Showing papers in "Environment and Planning A in 2010"
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors reflect on what seems to be a yawning gulf between the potential contribution of the social sciences and the typically restricted models and assumptions and present a short and deliberately provocative paper.
Abstract: In this short and deliberately provocative paper I reflect on what seems to be a yawning gulf between the potential contribution of the social sciences and the typically restricted models and conce...
1,944 citations
Journal Article•
349 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the influence of built environments on travel, notably vehicle miles traveled (VMT), was investigated using structural equation modeling, and it was shown that population densities are strongly and positively associated with VMT per capita.
Abstract: Concerns over rising fuel prices and greenhouse-gas emissions have prompted research into the influences of built environments on travel, notably vehicle miles traveled (VMT). On the basis of data from 370 US urbanized areas and using structural equation modeling, population densities are shown to be strongly and positively associated with VMT per capita (direct effect elasticity = ⊟0.604); however, this effect is moderated by the traffic-inducing effects of denser urban settings having denser road networks and better local-retail accessibility (indirect effect elasticity = 0.223, yielding a net effect elasticity = ⊟0.381). Accessibility to basic employment has comparatively modest effects, as do size of urbanized area, and rail-transit supplies and usage. Nevertheless, urban planning and city design should be part of any strategic effort to shrink the environmental footprint of the urban transportation sector.
323 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors emphasize that external economies are not confined to a single urban core, but are shared among a collection of nearby and linkable cities, such as megaregions and polycentric urban regions.
Abstract: Recent concepts such as ‘megaregions' and ‘polycentric urban regions' emphasize that external economies are not confined to a single urban core, but are shared among a collection of nearby and link...
264 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors adopt an assemblage perspective on policy transfer that, instead of emphasising broad processes of change, focuses on how the objects of a transferred policy are constituted in different places.
Abstract: The study of policy transfer appeals to geography and cognate disciplines because it offers a powerful way of conceptualising how policy regimes travel and internationalise. This is reflected in its use for understanding uneven processes of recent state restructuring, usually referred to as neoliberalisation. In this paper I adopt an assemblage perspective on policy transfer that, instead of emphasising broad processes of change, focuses on how the objects of a transferred policy are constituted in different places. Using the case of the transfer of the creative industries policy concept from the UK to New Zealand as an example, I argue that the rendering of policy objects using, in this case, specific calculate techniques constitutes them as a global form universal to different places. However, this process does not run smoothly; it requires that the policy object is articulated in a policy assemblage in the new site. The work of assembly requires a range of different kinds of work, including the alignme...
217 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors evaluate the use of various place-based and people-based measures of accessibility in the context of public service delivery, and investigate the extent to which utility based measures relying on the Burns-Miller framework relate to place based and other people based measures of individual accessibility.
Abstract: This paper evaluates the use of various place-based and people-based measures of accessibility in the context of public service delivery. While place-based measures examine the spatial separation between service locations and in a single reference location, people-based measures are based on detailed observations of an individual's activity schedule and space–time constraints. The aim of this paper is to contribute to previous methodological studies of accessibility by investigating the extent to which utility-based measures relying on the Burns–Miller framework relate to place- based and other people-based measures of individual accessibility. In total, four place-based and six people-based measures that are frequently used to evaluate urban service delivery are analyzed. The relationships between these measures are examined and their implications for the assessment of equity of urban service distribution are evaluated. We have found substantial differences between place-based and people-based measures, ...
164 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigate the recent corporatisation process of three seaports in Asia and Europe, focusing on whether the newly established seaport governance structures follow a path largely affected by the local/national institutional frameworks and the political traditions in place.
Abstract: Bringing in neo-institutional perspectives, this paper investigates the recent corporatisation process of three seaports in Asia and Europe. We focus on whether the newly established seaport governance structures follow a path largely affected by the local/national institutional frameworks and the political traditions in place. Findings confirm that path-dependent decisions largely preserve the institutional characteristics of local/national systems, resulting in implementation asymmetries when different countries seek generic governance solutions.
160 citations
TL;DR: The authors argue that the core values of the ethical foodscape can assume very different political forms unless they are fashioned into a coherent and progressive narrative of sustainability, and explore the politics of sustainability through the prism of three major issues.
Abstract: The core values of the ethical foodscape—ecological integrity and social justice—can assume very different political forms unless they are fashioned into a coherent and progressive narrative of sustainability. This paper explores the politics of sustainability through the prism of three major issues. First, the carbon-labelling controversy is used to highlight the potential conflict between green campaigners (who extol the benefits of local food) and social justice campaigners (who support fairly traded food from afar). Second, school-food reform is used to demonstrate that local and global food, far from being mutually exclusive options, can both be part of the constitution of a sustainable food system if global food is framed in cosmopolitan terms. Third, the paper engages with the politics of care literature to explore a question that underlies the above issues, namely, how and why we care for others. It is argued that ethical consumerism, a key part of a progressive narrative of care, is not sufficient to counter the challenge of climate change—the greatest threat to ecological integrity and social justice.
160 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors provide an introduction to a special issue on ethical food-scapes, which explores the premises, promises, and possibilities, as well as praxis and problems of ethical foods and ethical foodscapes.
Abstract: This paper provides an introduction to a special issue on Ethical Food-scapes. The introduction, and the papers and commentaries in the theme issue, engage with the governance of ethical food and ethical foodscapes more broadly. In building on and working to extend the moral turn in geography and the social sciences more broadly, the material presented explores the premises, promises, and possibilities, as well as praxis and problems, of ethical foods and ethical foodscapes. We divide up what we are calling the 'ethical foodscape' into three analytical (but practically inseparable) categories of food ethics, ethical/moral foods, and ethical food networks.
152 citations
TL;DR: The potential influence of public subjectivities on sociotechnical change is realised not only through moments of active participation and protest, but also through "the public" being imagined, given agency, and invoked for various purposes by actors in technical and policy networks as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The public’ are potentially implicated in processes of sociotechnical change as political actors who welcome or resist technology development in general, or in particular places and settings We argue in this paper that the potential influence of public subjectivities on sociotechnical change is realised not only through moments of active participation and protest, but also through ‘the public’ being imagined, given agency, and invoked for various purposes by actors in technical – industrial and policy networks As a case study we explore the significance of an imagined and anticipated public subjectivity for the development of renewable energy technologies in the UK We use interviews with a diversity of industry and policy actors to explore how imaginaries of the public are constructed from first-hand and mediated experience and knowledge, and the influence these imagined public subjectivities may have on development trajectories and on actor strategies and activities We show how the shared expectation of an ever present latent but conditional public hostility to renewable energy project development is seen as shaping the material forms of the technologies, their evolving spatiality, and practices of public engagement involved in obtaining project consent Implications for the actors we are interested in and for broader questions of democratic practice are considered
148 citations
TL;DR: The authors argue that waste is intrinsically, profoundly, a matter of materiality and yet, despite a sustained engagement with materiality in certain areas of the social sciences of late, much of what is most readily identified as waste research remains staunchly immaterial.
Abstract: At a first level, the papers in this theme issue provide a contribution to the diversity and vitality of current waste scholarship. At another level they are a means to moving waste scholarship to a fuller engagement with materiality. Our starting point here is a paradox. Waste is intrinsically, profoundly, a matter of materiality and yetönotwithstanding a sustained engagement with materiality in certain areas of the social sciences of lateömuch of what is most readily identified as waste research remains staunchly immaterial. Just as much as societies have sought to distance themselves from and hide their wastes for fear of contamination, so academia has been shy of the stuff of waste. Predominantly, social science work identifies waste in terms of waste management; a move which ensures that waste is defined by, and discussed in terms of, `disposal' technologies, orömore correctlyöwaste treatments, and their connection to policy. The stuff of waste therefore is translated into treatment technologiesöprincipally the established ones of incineration and landfill but also emergent technologies such as anaerobic digestion. Or, it is reconfigured as resource recovery, that is, as recycling, reuse and remanufacturing. Thence, for the most part, it is translated into metricsö tonnes and targets. To modify Zygmunt Bauman's paraphrasing of Karl Marx, with waste all that is solid (or indeed liquid) tends to melt, if not into air, into the register of the categorical. Further, the radical separation of waste as material and matter from a policy world of tonnes and targets inscribes itself into clear academic divisions of labour. Hence, waste in the social sciences has hitherto been the primary concern of environmental policy and urban planning, whilst stuff and its treatment remain the preserve of the technical and thus the domain of engineering. The matter of waste becomes fixed and limited through management. Caught within a teleological fix, that which is managed as waste is waste, and that which is waste is what is managed. Waste's identification with waste managementöspecifically, its translation into the categories and policies of waste managementöis a manoeuvre which places the field firmly in accord with Bruno Latour's `moderns'. In keeping with that we find much work that problematises waste does so at the level of the categorical rather than opening out its ontological politics. So, albeit that there are considerable differences between work which seeks to evaluate policy outcomes (Davoudi, 2000; Petts, 2000; 2004) and that which has moved waste debate into the conceptual terrain defined by governance (Davoudi, 2009) and governmentality (Bulkeley et al, 2007; Fagan, 2004), these two force fields within waste scholarship remain firmly in the realms of humans acting on the world (cf Hillier, 2009). In the first body of work, the field is defined by end-of-pipe policy, and focuses on the identification of `barriers to' as the primary means to engage with waste policy. Policy outcomes are what matters here, but such thinking perpetuates a `linear, techno-economic model' of the policy process, divorcing policy making from policy intervention. It also, we argue, works to locate waste policy research Guest editorial Environment and Planning A 2010, volume 42, pages 1026 ^ 1032
Posted Content•
TL;DR: The majority of studies on young people, race, and racism have focused on multiethnic inner-city areas as mentioned in this paper, which can have the unintended effect of locating the "problem" of race within the sites wher...
Abstract: The majority of studies on young people, race, and racism have focused upon multiethnic inner-city areas. This can have the unintended effect of locating the ‘problem’ of race within the sites wher...
TL;DR: The emergence over the last 30-40 years of what is variously termed edge city, edgeless, and postsuburban development in North America and elsewhere raises a set of challenges for urban theory and existing ways of understanding the politics of urban growth and management as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The emergence over the last 30–40 years of what is variously termed edge city, edgeless, and postsuburban development in North America and elsewhere raises a set of challenges for urban theory and existing ways of understanding the politics of urban growth and management. These challenges and their global import have been outlined in their broadest terms by members of a ‘Los Angeles School’. In this paper we try to develop the detail of some of these challenges in ways that might allow for comparative analysis. We begin by considering three analytical dimensions along which distinctively postsuburban settlements might be identified. These dimensions are not without their limitations but we regard them as a heuristic device around which to centre ongoing comparative research. We then go on to highlight three political contradictions attending postsuburban growth which appear to flow from some of these defining dimensions. To the extent that such postsuburban growth and politics are distinctive, they pose i...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue for the necessity of a macro-theoretical framework for a systematic understanding of the waste-society relationship, a synthesis of the Marxist mode of production concept and the posthumanist concept of actor networks, sociomaterial assemblages or collectives.
Abstract: The author argues for the necessity of a macro-theoretical framework for a systematic understanding of the waste–society relationship—a synthesis of the Marxist mode of production concept and the posthumanist concept of actor networks, sociomaterial assemblages, or collectives. Based on empirical data on Hungary's socialist and capitalist waste history (1948 to the present), it is shown that macro dynamics are qualitatively different from micro ones and thus their analytical separation is retained. At the same time, it is demonstrated that the common fallacy of Marxist and posthumanist theories to conflate social scale with level of abstraction unduly demonized macro-level concepts. Finally it is shown that existing syntheses of Marxism and actor-network theory cannot but treat waste as a theoretical derivative of the concept of value, and thus elide waste's concrete materiality. The concept of waste regime is proposed to resolve these shortcomings.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors survey elementary-school parents in St. Paul and Roseville, Minnesota to discover how children travel to school and underlying factors influencing parent's choice of their child's travel mode.
Abstract: Many school districts in the United States allow parents to choose which school their child attends ('school choice' or 'magnet schools') while other school districts require students to attend their nearest ('neighborhood') school. Such policies influence children's transportation. We survey elementary-school parents in St. Paul and Roseville, Minnesota, to discover how children travel to school and underlying factors influencing parent's choice of their child's travel mode. From this information we develop a statistical model of travel mode choice. We find that children's commute mode and parental attitudes towards school selection differ by school type (magnet versus neighborhood), income, and race. Relative to neighborhood schools, magnet schools draw from broader geographic regions, have lower rates of walking, bicycling, and commuting by automobile, and higher busing rates. Parent attitudes towards transportation also differ by race and school type. For example, parents of nonwhite and magnet school students placed greater-than-average importance on bus service and quality. This paper highlights the potentially unintended influence of school district policy on school commute mode. KW: SR2S Language: en
TL;DR: Zhang et al. as discussed by the authors investigated polycentric urban development through an analysis of directions of urban expan- sion, urban^rural gradients, and growth types, using a multidisciplinary methodology employed, based on theories and methods in remote sensing, geographic information systems, and landscape ecology.
Abstract: Despite the advantages of polycentric structure and its rich literature drawn from cities in industialized countries, little attention has been paid to the study of polycentric urban development in developing countries based on land-use information. With Hangzhou used as a case study, the authors investigate polycentric urban development through an analysis of directions of urban expan- sion, urban^rural gradients, and growth types. The multidisciplinary methodology employed, based on theories and methods in remote sensing, geographic information systems, and landscape ecology, has been proved to be useful in the morphological study of polycentric urban development. It was found that Hangzhou has expanded in different directions at various speeds, shifting to a polycentric urban pattern through radial expansion. Along the main transportation corridors, the values of the mean patch sizes of urban patches displayed multiple peaks, and the landscape-shape index main- tained a horizontal trend in urban fringes, reflecting the formation of polycentricity. Further, as edge growth and spontaneous growth accounted for 40%^50% and 30^40% of urban growth, respec- tively, and infill growth was responsible for only a small proportion of urban growth, it is suggested that dispersed urban patches have been increasingly agglomerated into big ones, especially along road corridors. Hangzhou's polycentric urban development was shaped both by the planning efforts of the government and by market forces. The municipal government guided the polycentric development through drafting and revising master plans, annexing nearby districts, and establishing development zones. Nevertheless, market forces played an increasingly important role in Hangzhou's polycentric development through the implementation of an urban land market, the inflow of migrant workers, and the relocation of industries.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explored the causal effect of neighborhood type on walking behavior and the relationship between this effect and the observed influence of neighborhood types on walking behaviour, and found that, on average, the causal influences of neighbourhood type are likely to be overstated by 64% for utilitarian walking behavior.
Abstract: The causality issue has become one of the key questions in the debate over the relationship between the built environment and travel behavior. To ascertain whether changes to the built environment are a cost-effective way to change travel behavior, it is necessary to determine the magnitude of the effect. Further, it is important to understand whether the observed influence of the built environment on travel behavior diminishes substantially once we control for self-selection. Using 1553 residents living in four traditional and four suburban neighborhoods in Northern California, this study explores the causal effect of neighborhood type on walking behavior and the relationship between this effect and the observed influence of neighborhood type on walking behavior. Specifically, propensity score stratification, which has been widely used to reduce selection bias, was applied. The results showed that, on average, the causal influences of neighborhood type are likely to be overstated by 64% for utilitarian w...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors used a large-scale survey to investigate the relative importance of jobs versus amenities for the decision to migrate, as perceived by the migrants themselves, and found that jobs are considerably more important for migration among highly educated migrants compared with migrants with lower education.
Abstract: Highly skilled workers are increasingly recognised as a key competitive asset for regional development, and claims have been made that emphasise the importance of certain amenities for the prospects of attracting this particular group of workers. We use a recent large-scale survey to investigate the relative importance of jobs versus amenities for the decision to migrate, as perceived by the migrants themselves. The paper thereby adds important insights to the existing literature that has hitherto mainly focused on analysing the extent to which aggregate migration flows correlate with employment-related or amenity-related factors. The results show that jobs are considerably more important for the decision to move among highly educated migrants compared with migrants with lower education.
TL;DR: The authors argue that it is the felt experience and the organisation of sensibilities towards heritage which are often as important as the symbolic construction of the past through heritage institutions, and that these have racialised modalities.
Abstract: This paper picks up from extensive literatures that have addressed the relationship of heritage to national identity. Much work focuses upon the symbolic construction of the past through heritage institutions, but in so doing it tends to underplay the affective experience of heritage sites. In this paper we argue that it is the felt experience and the organisation of sensibilities towards heritage which are often as important, and that these have racialised modalities. We thus look at attempts to foster civic inclusion and argue that they need to work through not just civic openness but felt exclusions and fears. We take two canonical heritage sites to exemplify these issues. First, the British Museum was chosen as an urban national institution that is conventionally seen speaking in an unemotive, pedagogical register. The history of the museum as collecting artefacts from around the world and bringing them to London is related to diasporic communities' feelings about the collections, focusing on the Oceanic gallery. The second exemplar is the English Lake District, chosen as a rural national park that is seen to mobilise more visceral affective responses, which is deeply bound up with national sensibilities but has attracted attention for racial exclusivity.
TL;DR: The authors analyzes a set of social processes which influence who benefits from reductions in emissions generated by primary production from forest ecosystems, and suggests that farmers and rural communities cannot derive full benefits from carbon sequestration because they lack key structural and relational mechanisms, such as capital, knowledge, expertise, technology, and in some cases, even labour.
Abstract: Emissions trading has created new forms of exchangeable property which become commodities when traded in markets designed to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and mitigate climate change. This paper analyzes a set of social processes which influence who benefits from reductions in emissions generated by primary production from forest ecosystems. Informed by commodification literature, and property and access theory, we suggest that farmers and rural communities cannot derive full benefits from carbon sequestration because they lack key structural and relational mechanisms, such as capital, knowledge, expertise, technology, and, in some cases, even labour. We illustrate this argument by examining three ongoing carbon-forestry projects in China, Ecuador, and Mexico and we highlight its implications for future forestry mitigation projects and programmes.
TL;DR: The controversy over DHL's night flights at Brussels Airport would prove to be one of the first real test cases of this 'Third Way' postpolitical approach to policing socioenvironmental affairs.
Abstract: The emergence of the controversy over airport-generated noise at Brussels Airport as an environmental issue on the national political agenda coincided with the inauguration of Belgium's first ‘purple–green’ government in 1999. The new government announced explicitly the dawning of a new political age in which old controversies and adversarial left–right politics were relegated to the dustbin of history. From now onwards, the interests of market actors, environmental concerns, and social objectives would be negotiated and reconciled in the interest of all within the framework of a common and consensually agreed objective of achieving environmentally sustainable, socially inclusive, and market-based development. The controversy over DHL's night flights at Brussels Airport would prove to be one of the first real test cases of this ‘Third Way’ postpolitical approach to policing socioenvironmental affairs. However, after several years of acrimonious argument, successive attempts to negotiate a compromise with ...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors draw attention to the creative possibilities offered by collective purchase as a mechanism to move local and organic foods beyond the niche market, and use the Gibson-Graham's notion of "diverse economies" to examine selected buying groups and food cooperatives.
Abstract: The authors draw attention to the creative possibilities offered by collective purchase as a mechanism to move local and organic foods beyond the niche market. The food-buying group and cooperative style of food purchasing has received only scant reference in the alternative food and ethical consumption literatures, but it offers much in terms of historical context and future lessons for growth in the sector. ‘We can do it better’ is an experimental ethic of the 1960s and 1970s counterculture, but it resonates strongly with the present-day ‘alternatives’ associated with the local and organic food movement. The authors use Gibson-Graham's notion of ‘diverse economies’ to examine selected buying groups and food cooperatives in North America, Europe, and Japan. The results reveal a highly pixilated and evolving mix of motivations and ethics. The ‘ideology first, practicalities later’ approach appears to be a powerful influence, symbolising the ‘becomingness’ of ethical purchasing in these contexts.
TL;DR: In this article, two new residential student high-rise towers have just been added to the skyline of Leeds, one of the biggest student cities in the UK, and they represent new heights in the reformulation, upgrading and commodification of the student experience.
Abstract: Introduction: the student city grows up Two new residential student high-rise towers have just been added to the skyline of Leeds, one of the biggest student cities in the UK. One of themöthe »80 million Sky Plaza built by the Bristol-based Unite Group plcöclaims that it is the tallest student accommodation in the world. With 37 storeys, 557 bedrooms, and towering 103 m over the streets of Leeds city centre, it is the city's very own Burj Dubai for students. En-suite accommodation is »118 per week, with features including wifi, on-site DVD rentals, flatscreen TVs, and luxury furnishings and minibars in the upper floor penthouses. The otheröBroadcasting Toweröis a »50 million, 23-storey, 240-bedroom tower built by the Liverpool-based Downing Group which boasts free Sky TV, wifi, contemporary interiors, and stylish dëcor. Both these student towers have been prelet before completion. These are stunning developments in the ongoing story of the student city in the UK. They represent new heights in the reformulation, upgrading, and commodification of the student experience. No longer do students choose from grotty `digs' let by slum landlords. I am reminded by a friend that student accommodation is referred to as digs as it reflected the fact that students used to literally dig down and spend a few years at university tolerating substandard accommodation in a subterranean world, looking forward to a brighter future. With the introduction of contemporary luxury student living this is no longer the case. Higher education students (at least those who can afford to) can choose from a range of high-quality vertical living accommodation in large dedicated purpose-built tower blocks. They are the newest arrivals in the unfolding story of the gentrification of central urban areas. I first looked at student life in detail in the mid to late 1990s during my PhD thesis in which I explored how high concentrations of in-migrant middle-class students were creating what I called èxclusive geographies' (see Chatterton, 1999). Since the time of my initial work into student life new trends have emerged, while older ones have been reinforced. The most obvious change is that numerical growth has continued and there are now record numbers of students in higher education. In 1998, 329 000 students started a degree in the UK, and by 2008 the figure had grown to 457 000 (Curtis, 2009a). Overall, there are 300 000 more university students in the system than in 1997 when New Labour arrived to govern the UK and I was finishing my PhD. Demand still continues to increase year on year, especially in the current recessionary environment, but a particular crisis moment has arisen within UK higher education. Unprecedented demand for places in 2009 could not be met, with a 10% surge in applications meaning that there were 50 000 fewer places than applicants (Curtis, 2009b). In light of recession-related spending cuts, the government target of 50% of 18-30 year-olds in higher education by 2010 is not likely to be met. In 2007/08 the figure reached its highest point of 43%. Student debt has also mushroomed. Average debt in 2004/05 was »7900 compared with »3530 in 1999/2000 (Finch et al, 2005). With the likely eradication of the »3000 cap on tuition fees after the next parliamentary elections in the UK, elite universities have suggested fees would rise to »10000 per year (Shepherd, 2009, page 5). Many more students are staying at home due to the rising costs of student living, but student Commentary Environment and Planning A 2010, volume 42, pages 509 ^ 514
TL;DR: In this paper, a review of psychological and sociological perspectives on the drivers for everyday energy-use patterns, situating these in the context of the body of research on transitions in sociotechnical systems, is presented.
Abstract: This paper explores the active roles that domestic consumers might play in different transition pathways to a lower carbon electricity economy. It begins with a review of psychological and sociological perspectives on the drivers for everyday energy-use patterns, situating these in the context of the body of research on transitions in sociotechnical systems. On the basis of the review, a social-science-based framework is proposed for analysing the active ways in which domestic actors might facilitate or support the transition to a lower carbon economy. Applying the framework to an analysis of centralised and decentralised transitions pathways suggests that domestic actors can play an active role in transition through establishing new routine and conventional uses of energy in everyday life. Domesticating lower carbon technologies such as smart meters and microgeneration equipment supports the disruption of unsustainable energy-using routines and could help to make energy consumption and energy costs more visible and relevant to the everyday lives of domestic users. The findings call attention to the need to consider the wider effects of energy-system transition within and around consumer-oriented lifestyles.
TL;DR: Wang et al. as mentioned in this paper examined the actual pattern of industrial clustering and technological innovation in China, focusing on the information and communication technology (ICT) industry, and found no significant relationship between spatial agglomeration and economic performance.
Abstract: The relationship between industrial clustering and technological innovation has been a subject of intense enquiry and heated debate. We examine the actual pattern of industrial clustering and technological innovation in China, focusing on the information and communication technology (ICT) industry. With our systematic analysis of the data gathered at the national level we found no significant relationship between spatial agglomeration and economic performance. Our questionnaire survey and personal interviews conducted in Shenzhen—China's leading special economic zone—revealed a peculiar pattern consistent with that at the national level. Although there existed frequent and intensive production linkages among firms in the Shenzhen ICT industrial cluster, the innovative performance of these firms has been rather poor. Most of the ICT manufacturing firms obtained their core technology through internal research and development (R & D) activities rather than through technology transfer or knowledge spillover. ...
TL;DR: It is found that members of the new generation have stronger desires to do nonfarm work, and that returning to seek a nonagricultural job has become the most important planned trajectory for this generation.
Abstract: Using data from a 2005 Survey of rural-urban migrants in Shenzhen, this paper investigates intentions of two groups of migrants. We use the birth years from 1970 to 1980 as a reasonable range of dividing lines to separate the two groups. For each year we divide the sample into those born before that year and those born in or after that year. These are referred to as the old and the new generation, respectively. Three possible development trajectories are considered: settling in cities, returning home to seek a nonagricultural job, and returning home to farm. We find that members of the new generation have stronger desires to do non-farm work, and returning to seek a nonagricultural job has become the most important planned trajectory for this generation. Sharp differences exist between the two generations in the reasons that underlie their intentions. For the old generation, conditions such as age, family responsibility, and type of job are important determinants of intentions, while other conditions such as initial migration motives, social capital, and socioeconomic conditions of origin areas are important for the intentions of the new generation. Thus the new generation is more likely to view migration as a form of investment with the accumulation of human capital and social capital. Those migrants from the old generation who have higher education levels also intend to seek non-farm jobs. However, because of the combined effects of life cycle and the market transition in China, these intentions are not as strong as those of the new generation. We discuss economic and policy implications of our findings.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine how the internal attributes of place condition the influence of transnational spatial dependencies and find that higher levels of ISO14001 certification in other economies are more likely to spill over (via trans- national linkages) into higher domestic uptake of the standard in wealthier economies, while domestic receptivity to higher GC adoptions abroad is greater in more democratic countries.
Abstract: Despite their availability to firms across the world, uptake of global voluntary standards has proceeded unevenly across countries over time. In this paper we seek to provide new insights into how geography shapes these spatiotemporal variations, focusing on two leading examples of codified voluntarism: ISO14001 and the Global Compact (GC). In an advance on previous quantitative studies, which have analyzed domestic and nondomestic influences separately, we examine how the internal attributes of place 'condition' the influence of transnational spatial dependencies. We find that higher levels of ISO14001 certification in other economies are more likely to spill over (via trans- national linkages) into higher domestic uptake of the standard in wealthier economies, while domestic receptivity to the influence of higher GC adoptions abroad is greater in more democratic countries. Another important advance on previous studies is that we examine the influence of a larger number of measures of transnational economic linkage. Providing evidence of 'trading-up' and 'investing-up' dynamics, we show that higher densities of ISO14001 certificates and GC participants in a country's export and inward foreign direct investment partners are associated with higher levels of domestic uptake of the respective standard. We also find tentative evidence of 'visiting-up' dynamics associated with the cross-border movement of businesspeople.
TL;DR: Zhang et al. as mentioned in this paper examined the relationship between the effect of hukou status on income and return to education under China's rural-urban divide, and found that the influence of the status is deeply rooted in an indivdual's other key features (occupation, years of schooling, and working location) in the labor market.
Abstract: We use microsample data from the 2005 (1%) National Population Sample Survey in southeast China and examine the relationship between the effect of hukou status on income and return to education under China's rural–urban divide. For labor-market return we find that: (1) the influence of hukou status is deeply rooted in an indivdual's other key features (occupation, years of schooling, and working location) in the labor market, and (2) hukou status affects labor-market return primarily through its influence on people's return to education. Assisted by spline regression models, we find that the gap of return to education among people with different hukou status increases as years of schooling decrease, and reaches its peak in primary education. The data overwhelmingly suggest that individuals' human capital was largely determined by the place (rural versus urban) where they were born and received their compulsory education, which highlights the role of China's rural–urban divide in shaping people's labor-mar...
TL;DR: In this paper, it is shown that global architects participate in local communities of practice that rely on face-to-face interaction, talk and "buzz" to facilitate learning through human-non-human interactions.
Abstract: It is surprising that despite widespread interest in the geographies of innovation in cultural industries, few questions have been asked about the geographies of innovation in architecture. Particularly relevant to global architects are debates about the way stretched relational spaces and ‘global’ communities of practice connect individuals, firms and regions into networks of learning that ‘perforate’ scales. This paper seeks to apply such debates to the case of global architects and to examine the spatiality of the practices that allow learning and lead to innovation in their work. It is shown that global architects participate in ‘local’ communities of practice that rely on face-to-face interaction, talk and ‘buzz’. They are also part of ‘global’ constellations of practice that rely on forms of circulation, in particular travel by architects and the circulation of texts and images in the media, which facilitate learning through human – non-human interactions. It is, therefore, suggested that in order to more effectively analyse the geographies of learning and innovation – in architecture but also other industries - focus needs to fall on both the geography of talk/buzz and communities of practice and the geography of human – non-human interactions and constellations of practice.