Rural‐to‐Urban Commuting: Three Degrees of Integration

Commuting ties between rural places of residence and urban places of employment are among the most visible forms of rural–urban integration. For some rural areas, access to urban employment is a key source of population retention and growth. However, this access varies considerably across rural areas, with distance representing a primary deterrent. In addition to distance, the size of the urban community will also influence rural‐to‐urban commuting opportunities. In this paper, using Canadian data, we empirically estimated the influence of local rural population and job growth on rural out‐commuting within the urban hierarchy. We find consistent support for the deconcentration hypothesis where population moves to rural areas for lifestyle and quality of life reasons, while retaining urban employment. Further, we find some evidence that in addition to distance from the nearest urban center being a deterrent, increased remoteness from the top of the urban hierarchy exerts a positive influence on out‐commuting. Recognition of these types of rural–urban linkages through commuting is essential in designing Canadian rural policy and targeted programs that may effectively support local rural populations. In particular, they point to the need to have reasonable transportation infrastructure for urban accessibility, which should be complemented by other “built” infrastructure to improve the livability of rural communities.     

县域农村居民点适宜性评价——以陕西省陇县为例

为优化农村居民点布局,促进城乡协调发展,运用层次分析法对农村居民点适宜性进行评价。选取西北地区地貌类型多样、地形破碎复杂的陇县作为研究区,基于县域特点和农村居民点用地特征,从自然因素和社会经济因素两个方面确定评价指标。将高程、坡度、坡向、水源影响度作为自然要素评价指标,将道路通达度、城镇中心可达性、用地规模作为社会经济要素评价指标,在ArcGIS 10.3软件支持下,利用多层分析加权求和的方法,以20 m×20 m的栅格像元大小作为评价单元,对陇县农村居民点进行多因素综合评价。将用地适宜性划分为适宜、较适宜、基本适宜和不适宜4个等级,分别占用地总规模的13.88%、42.84%、34.48%、8.80%。结果表明,适宜农村居民点用地自然条件优越,交通便捷,距离城镇中心较近且用地规模大,适合设施建设需要;较适宜农村居民点用地分布广泛,地势略有起伏,交通方便,城镇中心可达性较高且具有一定的规模;基本适宜农村居民点用地自然条件略差,道路通达度一般,城镇中心可达性和用地规模有限制;不适宜农村居民点用地地形条件差,交通不便,距离城镇中心远且多为零碎地块,不利于居民点发展。研究结果为农村居民点用地选择提供了理论基础。     

A Territorial Articulation Index for Rural Areas Applied to Four Spanish Comarcas

This paper proposes a model for calculating a composite index to evaluate the internal territorial cohesion or articulation of rural areas, specifically rural Spanish comarcas (groups of municipalities with common geographic and historical characteristics). Evaluation is based on the optimum spatial distributions of their urban nuclei and access to roads by their inhabitants. First, we built the index for spatial distributions of urban nuclei in each comarca. Next, we constructed road accessibility indexes for all urban nuclei to each other and to the main urban nucleus (defined by the largest concentration of services). Based on these indexes, we developed an Internal Territorial Articulation Index (ITAI) that reflects the spatial distribution of the territory's urban nuclei in terms of their aggregation, internal accessibility within the comarca, and relationship with the main urban nucleus. The ITAI was applied to four Spanish comarcas in the province of Almería: Almería Alpujarra, Almanzora, Los Vélez, and Almería Poniente. The results are highly varied and allow areas with low degrees of territorial articulation or coherence to be identified either by the distribution of their urban nuclei or by their poor accessibility to roads. Results were unfavourable in mountainous regions with steep slopes and in areas furthest from the province's large urban nuclei. The conclusions may help develop settlement and road transport infrastructure strategies in these rural comarcas.     

Producer Services Development and the Role of Telecommunications: A Case Study in Rural Washington

Information-intensive producer services, which constitute one of the fastest growing components of the U.S. economy, have been identified as a potential contributor to economic development in rural areas. This issue is examined in a case study of a community in rural Washington State. The findings indicate that producer services have not been decentralizing to rural Washington, and that opportunities for producer services development in rural communities are limited because of the inaccessibility of markets, smaller pools of skilled labor, and the lack of agglomeration economies. Opportunities for producer services are greatest in large rural communities with high-quality telecommunications systems. Although the quality of telecommunications systems is important to the economic health of communities, advances in telecommunications can be a two-way street for rural America. While telecommunications improvements increase a rural community's access to information and make it possible for rural businesses to more easily serve non-local markets, they can also make it easier for firms located in urban areas to serve rural markets via branch offices or through the telecommunications system.     

Opening up Gated Communities to Public Road System and Urban Traffic Microcirculation: A Case Study of Donghu District in Nanchang

In recent years, driven by the booming housing market with high supply and demand, China has witnessed an unprecedented increase in residential areas in fast speed. However, most of the newly established communities have not yet get rid of the self-supporting and self-sufficient mode of the farming culture. Currently, gated communities are characterized by closure, large population, large area, single function, little contact, etc., decreasing the urban road network density and reachability. And the internal travel is mainly dependent on the main roads through a city, which interferes with urban roads and increases the traffic pressure on the surrounding road network. Therefore, this paper took the Donghu District in Nanchang as an example to study opening gated communities to public, so as to promote the urban traffic microcirculation and increase the density and reachability of the regional road network, thereby sharing the traffic pressure for the main roads and strengthening the neighborhood contact.     

基于P-S-R的重庆市黔江区城镇建设用地需求控制研究

近年来,农村人口向城镇大量流动加之城镇人口的自然增长,城镇人口对于城镇用地的需求十分强烈;另外,随着经济的发展,城镇固定资产投资逐年增加,致使城镇各业用地需求旺盛。因此城镇的扩张与人口向城镇的流动和政府对城镇的投资是密不可分的。本文试图通过引用系统工程理念中的压力-状态-响应（P-S-R）模型,分析导致城镇建设用地扩张的人口和固定资产投资的压力机制,并构建了测算建设用地需求模型。基于黔江区2004-2008年的数据,测得黔江区合理的城镇扩张规模,避免城镇粗放型的扩张。测得黔江区建设用地增量380.92 hm2。     

城乡居民养老保险发展水平研究——基于省际数据的因子分析

在新型城镇发展与户籍改革的双重条件下,为发现城乡居民养老保险之间的差距,利用SPSS19.0软件对2012年中国内地总人口、收入与支出以及城乡居民养老保险的参保人数、基金收入与支出的统计数据进行因子分析,并分别按照总分、公因子得分值进行排名。通过对城乡居民养老保险相关数据的因子分析,结果发现：各个省市城乡居民养老保险发展水平有着较为明显的差异性的,两类公因子得分值排名前几名的省市是不同的,其总分也是不同的。通过因子分析,发现了省市之间的差距,这为以后解决养老保险水平的地区差异提供了理论与实践方面的支撑。     

Method of Gradual Advance for Town Development

The economical construction and development of China can't be separated from the development of rural economy.Due to appearance and development of rural enterprises,surplus labor force of rural areas was accepted, agricultural economy had been developed and farmers' income enhanced. The traditional agriculture had been reconstructed. The construction and development of small cities and towns are connected with the development of rural economy and accelerate the development of city economy. The construction of small cities and towns can have congregation effect and scale benefit. The industry structure of country will be optimized in whole, management cost will be cut down, energy consumption will be reduced, pollution will be lowered and labor productivity will be increased. In this paper, the importance of town construction in economic development of China is elaborated. The achievement and problem in town construction are summarized. A method of gradual advance for town development is put forward and the problems that must be handled in town development are pointed out.     

河南省城镇建设用地变化的经济驱动机制分析

以河南省城镇建设用地为研究对象,在对区域城镇用地现状评述的基础上,采用调查、统计、分析的方法分析了区域城镇建设用地存在的主要问题,对影响区域城镇用地统筹的经济驱动机制进行分析。研究指出了河南省城镇规模普遍偏小、用地集约度较低、土地经济产出水平较低、用地内部结构和布局不尽合理,同时提出消费需求变化、社会投资变化、产业结构调整、经济增长方式是引起河南省城镇建设用地变化的主要驱动因素     

Shaping the Rural–Urban Symbiosis: Density,Dispersal, Remoteness,and Town Size in South‐East Australia

Within the context of economic and social change in rural Australia, this paper identifies four structural dimensions of non‐metropolitan communities that are shown to influence a range of areal and socio‐demographic characteristics. The analysis shows that such influence is essentially maintained whether the social catchments forming the database are subdivided by State or by an equivalent number of landscape types. Also, although the dimensions influence both the urban and dispersed elements of the communities, the strength of the relationships is substantially greater if those elements are considered as a symbiotic whole. Throughout, net rural local density (as opposed to gross density) is shown to be a consistently important dimension of rural communities in relatively sparsely settled lands such as those of south‐eastern Australia, supported by the important subsidiary influence of relative settlement dispersal and town size. The paper concludes with a discussion of the processes involved in the impact of those structural dimensions upon rural society.     

Location Patterns of High Growth Industries in Rural Counties

ABSTRACT The basic premise of this article is that the historic location determinants literature is unduly pessimistic regarding the economic prospects of rural areas. Most historic location research has treated rural areas as homogeneous regions. This study demonstrates that rural counties should be treated as differentiated sets of economic environments rather than as an aggregate. The locational potential of specific industries differs dramatically among differentiated rural regions. When examined in this way, a number of high-growth industries surface as having development potential under specified rural conditions. In addition this work raises serious questions about the adequacy of product life-cycle theory (Erickson 1976) and high-technology filtering-down theory (Glasmeier 1991) in identifying the variables critical to industrial location. This work indicates that neither small size nor remoteness is as limiting as suggested by earlier research.     

Diverse diversities—Open innovation in small towns and rural areas

It is generally accepted that cities and other forms of geographic agglomerations are conducive to innovation because their density and variety of firms, sectors and individuals create a diverse environment. However, a growing body of work shows that innovation also occurs in peripheral regions and small towns. Furthermore, work on rural social networks shows that diversity is multidimensional, and that along certain dimensions networks developed in rural areas are more diverse than those observed in cities. In this paper, we develop these arguments, then report our observations of seven successful firms in Swiss small towns. These firms benefit from at least three types of diversity: internal diversity; multiplexed interactions between workers at different hierarchical levels; and external diversity as firms reach beyond the region. We conclude that diversity conducive to firm‐level innovation is not a specifically urban attribute: at least some of its dimensions are present in small towns and more peripheral areas.     

城市功能区视角下的都市农区研究

为了科学规划城市农用地,有必要确立都市农区概念,研究都市农区的基本内涵、空间特征和地域类型。都市农区是指由城市空间内农用地构成的城市功能区,一般仅限于市辖区。相对理想化的都市农区的空间尺度大体上为200 hm²,宜以呈小集中大分散的空间形态融入城市功能组团。都市农区有城市化地区、准城市化地区、半城市化地区、浅城市化地区和城市生态敏感区5种地域类型。依据都市农区区位特征、资源禀赋与功能需求的差异性,合理配置依托城市、服务城市的多功能农业,是形成城乡经济社会发展一体化新格局对城市规划提出的重要新课题。     

Trading places: Inclusive cities and market vending in the Pacific Islands

Rapid population growth in Pacific island cities far exceeds employment opportunities and is contributing to rising urban inequality and social exclusions. Livelihoods in the informal urban sector, such as market vending, provide much needed income, rural–urban connectivity and food security, but remain largely excluded from policy and planning frameworks. Spatial, economic and social exclusions limit vendors’ economic advancement, their influence over decision‐making, and their access to basic services. Local communities close to informal markets fill some of the gaps left by the policy neglect, but investment and strategic management remains inadequate when vendors do not have secure market places and recognised rights to work. This article reports on a study of three informal markets in Honiara, Solomon Islands. These markets lack legal status but make significant contributions to urban development and economic opportunities. Drawing on surveys and focus groups with vendors and urban decision‐makers we explore the impact of informal markets on urban economies, how social and institutional relationships hinder vendors’ economic advancement, and the opportunities to create more inclusive livelihoods that could contribute to equitable cities.     

镇村同治示范区的SWOT分析与规划对策——以湖南省常德市临澧县官亭乡为例

“镇村同治”是当前新形势下,按照城乡一体化的要求,从区域性中心镇入手,实行镇村同步规划、环境同步治理、产业同步发展、文明同步创建、推动新型城镇化与新型农村建设协同发展的整体性建设。将SWOT分析方法与示范区建设发展框架联系起来,形成针对示范区建设发展研究的SWOT分析框架和示范区建设发展定位的SWOT分析方法体系。以湖南省常德市临澧县官亭乡镇村同治示范区为例,分析影响该示范区的S、W、O、T各因素,提出示范区镇村同治规划的对策。     

互联网+背景下农村金融发展对城乡收入差距影响的实证分析——-以宁夏地区为例

摘要： 为解决城乡收入差距的问题,基于农村金融发展对城乡收入差距的影响研究,以宁夏地区为例,分析农村金融发展对城乡收入差距的影响。选择4种方法,对宁夏地区农村金融发展和城乡收入差距之间的关系进行实证分析。得出金融运转效能对于城乡所得差异的支撑率最大至近5%,而农村金融运转体量对于城乡所得差异的支撑率相对降低,最高达到1.29%。在其他控制变量中,大约有0~4.5%的波动可以由城市化水平解释,财政支农支出可以解释0~3.5%的波动。说明短时间内农村金融运转体量与金融运转效能的升高会减小城乡所得差异,长时间内城乡所得差异表现为波动性,而城市化指标、财政支出指标、农村特定财产投入在短期内可以缩小城乡收入差距,如果长期受到这些因素的影响,则会产生更加重要的作用。结合以上分析结果,提出完善宁夏农村金融体系、完善农村金融流动机制、加大政策性金融支农的对策建议。     

Economic Stability and Economic Growth in Rural Communities: Dimensions Relevant to Local Employment Creation Strategy

Approaches for analyzing employment stability with aggregated data for SICs in large regions or major metropolitan areas are misleading indicators of the impact of manufacturing growth in rural areas. Performance of moderate-sized individual establishments seriously impact total employment variation in small-employment-sized rural communities, requiring analysis of the determinants of employment stability of these establishments. Aggregate SIC performance and most conventional criteria for judging probable stability appear to provide very limited predictability for individual firm performance. However, manufacturing development appears generally to have desirable effects on community-wide employment stability.     

江西省统筹低碳城乡一体化研究

城乡一体化是中国的重大战略决策,也是中国工业化和城镇化顺利推进的根本保证。为了促进江西省低碳城乡一体化发展,需要就江西省城乡一体化发展过程中存在的问题进行剖析,分析出现这些问题的原因和本质,以及解决的方法和途径,并在此基础上提出相应的对策和政策建议。通过采用定性和定量的分析方法,从能源供应、绿色低碳、耕地保护、城乡差距、城市规模等方面,对江西省城乡一体化的现状、未来的发展趋势以及面临的挑战进行了分析。结果表明,江西省在发展经济的过程中,出现产业发展重工化和高碳化、能源供应短缺、粮食安全难以保障、城乡差距扩大以及城市规模不合理等问题。针对这些问题,江西省应从加强能源储备、发展低碳产业、保护农用耕地、缩小城乡差距等方面,积极实施有效的政策措施,以确保能源供应安全和粮食安全,并推动城镇化朝着绿色、低碳、城乡协调的方向发展,为江西省的低碳城乡一体化发展提供有力保障。     

中国教育的城乡不平衡发展探究

随着中国市场经济的不断发展和城市化进程的逐步推进,社会与经济发展中也出现了很多新的问题。其中,城乡经济与社会发展不协调造成的城乡教育不平衡发展成为影响社会发展和经济增长的主要因素。中国城乡教育失衡由城乡教育资金投入差距、城乡师资力量差距和城乡教育机会差距这3方面原因造成。教育的城乡差距反过来又在经济方面造成农村经济发展滞后,形成了“经济滞后——教育落后——经济滞后”的恶性循环。在就业方面,造成农村人才不足的同时城市就业压力过大。在社会发展方面,造成农村的人口、法制、文化等方面落后于城镇的水平。最后提出加大对农村教育的扶持力度,从教育机会分配的优惠政策、提高教育资金投入和加强师资力量建设这3个方面入手,推动农村教育发展,缩小城乡教育差距。     

Is Alternative Agriculture a Viable Rural Development Strategy?

Alternative agriculture is promoted as a means of enhancing rural area jobs and income. This nontraditional agricultural activity is defined as: new crops or products to an area, industrial uses of agricultural products, value-enhancement activities, and urban agricultural activities. The potential for new agriculturally-related activities is summarized. The long-term rural economic and development potential, through new income and jobs, is assessed. Next, five case studies are provided to illustrate alternative agriculture successes, limited successes, and failures (Guayule, Jojoba, Muscadine grapes, market windows for fresh fruit and vegetables, and aquaculture). We conclude that alternative agriculture may be viable in select rural areas. However, total employment generation potential is too small and diffused to provide significant rural development impacts.