by Chung Him. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 160-175). / ABSTRACT --- p.i -ii / ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS --- p.iii / ABBREVIATIONS --- p.iv / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.v -vii / LIST OF FIGURES --- p.viii -ix / LIST OF TABLES --- p.x -xi / LIST OF MAPS --- p.xii / CHAPTER / Chapter 1 --- INTRODUCTION / Chapter 1.1 --- Setting the Scene --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- The Research Problem --- p.3 / Chapter 1.3 --- Research Objective --- p.7 / Chapter 1.4 --- Research Methodology --- p.8 / Chapter 1.5 --- Significance of this Research --- p.9 / Chapter 1.6 --- Organization of the Thesis --- p.10 / Chapter 2 --- UNEVEN DEVELOPMENT BETWEEN THE URBAN AND THE RURAL: A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE / Chapter 2.1 --- Introduction --- p.12 / Chapter 2.2 --- The Literature on Urban-Rural Inequality in China --- p.12 / Chapter 2.3 --- Urban-Rural Inequality: A Discussion of Western Concepts --- p.20 / Chapter 2.3.1 --- Urban-Rural Inequality and Neo-classical Economic Theories --- p.20 / Chapter 2.3.2 --- Theories of Unequal Exchange --- p.24 / Chapter 2.3.3 --- "The Concept of ""Urban Bias""" --- p.29 / Chapter 2.4 --- "Summary," --- p.34 / Chapter 3 --- GEOGRAPHIC TRANSFER OF RESOURCES: THE CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK / Chapter 3.1 --- Introduction --- p.37 / Chapter 3.2 --- The Concept of GTR --- p.38 / Chapter 3.3 --- The Operation of GTR in China --- p.44 / Chapter 3.4 --- The GTR Mechanism in the Context of the Regional Administrative System --- p.51 / Chapter 3.4.1 --- The Traditional Regional Administrative System and GTR --- p.52 / Chapter 3.4.2 --- Institutional Reform of City-Leading-Counties and GTR --- p.55 / Chapter 3.5 --- Variety Forms of Vertical and Horizontal Resource Transfer --- p.61 / Chapter 3.6 --- Summary --- p.66 / Chapter 4 --- OPERATIONALIZATION OF THE CONCEPT OF GTR / Chapter 4.1 --- Introduction --- p.68 / Chapter 4.2 --- On Methodology --- p.68 / Chapter 4.3 --- The Measurement of Resource Transfer --- p.72 / Chapter 4.3.1 --- Resource Transfer Via the Price Mechanism (GTR1) --- p.74 / Chapter 4.3.2 --- Resource transfer Via Taxes and Payments (GTR2) --- p.80 / Chapter 4.4 --- Sketching the Picture of Resources Localization --- p.83 / Chapter 4.5 --- The Technical Problems of Operationalization --- p.86 / Chapter 4.6 --- Summary --- p.86 / Chapter 5 --- THE SUNAN AREA: A DESCRIPTION OF THE SETTING / Chapter 5.1 --- Defination --- p.88 / Chapter 5.2 --- Basic Socio-Economic Characteristics --- p.89 / Chapter 5.3 --- Summary: Implications For the Operation of the GTR --- p.97 / Chapter 6 --- ESTIMATION OF THE RESOURCE TRANSFER & LOCALIZATION IN THE SUNAN AREA / Chapter 6.1 --- Introduction --- p.100 / Chapter 6.2 --- The Estimation of GTR1 --- p.100 / Chapter 6.2.1 --- The Rural Commodity Accounts of GTR1 --- p.100 / Chapter 6.2.2 --- Adjust the Rural Commodity Accounts by the Base-Year Method --- p.109 / Chapter 6.3 --- Sketching the Picture of Resource Localization --- p.111 / Chapter 6.4 --- Concluding Remarks --- p.118 / Chapter 7 --- GTR IN THE SUNAN AREA / Chapter 7.1 --- Introduction --- p.120 / Chapter 7.2 --- Administrative System Reform in Sunan and Its Effects on GTR: A Discussion of the Estimations --- p.120 / Chapter 7.2.1 --- GTR Under the Traditional Administrative System --- p.122 / Chapter 7.2.2 --- Institutional Reform & the GTRin the Sunan Area --- p.125 / Chapter 7.3 --- GTR in the Sunan Rural Ecocomy: A Discussion of the Mechanism --- p.142 / Chapter 7.3.1 --- GTR in the Agricultural Sector --- p.142 / Chapter 7.3.2 --- GTR in the Rural Non-Agricultural Activities --- p.149 / Chapter 7.4 --- Conclusion --- p.151 / Chapter 8 --- SUMMARY & CONCLUSIONS / Chapter 8.1 --- Summary --- p.153 / Chapter 8.2 --- Implications --- p.156 / Chapter 8.3 --- Directions for Further Study --- p.158 / BILBLIOGRAPHY --- p.160 / Cited Statistical Yearbooks --- p.173

改革开放以来，快速的城市化给社会、经济和环境带来了巨大的影响。为了研究城市化的成因和影响，许多学者提出了不同的指标来量化城市化过程。一方面，这些指标大多是从统计年鉴和普查数据中获取的，而这些数据存在连续性差、精确度低、空间信息少等问题，无法准确地描述城市化过程。另一方面，遥感图像包含丰富的关于城市形态、土地组成和社会经济的信息，可以很好地弥补传统数据的不足。因此，研究如何从遥感图像中提取城市化信息，并有效地用于城市化研究具有重要意义。 / 基于中国的城市化特点，本文分别从不同方面深入研究了从遥感图像中提取城市化指标的方法，并且通过这些指标分析了中国在过去二十年间的城市化发展特点。 / 首先，从社会经济发展的角度，本文分析了从夜晚灯光影像提取的遥感指标和社会经济学指标之间的时空关系。分析表明，城市内夜晚灯光的总量可以反映城市化的整体水平，而灯光覆盖区域的平均亮度可以较好反映城市化的总体强度，同时，灯光对城市化的响应会随着区域内亮度的增加而减弱。根据此灯光指标，我们发现在过去的二十年中，具有政治优势和地理优势的城市发展得更快。此外，与内陆其他地区相比，沿海地区的城市发展更加紧凑。 / 其次，从城市建成区面积的角度，本文提出了一种新的城市建成区提取方法，能够较准确地获取城市级的建成区序列。研究表明，从夜晚灯光影像中提取建成区时所选取的阈值会随年份和城市而变化，并且该阈值和城市的经济水平有显著的相关性。根据获取的建成区序列，我们研究了中国城市建成区的扩张特征，结果显示所有城市都表现出明显的扩张特征，该特征在沿海城市、省会城市和经济特区内尤其显著。 / 第三，从城市的空间结构变化角度，本文探讨了如何通过遥感影像量化城市的空间结构，以及如何利用这些量化信息来研究城市圈的发展过程。针对中国三大城市圈，本文比较了不同的遥感图像提取空间结构的特点，并且结合了景观生态学指数、帕雷托分布和梯度分析来研究城市圈内的城市之间的联系、分布和相互影响，发现不同城市圈的发展模式和驱动因素各有差异，具有很强的区域发展特点。 / 第四，从城市扩张形态的角度，本文从夜晚灯光影像中提取了两组指标来量化城市扩张程度。这两组指标分别从某一时间点的城市发展空间形态，以及一段时间内的城市增长模式来测量这一现象。结果显示，中国不同城市圈之间的城市扩张具有不同的特点。 / China has been undergoing rapid urbanization since the "open door" policy in 1978. The fast process of urbanization has significantly influenced its society, economy, and environment. To quantify and describe this process, various indicators of urbanization, which are usually extracted from statistical yearbook and census data, have been adopted. However, these data sets are usually inconsistent, problematic, and cannot depict the spatial information of urbanization. Therefore, remote sensing images are usually employed as complementary datasets. / However, the existing studies remain insufficient for understanding how the information of urbanization can be extracted from remote sensing imagery and used properly, especially for China, where urbanization has unique characteristics. Therefore, this thesis aims to explore the usage of remote sensing techniques to further observe the process of urbanization and from four different perspectives. / From the perspective of socioeconomic development, we analyze the spatial-temporal relationship between indicators derived from NTL images and the socio-economic indicators of urbanization. The results of the analysis indicate that the summed lights in a city can represent the overall level of urbanization and that the average light of lit-up areas can reflect the density of urbanization. Meanwhile, when the amount of NTL approaches saturation, it becomes a less sensitive reflection of the level of urbanization. The proper NTL indicator has then been utilized on the analysis of urbanization in China’s cities during the last 20 years, and the results reveal that the cities with political and geographical advantages have higher levels of urban development. Meanwhile, the cities in metropolitan areas and the Shandong province have undergone a more compact urbanization process than some inland cities. / Second, from the perspective of urban expansion, we extract the time series of urban built-up areas at the city level via a newly-proposed thresholding technique on the calibrated time series of NTL images. The threshold for extracting built-up areas has been found to vary across different cities and years, and it has high correlations with the level of economic development. We then analyze the urban expansion in Chinese cities based on prefecture cities in three provinces of south China. The results indicate that urban expansion occurred in all cities from 1992 to 2010, especially in coastal cities, capital cities, and cities in special economic zones. / Third, from the perspective of spatial pattern evolution, we explored how to quantify the urban spatial pattern, and use it to study the evolution of metropolitan areas. We compare the discrepancies of various remote sensing images in describing spatial patterns and combine the landscape metrics, Pareto distribution, and gradient analysis to explore growth type, distribution, and reaction of cities in metropolitan areas. Moreover, based on the comparison of the spatial patterns among three of the largest metropolitan areas of China during the last twenty years, we find that the driving force and growth type vary over metropolitan areas and that each area has its own regional characteristics. / Fourth, from the perspective of urban sprawl, we introduced two sets of indicators, which can measure urban sprawl both as a certain spatial pattern of urban development and as a type of urban growth, that quantify urban sprawl based on NTL imagery. The results present the degree of urban sprawl in various metropolitan areas in China. / Overall, this thesis extends our understanding on how to use information derived from remote sensing as a proxy for studies on urbanization. Moreover, urbanization in China is scrutinized by remote sensing indicators. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Liu, Lu. / Thesis (Ph.D.) Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2014. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 172-190). / Abstracts also in Chinese.

Mak, Yim King. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 125-131). / In English with some Chinese; abstract also in Chinese. / Thesis/Assessment Committee --- p.i / Abstract --- p.iii / Acknowledgements --- p.iv / Contents --- p.v / Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter Chapter One: --- Usage of the One-stroke Head in Intact Public Spaces --- p.9 / Chapter Chapter Two: --- Modification by other Connotative Signs --- p.31 / Chapter Chapter Three: --- Changing the Spatial and Socio-cultural Contexts --- p.50 / Chapter Chapter Four: --- Affinity with Demolition and Destructed Houses --- p.74 / Chapter Chapter Five: --- Use of Photography --- p.98 / Conclusion --- p.120 / Bibliography --- p.125

published_or_final_version / Business / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / China Development Studies / Master / Master of Arts in China Development Studies

Hong Kong’s extremely high density has mesmerised many outsiders for years. Through the devastations of the World War II to the influx of immigration from the Mainland China, Hong Kong has managed to build a remarkable city within the severely limited land mass and inhospitable topography. Hong Kong’s skyscrapers sores into the sky, leaving crevasses of spaces between towers for people and vehicles to flow through. In the Central Business District, elevated walkway connections hovers and criss-crosses every major roads, moving thousands of people on a daily bases. Some people descend into the CBD by hopping on hill-side escalator from nearby residential area of Mid-Levels. Seemingly chaotic yet orderly typical scene of Hong Kong’s CBD is enough to intimidate first timers to Hong Kong. Add flying cars and people in futuristic suits, it will be enough to resemble those images of future envisaged by film makers and architects from the early 20th century. The vertical city of Hong Kong has emerged as one of the first embryonic volumetric cities in the world. Hong Kong continues to defy the conventional Western beliefs in urban planning and development establishing itself as an efficient, vibrant and safe urban model with an extreme density. Yet, the city’s experience remains peripheral to the mainstream debates despite many lessons to be learned from Hong Kong as more cities aspire to intensify in an attempt to establish sustainable living. The reasons for this can be attributed to the general lack of evidence-based research on Hong Kong’s model, especially in vertical urbanism, as well as the reluctance to adapt higher density living in the West, shrouded by grossly misunderstood notions of density. This research begins by demystifying the (mis)understandings of density using Hong Kong as an example and attempts to decode the complexity of Hong Kong’s urban model. The research does this by developing and applying a quantifiable tool – the Volumetric Study - to assess and analyse the current practice of building in Hong Kong and to identify the emerging condition of multiple ground. The complexities of vertical and/or volumetric living are assessed using readily available data and simple field work. It is hoped that the Volumetric Study offers insight into the understanding of how existing buildings operate as well as providing potential guidance for future improvements and development. / published_or_final_version / Architecture / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

The study explores the relationship between lineage, social capital and in situ urbanization of “villages within city” in the context of China’s rapid urban expansion. The literature reviewed shows that there have been studies on many aspects of “villages within city” since the middle 1990s. However, the role of lineages during the in situ urbanization of “villages within city” is largely under-examined and remains as a research gap. This study endeavors to fill this cross-disciplinary gap. Taking notice of the differences between single-lineage “villages within city” and multi-lineage ones, the study explores the following two research questions: (1) does the level of social capital vary among “villages within city” with different lineage structures? If yes, in what way? (2) does social capital in “villages within city” influence the outcomes of urbanization? If yes, what role does it play? In order to address the above research questions, the study firstly consults three areas of study, namely, lineage, social capital and in situ urbanization of “villages within city”. Through examining the relationships among the three key research variables, the thesis demonstrates the significance of theoretical integration of the three concepts and develops a tentative analytical framework. Given the different lineage structures, it is hypothesized that single-lineage “villages within city”, compared with multi-lineage ones, are more likely to possess higher levels of social capital at the administrative village level, and thus could achieve better outcomes of urbanization. To test the hypotheses, two representative “villages within city” with different lineage structures in Futian district of Shenzhen — the single-lineage Xiasha administrative village (including six natural villages which are lived by six Huang sub-lineages) and the multi-lineage Shawei administrative village (including three natural villages that are inhabited by different lineages of Wen, Mo and Liang) — are selected as the case study sites after examining the development trajectory of villages and lineages in Shenzhen. The empirical study measures the levels of social capital in Xiasha and Shawei at both the natural village level and administrative village level through the use of a questionnaire survey, and examines the outcomes of urbanization of Xiasha and Shawei through literature review, department interview, site study and observation. Three major findings are identified through analyzing the case study: (1) lineage structures in some Chinese “villages within city” are institutional legacies of rural collectivization in the late 1950s; (2) there exists a higher level of social capital at the administrative village level in single-lineage “village within city” than that in multi-lineage one; (3) social capital at the administrative village level, other than that at the natural village level, has a positive role in promoting in situ urbanization of “villages within city” in terms of collective economy development, physical environment construction and lineage culture reservation. / published_or_final_version / Urban Planning and Design / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / China Area Studies / Master / Master of Arts

published_or_final_version / Urban Planning / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

published_or_final_version / Geography and Geology / Master / Master of Philosophy