Chinese Journal of Urban and Environmental Studies

The neoliberal planning theory, the subject of the paper, is derived from the policy substantiation of the neoliberal development ideology. The theory is built on participatory principles in the context of market force ruled by informality. This planning perspective has had the potential to sustain the imperial space economy associated with Africa since the mid-19th century. Neoliberal planning theory is regarded as a theory that seriously questions its planning cognate purports as it indicates the outlook for contemporary planning initiatives, perspectives and frameworks. This paper argues that this trend is potentially antithetical to the rhetoric of African renaissance and postulates a change in development ideology as an entry point for appropriate planning option for Africa.

Ventilation corridors are designed to relieve heat island effect, enhance ventilation and protect the land used for climatic and environmental enhancement in a city. Observations and analogs of ventilation corridors in typical regions show that ventilation corridors affect micro-climatic environment to a certain extent and help to reduce local heat island effect and increase local wind speed; but they contribute little to wind speed in a static or nearly static condition. Influenced by climate change and urbanization, China has been frequently blighted by large-scale smog in recent years. However, ventilation corridors cannot change the meteorological condition of large-scale air stagnation and other conditions against air diffusion. The best solution to air pollution is the emission control of pollution sources. Rational planning and construction of ventilation corridors, in the meantime, can be a supplementary measure for urban ecological and environmental improvement in a long run.

Climatic monitoring shows that 2015 has been the warmest year around the globe since the first modern observation was conducted in1880. Asia has witnessed its average land surface temperature reaching the highest level since 1901; China has seen the warmest year since 1951 when it had completed the meteorological records; the CO₂ concentration in the atmosphere exceeds 400ppm; the ocean thermal capacity sets a new record high; and the global sea surface temperature has also been the highest since 1870. Against the backdrop of global warming, the incidence of strong El Niño and the duration of El Niño in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean have both significantly increased, while the time interval between El Niño and La Niña has shortened. The 2015/16 “Super” El Niño event exceeds previous two “Super” El Niño events in several indexes (e.g. durative event and peak intensity), although the 1982/83 El Niño event keeps the record in terms of the intensity of atmospheric response to the ocean. Influenced by the 2015/16 “Super” El Niño event, the general atmospheric circulation was significantly abnormal with extreme climate events frequently occurring in many places worldwide.

Resort-based urbanization is an important form of tourism urbanization. The paper analyzes the basic characteristics and diversity of landscape elements under the influence of the tourist development of Jinshitan National Holiday Resort (JNHR), discusses the changes in the spatial distribution of landscapes, and reveals how landscapes have changed under the influence of the tourism development of JNHR. The study shows that the whole landscape at Jinshitan has undergone a process from fragmentation to integration in the context of manmade tourism development and interference. As more tourism projects are developed, supporting infrastructures and facilities are continuously improved. Landscapes in Jinshitan have been vigorously developed in depth and extended from coastal area to inland area. As shown by the changing spatial distribution of relocated and commercial housing estates since 1992, there have been differences in the location, living environment and available landscapes between the housing estates, indicating the heterogeneity of social space and inequality in the living environment.

There is a long and difficult way ahead of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement. Human society needs to move fast and far on the road. Sustainable development can hardly be achieved by ostensible “reforms” and “transitions”. The only possible way is to upgrade and transform the industrial civilization to ecological civilization, in which man and nature, and man and society are in harmony, in an all-round and in-depth way. To preserve nature and improve the eco-environment is in essence to protect and boost productivity. The value of nature and ecological assets must be reflected in the System of National Accounts in a scientific and objective way. The lifestyle in developed countries and production mode in the developing world must be transformed. So far a global agenda for sustainable development has been in position, and China has obtained remarkable achievements in the construction of ecological civilization and low-carbon transformation. To realize the targets set in the Paris Agreement, institutional innovation and international cooperation prove essential.

In the face of the severe challenge of global climate change, all countries find it difficult to hold the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2${}^{\circ }$C above pre-industrial levels, let alone 1.5${}^{\circ }$C. In recent years, geoengineering has gained increasingly more attention from the international community as an unconventional option to deal with climate change, and it has also provoked heated debates. This paper attempts to sort out related concepts, the focus of controversies and the research progress in terms of geoengineering, analyzes the international background of heated debate over geoengineering, probes into the governance of geoengineering under the framework of coping with climate change, and offers some suggestions for China to make strategic plans for geoengineering development.

Western China is typically sensitive to climate change and ecologically fragile. It also has large numbers of people living in poverty, and it is a hot spot for emigration. This paper takes the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region (NHAR) as a case and, employing a mixed-method research combining exploratory research and confirmatory research where quantitative analysis and qualitative analysis are made, conducts an empirical study on the dynamics of climate change impacts on migration. Firstly, this paper identified the fragile characteristics of different types of migrant groups (including policy-facilitated migrants, voluntary migrants and economic migrants) in the context of climate change; secondly, based on confirmatory factor analysis, this paper conducted climate change vulnerability assessment at county level, and explored several common potential factors affecting the regional fragility of climate change in Ningxia, include: climate capacity, social and economic development level, human capital, transportation infrastructure, and education level, etc. The result shows that the climate capacity factor accounts for 37.5% of contribution to regional climate change vulnerability. This paper justified that lacking climate capacity in long-term climate change is the major driving factor of climate-induced poverty and migration in the middle and south Ningxia. Based on a DPISR model, this paper developed a theoretical framework with its core concept “climate capacity”. Within this analytical framework, a series of indicators on climate capacity and climate-induced poverty were suggested to assess climate change related migration risks, which can support local migration planning in Ningxia and other western China areas.