Yehua Dennis Wei

Regional Inequality in China

Regional inequality is one of the major subjects of research on China, and is a major concern to the Chinese government. This article reviews the copious research on regional inequality in China. It is proposed that recent research has significantly improved our understanding of regional inequality but that problems still exist. It is also argued that multiscale studies and investigations of the various mechanisms that affect inequality will further improve future research findings.

Regional Inequality in China: A Case Study of Jiangsu Province

The tremendous changes in Chinas development philosophy and regional economies during the last two decades have carved out selectively new locations of development across the nation. While politicians heatedly debate the acceptable levels of regional inequality, most scholarly studies focus on broad aggregate trends of inequality among provinces and groups of provinces, and pay little attention to identifying and conceptualizing sources and major agents of spatial change. This paper aims at revealing detailed spatial ramifications of the reforms, and at understanding the impacts of the state, local agents, and foreign investors on regional development. To this effect, we conduct a disaggregated and empirical study of Jiangsu, a coastal province experiencing dramatic economic and spatial restructuring. We show that local agents which favor rural industrial enterprises accelerated new growth in selected rural areas, in contrast to slower growth of older cities and state-owned enterprises, resulting in a net decline of intercounty inequality. But the coalescence of state policy, local agents, and foreign investment has widened the historical gap between northern and southern Jiangsu, and is likely to accelerate intercounty inequality in the future. Our study demonstrates the utility of the “developments from above, below and outside” framework for analyzing key forces of regional growth in socialist transitional economies.

DECENTRALIZATION, MARKETIZATION, AND GLOBALIZATION: THE TRIPLE PROCESSES UNDERLYING REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN CHINA

Abstract China since the late 1970s has implemented a series of reforms and has undergone profound changes. This paper analyzes the three fundamental processes of Chinas economic reforms—decentralization, marketization, and globalization, and argues that an understanding of these triple transitions is necessary for a better understanding of regional development in China. These changes also have had significant implications for the development of regions, as the central state is no longer monopolizing the regional development process. It is speculated that Chinas regions will remain fragmented and the coastal-interior divide may persist.

Beyond the Sunan Model: Trajectory and Underlying Factors of Development in Kunshan, China

Since the launch of economic reforms in the late 1970s, some cities and regions in China have been growing much faster than others, stimulating scholarly research on the forces underlying uneven development. This paper, through a case study of the emergence of Kunshan in southern Jiangsu (Sunan), shows that the orthodox Sunan model centered on the development of township and village enterprises (TVEs) has become inadequate to account for the recent development and restructuring in Sunan. I argue that spatial development in China is a complicated process incorporating the role of the state, local development conditions, and foreign investment. Moreover, there are strong geographical foundations for the functioning of local states. The arguments are particularly relevant to the transitional nature of provincial China, where the state still plays a significant role in development while local and global forces have emerged as equally important forces.

Geospatial Analysis of Regional Development in China: The Case of Zhejiang Province and the Wenzhou Model

The paper, based on extensive field work and surveys, analyzes in a GIS environment the multiscalar patterns and emerging clusters of regional development in Zhejiang Province (one of Chinas most rapidly growing) and Wenzhou Municipality (known for the Wenzhou Model of development based on private enterprise and rural industrialization). The authors first investigate the extent to which a traditional northeast-southwest divide has been replaced by emerging coastal-interior divide and whether intraprovincial inequality in Zhejiang, especially rural intercounty inequality, has intensified as new development clusters have emerged. At a finer scale of investigation, they analyze the Wenzhou Model and explain the resulting patterns of change by addressing the role of localities, the state, and globalization. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: O10, O14, O18, O20. 10 figures, 1 table, 36 references.

Urbanization, urban land expansion and environmental change in China

China’s economic reforms and unprecedented growth have generated many fascinating issues for scholarly research. An understanding of urbanization and land use change in China is required for appropriate strategies and policies to facilitate future sustainable development. This paper reviews the literature on urbanization, land use and sustainable development in China with a focus on land use change. We argue that land use and environmental research are embedded in the complex economic-geographical processes and multiple trajectories of development and urbanization in China. This paper highlights the important role of space–time modeling in a multi-disciplinary setting in the study of urbanization, land use and sustainable development. It also points out potential areas for future research.

Modeling Spatial Dimensions of Housing Prices in Milwaukee, WI

In this study we investigate spatial dimensions of housing-market dynamics in the City of Milwaukee by modeling the determinants of housing prices. From the 2003 Master Property data file of the city, two sets of owner-occupied single-family houses were randomly selected (one to construct the models, and the other to rest the models). Besides conventional housing attributes, remote-sensing information, in particular the fractions of soil and impervious surface representing degraded neighborhood environment conditions, is added to improve the model. Spatial regression and geographically weighted regression approaches are employed to examine spatial dependence and heterogeneity. Results reveal that these spatial models tend to perform better, especially in terms of model performance and predictive accuracy, than the ordinary least squares estimates.

Planning Chinese Cities: The Limits of Transitional Institutions

Chinas economic reform is a gradual and exploratory process, which has stimulated the dramatic growth and restructuring of the Chinese cities, but has also made urban master plans quickly outdated and unable to function effectively to guide the development of cities. Through a case study of Hangzhou, the paper argues that the gradual and exploratory nature of Chinas reform is incompatible with the nature of the urban master plan, which requires a blueprint and the ability to project the future. Rather than guiding development and policies, urban master plans often lag behind reforms initiated at the national and local levels, and have to be revised constantly to follow the new direction of the reforms. Consequently, Chinese cities are in chaos, and much development and new construction lacks proper planning guidance. The paper argues that problems with Chinese cities and planning are related to the incompatible relationship between the nature of urban planning and that of transitional institutions. This dilemma was intensified by the disruption of planning during the Cultural Revolution, problems with planning education, and the slowness in reforming planning systems in China. The analysis highlights the broad transitional contexts underlying urban planning, and the responses of planers to growth and change. The paper also discusses the need for further reform of Chinese institutions and planning systems.

Analyzing Regional Inequality in Post-Mao China in a GIS Environment

Regional inequality in China has attracted considerable scholarly attention, but the use of geographic information system (GIS) techniques for rigorous analysis remains limited. This paper utilizes recent data and GIS and spatial statistical techniques to analyze changing patterns of regional inequality in China from 1978 to 2000. It also identifies the changing clusters of regional development in China. We illustrate that regional inequality in China is sensitive to development trajectories of the provinces, and that conventional measures of regional inequality mask geographical clustering. Patterns of change are explained by both contextual and regression analyses. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: F21, G32, P31. 16 figures, 3 tables, 30 references.

Widening Inter-County Inequality in Jiangsu Province, China, 1950-95

Scholars have heatedly debated the change of regional inequality in China and policies for intervention. However, most studies on China are based on macro regions and provinces, and have paid less attention to trends and mechanisms of regional inequality within provinces. This paper uses time-series county data to examine inter-county inequality in Jiangsu from 1950 to 1995. We find that inter-county inequality in Jiangsu did not change much under Mao and during the rural reform period (1978-84), but dramatically intensified in the urban-based comprehensive reform period (since 1984). Regression analysis reveals that the institutional structure, agglomeration effects, and human capital are important factors underlying the divergence of inter-county inequality in Jiangsu.