Labour market impacts of the equalisation of basic public health and medical services on internal migrants in China

Using China Migrants Dynamic Survey Project data from 2011 to 2017, this study investigates the labour market impacts of equalisation of basic public health and medical services on internal migrants by the difference-in-differences approach in China. The results reveal that equalisation of basic public health and medical services increases the probability of labour participation and the income of internal migrants. Male migrants, married migrants and migrants who cover long migration distances have a much stronger positive response to the equalisation of basic public health and medical services in terms of likelihood of labour participation and level of income. Mechanism checks indicate that the increases in labour participation and income of internal migrants are enhanced by the improvement of medical service utilisation, human capital and social integration after the implementation of the equalisation of basic public health and medical services.     

City economic development,housing availability,and migrants' settlement intentions: Evidence from China

The slow growth of the permanently settled migrants in host cities poses new challenges for the sustainability of China's future urbanization. Given the growing importance of homeownership, this paper clarifies migrants' settlement intentions into three mutually exclusive patterns, including de facto permanent settlement intention through homeownership, long-term temporary settlement intention and short-term temporary settlement intention. Based on matched micro- and macro-level data, this paper examines the influence of city economic development and housing prices on these three patterns. The results suggest that economic development exhibits an attractive effect on migrants' settlement intentions for both earning money and for making a life while housing price weakens rural migrants' de facto permanent settlement intention. We also highlight the effect of the Housing Provident Fund (HPF), the most important housing financial policy in China, on settlement intention, and the results suggest that the HPF serves as an option to help migrants achieve permanent settlement through housing availability. The findings can explain the mixed results of previous research and provide policy references for sustainable urbanization in China.     

Birth without raising: Impact of labor migration on the medical benefits for migrant children in China

The relationship between labor migration and the medical benefits of migrant children (MC) has long been a focus of empirical research. Based on the dynamic monitoring data of the migrant population in Hubei Province by the National Health and Family Planning Commission of China in 2014 and the characteristic data of prefecture-level cities, this paper studies the impact of labor migration on the medical benefits of MC. The major findings of this paper are that in China, due to the huge spatial differences in medical services, the migration of labor to urban areas with better public services helps to improve the medical benefits of women during pregnancy and lying-in period, and at the same time significantly enhances the medical benefits of the MC. In contrast, due to the relative lag of the reform in social security system such as household registration and medical care, in the long run, labor migration is not conducive to the improvement of the medical benefits of MC. Based on the above findings, this paper suggests that in the short-term, more public resources should be allocated to the urban medical supply, especially at the primary level, and in the long-term, the adjustment of public policies should be aimed at eliminating urban-rural differences.     

城乡基本公共服务差距测算与均等化技术路线比较——以福建为例

为了揭示差距大小与人口流动性对城乡基本公共服务均等化的影响,选择符合中国实际的城乡基本公共服务均等化技术路线,文章以城乡常住人口为基数,在测算分析福建城乡公共财政支出、基础教育与医疗服务的差距变动情况的基础上,探讨了人口流动性不断增加对城乡基本公共服务均等化的影响.比较分析得出完全依靠人口流动对社会的冲击较大,完全依靠财政支出的效率较低,进而提出以财政支出确保最低公共服务标准,以人口流动加速城乡基本公共服务均等化进程的技术路线建议.     

城乡基本公共服务差距测算与均等化技术路线分析-以福建为例

差距大小与人口流动性是影响城乡基本公共服务均等化技术路线选择的重要因素。文章在测算分析福建城乡公共财政支出、基础教育与医疗服务的差距变动情况的基础上,探讨了人口流动性不断增加对城乡基本公共服务均等化的影响,比较了依靠人口流动与依靠财政支出两条促进城乡基本公共服务均等化的技术路线,提出以财政支出确保最低公共服务标准,以人口流动加速城乡基本公共服务均等化进程的建议。     

Internal Migration in Mexico: Consolidation of Urban–Urban Mobility, 2000–2015

Internal migration has been recognized as the major influence in terms of population redistribution across urban systems, but it is not a homogeneous phenomenon. Within the context of internal rural‐urban migration decline and the negative changes in migratory balances in the metropolitan area of Mexico City, the core of enquiry in this paper is the approach to growth and consolidation of an internal urban–urban migration system in the early twenty‐first century (2000–2015). This process has taken place through two main networks, among metropolitan areas not corresponding to the principal city and among intermediate cities. Internal migration is a complex process that involves both individual and spatial characteristics and which leads to spatially uneven development in the long term. Data from three censuses of the population of Mexico (2000, 2010, and 2015) show a transition to a more urban–urban migration pattern, with skilled migrants tending to have metropolitan and urban destinations, whereas less‐skilled migrants prefer rural and small urban destinations.     

Unveiling various spatial patterns of determinants of hukou transfer intentions in China: A multi-scale geographically weighted regression approach

As the floating population has become a vital issue influencing China's economic and social development and aroused broad concern, many scholars have paid attention to the factors that influence settlement intentions of the floating population, while their spatial differences are usually neglected in extant studies. To rectify this situation, this study employs a multi-scale geographically weighted regression model to investigate the spatial pattern of determinants on hukou transfer intentions of the floating population, based on the data of the China Migrants Dynamic Survey in 2016. The results demonstrate that the effects of various determinants present different spatial patterns: part of significance pattern (the average residence time in destination cities, the ratio of rural hukou holders, the number of flows, the ratio of family income to family expenditure, the geographical location), the “East-West” pattern (the ratio of self-employed migrants, the average wage of employed workers), the “Southwest-Northeast” pattern (the ratio of migrants in the secondary industry, the ratio of sharing town employees' social insurance, the ratio of floating population accompanied by children in destination cities, and the population density of municipal districts). Cities of different conditions should formulate different policies that are sensitive to their contexts.     

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.     

Seasonal Characteristics of Thermal Environment in Urban Public Space of the Urban in Hot-summer and Cold-winter Region

Thermal environment in urban public space is considered as an important factor affecting thermal comfort of human beings. In the whole year, thermal environment in public space of the city in hot-summer and cold-winter zone changes dramatically, which has an effect on human thermal comfort. In this study, three typical public spaces including street, park and square of Changsha were selected for a long-term experiment of thermal environment. Based on the analysis of four significant thermal environment parameters-air temperature, relative humidity, global temperature and wind speed, seasonal characteristics of thermal environment in urban public space were obtained. The results show that the characteristics of urban thermal environment are determined by natural climate, while the physical structure of a city has essential impact on the changes of local outdoor thermal environment. Affected by plants (trees) and water (Xiangjiang river) air temperature of the street along the street is much lower, relative humidity is higher and solar radiation is weaker in most of the year. Compared to the street along the river, air temperature of the square is higher and solar radiation is stronger.     

Regional impact and spillover effect of public infrastructure investment: An empirical study in the Yangtze River Delta,China

Since China's reform and opening up, public infrastructure investments have significantly improved. These investments drive China's long-term economic growth. Based on panel data of 41 cities in the Yangtze River Delta from 2006 to 2017, the simultaneous equation models (SEMs) are constructed to explore the regional impact and spillover effect of infrastructures with resolving endogenous problems. Public infrastructure investment remains to have a systemic effect on household income, urban population, and land prices in certain regions. In certain region, the estimated coefficients of public infrastructure investment are consistent with expectations and significant, which are 0.523, 0.142, and 0.781 with three-stage least squares method. And the endogenous variables also affect public infrastructure investment. But, the coefficient of the spatial term is −0.019, negative and not significant. The cross-regional spillover effect of public infrastructure investment is nonsignificant using the generalized spatial three-stage least squares method.     

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.     

Analyzing the distribution of researchers in China: An approach using multiscale geographically weighted regression

We employ a Multiscale Geographically Weighted Regression (MGWR) model to examine the spatial variation of researchers in China in 2015 and its determinants. It is found that the distribution of researchers is driven by the economy in urban centers, public services, natural areas of recreation, urban consumption, and work‐related facilities. Results from the MGWR model conclusively identify significant spatial non‐stationarity in the determinants measuring scientific researchers' distribution. Other factors such as per capita GDP, the number of hospital beds per 10,000 inhabitants, and public financial expenditures influence the distribution of researchers more in the Western cities, and their effect decreases steadily from West to East. Air pollutants affect researchers negatively in the eastern part of the country, while the percentage of available green land is a strong driver in the central and western parts. The factor measuring the effect of the number of universities is seen to affect researchers more strongly in the northwestern and northeastern cities. Other findings further suggest that the economy and public services in cities have a consistent effect on the distribution of researchers across the country whereas, natural areas of recreation, work‐related facilities, and urban consumption have a significantly varying effect across cities.     

Do rural migrants benefit from labor market agglomeration economies? Evidence from Chinese cities

We combine the 2005 China Inter-Census Population Survey data and the 2004 China Manufacturing Census to test whether workers, particularly rural migrants, benefit from labor market Marshallian externalities. We find that workers in general, and rural migrants in particular, benefit from labor market pooling effects (measured by total employment in a city-industry cell) and human capital externalities (measured by share of workers with a college degree or above in a city-industry cell). These findings are robust to various sorting bias tests. However, rural migrants benefit much less than do local or urban workers, possibly because rural migrants lack social networks and are discriminated doubly in terms of being both “rural” and “migrants.” Our findings have policy implications on how Chinese cities can become skilled during the rapid urbanization process coupled with global competition.     

A Study on Human Settlement Environment from View Point of Regional Culture

Culture is a basic element in human settlement environment.In this paper,considering the characters of progress in China's urban development in different stages,the urban culture is studied in respect of the age and space,then the connotation and development of regional culture are discussed.Through comparing the growth of Chongqing and Hong Kong cities,this paper presents a new idea for the study on Chinese urban development of modern times from the view point of regional culture.     

How does tolerance affect urban innovative capacities in China?

This study investigated how urban cultural and economic tolerance affects urban innovative capacities based on China's prefecture‐level cities. Several tolerance indices, including ratios of migrants, rental housing, gay people, and private economies were introduced and the cities’ tolerance scores were measured using factor analysis. The results show that cities with higher cultural and economical tolerant scores were agglomerated in three metropolitan areas in China's southeastern coastal region. The spatial regression model demonstrates that urban cultural and economic tolerance increases urban innovation output and promotes innovation capacities. We also introduced the crime rate as an instrumental variable and found that the effect of tolerance on innovation remains robust. Our study suggests it is important for the Chinese government to establish an open and tolerant environment to attract migrants, creative artists, and entrepreneurs to foster urban vitality and improve urban innovative capacities.     

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.     

Quality Construction of Public Space from the Perspective of Human Settlement: A Case Study of Public Space in the Downtown Area of Mianyang City,Sichuan Province

Concept, connotation and property of urban public space were interpreted, guidance of human settlement science for the construction of urban public space analyzed. Taking quality construction of public space in the downtown area of Mianyang City for example, this paper proposed that urban public space should be constructed from the perspective of human settlement to create positive spaces that satisfy human needs, ensure sustainable development of urban public spaces, and drive the development of a harmonious and prosperous city.     

Rural land reforms and villagers' preferences for urban settlement: A case study of Shandong Province,China

Based on surveys conducted in Shandong Province, China, this paper examined the interests of rural residents to move to and settle in cities, as well as the factors that motivate or discourage their potential settlement changes. Results of the binary logistic regression analysis showed that villagers' urban settlement preference was related to sociodemographic factors such as gender, age, and occupation. Overall, the separation of the “three rights” (collective ownership, land contract right, and land use right) associated with rural land has strengthened the urban settlement preference of rural residents. Nevertheless, we did not find significant association between land transfer and the preference for urban settlement. For villagers who expressed interest in urban settlement, better job opportunities, education opportunities, and higher income are the leading “pull” factors that would attract them to cities. The attachment to rural life, high living costs, and high housing prices in cities were the top concerns for villagers who did not want to move. The study also found that villagers' desired urban destinations changed with the changing land parameters, indicating that the outcomes of China's rural land reforms may not be aligned well with the policy goals laid in the country's urbanization and rural development plans.     

我国35个大中城市建设用地结构与空气质量的典型相关分析

[目的]研究选取中国35个大中城市作为样本城市，评价了样本城市2016年空气质量和城市建设用地结构特征，[方法]利用典型相关分析方法分析城市建设用地结构与空气质量之间的关系，为合理安排城市用地结构、改善空气质量、提高城市人居环境质量提供科学依据。[结果](1)研究期间样本城市空气质量地域差异明显，空气污染较重的城市主要集中在华北地区、西北地区，东南沿海城市空气质量较好，京津冀地区空气污染问题较为严重，空气质量指数（AQI）、PM2.5、PM10、SO2、NO2年均浓度呈现出：北方城市>南方城市、内陆城市>沿海城市。(2)研究期间样本城市建设用地结构存在一定差异，居住用地和工矿仓储用地占城市建设用地总面积的比例在49%~58%之间。北方、南方城市建设用地结构差异主要体现在绿地与广场用地比例，沿海、内陆城市建设用地结构差异主要体现在公共管理与公共服务用地、工矿仓储用地和绿地与广场用地的比例。城市建设用地结构信息熵平均值呈现出北方城市>南方城市、内陆城市>沿海城市的特征。(3)典型相关分析结果表明，样本城市建设用地结构对空气质量有一定影响。不同的区域空气污染物不同，影响空气污染物浓度的建设用地结构因子也不同。从整体上，居住用地与商业服务业设施用地与SO2呈负相关，工矿仓储用地与NO2呈正相关；从区域上，居住用地、道路与交通设施用地与PM2.5呈正相关，工矿仓储用地与NO2呈正相关，居住用地、道路与交通设施用地与SO2呈负相关。[结论]样本城市建设用地结构对空气质量有一定影响。