Tourism and Livable Towns Beyond the Coronavirus Disease 2019: A Case Study for Chongqing, China

Based on the data of 812 small towns in Chongqing, China, this paper attempts to conduct an empirical analysis on whether tourist towns with excellent natural environment, policy advantage, and market preference are more ecologically livable than ordinary small towns. It is found that as a whole, tourist towns are indeed more ecologically livable than ordinary small towns. Also, from the perspective of grading, both the national and provincial tourist towns have the advantage of ecological livability, but the advantage of national ones is more prominent. Furthermore, the ecological livability of tourist towns is affected by location advantage and policy inclination. The implications of the results are discussed following the outcomes of the coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak. The suggestions beyond the coronavirus disease 2019 are also provided.

REIMAGINING FINLAND AS A MANUFACTURING BASE: THE NEARSHORING POTENTIAL OF FINLAND IN AN INDUSTRY 4.0 PERSPECTIVE

After decades of globalization and outsourcing the idea of “bringing manufacturing back home” and the twin concepts of backshoring and nearshoring have received much attention in recent years. Recent positive stories from the Finnish manufacturing industry suggests Finland as an attractive target for nearshoring, yet little to none has hitherto been made of this connection. This article (i.) examines recent relocation literature with a focus on nearshoring and manufacturing in high-cost environments, (ii.) explores the location advantage of Finland, (iii.) analyses cases of recent manufacturing developments in Finland within this context as single incidents or signals of change, and (iv.) discusses this development within the perspective of Industry 4.0.

Impact of Administrative Division Adjustment on Location and Accessibility of Heifei, China

The location may appear to be extremely important due to changes of some factors. Administrative division expansion of Hefei in August 2011 will affect its location advantage and accessibility. In this paper, updated data of the study area were collected including administrative division, transportation network and economic data, by using GIS spatial analysis methods and establishing the economic potential model, quantitatively evaluated the location advantage and accessibility of Hefei before and after the administrative area adjustment, and analyzed the economic relationship change between Wanjiang urban belt cities and Nanjing based on the gravity model. The results show that Hefei occupies the highest accessibility while Maanshan, Chuzhou and Wuhu comparatively rank behind before the administrative division adjustment, and the descending order is Maanshan, Hefei, Chuzhou and Wuhu after the administrative division adjustment. Although the location advantages of Hefei relatively reduced, the economic relationship have been further enhanced on the regional level, which played an important role in formation of the industrial cluster in Wanjiang urban belt and enhancing regional competitiveness, for easy integration into the Pan-Yangtze River Delta city group and promoting regional economic development in Anhui Province.