Wildlife Management,Surface Mining,and Regional Planning

ABSTRACT Wildlife management, surface mining, and regional planning historically have had conflicting missions. The cooperative public/private venture which created the Robinson Forest and Cyprus-Amax Wildlife Management Areas is presented as an example of how a regional perspective encourages a symbiotic relationship among these Functions. Wildlife management areas, as either an interim or final land use. are shown to incorporate development concepts which benefit the general public, the coal industry, and the environment. Examining the regional pattern or wildlife management areas and refuges confirms the appropriateness of the subject site for this use. It is suggested that the pattern of mined lands can be studied to identify other sites with potential to provide linkages between wildlife habitat areas and encourage reclamation of such sites to the “fish and wildlife” postmining land use. Such reclamation strategies should be pursued within a long-term planning framework. More research is needed to recreate specific habitat types on drastically disturbed land and planning is needed to assure that sensitive habitats or species arc located away from zones likely to undergo future development. Use of geographic information systems to integrate existing environmental information could make such studies more effective.     

Twenty‐first century nomadic city: Ger districts and barriers to the implementation of the Ulaanbaatar City Master Plan

Since the early 1990s, Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, has experienced rapid rural to urban migration and population growth resulting in the growth in informal settlements across the city. The informal settlements are known as ‘ger’ districts. In response to these pressures, since the 1990s, the central government has adopted a programme of land reform and metropolitan planning. These new reforms take place in the context of a unique, post‐socialist political, economic and institutional context. The land reform process has attempted to privatise land ownership, which has traditionally resided with the state. The privatisation process was initiated under the new Constitution of Mongolia, which initiated reforms in all sectors of social and economic development, and since 2003, targeted land reform in ger districts. Running parallel, a series of urban land‐use planning schemes have been introduced to frame the development of Ulaanbaatar in the context of an emerging market economy. Although master plans for urban development have been established since the 1950s, urban land‐use planning is a new concept in this emerging market economy. The aim of this paper is to trace the rationales and challenges of implementing master plans and land privatisation processes in Ulaanbaatar. Drawing on interviews with city, national and local government officials conducted in 2009, the paper focuses on the implications of these reforms for both the government and the residents of ger districts.     

The Planning Response to Urban Service Sector Growth: an International Comparison

The restructuring of urban economies from manufacturing to service industries has been a major feature of the last twenty-five years. Large cities with a population of at least one million have been at the forefront of this change with the primate cities of the newly industrialized countries increasingly affected. The growth characteristics, planning experiences, and policy implications of the expansion of service industries in large and medium-size metropolitan areas around the world are examined. This has illuminated issues connected with the interurban competition for services. The service sector has shaped new urban planning and public policy agendas and the way in which metropolitan areas in this study have started to reshape their policies provides a good lead for others to follow. It is likely that new pressures will strengthen the need to look beyond their established urban planning policies to broader, integrated urban management policies.     

阜康市城市土地供给侧政策绩效综合评价

旨在剖析阜康市城市土地供给侧结构方面存在的难题,从城市土地供给侧政策的结构效益、经济效益和公平效益三视角,运用主成分分析模型构建阜康市城市土地供给侧政策综合绩效评价体系。结果表明2009—2013 年阜康市城市土地供给侧政策绩效虽呈波动状态,但评分总体较好,土地供给侧政策实施效果整体良好。在供给结构调整方面,阜康市城市土地供给结构还需进一步调整,工矿仓储用地占用比重较大,商服和住宅用地比重较小;在经济效益方面,保持着较高的土地供给率和土地市场公开出让率,但土地投资强度较低;在公平效益方面,城市人均道路面积、人均公共管理与公共服务用地面积、经适房比重得到一定程度的扩大,但总体仍处于较低水平。最后,为阜康市土地供给侧结构调整优化提出优化供地结构、注重存量土地内部挖潜、转变低效供地利用、以“三规合一”为导向等建议,以实现未来城市土地供给的可持续发展。     

Spatial Patterns in the Economic Development of the Mountain West

ABSTRACT Many counties in the mountainous areas of the western U.S. are experiencing rapid growth in population and income, even though extractive industries that served historically as their primary economic base are in decline. The purpose of this paper is to establish statistically the spatial determinants of population, employment, and income densities in 86 rural mountain counties and any changes in those determinants between 1985 and 1994. The results of this analysis indicate that densities are oriented to regional metropolitan centers and critical amenities such as ski areas, national parks, and universities or colleges. Negatively sloped density gradients with respect to distance from regional metropolitan centers suggest that the densities of settlement patterns beyond metropolitan boundaries are analogous to those within metropolitan areas relative to urban centers. In short, a tension apparently exists in locational choice; residents of the Mountain West desire to live near the beauties and amenities of the mountain landscape but do not want to entirely sever their urban ties. Because amenities are the primary attraction of mountain counties rather than employment in locationally dependent industries, at least some migrants must have relatively footloose forms of income.     

The Economics and Politics of Tax Increment Financing

ABSTRACT Tax Increment Financing (TIF) is a popular yet controversial tool that allows local governments to use property tax revenue to fund the public costs of economic development. Since TIF gives one local government the power to affect the tax bases of the overlapping jurisdictions, there is uncertainty and argument on the part of government officials and taxpayers as to who really finances the program. To evaluate the alternative contentions, this paper presents a general methodology that identifies which taxpayers in which locations fund the TIF's expenditures, and sets forward the conditions under which such a local economic development policy can be beneficial to taxpayers. The paper applies the model to study the TIF program currently active in downtown Des Moines, Iowa. The evidence indicates that the taxpayers in the entire metropolitan area subsidized the downtown activities in the early years, but now pay lower property tax rates due to the city's TIF-financed urban revitalization program.     

Sustainable urbanization in Southeast Asia and beyond: Challenges of population growth,land use change,and environmental health

As economic growth centres, the Southeast Asian cities feature high population pressure, unsustainable land use, environmental degradation, and large ecological footprints. It is difficult to manage environmental health and basic services for urban dwellers, and ensure optimum flow of ecosystem services in the context of rapid, unplanned, and haphazard urbanization. These challenges are particularly multifaceted in the developing countries of Southeast Asian region. This study, based on secondary sources, adopted multidisciplinary lenses, such as geographical information systems, socio‐economic perspective, and sustainability science to examine the population situation, land use change pattern, and drivers of environmental degradation in the Southeast Asian cities as well as the Dhaka megacity, and brought forth a fresh perspective to look into contemporary urban ecosystems, population dynamics, environmental health, and sustainability. It also focused on identifying the commonalities among the cities under study to create a common understanding towards promoting collaborative urban development. This study shows that the urbanization process in the Southeast Asia region is taking place mostly in an unplanned and haphazard manner. With little concern for nature, life‐supporting ecological systems, and the environment, urban spatial growth continues unabated. The data surveyed and discussed in this paper shows that the current style of urbanization in Southeast Asia can best be called unsustainable. The findings also suggest that the general wellbeing and welfare of the current and future generations in Southeast Asian cities as well as in Dhaka is at risk. The paper recommends concerted efforts towards making the urbanization process sustainable, including better urban planning, policymaking, and international and regional cooperation.     

中国农村集体建设用地产权制度改革公共性问题探析

为深入剖析和总结中国集体建设用地产权制度改革试点中出现的问题和治理经验,探索系统推进中国农村集体产权制度改革的路径。本研究运用数据、规范和比较分析方法,对中国农村集体建设用地产权制度改革的公共性缺失问题进行了反思和探讨。从公共性生产逻辑的视角,提出在协调现行市场经济条件下“城乡融合发展的公共利益、集体经济的共同利益和农民的财产权益”基础上,建构以多元主体协同共治为基础,以数字化治理技术创新为保障,以公共基础设施和公共服务改善为支撑,以城乡要素市场双向流动建设为目标的产权制度改革路径。为此,本研究建议进一步明确农村集体建设用地产权制度改革的公共性目标,从城乡融合发展的视角系统地推进各项配套改革措施的完善,并加强对其改革效果的公共性评估。     

农村集体建设用地集约利用面临的挑战与对策——以渝东北11区县为例

渝东北地区作为重庆市“一圈两翼”发展战略的重要组成部分,具有三峡库区的特殊性,该地区农村集体建设用地的集约利用将更加有效地显化农村土地资产、保护库区生态环境。基于此本文对渝东北地区丰都、忠县、垫江、梁平、万州、开县、云阳、奉节、巫山、巫溪、城口等11个区县展开实地调研,并综合运用问卷调查、专家咨询和文献资料等方法,解析了该地区“宅基地置换城镇住房保障”、“城乡建设用地增减挂钩”等多种土地集约利用创新模式,以及产权管理模糊、规划管理薄弱等面临的挑战,最后从完善农村集体建设用地产权、统筹城乡建设用地规划管理2个方面论述了农村集体建设用地集约利用的对策建议。     

Effects of Land‐Related Policies on Land Development during a Real Estate Boom and a Recession

Our research evaluates and compares the effects of three land‐related policies on land development in a sprawling metropolitan area during a real estate boom and a recession. Our findings suggest that during a real estate boom 1) the urban growth boundary (UGB) serves its purpose of attracting urban development inside the given boundary during a boom while its effectiveness diminishes with increased development pressure from lower‐valued land outside of the UGB during a recession period, 2) the agricultural zone works well for restraining new development during a boom period while agriculture zoned parcels are more likely developed during a recession period, and 3) an increase in the land‐value tax bill increases the incentive for development during a recession period while higher tax bills do not affect development during a boom period. In anticipation of a re‐emergence of urban sprawl with the recovery of the real estate market, our findings imply that land planners and others concerned with sprawling development should pay more attention to development in sprawl‐prone areas during recession periods.     

Air Passenger Transportation and Growth in the U.S. Urban System, 1950–1987

The relationship between transportation and urbanization at the national scale is revisited by focusing upon the role that air passenger transportation has played in the post-war evolution of the U.S. urban system. Theory suggests that major transportation innovations have exhibited profound and prolonged interdependencies with patterns of growth in national or regional urban systems. As the most recent major intercity transportation innovation, it should be expected that utilization of air transportation should bear some relationship to patterns of growth in urban places. This paper documents this relationship by using FAA and U.S. Census data to correlate volumes of air passenger flows per capita with changes in population and employment for the 50 largest U.S. metropolitan areas. The expectation that higher volumes of air passenger flow per capita exhibit a positive correlation with both previous and subsequent growth is confirmed by the analysis. More detailed examination of both high and low air passenger index cities suggests functional and regional consistencies with the central hypothesis. The implications of these results for air transportation and airport planning include at least some justification for increased attention to provision of air service and adequate airport infrastructure as well as reiteration of the importance of air transportation in economic development.     

Can transfer of development rights programs save farmland in metropolitan counties?

Transfer development rights (TDR) programs have been gaining popularity as a tool for farmland preservation, as they compensate landowners at minimal public cost. This study shows that despite their wide adoption, TDR programs do not save much farmland on the urban fringe. We use Department of Agriculture data and apply two quasi‐experimental methods, synthetic control, and difference‐in‐difference, to evaluate the effect of TDR programs on farm retention for three fringe metropolitan counties in the state of Maryland. We also compare land use patterns before and after TDR implementation in these counties. The result shows limited effects of TDR programs on farm preservation, even in Montgomery County, one of the national models for TDR programs. TDR programs do contribute to low and medium density residential development. This cautions observation planners about their enthusiasm toward TDR programs and highlights the difficulty of preserving farmland on the fringe of metropolitan regions. We compare the features of the studied TDR programs, and highlight those that account for the programs’ relative success/failure. Based on these analyses, we make recommendations to planners to help improve TDR effectiveness.     

Cities,transport and agglomeration: Addressing the urban mobility challenges in India

Cities are the drivers of economic growth and structural transformation in developing countries. Transport makes or mars a city. It connects people to opportunity and business to prosperity. Urban transport acts as a catalyst of growth through direct, indirect and induced effects, including those linked to agglomeration and networking externalities. Yet policy makers and planners in developing countries like India continue to neglect the economics of urban public transport. Hardly has there been any attempt to study relationships between city externalities, spatial planning, public transport infrastructure, economic growth and value capture financing. This paper delves into these aspects and presents lessons from theory for the strategies of development and financing of urban public transport in India. It is focused on the implications of urban externalities for transit‐oriented development, transport land use integration, strategic densification of growth nodes and public transport financing based on a value creation, capture and recycling paradigm.     

Urban regeneration in urban functional areas in Poland as an instrument of implementation of the EU Cohesion Policy

This study examines the role of urban regeneration policies in planning and governance within urban functional areas (UFAs) in Poland, in the context of the EU Cohesion Policy (CP). The empirical part of this study is based on comparing the approaches adopted in two Polish regions: Pomerania and Silesia. We describe the first successes but also the bottlenecks of the process, from negotiations and programming up to the implementation of the first tranche of integrated projects. We consider the factors that strengthen planning and governance within UFAs, while simultaneously influencing the local development, and territorial impacts of the EU Cohesion Policy in the given regions. This study is based on interviews with national, regional, and local actors. It defines the role of urban regeneration policies in shaping local socio-economic and spatial development in these regions and identifies the conditions required for the implementation of urban regeneration in functional areas. We also draw lessons for the future CP programming period from the experience of Polish regions, among the main beneficiaries of the EU Cohesion Policy. By evaluating the influence of Cohesion Policy at different government levels, our study may influence the discourse on its future, particularly in the context of strengthening the cooperation and multilevel governance.     

贵阳市1998-2018年土地资源承载力分析与预测

为揭示和预测快速城市化与生态建设双重背景下喀斯特山地城市贵阳市土地资源承载力的时间动态,从耕地承载力、生态承载力和社会经济承载力出发,运用熵权法对贵阳市1998-2018年土地资源承载力进行评价,引入障碍度模型得出贵阳市土地资源承载力的障碍因素,并预测研究区未来10年土地资源承载力的发展趋势.结果表明:1998-201...     

Optimization of differentiated regional land development patterns based on urban expansion simulation—A case in China

The advancing global urbanization puts great pressure on the society and ecosystem, especially in developing countries. Reasonable land-use policies adapted to local conditions are the key issues to prevent disordered urban expansion. Multi-scenario simulation provides a new perspective for differentiated policy formulation based on regional heterogeneity. Regarding the Shaanxi Province, a rapid urbanized area with high spatial heterogeneity in western China, as the study case, we tracked its past land-use changes and predicted the characteristics of urban expansion using the Future Urban-Regional Environment Simulation model. We found that (1) during the past 35 years, built-up land evidently increased accompanied by the loss of cropland, grassland, and unused land. (2) The urban expansion mainly will occur in the areas with flat terrain under three scenarios. (3) The urban expansion will transit into the “requiring land from mountains” pattern in the future, which means that it will gradually spread to areas with higher slopes. (4) Differentiated and optimal development patterns are proposed for different subregions by accounting the loss of ecosystem service in the procedure of urban expansion. This research can help local governments formulate differentiated future macro control of territorial spatial planning to optimize subregional land development.     

Industrial Development Groups,Organizational Resources,and the Prospects for Effecting Growth in Local Economies

Using data from a survey of directors of not-for-profit industrial development groups in the United States and from a variety of secondary sources, we test the hypothesis that the presence of an active industrial development group was a significant factor in the economic growth of its service area over the 1977-to-1982 period. The data permit us to control for different levels of organizational resources among growth promotion groups as well as other traditional factors of local economic change in a regression analysis. While growth promotion groups are judged to be effective in terms of the number of jobs that are created or preserved relative to their direct expenditures of resources, neither their presence nor the levels of their organizational resources are significantly related to service area net employment change. The efforts of growth promotion groups are simply overwhelmed in importance by factors such as population size, metropolitan accessibility, location in a growth region, and manufacturing wage rates that characterize the respective service areas.     

A Synthesis of Empirical Research on the Impact of Government onLong‐Run Growth

This paper provides a synthesis of the 1983–98 published literature on the empirical evidence regarding the interaction between government policies and growth. Five policy areas are considered: general government consumption, tax rates, education expenditures, defense and public infrastructure. The most conclusive results in the literature relate to the positive impact of education expenditures on growth. Public infrastructure also appears important. Regression analysis remains the most commonly adopted research methodology. A better link with current theories will be obtained when parameter calibration methods formicro‐foundations based models replace parameter estimation of regression models with ad hoc specifications. Nonetheless, there remain severe limitations on what can be learned for policy from highly aggregative models of endogenous growth. Better data are needed at the regional macro and meso levels to complement thecurrently available pooled cross‐section time‐series country data. The potential endogeneity of government fiscal variables can be resolved through the selection of appropriate instrumental variables, such as those that arise in cases of “natural experiments”.     

Jobs,Houses, and Trees: Changing Regional Structure,Local Land‐Use Patterns,and Forest Cover in Southern Indiana

Land‐use and ‐cover change is a topic of increasing concern as interest in forest and agricultural land preservation grows. Urban and residential land use is quickly replacing extractive land use in southern Indiana. The interaction between land quality and urban growth pressures is also causing secondary forest growth and forest clearing to occur jointly in a complex spatial pattern. It is argued that similar processes fuel the abandonment of agricultural land leading to private forest regrowth, changes in topography and land quality, and declining real farm product prices. However, the impact of urban growth and development on forests depends more strongly on changes in both the residential housing and labor markets. Using location quotient analysis of aggregate employment patterns, and the relationship between regional labor market changes, the extent of private forest cover was examined from 1967 to 1998. Then an econometric model of land‐use shares in forty southern Indiana counties was developed based on the net benefits to agriculture, forestland, and urban uses. To test the need to control explicitly for changes in residential demand and regional economic structure, a series of nested models was estimated. Some evidence was found that changing agricultural profitability is leading to private forest regrowth. It was also uncovered that the ratio of urban to forest land uses is better explained by incorporating measures of residential land value and industrial concentration than simply considering population density alone.     

Public Policy and Land Conversion: Lessening Urban Growth Pressure in River Corridors

Year in and year out, flooding causes greater dollar losses than any other natural hazard. To cope with that problem, more than 17,000 communities across the US have adopted riverine floodplain management programs to reduce the amount of urban development at risk from flooding and flood-related damage. This article examines the extent to which floodplain management programs influence the investment and predevelopment decisions of owners of vacant floodplain land in ten selected cities. Such public programs are found to alleviate investment and development pressure in flood hazard areas. Community-wide factors such as the availability of non-floodplain buildable land, however, can magnify or depress this effect of public policy on investment activity. Further, landowner perceptions of the flood hazard itself have an important influence on anticipated property appreciation and investment activity.