The comparative study of China's mega‐city regions: A perspective of competitiveness

Mega‐city regions (MCRs) have emerged as the main spatial form of China's new urbanization strategy and become the basic spatial units participating in global and regional competition. However, MCRs are not equally capable of boosting regional economic development due to their different levels of development. Therefore, this paper adopts the concept of competitiveness as both a theoretical framework and an empirical model to evaluate the development status of China's MCRs. Based on a review of the existing literature, this paper proposes a multi‐tier evaluation system to calculate the competitiveness of 13 MCRs. The chosen indicators come from the six perspectives of economic development, human resources, infrastructural accessibility, integration into the global economy, capacity for scientific and technological innovation, and sustainable development. The results show that there are great disparities and regional inequalities in competitiveness across different MCRs. The Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, and Beijing–Tianjin–Tangshan MCRs are the first‐tier MCRs with the highest levels of development and have significant global influence as well. Chengdu–Chongqing, Shandong Peninsula, South‐central Liaoning, and Wuhan belong to the second‐tier of MCRs that show partial advantages and have significant regional influence. The remaining regions belong to the third‐ or fourth‐tier of MCRs that have relatively weak competitiveness. The competitiveness of MCRs largely depends on the concentration of core elements in core cities.     

City Branding as a Response to Global Intercity Competition

Globalisation is dramatically changing the context of urban communities and the premises for urban development policy. In the context of global intercity competition, cities' major goal is to increase their competitiveness, in which the positioning and attractiveness of a city have a critical function. Attraction‐oriented development strategies aim at effective absorption of external resources from the global space of flows. At the core of attraction strategy are business promotion activities with appealing incentives, but it is assumed that such a competition is risky and may lead to a race to the bottom. Therefore the emphasis is increasingly on less costly and more synergistic city marketing, which utilises city branding and “city profiling” that aim at attract high value‐adding services or high‐tech firms. This paper proposes a city attraction hypothesis that states that global intercity competition is essentially about a city's ability to attract the highest possible value from global flows of values in order to promote urban development. The result of such a global intercity competition determines cities' functions and positions in the global division of labour and thus in the global urban hierarchy, and ultimately determines their ability to increase prosperity and welfare in urban communities.     

Urban Development and Knowledge‐Intensive Business Services: Too Many Unanswered Questions?

ABSTRACT It is often assumed that future urban employment will be increasingly dependent on the knowledge‐intensive business services (KIBS). This underpins much of the current thinking about the development of the English “core cites.” Their example is employed to examine the more general validity of such assumptions, in terms of five critical questions to which research offers only partial and indefinite answers. For any city, how far are these activities really “knowledge intensive”? What markets do they serve? Is their future growth certain? And even when this is the case, how can they make a long‐term contribution to local urban economic success? Finally, how far do urban economic institutions and policies need to be adapted to foster knowledge‐based activities such as KIBS? It seems that, despite the growth of measured KIBS employment, most of the core cities possess few truly knowledge‐intensive KIBS, capable of serving national and international business markets, competitively adapting to future change, and adding to the competitiveness of the wider urban economy. Nationally such activities remain focused into the London region where, if anything, they have increased their concentration is recent years.     

Analysing the Changing Landscape of European Financial Centres: The Role of Financial Products and the Case of Amsterdam

ABSTRACT The turn of the twenty‐first century saw the re‐emergence of debates about the reconfiguration of European financial geographies and the role of stock exchange mergers in this process. There has been, however, no systematic attempt to date to analyse such changes. This paper proposes a specific conceptual framework to explore these issues. It uses a product‐based analysis to examine, in the context of recent stock exchange mergers, the factors affecting the competitiveness of a financial centre. It argues that it is important to understand three intertwined influences—product complementarities, the nature of local epistemic communities, and regulation—and their contingent effects on change. This is exemplified by a tentative application of the framework to the case of Amsterdam in order to better understand its recent decline in competitiveness as a European financial centre.     

The Source of Metropolitan Growth: The Role of Commuting

Over the past few years, a large number of studies have focused on whether population or employment is critical to the source of metropolitan growth. However, only few attempts have so far been made to additionally consider the suburbanization stage and pattern of commuting, which may both enable us to explore this “chicken–egg” issue a little further. The purpose of this paper is to compare dwelling‐based (housing) with job‐based (job) employment to evaluate the net commuting. The Taipei metropolitan area, for example, now lies at the initial suburbanization stage with only population decentralization and massive in‐commuting to the central city. The estimation results based on a co‐integration system reveal that the central‐city employment can be regarded as an engine of this metropolitan economy. Besides, we also find that dwelling‐based employment distorts the causality between population and employment, especially from the variance‐decomposition accounts. Therefore, the importance of commuting to investigating the evolution of metropolitan economy should not be overlooked.     

Resource‐based view of city quality: Scales development and validation

As the urban world population grows steadily, cities have become the main habitat for human beings. Against this backdrop, city quality or the level of development of the city's habitat that ensures the satisfaction of objective and subjective human needs become a matter of growing interest and concern for academics, policy makers, and citizens. Building on a resource‐based view of city quality, the aim of this paper is twofold. First, it proposes and validates scales for six city sub‐habitats: political, economic, social, natural, artificial, and technological. Second, it tests a model and the underlying hypothesis about the ranking of those sub‐habitats and of the perceived controversy regarding decision making upon them. For those purposes, a survey of 768 city inhabitants was conducted in Portugal to measure city quality and their sub‐habitats. Both the predicted ranking of importance of the sub‐habitats and the perceived ranking of controversy were empirically validated. The results constitute a novel and important contribution to understand city quality and its sub‐habitats, whose conceptual power relies on hierarchized factors linked to citizens’ happiness and to the level of controversy of the solutions.     

Some Micro‐Evidence on the “Porter Hypothesis” from Austrian VOC Emission Standards

This paper presents some micro‐evidence relevant to the “Porter Hypothesis” on the techno‐economic consequences of Austrian Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) emission standards, the most restrictive of their kind in the world. Using firm‐level survey data and complementing it with highly disaggregated foreign trade data, the paper explores whether the standards had a palpable impact on the competitiveness of Austrian manufacturers of paints, coatings, printing inks, and adhesives, whether compliance stimulated innovation in this industry, whether the standards crowded out other, more productive Research and Development (R&D), and whether compliance efforts gave rise to unexpected benefits of compliance. It finds no unequivocal aggregate impact on the competitiveness of regulated firms, yet does find some interesting variation with firm size. Moreover, the standards appear to have dampened import competition. The standards gave rise to considerable changes in firms’ product range and appear to have accelerated the rate of product innovation in the regulated industry. R&D spending to develop compliant products is found to be very unevenly distributed, mainly due to technological and, to a lesser extent, organizational factors. There is evidence that compliance efforts displaced or postponed existing R&D projects. However, there is also evidence that search for compliant products yielded unexpected and beneficial ideas, knowledge, and competencies.     

Evaluation of government‐supported provincial innovation competitiveness—Evidence from China

Government support plays a crucial role in enhancing regional innovation capabilities and creating distinctive innovation clusters. Using the innovation competitiveness indicators of the 31 provinces in China, this paper examines the provincial government collaboration and innovation competitiveness values through Super‐SBM data envelopment analysis and analytic hierarchy process. Then, the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm is employed to relate government collaboration to innovation competition and cooperation among provinces in hope of exploring the developmental trends of innovation cluster optimization. Research findings show that only 25.8% of the provincial government support proves effective for regional innovation, and the competitiveness values of the provinces are generally low and need to be improved. By incorporating the role of government support into the innovation competition and cooperation among provinces, there has been a tendency of innovation activities clustering in innovative regions and three major clusters have formed. The trend of clustering will continue to evolve outwards so that the overall innovation level of China would be enhanced.     

The violence of homelessness: Exile and arbitrary detention in Cambodia's war on the poor

This article examines the plight of homeless peoples in Phnom Penh, Cambodia as a consequence of their enmeshment in a new logic of urban governance being rolled out by city officials and municipal planners. The widespread adoption of neoliberal economics has resulted in a globalised version of urban entrepreneurialism, to which Phnom Penh is a participant. The (re)production of enterprise zones, cultural spectacles, waterfront development, and privatised forms of local governance all reflect the powerful disciplinary effects of interurban competition as cities aggressively engage in mutually destructive place‐marketing policies. Against this neoliberal backdrop, the ongoing pattern of violence utilised by municipal authorities against homeless peoples in Phnom Penh is part of a gentrifying process that the local government has dubbed a ‘beautification’ agenda. Of particular concern is how city officials have begun actively promoting the criminalization of the urban homeless and poor through arbitrary arrests and illegal detention, holding them in so‐called re‐education or ‘rehabilitation’ centres. Yet these centres are not what they seem. Such euphemisms attempt to mask the systemic abuse of marginalised peoples who are deemed to present Phnom Penh in a negative light and are consequently unwanted on the streets of the capital city.     

Density,Distance, and Division: Rural Poverty in a Developing‐Country Context

The 3Ds, namely, density, distance, and division, are important for regional economic development and are integrated into a “3D” analytical framework in the 2009 World Development Report. Few empirical studies have examined the relevance of the 3D framework for explaining rural poverty in a developing‐country context. The effects of density on poverty are seldom studied, and distances to different layers of city centers on poverty may vary across different contexts. This paper aims to fill these gaps. Examining the case of Guizhou Province in China and adopting methods of the ordinary least square, instrument variable, and spatial econometrics, we find the evidence of the 3D framework for explaining rural poverty at the county level. Population density has a negative effect on rural poverty, while division, as measured by share of the ethnic minority population, has a positive effect. The effects of distance are mixed. Distance to Guiyang, which is the provincial political‐economic center of Guizhou province, has a negative effect on rural poverty, whereas distance to the local city center has no effect. These results can provide important policy implications for local poverty‐alleviation.     

Effects of World Demand and Competitiveness on Exports and Economic Growth

ABSTRACT There is little consensus in the development literature on whether it is supply explanations such as competitiveness levels, or, the external demand structure which drive the link between exports and economic growth. This paper attempts to reconcile the polarization of the aforementioned viewpoints by examining the effects of both world demand and a country's competitiveness in exports on the relationship between export growth and economic growth. The results indicate that only developing countries which are highly competitive and which also face relatively favorable external demand for their exports experience above-average growth. Weak external demand reduces the positive effects of exports on growth substantially but may be offset by high levels of competitiveness in trade. The results imply that both regional and Third World growth studies on the link between exports and economic growth would profit more from integrating both supply as well as external demand explanations rather than succumb to one of the two viewpoints.     

Immigrants Doing Business in a Mid‐sized Canadian City: Challenges,Opportunities, and Local Strategies in Kelowna,British Columbia

Lacking a tradition of settling immigrants and the appropriate infrastructure to integrate them, small‐ and medium‐sized cities often face the challenge of attracting and retaining immigrants. Using a mixed methods approach, this study compares the experiences of immigrant and non‐immigrant entrepreneurs in a mid‐sized Canadian city, Kelowna, British Columbia. A survey reveals different experiences between these two groups, with immigrants facing more challenges. In the absence of institutionally complete communities or strong ethnic economies, immigrants do not rely extensively on their own community resources, an element considered instrumental for immigrant business development in large cities. Compared to non‐immigrants, immigrant entrepreneurs have a more optimistic outlook on doing business in Kelowna; this is encouraging for a city trying hard to attract immigrant investment. Key informants recommended transforming the city into a more welcoming community, establishing appropriate support infrastructure, and removing potential institutional offsets. This paper adds new theoretical insights to the literature on immigrant entrepreneurship; all socio‐cultural, political‐institutional, and economic‐structural considerations are embedded in geography. The findings also have implications for growth strategies in small‐ and medium‐sized cities.     

Contested notions of disaster justice during the 2011 Bangkok floods: Unequal risk,unrest and claims to the city

The 2011 Bangkok floods, a slow onset event, flooded significant parts of the city. The state's response to flooding followed a traditional cultural and hierarchical approach to justice within Thailand, stemming from Buddhist values, an informal caste system and monarchical order. This resulted in a spatially uneven outcome, with the ‘preservation’ of the central city and two‐month‐long floods in outer suburbs, exacerbated by inadequate management and coordination. Suburban communities sought a more egalitarian notion of disaster justice, with hazard burdens shared more equitably and people having adequate access to decision‐making over the distribution of disaster risk and compensation for damage. Extensive damage, and reduced livelihoods, caused friction between the two views, and protests, contestations and conflicts during the floods, in four different community contexts in northern Bangkok. By generating alternative discourses, challenging the hierarchical notion of justice and taking direct action to removing floodwalls, protesters sought to reshape the spatiality of the floodwater and claim inclusive citizenship and their right to the city. Existing perceptions of disaster justice, usually focused on liberal state responses to understanding disasters as natural episodes, are alone inadequate to explain the outcomes of and responses to disasters in different cultural contexts.     

Voter‐Approved Annexations in an Urban Growth Boundary Regime: The Impacts on Housing Values,Density, and Economic Equity

Oregon is known for its strict Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) policies. While UGBs are designed to accommodate land supply for 20 years of growth, land within UGBs must be annexed into city limits before it can be developed at urban densities and serviced. In Oregon, cities use a variety of municipal annexation and voter‐approved annexation policies (VAAPs), providing an opportunity to study how different annexation policies affect land and housing markets, and affect urban density. Previous research on annexation has not considered how annexation policy influences housing values. This paper examines how VAAPs impact land growth, housing development, and density at the city level. It also examines how VAAPs impact housing values. Based on city‐level and tax‐lot‐level statistical analyses from 107 cities outside Portland Metro area, the results suggest that VAAPs negatively impact the availability of developable land within city limits. VAAPs also positively impact residential density and housing value. Lastly, VAAPs inequitably affect housing value between relatively high‐value housing and relatively low‐value housing, posing economic equity impacts for lower value housing. These findings provide important lessons for Oregon and other states. While VAAPs may increase residential density in cities, the policies may exacerbate affordability problems.     

基于叶大年院士城市对称理论的湘赣经济合作发展新模式的提出与探讨

从现阶段湖南和江西的实际情况出发,以叶大年院士城市对称理论为指导,研究了湘赣两省经济发展的共通性与互补性,提出两省经济合作深度发展尤其是城城合作的新模式。经分析,发现该模式能充分发挥地区优势,实现两省资源、信息、技术的优势互补,提高两省特色产业的竞争力,促进两省乃至中部地区的发展,对中部崛起战略的实施具有重大指导意义。     

The faster the better? Economic effects of the speed of inter‐city technology transfer in China

Although existing studies questioned the simple positive correlation between the technology transfer speed and the benefits, they have been widely condemned for lacking empirical evidence. Using the patent transfer data at the city scale in China, and distinguishing fast from slow by dividing technology transfer speed into four levels, this paper attempts to answer the question in terms of city economic growth, which is whether the faster is the better. Panel regression results show that for economic growth of city, the speed of technology transfer does not mean that faster is better. In other words, technology transfer maintaining a relatively rapid speed (more than 1 year and less than 2 years) can promote city economic growth, although the evidence is weak.     

In the gateway's shadow: Interactions between Singapore's Hinterlands

During the 1990s, Singapore, the Malaysian state of Johor and the Riau Islands in Indonesia marketed themselves as a single investment destination. Due to its capital, technology, and superior logistics, Singapore was the “gateway”; Johor and the Riau Islands were the hinterland—supplying land, labour, and resources. Since then, production networks between the three territories have deepened. Interactions with Singapore have also catalysed connections between Johor and the Riau Islands. To date, research has focussed on the city‐state as the gateway and/or linkages between it and one of the two hinterlands. This emphasis is inherent in the “Gateway City” framework, which focusses on the primary city at the expense of its hinterlands and also overlooks mediating influences such as borders and border regimes. This article proposes complementing the Gateway City with the Cross‐Border Region framework to gain stronger purchase on the unit of analysis and focusing on inter‐hinterland dynamics to gain a more complete picture of how gateway cities affect their surrounding areas. Through applying this expanded theoretical framework to study the interactions of Johor and the Riau Islands, this article seeks to shed light on an under‐theorised and under‐studied aspect of gateway cities.     

Urban–Rural Differences in Internet Usage,e‐Commerce,and e‐Banking: Evidence from Italy

ABSTRACT By reducing the cost of performing isolated economic activities in remote areas, information technology might serve as a substitute for urban agglomeration. The paper assesses this hypothesis using data on Italian households' usage of the Internet, e‐commerce, and e‐banking. The results do not support the argument that the Internet reduces the role of distance. Internet usage is much more frequent among urban consumers than among their non‐urban counterparts. The use of e‐commerce is basically unaffected by the size of the city where the household lives. Geographically remote consumers are discouraged from purchasing goods by the fact that they cannot inspect them beforehand. Leisure activities and cultural items (i.e., books, CDs, and tickets for museums and theaters) are the only goods and services for which e‐commerce is used more in isolated areas. Finally, e‐banking bears no relationship to city size. In choosing a bank, non‐urban customers give more importance to personal acquaintance than do urban clients, partly because bank account holders in remote areas are more likely to have taken out a loan from their bank.     

The Shifting Destinations of Metropolitan Migrants in the U.S., 2005–2011

Recent estimates that central cities are growing faster than their suburbs in the U.S. have captured the attention of both academics and the popular media. Many commentators have used these numbers to claim that internal migration trends in the U.S. have reached a turning point, in which migrants increasingly prefer urban residences to suburban locales. However, these assertions often rely on problematic definitions of city and suburb, and pay too little attention to demographic variations among migrants. This paper examines whether recent internal migrants in the U.S. are choosing closer‐in destinations, drawing from microdata samples from the American Community Survey since 2005. During this period, there is an overall trend of migrants to the largest metropolitan areas in the U.S. choosing to migrate closer to the metropolitan core. However, this trend varies significantly among major demographic groups; whereas younger, single, educated, and white‐collar migrants show evidence of a return to the core, migrants who are blue‐collar, less‐educated, older, and with families remain more suburban. In turn, this analysis suggests that overall trends of “back to the city” migration are producing considerable divergence in the metropolitan destinations of different demographic groups.     

基于钻石模型的甘肃省葡萄酒产业竞争力研究

为研究甘肃省葡萄酒产业竞争力现状及其影响因素,对甘肃省河西走廊地区几家具有发展潜力的葡萄酒企业进行调研,对所收集的资料进行整理分析,通过“钻石模型”介绍了甘肃省葡萄酒产业竞争力现状,之后运用主成分分析法对其竞争力的影响因素进行分析,研究表明：甘肃省葡萄酒产业已初具规模,但市场竞争力不足,主要表现为专业人才较少、葡萄种植及葡萄酒酿造技术缺乏标准化管理、产业配套设施不齐全;技术、政策以及品牌是影响其竞争力的主要因素。