Local Citizenship: Welfare Reform Urban/Rural Status, and Exclusion in China

10.1068/a3454 ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 33 (10) ◽  
pp. 1853-1869 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Smart ◽  
Josephine Smart

After 1949 China's welfare system developed on the basis of a status division between urban and rural residents. Urban and rural societies were profoundly influenced by the respective organization of their welfare systems, which shared the feature of being fixed to specific places (rural) or enterprises (urban). Reform of core institutions is constrained by path dependency. Knowledge of those constraints, however, can aid efforts to shape new paths. In this paper we examine how institutional legacies of urban – rural status differentiation continue to structure economic and welfare reform. China's reform process has been characterized by an unusual degree of decentralization and local experimentation. As a result, the nature of change is not easily seen by examining only laws and policies related to welfare. Instead, broader changes in the economy and the loosening of controls on mobility have interacted with the locality/enterprise welfare systems to generate diverse local outcomes. After an overview of the welfare institutions and the reform process, we draw on field research in industrializing rural areas in Guangdong to describe a pattern we label ‘local citizenship’ where welfare benefits are elaborated for the locally born while excluding migrants.

2020 ◽  
Vol 93 (2) ◽  
pp. 327-351
Author(s):  
Hanno Jentzsch

This article analyzes agricultural reform as an element of broader shifts in the Japanese welfare regime. In postwar Japan, agricultural support and protection served as a "functional equivalent" to welfare provision in rural and semi-rural areas. However, an ongoing agricultural reform process has put pressure on aging smallholders and on JA, the powerful organization of agricultural cooperatives. This article investigates how these local actors have responded to an increasingly hostile socio-economic and political environment. To address this question, the article focuses on hamlet-based collective farming, which is a form of agricultural production that can reproduce the welfare character of the postwar support and protection regime on the local level. Based on field research in several rural and semi-rural communities, the article argues that the functions and the local proliferation of hamlet-based farming are shaped by village institutions: hamlet-level norms and rules governing land use and agricultural cooperation, as well as social ties between hamlets, local co-ops, and local governments. While the integration of village institutions into local cooperative and administrative structures can support a systematic local proliferation of collective farming, municipal and cooperative mergers have rendered such comprehensive local responses more complicated. More generally, the article proposes to investigate local acts of recombining community ties and norms with changing macro policies as a promising analytical angle to understand the ongoing renegotiation of East Asian welfare regimes.


2006 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 91-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theodoros Iosifides ◽  
Thanasis Kizos ◽  
Elektra Petracou ◽  
Ekaterini Malliotaki ◽  
Konstantina Katsimantou ◽  
...  

This paper aims at an investigation of factors of differentiation of basic social and economic characteristics of foreign immigrants in the Region of Western Greece. The paper explores whether the thesis of urban-rural divide is relevant for the differentiation of immigrants’ socio-economic characteristics in a typical Region of Greece, where there is a strong interplay between major urban centers and large rural areas. Findings show that spatial factors play a very limited role in the differentiation of socio-economic characteristics of immigrants and indicate that other factors are more important. Thus, and as regards socio-economic characteristics of immigrants, the overall picture is that of urban-rural continuum rather than divide. 


1982 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 275-296 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rehana Siddiqui

The paper aims at testing the validity of Engel's law with data on Pakistan. Consumption functions for urban and rural areas have been estimated separately. These functions are shown to be determined by total expenditure and household size. Engel's law is confirmed for some commodity groups but not for all. Following tests of urban-rural homogeneity and of stability of urban and rural consumption functions, demand growth rates for different food and non-food items have been calculated, assuming different growth rates of total expenditure and household size.


Author(s):  
Balkar Singh

The capability or calibre cannot be judged based on Results, as it depends on the student to student & also the examination is testing of knowledge of a student, for the whole year in two or three hours. In July 2020 the exam result of the secondary standard was declared by the Board of School Education Haryana, Bhiwani and there is a discussion about topper & the schools in which these toppers were studying & strategy of these toppers regarding exam preparation, their interviews & photos were published in the Newspapers, why not? It must be but in this spark light, there is some darkness behind this. Everyone is congratulating these students, as they are studied from the Private Schools of the Urban City areas of the Haryana, a few are from the most educated families, whose parents their selves are teachers or professors. Through this, we are ignoring a bitter truth of the poor students of the Government Schools, who despite lack of all the big & small facilities, as compare of these Private schools’ performed equal to these toppers. KEYWORDS: Testing of knowledge, Education in Private Schools, Toppers and Calibre.


2021 ◽  
pp. 001955612110016
Author(s):  
Anurima Mukherjee Basu ◽  
Rutool Sharma

Current urbanisation trends in India show a quantum jump in number of ‘census towns’, which are not statutorily declared as urban areas, but have acquired all characteristics of urban settlements. Sizeable number of such census towns are not located near any Class 1 city. Lack of proper and timely planning has led to unplanned growth of these settlements. This article is based on a review of planning legislations, institutional framework and planning process of four states in India. The present article analyses the scope and limitations of the planning process adopted in the rapidly urbanising rural areas of these states. The findings reveal that states are still following a conventional approach to planning that treats ‘urban’ and ‘rural’ as separate categories and highlights the need for adopting an integrated territorial approach to planning of settlements.


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
S Sauliune ◽  
O Mesceriakova-Veliuliene ◽  
R Kalediene

Abstract Introduction Health inequalities have emerged as a big issue of public health in Lithuania. Recent studies have demonstrated increasing mortality differentials between different socio-demographic groups of the population. Urban/rural place of residence is related with a set of socio-economic characteristics, different access to material resources, presence or absence of social support, and attitudes to health-related behavior. The aim of the study To determine inequalities in life expectancy and its changes by place of residence (urban/rural) in Lithuania during 1990-2018. Methods Information on deaths and population numbers for the period of 1990-2018 was obtained from National Mortality Register and Population Register. Life expectancy for males and females of urban and rural populations was calculated using life tables. Changes in the magnitude of life expectancy inequalities by place of residence were assessed using rate differences (urban-rural); while trends in inequalities were estimated by conducting the Joinpoint regression analysis. Results Life expectancy among males and females was longer in urban compared to rural areas throughout the entire study period. Life expectancy increased statistically significantly for urban and rural males and females with the most notable increase for males, especially those living in rural areas (on average by 0.4% per year from 64.1 years in 1990 to 70.05 years in 2018). Inequalities in life expectancy by place of residence decreased statistically significantly among Lithuanian males from 3.48 years in 1990 to 1.39 years in 2018, while among females only the tendency of decrease was estimated. Conclusions Inequalities in life expectancy of males and females by place of residence decreased significantly in Lithuania throughout the period of 1990-2018, mainly due to positive changes in life expectancy among rural males. Key messages Inequalities in life expectancy of males and females by place of residence decreased significantly in Lithuania throughout the period of 1990-2018. Life expectancy increased for Lithuanian urban and rural males and females with the most notable increase for males, especially those living in rural areas.


Author(s):  
Jun Zhang ◽  
Xiaodie Yuan ◽  
Xueping Tan ◽  
Xue Zhang

As one of the most important methods for limiting urban sprawl, the accurate delineation of the urban–rural boundary not only promotes the intensive use of urban resources, but also helps to alleviate the urban issues caused by urban sprawl, realizing the intensive and healthy development of urban cities. Previous studies on delineating urban–rural boundaries were only based on the level of urban and rural development reflected by night-time light (NTL) data, ignoring the differences in the spatial development between urban and rural areas; so, the comprehensive consideration of NTL and point of interest (POI) data can help improve the accuracy of urban–rural boundary delineation. In this study, the NTL and POI data were fused using wavelet transform, and then the urban–rural boundary before and after data fusion was delineated by multiresolution segmentation. Finally, the delineation results were verified. The verification result shows that the accuracy of delineating the urban–rural boundary using only NTL data is 84.20%, and the Kappa value is 0.6549; the accuracy using the fusion of NTL and POI data on the basis of wavelet transform is 93.2%, and the Kappa value is 0.8132. Therefore, we concluded that the proposed method of using wavelet transform to fuse NTL and POI data considers the differences between urban and rural development, which significantly improves the accuracy of the delineation of urban–rural boundaries. Accurate delineation of urban–rural boundaries is helpful for optimizing internal spatial structure in both urban and rural areas, alleviating environmental problems resulting from urban development, assisting the formulation of development policies for urban and rural fringes, and promoting the intensive and healthy development of urban areas.


BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. e042762
Author(s):  
Shuai Yuan ◽  
Shao-Hua Xie

ObjectiveThe substantial differences in socioeconomic and lifestyle exposures between urban and rural areas in China may lead to urban–rural disparity in cancer risk. This study aimed to assess the urban–rural disparity in cancer incidence in China.MethodsUsing data from 36 regional cancer registries in China in 2008–2012, we compared the age-standardised incidence rates of cancer by sex and anatomic site between rural and urban areas. We calculated the rate difference and rate ratio comparing rates in rural versus urban areas by sex and cancer type.ResultsThe incidence rate of all cancers in women was slightly lower in rural areas than in urban areas, but the total cancer rate in men was higher in rural areas than in urban areas. The incidence rates in women were higher in rural areas than in urban areas for cancers of the oesophagus, stomach, and liver and biliary passages, but lower for cancers of thyroid and breast. Men residing in rural areas had higher incidence rates for cancers of the oesophagus, stomach, and liver and biliary passages, but lower rates for prostate cancer, lip, oral cavity and pharynx cancer, and colorectal cancer.ConclusionsOur findings suggest substantial urban–rural disparity in cancer incidence in China, which varies across cancer types and the sexes. Cancer prevention strategies should be tailored for common cancers in rural and urban areas.


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