「脆弱性(Vulnerability)」とは何か

Urban agglomeration, an established urban spatial pattern, contributes to the spatial association and dependence of city-level CO2 emission distribution while boosting regional economic growth. Exploring this spatial association and dependence is conducive to the implementation of effective and coordinated policies for regional level CO2 reduction. This study calculated CO2 emissions from 2005–2016 in the Chengdu-Chongqing urban agglomeration with the IPAT model, and empirically explored the spatial structure pattern and association effect of CO2 across the area leveraged by the social network analysis. The findings revealed the following: (1) The spatial structure of CO2 emission in the area is a complex network pattern, and in the sample period, the CO2 emission association relations increased steadily and the network stabilization remains strengthened; (2) the centrality of the cities in this area can be categorized into three classes: Chengdu and Chongqing are defined as the first class, the second class covers Deyang, Mianyang, Yibin, and Nanchong, and the third class includes Zigong, Suining, Meishan, and Guangan—the number of cities in this class is on the rise; (3) the network is divided into four subgroups: the area around Chengdu, south Sichuan, northeast Sichuan, and west Chongqing where the spillover effect of CO2 is greatest; and (4) the higher density of the global network of CO2 emission considerably reduces regional emission intensity and narrows the differences among regions. Individual networks with higher centrality are also found to have lower emission intensity.

Spatial Association and Effect Evaluation of CO2 Emission in the Chengdu-Chongqing Urban Agglomeration: Quantitative Evidence from Social Network Analysis

China's poverty alleviation resettlement: Progress, problems and solutions

Sustainability of photovoltaic poverty alleviation in China: An evolutionary game between stakeholders

In an effort to mitigate ecological environments and improve human well-being, the Chinese government’s largest-ever relocation and settlement programme is underway. Measuring livelihood resilience and further assessing its impact hold the key to strengthening adaptive capacity and well-being in poverty resettlements. Using a household survey of contiguous poor areas in Southern Shaanxi, China, this research proposes a framework to examine livelihood resilience and its impact on livelihood strategies in the context of poverty alleviation resettlement. To provide more comprehensive empirical evidence, we drew on three dimensions of the previously proposed livelihood resilience framework: buffer capacity, self-organizing capacity, and learning capacity. The results show that capital endowments, social cooperation networks, transportation convenience, and skills acquired from education and rural–urban migration can significantly affect the construction of livelihood resilience. The resilience of households that were relocated because of ecological restoration is the highest, followed by households relocated because of disasters; households relocated because of poverty reduction attempts have the lowest resilience. As for indicators of livelihood resilience, physical capital assets and previous work experience play a major role in household livelihood strategies for pursuing non-farming activities, while household size, stable income, social capital, and information sharing result in diversified livelihood strategies. These findings provide policy implications for enhancing livelihood resilience capacities and improving the scope of available livelihood strategies to emerge from the poverty trap and to adapt to the new environment.

Exploring Livelihood Resilience and Its Impact on Livelihood Strategy in Rural China

Poverty alleviation resettlement (PAR) is China’s largest-ever resettlement program and one of China’s flagship poverty alleviation initiatives. Resorting to this state-led conversation and development program, the central and provincial governments aim to lift the poor out of the poverty trap and into sustainable livelihoods, by delivering improvements in housing conditions, infrastructure services, public amenities, and living standards. Taking Ankang as an example, this study examines the PAR from the perspective of vulnerability through a household survey conducted in Ankang prefecture of Shaanxi province, China. A total of six townships in Ankang are covered, with 657 valid questionnaires collected. This study shows that there is a difference in exposure, sensitivity, and the adaptive capacity of rural households with different relocation characteristics, hence generating different livelihood vulnerabilities. The PAR generally achieves the target of livelihood vulnerability reduction. Specifically, the project-induced relocation has a significant positive effect on vulnerability, but there is a significant negative correlation between livelihood vulnerability and relocation region, relocation time, and relocation subsidy. Challenges and problems remain to be addressed for the next phases of the PAR, including diminishing the financial burden on those relocated and providing free public transportation services, carrying out community-building programs and updating the household registration institution, balancing the redistribution and sharing of farmland, furnishing assistance measures for employment searches and training in specific skills, and creating an impartial project to safeguard the non-movers from the significant negative impacts on their physical and spiritual dimensions.

The Influence of Poverty Alleviation Resettlement on Rural Household Livelihood Vulnerability in the Western Mountainous Areas, China

Based on survey data collected from five counties across southern Shaanxi, China, the present study employs a multinomial logistic model to explore the main factors related to the type of poverty of rural households, particularly focusing on the role of relocation time, reason for relocation, and type of relocation. The results showed that three types of poverty, “voluntary poverty”, “transient poverty”, and “chronic poverty”, are distinguished by combining income and consumption criteria. Moreover, relocation and settlement programs contribute to a certain degree to these three kinds of poverty, and the effects vary according to the relocation characteristics. Specifically, those relocated long-term were more likely to be trapped in “voluntary poverty” and “chronic poverty”, whereas those relocated short-term were less likely to fall into “voluntary poverty” and “transient poverty”. The poverty alleviation and disaster-related resettlers were less likely to be trapped in “chronic poverty”, whereas centralized resettlers were less likely to be trapped in “voluntary poverty” and “chronic poverty”. Additionally, demographic characteristics, capital endowment variables, and geographical features are all important factors affecting rural households’ type of poverty. This study can serve as a reference for further resettlement practice in China and other developing countries.

Rural Households’ Poverty and Relocation and Settlement: Evidence from Western China

The concept of resilience and, more explicitly, livelihood resilience, is gaining attention within academia and global development. Measuring livelihood resilience and understanding the effects of specific disturbances, such as relocation and resettlement, on livelihood resilience are pressing needs. However, few comprehensive empirical examples have linked disaster-related resettlement with livelihood resilience. The purpose of this paper is to measure household livelihood resilience (HLR) and to respond to the need for more integrated empirical evidence regarding the impacts of disaster-related resettlement on livelihood resilience. Through fieldwork in Ankang Prefecture, Shaanxi Province, China, a total of 657 quantitative household surveys were administered at the end of 2015. Utilizing household livelihood resilience, the present study explores the effect of disaster-related resettlement on household livelihood resilience. The results suggest that household livelihood resilience varies between relocated and nonrelocated respondents. Relocated respondents reported lower resilience scores. Further data analysis indicates that participation in disaster-related resettlement has a significant negative impact on household livelihood resilience. This research deepens the understanding of how governments improve livelihoods in disaster resettlement sites. The application and examination of HLR also offer methodological contributions to disaster management and community development.

Jie Xu

Papers

Exploring Livelihood Resilience and Its Impact on Livelihood Strategy in Rural China

The Influence of Poverty Alleviation Resettlement on Rural Household Livelihood Vulnerability in the Western Mountainous Areas, China

Rural Households’ Poverty and Relocation and Settlement: Evidence from Western China

Effects of disaster-related resettlement on the livelihood resilience of rural households in China

Impact of the ecological resettlement program in southern Shaanxi Province, China on households' livelihood strategies