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  • 1997 Volume 52 Issue 3
    Published: 15 May 1997
      

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  • Victor Fung Shuen Sit,Yang Chun
    1997, 52(3): 193-206. https://doi.org/10.11821/xb199703001
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    Ever since the late 1970s, foreign capital has become an active agent in economic growth and urban development in many developing countries. This is a product of the globalization of production and other economic activities inspired by the New International Division of Larbour (NIDL) and a new and positive altitude of most developing countries towards the utilization of foreign capital for their own development. With active inflow of foreign capital, not only the local economy of some developing countries has been drastically transformed, their urbanization has been transformed by this new dynamic as well. In this paper, such an urbanization process which bears improtant imprint of foreign capital, is labelled as exo (genous) urbanization. It is believed that the volume, duration, nature and consequence of foreign capital there have been such that it has produced the only case of exo urbanization in the Zhujiang River Delta of the PRC in 1990. The paper analyses the process as it happened in 1978~1993. 1978 marks the start of the new Open Door and Reform of the PRC which turns the Zhujiang River Delta from a slow growth area under central planning into a fast economic take off area where market mechanism and foreign captital have played the predominant role in its economy. It is found that foreign capital has transformed the economy of the Delta in the period from a traditional rural one into one which is largely urban and export oriented. The new economy is predominated by light manufacture with both foreign and domestic funds and market orientations. Yet foreign capital and foreign market have the larger role. Drastic growth of this new economy not only has led to rural urban migration within the Delta, in the later part of the period, intra provincial and inter provincial medium to long distance migration has also been induced. Many of the new migrants are young and unskilled cheap labour required by the rapidly expanding manufacture and service sectors of the new economy. Exo urbanization in the Delta is found to show a number of characteristics. There is a close causal relationship between urbanization and the inflow of foreign capital as well as the new industrial sector growth that it has espoused. Secondly, the rate of urbanization is hectic, and is accompanied by the more hectic expansion of the built-up area, to a great extent, caused by the rapid expansion of land for urban and industrial uses. Thirdly, urban growth happens more in the small and medium urban places as well as ‘rural areas’ (or rural urban transition areas) where land is cheaper and official control over labour, environmental pollution and general bureaucracy are more laxed. Thus it has led to the faster growth of smaller urban centers than the larger centers. In the case of the Delta, the rank size curve has become smoother and the primacy of Guangzhou, the provincial capital has declined. Fourthly, exo urbanization shows a spatial bias towards the demarcation zone in the Delta, a clear response to the pull of the market and the main source of capital, i.e., Hong Kong. Exo urbanization is thus marked by different from other new phenomena described by recent studies in and around large metropolitan area of the developing countries, such as the extended urbanization. However, the social, political and environmental implication of the process needs to be further studied and its substantiation is yet insufficiently explored.
  • Anthony Gar On Yeh
    1997, 52(3): 207-219. https://doi.org/10.11821/xb199703002
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    The designation of Hong Kong as a Special Administrative Region (SAR) by China in the signing of the Sino British Joint Declaration in December 1984 that guarantees “one country, two systems” for 50 years after July 1997 is the recognition of the importance to maintain prosperity and stability of Hong Kong. The Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region prepared and enacted by the National People’s Congress (NPA) in April 1990 was to protect the autonomy in domestic affairs of Hong Kong after it becomes a SAR in July 1997. Hong Kong SAR will be governed by an authority mainly consisted of local inhabitants. It will possess its own executive, legislative and independent judicial power, including its own court of appeal. China will assume responsibility for Hong Kong SAR’s defence and foreign affairs, while the local government will be in charge of public order. Hong Kong will continue to decide its own economic and trade policies and maintain its existing capitalistic system. The maintenance of local autonomy undoubtedly is very important for the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong. But prosperity and stability cannot be achieved if the Demarcation of Hong Kong cannot be maintained. There are 1.2 billion of people across the Demarcation of Hong Kong. Because of the big difference in income and living standards, there is a strong desire of people across the Demarcation to come to Hong Kong. The influx of a small percentage of these 1.2 billion of people to Hong Kong will cause great problems to the housing, education, welfare, employment, and transport system in Hong Kong, overturning its prosperity and stability. The Demarcation of Hong Kong is covered under Article 116 which specifies that Hong Kong SAR shall be a separate custom territory. It is also covered under Article 22 which specifies that departments of the Central People’s Government as well as provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall not interfere with the affairs of the Hong Kong SAR. People from other parts of China must apply for approval for entry into the Hong Kong SAR. But is this adequate to maintain the Demarcation of Hong Kong? This paper attempts to discuss the importance of the Demarcation in maintaining the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong after it becomes a SAR and explores some of the issues related to the planning and management of the Demarcation area.
  • Luo Zhangren
    1997, 52(3): 220-227. https://doi.org/10.11821/xb199703003
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    As a mountainous, hilly and drowned valley coast, the coastal plain of Hong Kong is so narrow that the land for construction is in great need and hence 6.2 thousand hectares has been created through reclamation by 1995, accounting for 5.7 percent of total used land in Hong Kong. The reclamation has been developed from the low level, small scale nearshore filling to large scale deep sea filling. The reclaimed land has been used in many respects such as seaport, airport, coastal urban district, which promote the development of Hong Kong. However, Reclamation also has caused negative effects: (1) the marine condition of Victoria Harbour be come deteriorated; (2) Hong Kong Kowloor channed will probally become a “river”; (3) marine ecological environment is badly effected; (4) the high density and traffic congestion in downtown become more and more serious. The effect has been widely noticed. The reclamation near Victoria Harbour shouldn’t be conducted any more. New, it is the time to check up the Hong Kong reclamation.
  • Chen Tongbin, Wong MH, Wong JWC, Zhou Haiyuan
    1997, 52(3): 228-236. https://doi.org/10.11821/xb199703004
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    Heavy metal contents in top soils in Hong Kong and their pollution levels were studied in the presented paper using soil survey. Averages of total As, Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn contents in the 58 selected soils were 13, 1, 17, 57 and 55 mg/kg soil, respectively. Average contents of NaHCO 3/DTPA——extractable Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn in the soils were 0.1, 0.03, 0.7 and 1.1 mg/kg soil, respectively. In general, the maximum average contents of heavy metal except for Pb were found in vegetable soil type, the medium ones were found in urban soil type and rural soil type, and the minimum ones were in forest soil type. However, the fruit soil type and urban soil type had the highest Pb contents. The average Pb contents in vegetable soil type, rural soil type and forest soil type were lower. Among the 4 function areas (i.e. agricultural, commercial, forest and industrial areas) in the city, more serious pollution by heavy metals were usually observed in industrial areas while minimum pollution was found in forest areas. Oil gas combustion was the major source of Pb pollution in the soils. Repeated applications of agrochemicals were an important input of As, Cu and Zn in the agricultural soils.
  • Bao Jigang
    1997, 52(3): 237-245. https://doi.org/10.11821/xb199703005
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    Theme park are a relatively new concept in tourism. Its history can be traced back to the mid 1950s with the opening of Disneyland in California, USA. China’s theme park can be dated back to 1989 with the success opening of Splendid China in Shenzhen. Now there are about 20 major theme park in China. The planning and development of theme park has received limited coverage in the literature. The present paper introduces a model to interpret the major factors that influence theme park development, including tourist market, traffic, regional economic development level, tourist image of the city, spatial agglomeration and competition of theme park, and behavior of decision makers. Tourist market, traffic and regional economic development level are essential conditions for the development of theme park. Theme park will not be success if the essential conditions are not satisfied. Tourist image of the city, spatial agglomeration and competition of theme park are limiting conditions that influence the decision behavior of tourists. The paper also offers a systematic analysis of the relationship among all these factors.
  • Fu Baopu
    1997, 52(3): 246-253. https://doi.org/10.11821/xb199703006
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    In this paper the climatic effects of waters in different natural conditions are studied according to the theoretical analysis and the observational results of twenty six waters located in various regions in China, the main conclusions are as follows: 1. Deep water has temperature increasing effect in winter and temperature decreasing effect in summer. Shallow water has temperature increasing effect all the year in general, but has temperature decreasing effect in summer in arid regions. 2. In arid regions, the misture of air over water is obviously greater than that over land. In humid regions, the air moisture above waters is generally higher than that above land, but in the rice area the mean relative humidity in all seasons and the mean vapour pressure in summer above water are probably lower than that above rice field. 3. The wind velocity at the height of 2m above water may increase by 20%~100% compared to that over land. On an average it may increase by 50%. The weaker the wind, the larger the increased percentage of the wind speed over water. 4. In the Chinese monsoon region, in general, the summer and annual precipitations in water area and off shore decrease obviously, and the winter precipitation increases somewhat, while it is exactly the reverse at the sites which are far away from waters. In the arid region, however, the precipitations on water and its neighboring area increase all the year. 5. The climatic effects of waters is more obvious when the waters are larger and deeper and the climate is dry.
  • Tao Shu, Liang Tao, Xu Shangping, Di Wenhua
    1997, 52(3): 254-261. https://doi.org/10.11821/xb199703007
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    The contents of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and the flow of Yichun River were determined and the spatial and temporal variations in DOC content and flux were studied. It was found that in the summer, DOC is originated primarily from the allochthonous sources and the content of DOC increases downstream. There is a synchronous fluctuation of DOC contents and flow with a 8 hour delay of the former. A hyperbolic equation can fit the data well and is able to predict the DOC content and flux based on flow measurements. During the winter season when the river is totally covered by ice, the autochthonous source becomes dominant and the DOC content is negatively correlated to flow due to dilution effect. The DOC flux of the river was calculated to be 7 113 ton/yr, or 2.88 gC/m2穣r, among which over 90% occurs during the 5 months in the wet season.
  • Wang Shangyi
    1997, 52(3): 262-267. https://doi.org/10.11821/xb199703008
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    Researches into ancient lakes help using water resources effectively. Taiyuan, which lies in the middle of Shanxi province, had been a vast expanse of water in the pre pleistocene epoch. In the early stage of history, the water began to flow southward, and a remaining lake Zhao Yu Qi was formed in the north of Jiexiu, the west of Pingyao, Qixian and Taigu, and the east of Wenshui and Fenyang. In the pre Qin days, the lake was among the ten largest lakes in the country. Afterwards, Lake Zhao Yu Qi experienced two severe shrinkages; one happened during Han Dynasty; another happened from Tang Dynasty to Song Dynasty. Since Yuan Dynasty, the lake gradually came to be a pond and reed marshes. According to remote sensing satellite photos and images, it is found that there are three integrate spots in closed structure that are different in size. They are proved to be the changing ranges in three periods respectively. Furthermore, the stratigraphic lithology and on the spot investigatings also confirm what the historical records and remote sensing technology have shown. At the end of the paper the reasons why the Lake Zhao Yu Qi was silted up are given.
  • Zhu Cheng, Yu Shiyong, Lu Chuncheng
    1997, 52(3): 268-278. https://doi.org/10.11821/xb199703009
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    The culture of Neolithic Age in the Three Gorges of Changjiang River and the Jianghan Plain can be divided into 4 stages, that is, (1) Chengbeixi Culture (8 300 a BP~6 300 a BP); (2) Daxi Culture (6 300 a BP~5 000 a BP); (3) Qujialing Culture (5 000 a BP~4 600 a BP); (4) Shijiahe Culture (4 600 a BP~4 000 a BP). It is found by excavation that most of ancient cultural sites of Neolithic Age in this area are distributed in the broad valley regions on the south bank of the Changjiang River and located on the first or second graded terraces (80 m a.s.l.), where as, in the Jianghan Plain, many ancient cultural sites are under the current flood level of the Changjiang River, some of these sites are buried 5 m~6 m deep or in the lay at the bottom of the lakes like as Xiantao, Yuezhou etc.. According to the data from Shandouping hydrologic station, the modern mean flood level is 57.76 m a.s.l., the sites, therefore, could not be submerged at all in a general flood of nowadays. But archaeologic excavations in recent years show that in many ancient cultural sites along the Changjiang River and its branches, there are several natural layers of sludge and sand between upper and lower cultural layers, which are named cultural interruption. The fine grained sediments of the cultural interruption were deposited and preserved on the high terraces of the Changjiang River when they experience abnormal extreme floods and when they were far away from main current line and the velocities of currents were slowed down. Hence, they demonstrate the flood damage and their times in the prehistory period. The duration of them could be determined from the archaeologic chronology of its upper and lower cultural layers. By the authors’ study, the 12 ancient cultural sites reveal that, in Neolithic Age, there are 12 times of extreme flood disasters in this area. Emphatically, there are 6 times took place in Daxi Cultural period, and the last one was devastating, man had to emigrate from the Three Gorges to the east of Jingbei and Edong moutains. Moreover, during the engineering constructions and Quaternary geologic survey, plenty of fossil trees and peat deposition were discovered in many places, their ages are the same as those natural layers in ancient cultural sites, most of the trees are well round and deposit mixed with coarse sands and gravels. In addition, based on the statistics to the number and mean height above river level of the sites in each ancient cultural period, it was found that there are 5 times of obvious ancient cultural fluctuations (cultural low tide), which chronology is corresponding to the above flood periods. All of them are also evidences of flood disasters in prehistory period. In addition, there are a lot of history materials, inscriptions and flood traces recording flood disasters in the history period. Based on the paleoflood sediments from 12 sites and the history literature, a chronology of paleofloods reveals that the frequency (times per 100 years) changes of large floods in this region could be clustered into 4 distinct time intervals: (1) Deluge Ⅰ, from 8 000 a BP to 5 500 a BP, there were 9 times of extreme floods this period was the second warm period (7 000 a BP~ 5 800 a BP ) of Holocene Neotemperate Phase, at that time, the East China sea level was 4 meters higher than that of today, and the Jianghan lakes were also in the second highest water level period (6 000 a BP~5 000 a BP). (2) Deluge Ⅱ, from 4 700 aBP to 3 500 aBP, there were 9 times of extreme floods at least, this period was in the first warm period of the Chinese history (5 000 a BP~2 000 a BP), at that time, air temperature was 2℃~3℃ and sea level was 2.1 m higher than that of today, the Jianghan lakes were in the third high water level period (4 000 a BP~3 000 a BP). (3) Deluge Ⅲ, from 2 200 a BP to 700 a BP, there were 91 times of extreme floods. But only in the Medieval warm period (1 100 AD~1 000 AD), 35 times of floods occured. These 3 times of deluge period above are all correlated with powerful activity of the East A
  • Li Xia
    1997, 52(3): 279-287. https://doi.org/10.11821/xb199703010
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    This paper focuses on the monitoring and evaluation of agricultural land loss with the integration of remote sensing and GIS techniques. Firstly, the research provides a method for land use change detection to avoid the over estimation of land use change in the classification of multi date remote sensing images. Over estimation of land use change frequently happens in the classification of remote sensing images because of the inadequate creation of classification signatures. The method can clarify some untrue land use changes obtained from conventional detection methods. This presents a quantitative method to analyze land loss based on more an ‘objective’ approach. The dynamic of landscape can be vividly captured and stored using the detection technique. The results of the detection reveal a fast urban growth pattern of Dongguan since the economic reform. The evaluation of the impacts of agricultural land loss is necessary for urban planning and policy making to resolve the intense land use conflicts in recent China. An evaluation system is provided with the integration of remote sensing and GIS in assessing agricultural land loss. The evaluation is mainly based on the concept of suitability loss, which is developed for the measurement of the impacts of land loss. The evaluation system consists of land development monitoring, land evaluation and GIS overlay analysis. The approach demonstrates that the indicator AREA (the total amount of land loss) is inadequate to identify the complete influences of agricultural land loss. It is illustrated that the indicator Iloss , which integrates the spatial integrity of land development and land quality, is more adequate than the indicator AREA to address the impacts of land loss. If used, the indicator AREA will lead to the false perception of agricultural land loss because of the negligence of land quality. This research shows that the proposed indicator Iloss can be easily applied in the GIS environment.