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.     

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。     

习近平法治思想对法治基本价值理念的传承与发展

习近平法治思想对法治的基本价值、理念进行了本土化诠释、时代化丰富和理论性创新。其立足我国国情民意和新时代历史方位,对人民民主、宪法法律至上、公平正义、人权保障、权力监督、法律平等等法治基本价值话语作了深层思考与理论凝练,传承发展了我们党长期以来形成的法治价值理念,揭露了西方法治价值理论的缺陷和偏颇,体现了法治价值普遍性与特殊性的统一,为全面依法治国、建设法治中国提供了价值导向和遵循。深入研究习近平关于法治价值的重要论述意义重大,有利于全面深刻理解习近平法治思想的真谛,有利于提升习近平法治思想的感召力与实践力,有利于增强中国特色社会主义法治理论在国际社会的话语权。     

服务型政府构建的价值取向研究

构建服务型政府是实现有效社会治理的重要举措之一,也是经济全球化背景下我国政府改革的直接目标。作为一种新型的政府治理模式,服务型政府的构建必须以＂公民本位＂为核心指导思想,因为＂公民本位＂是服务型政府合法性的基础,是完成服务型政府根本任务的重要保障,是贯彻落实科学发展观的重要体现,是构建社会主义和谐社会的重要组成部分。＂公民本位＂对现阶段我国服务型政府的构建具有明显的价值导向作用,服务型政府应当是坚持公民权利导向、公共权力回归于民导向、法治导向和公民参与导向的政府。     

论深入开展社会主义核心价值体系建设

党中央提出社会主义核心价值体系建设,既是社会主义和谐社会建设和意识形态建设的需要,也是促进马克思主义学习型政党建设和社会主义伦理道德建设的需要。社会主义核心价值体系是指在马克思主义指导下,坚持社会主义共同理想、坚持中华民族精神和时代精神、坚持社会主义荣辱观的价值体系。其中马克思主义指导思想是灵魂,中国特色社会主义共同理想是主题,民族精神和时代精神是精髓,社会主义荣辱观是基础。建设社会主义核心价值体系,要加强党的领导和管理,加强舆论宣传和思想政治工作,改进党员干部的教育培训和理论研究工作,从党组织和个人两个方面共同努力。     

论我国税收立法的价值取向——以执法风险防范为视角

立法的重要问题,就是价值取向的选择。以现代税法的视角来考察,我国以往税收立法在价值取向上,受传统税收文化、马克思主义国家学说及计划经济体制的影响,具有以国家意志和国家利益为本位的特性,这在特定的历史时期和发展阶段是有积极意义的。但在今天看来,该价值取向易导致税法的法律特性被弱化、纳税人的权利被虚置,并成为引发税收执法风险的重要原因。我们认为应坚持以人为本的价值理念,强化税收法定主义精神,促进我国税收立法的现代化和法治化。     

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。     

传统管制型政府的价值缺失与服务型政府建设

政府作为特定的集体行动体系,其行动蕴含着价值因素,并且体现着一定的价值取向。传统管制型政府的价值取向包括高度的权力取向、片面的秩序取向和偏颇的效率取向,这些价值取向存在着显著的价值缺失。因此,从传统管制型政府走向服务型政府已成为政府创新的必然选择,这是社会主义制度的本质要求,是经济社会及民主政治发展的内在需要,同时也是国际环境变化的强烈要求。     

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.