home ownership for working-class families, (2) the deconcentration of poverty through development of mixed-income neighborhoods, and (3) the clean up and redevelopment of contaminated, former industrial brownfields. Resident survey responses, objective environmental assessment observations, and building permit data were collected, geocoded at the address level, and aggregated to the block level on 60 street blocks in the older neighborhoods surrounding the new housing in two waves: during site clearing and housing construction (Time 1: 1993–95) and three years post-completion (Time 2: 1998–99). Variables mapped include (a) Time 1–2 change in self-reported home repairs and improvements, (b) change in the assessed physical condition of yards and exteriors of 925 individual residential properties, (c) change in residents' home pride, and (d) a city archive of building permits at Time 2. Physical conditions improved overall in the neighborhood, but spatial analysis of the maps suggest that the spillover effects, if any, of the new housing were geographically limited and included unintended negative psychological consequences. Results argue for greater use of GIS and the street block level in community research and of psychological and behavioral variables in planning research and decisions.     

关于资源型城市转型的几点思考

该文从中国资源型城市面临的新形势出发,就中国资源型城市的优势与发展道路的选择进行了探讨,并从主导产业的选择和产业结构重构的角度提出了资源型城市转型必须大力实施开放先导、科技创新和可持续发展等三大战略,形成以可持续发展战略为基础、开放战略为主导、科技创新战略为支撑的战略体系。     

Welfare Loss with Municipal Amalgamations and the Willingness-to-Pay for the Municipality Name

Functional advantages and drawbacks are commonly mentioned to rationally justify or condemn municipality amalgamations. However, many consolidation projects are resisted by local governments or citizens on the grounds that amalgamation would dampen local identity. A municipality’s name change is probably the most visible sign of the loss of community bond experienced by citizens at amalgamation time. This article aims to put a value on this loss by measuring citizen willingness to pay for their city name. This methodological approach innovates upon the literature on municipal amalgamation and place branding by exploiting the versatility of the so-called contingent valuation method (CVM). CVM confronts respondents, in a survey setting, with a hypothetical market in which a characteristic of interest is exchanged. Here the characteristic is the possibility to retain one’s city name for an amalgamated jurisdiction. The article presents the estimates provided by a survey conducted in four Swiss cities.     

市管县实践的反思:"复合行政"的视角

从制度演变的轨迹看,我国曾经三次大规模地推行市管县体制.由于制度背景的差异,市管县体制所取得的绩效也发生了很大的变化,从推动地方经济发展到各种弊端日益突出.分析市管县体制的各种影响因素,可以看出行政区划变革在促进经济发展中的局限性.要解决区域经济一体化的问题,就应该从治理的角度,寻求有效的地方治理之道,复合行政的理念就提供了这样一种新思路.     

对省级行政区域城市群构建的思考——以构建大南昌城市群为例

城市群已成为国家或地区参与全球竞争与国际分工的基本地域单元。基于省级行政区域构建城市群在我国很有必要。本文以构建大南昌城市群为例,重点探讨省级行政区域城市群构建的理论基础、城市群形成与成长的条件。研究表明：江西应构建以南昌为中心,包括九江、新余、抚州、鹰潭等城市在内的大南昌城市群,使其成为全国的高技术产业及现代制造业基地、农产品生产与加工基地和综合交通运输枢纽,成为一个空间结构合理、社会经济与资源环境协调发展、具有竞争力的经济密集区。为此,江西应遵循大城市群成长规律,从规划、机构、区域分工与合作、城镇空间结构、一体化、区域创新和产业集群等方面统筹谋划,分步实施。     

建国60年来中国地方行政区划和府际关系的变革与展望

地方行政区划和府际关系的重构是20世纪以来中国现代国家制度建设工程的重要内容．关系到国家的政治稳定和地方社会经济的可持续发展。建国60年来,中国地方行政区划和府际关系的调整和改革,基本上延续了传统中国的治理逻辑和治理术,即以属地管辖和行政内部发包制为特征、由职权同构和行政分权构成的多层级的地方政府结构为基本治理结构。为适应工业化、市场化和城市化的现实要求,中国地方行政区划和府际关系必须根据法治政府、责任政府和公共服务型政府的制度设计,对既有的地方治理结构进行改革和调整。以民主化和地方自治促进和改善地方治理,使地方行政区划和府际关系以及相应的产权、财税权和人事权等制度走向法治化、制度化和规范化。     

名家谈桂林旅游业发展——颜邦英先生访谈录

桂林在全国率先对外开放旅游。改革开放之初,桂林经济社会发展战略的指导思想是:充分发挥山水名城优势,经济发展和城市布局要适应桂林城市性质,处理好工业和旅游业的关系,让旅游业发挥主导作用。当前桂林旅游发展方向,一是以桂林为重要节点城市之一,建设中华水系游览线路;二是把桂林建成世界旅游中心。     

城乡社会化环境对进城务工子女成长影响的研究

进城务工子女经历了城乡社会经济文化两种社会化环境,其价值观念、行为规范和交际准则等社会化内容大不相同。进城后,他们身受双重社会化标准的影响,从把固有的纯朴作为社会化的准则,到将各种“期望”作为追求的目标,会形成自己社会化的特点。造成社会化内容和目标不同的主要因素是社会化环境的改变。     

孝感市城镇户籍制度改革的基本思路

形成于计划经济体制下的城镇户籍制度已不适应经济和社会的发展,在一定程度上妨碍了人口、人才的大流动,阻碍了生产力的发展,制约了城镇化进程,必须进行改革。制定城乡一体、统一规范、便民利民、与社会经济发展相适应的城镇户口准入政策;规范审批程序,减少办事环节,简化城镇户籍落户手续,使城镇户籍制度改革适应社会的发展。