Economic Spatial Structure in China: Evidence from Railway Transport Network

This study analyzes the structure of China’s overall railway transport network and its sub-networks of conventional railway and high-speed railway, with the aim to understand the country’s economic spatial structure that is reflected by or underlines the railway transport network. First, the results indicate that compared with developed cities, backward cities not only have fewer train services but also lack a symmetrical transport plan; backward cities tend to connect with developed cities rather than within themselves. Second, the national-level urban hierarchy was established using the proposed algorithm, which helped reveal the economic geography of three economic plates in China. Third, the law of the primate city is not prominent in a large country such as China, which is undergoing regional restructuring with the economic center of gravity shifting to the coastal area while also moving south.

Difference in Housing Finance Usage and Its Impact on Housing Wealth Inequality in Urban China

With the increasing importance of financial loans in home purchases in urban China, the role of housing loans in the accumulation of housing wealth needs to be unraveled. Using the data from the 2017 China Household Finance Survey (CHFS), this study investigates the use of housing loans and their impact on housing wealth inequality. It has been found that people with higher socioeconomic status and institutional advantages benefit more from housing provident fund loans and are more likely to fully invoke different financing channels to accumulate housing wealth. On the contrary, disadvantaged groups have to resort to costly market-based mortgages to finance their home purchases. This leads them to fall further behind in housing wealth accumulation. The spatial stratification of housing wealth accompanying the urban hierarchy was also observed and found to be closely linked to the type of housing loans. In this increasingly financialized era, relying on financial instruments in the process of household asset accumulation may further amplify the existing wealth inequality among social groups.

Urban Shrinkage and Socio-Economic Segregation in Medium-Sized Cities: The Case of Schwerin (Germany)

Although past studies have found that processes of urban shrinkage may act as a catalyst for socio-economic segregation, these relationships remain underexplored outside the context of large cities and capitals. Moreover, cities at lower-tiers of the urban hierarchy in post-socialist Europe have been doubly excluded from the critical discourse on the socio-spatial effects of shrinkage. Hence, this article examines how shrinkage affects socio-economic segregation in the medium-sized post-socialist city of Schwerin, employing segregation indices to assess levels of spatial unevenness and location quotients to map intra-urban patterns of vulnerable population groups over time. Results indicate processes of shrinkage may exacerbate socio-economic segregation in medium-sized cities and that the spatial heterogeneity of shrinkage intersects with uneven distributions of affluence and poverty. However, suggesting that legacies of state socialism shape contemporary socio-spatial change, segregation in Schwerin is strongly conditioned by its socialist-era housing estates, which are generally characterised by the highest rates of population decline, vacancy, and vulnerable groups.

The Second Generation Electromobility in Polish Urban Public Transport: The Factors and Mechanisms of Spatial Development

One of the key challenges on the road to sustainable mobility is the development of low/zero emission urban public transport (UPT). This is crucial in order to meet environmental requirements aiming at reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emission. In some countries (e.g., Poland) reduction of air pollution is also an important reason behind the implementation of low/zero emission UPT. The aim of this study is to investigate the factors and mechanisms influencing the development of modern electromobility in Polish UPT. We have examined all 242 UPT systems in the country in terms of the characteristics of the relevant urban municipalities, such as size, economic prosperity, level of human and social capital, development paths of urban public transport in the long term as well as the institutional context and proximity and connections to other cities with experience in electromobility. Classification and statistical methods are used based on a variety of approaches, as assigning a score to various preliminarily identified indicators or applying correlation between quantities to verify the formulated hypotheses. Our analysis demonstrates that electromobility adoption is the result of a combination of favourable economic, urban, social and technological characteristic features of a given city. Zero or low emission buses are more common in large cities which are highly positioned in urban hierarchy, economically sound and which are characterized by a well-developed tertiary economy as well as by high human capital. An additional factor that positively influences the implementation of electromobility—in particular at the very first stage—is proximity to the location of low emission bus producers. The leadership in modern electromobility can be understood as part of a broader, proactive development policy of the cities aimed at improving the quality of life of their residents. This is especially important in medium-sized towns where utilizing electric vehicles can be an instrument to maintain or even develop their role and status. The results of the article may provide a basis for creating sustainable urban policies, especially sustainable mobility and improving environmental quality.

The Gender Gap Index in an upcoming urbanized society: A case study of Sehore Municipal Council, Madhya Pradesh, India

Though urbanization promotes development, the gender gap is being perceived in many socio-economic aspects, in the Indian urban economic scenario. With a 31.16% urban population (in 2011), India has experienced a lopsided development of its urban hierarchy in favour of metropolitan growth which accommodates 42.31% of the total urban population. For various socioeconomic reasons it has a declining female economic participation rate. Sehore M.C. (Madhya Pradesh), an upcoming Class I city, located near the metropolitan cities of Bhopal and Indore, is showing perceptible changes in female work participation, indicating a potential for development in Sehore M.C. along with other smaller cities in Madhya Pradesh. Based on the methodology for the Global Gender Gap Index (GGGI, WEF 2018), the ward wise figures for Sehore M.C. for the partly adopted subindices of Survival, Social, and Economic Participation were calculated using local area indicators from standard international and national agencies to bring out the inter-ward variations in gender gap for Sehore M.C.. Spatial mapping of GGI showed that approximately 91% of wards belonged to the high category but 9% of wards were from the medium category. Suggestions for the promotion of gender parity in the city are made for the overall empowerment of females in Sehore M.C. within the constraints of an urban economic scenario.

Integrated Town Development Plan: Kurduwadi

The nature and economic development of Indian urbanization is characterized by metropolitan domination and polarization. The country's total population increased from 361 million in 1951 to 1,027 million in 2001, while the urban population increased from 62 million to 285 million during the same period. From 23 megacities in 1991 to 35 in 2001, the number has increased considerably. Therefore, it is clear that there is a clear movement towards large cities, possibly as a result of a lack of employment opportunities in small and medium cities and a deficient urban infrastructure. In 1979, the centrally supported scheme for the integrated development of small and medium cities (IDSMT) began and continued through 2004-05 and was incorporated into the UIDSSMT scheme in December 2005. It is important to invest in the development of small urban centers in order to reduce migration to large cities as well as to support the growth of surrounding rural areas. Small and medium towns are generally viewed as a means of balancing urban hierarchy and reducing pressure on primate cities, moderate spatial inequality, and foster factors that may assist in reversing the trend. Kurduwadi city is one of them, such as improper or uncertain use of available land, rising unemployment and migration to cities, unsatisfactory development plans to improve urban development. In this context, through integrated planning, efforts have been measured to obtain the resources needed to achieve each goal and improve strategy. Also by allowing institutions to plan and collaborate in departments, they can create efficiency and pursue new opportunities and help reduce migration to nearby large and metropolitan cities by strengthening the Kurduwadi towns as regional growth centers. Establishing complementary links between nearby villages, towns and cities will create a harmonious settlement pattern. An integrated development plan for the Kurduwadi town reduces some of the ideological concerns and working uncertainties emerging around this initiative through this study. The assessment of integrated town development may be appropriate to determine the future orientation and guidelines for Kurduwadi town.