Zhu Qian

Building Hangzhou's new city center: mega project development and entrepreneurial urban governance in China

Politico-economic landscapes in China have experienced profound changes since the late 1970s. Local governments have transformed their role in urban governance from conventional regulator to entrepreneurial agent. Entrepreneurial urban governance defines the relationships between local government and other interest groups in the urban development process. These issues can be most clearly observed in mega urban project development. Using entrepreneurial urban governance as an analytical approach, this study examines the so-called “government led but market oriented operation” of a new city center development process in Hangzhou. The study uncovered a dominant role of local government in entrepreneurial urban governance, which featured participation by other interest groups. The study also revealed the applicability and variations when applying the concept of urban entrepreneurialism to a socialist economy in transition. Issues concerning development motivations and strategies, civil society, amphibious institution and local elitism make entrepreneurial urban governance in China unique.

Shaping Urban Form without Zoning: Investigating Three Neighbourhoods in Houston

Abstract Houston is the only major city in North America without zoning. The growth of Houston illustrates a traditional free market philosophy in which zoning is seen as a violation to private property rights. This paper examines how the lack of zoning has an impact on land use and urban form in Houston. It uses cluster analysis integrating socioeconomic factors to select three case study neighbourhoods, and then applies geographical information systems to analyse their urban form spatial characteristics. The study investigates the change of urban form in three neighbourhoods over two decades. The analysis is accompanied by a qualitative investigation of the neighbourhoods, which attempts to address why and how those quantified characteristics of urban form developed over the decades. The paper concludes by discussing the similarity and diversity of land-use patterns and the reasons, by outlining policy implications from the findings on urban form, and by contributing to the debate over urban form and government intervention in better land-use patterns.

Declining inner suburbs? A longitudinal-spatial analysis of large metropolitan regions in Canada

Spatially referenced quantitative research that attempts systematically to assess inner suburban decline in Canadian metropolitan areas is almost completely missing from the literature. This paper aims to fill this gap and examine whether inner suburban decline is occurring in Canada. Aggregated census tract level data are used to assess all zones for decline based on relative prosperity changes in median household income, average dwelling values, and average gross rent. The results indicate that inner suburbs in Canadian cities experienced a decline in median household income, average dwelling value, and prosperity factors between 1986 and 2006. While a few possible explanations and policy approaches are offered, more research is necessary to explore the implications of these trends.