Thesis (Ph.D.)--Harvard University, 1999. / Adviser: Philip Kuhn. Includes bibliographical references.

[Truncated abstract] Environmental changes have had major impacts on past human societies across the globe, and a better understanding of this human-environment interaction is necessary for building societies with resilience towards future environmental change, and to effectively conserve areas of natural environments into the future. Regions such as the Yangtze delta, that have a long history of rice cultivation (dating to at least ca. 7000 BP) and a high density of prehistoric sites, provide an ideal backdrop to study both long-term human-environment interactions, and the environmental impacts of agricultural societies. This study aims to provide Holocene palaeoenvironmental reconstructions for three study sites in the Yangtze delta region, with the principle objectives of detecting human activity – particularly that associated with the development of rice agriculture – and identifying environmental changes within the palaeoenvironmental records. A parallel aim is to develop the use of quantitative biomarker and compound specific isotope analyses in Holocene palaeoenvironmental investigations, including in the detection of early agricultural environments, through analysis of sedimentary deposits. Palaeoenvironmental records for the three study sites, Qingpu, Guangfulin and Liangzhu, cover the time period from ca. 12,000 to ca. 400 BP. '...' Greater proportions of coniferous and deciduous taxa early in the records (prior to ca. 7000 BP) indicate comparatively cooler conditions, while the increased abundance of Chenopodiaceae during that time suggests both cooler conditions and a greater marine influence in the region. Palaeoenvironmental data obtained during this study suggest agriculture in the delta region to have gradually increased in importance from ca. 7000 – 2400 BP. The Guangfulin study site yielded the earliest evidence of agricultural activity, dating to ca. 7000 BP, principally in the form of a corresponding increase in Poaceae (Oryza comp.) abundance and decline of arboreal forest taxa. Subsequent periods of agricultural intensification are noted at ca. 5360 BP at Liangzhu and ca. 4700 BP at Guangfulin. Following the final period of intensification at Qingpu and Guangfulin (ca. 2400 BP), the extent of cultivated land in the delta region may have been comparable to modern times. Technological development during the early dynasties, particularly the greater availability of iron tools, is likely to have been a major factor driving the agricultural intensification detected ca. 2400 BP. The large tracts of natural vegetation detected by this research prior to ca. 2400 BP, would have afforded a degree of resilience to the human inhabitants of the delta region. Following the contraction of natural vegetation in the delta region, societies would have gained some resilience through access to the extensive trade network of the Chinese state. Resilience acquired through these means may, in part, account for the longevity of agricultural societies in the Yangtze delta region of China.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 67-68).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 67-68). Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2005. / Adviser: Jianfa Shen. Includes bibliographical references (p. 184-192)

published_or_final_version / Transport Policy and Planning / Master / Master of Arts

Thesis (M. A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

Interaction between Taiwan and China has increased remarkably in recent decades. From being complete enemies in 1949 to the momentum created by the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement in 2010, both countries have come a long way. This thesis focuses on the extent of interaction and cooperation between businesses and Chinese local authorities in the Chinese Yangtze River Delta (YRD) and Pearl River Delta (PRD) and their impact on Taiwanese investment. The Chinese central government has expressly set out its policies of encouragement of specific preferential treatment, and the researcher seeks to answer: to what degree in fact local governments share central government objectives and implement such preferential policies in their areas (including by way of their own policies), and what are the factors governing their decisions. It also explains how the local authorities and local Taiwanese investors (taishang) have interacted. To that end, it analyses an important set of relationships: that between Chinese central and local governments; between the Taiwanese government and Taiwanese business elites; and between Taiwanese investors and Chinese local governments in the YRD and PRD. This study places trans-border interactions in the context of globalization, regionalism and economic integration. China's overriding goal of uniting Taiwan with the PRC has remained constant but the method of achieving this objective has modified, adapting to the global environment, and its vision of a growing economy through its more recent national plans. Emphasis is now on greater economic linkages with Taiwan's economy, thus creating Taiwanese dependence on China's prosperity. Beyond economic reasons it is also hoped that greater connections between Chinese and Taiwanese will strengthen their sense of shared identity, thus making for unification via a "soft landing". This thesis examines the opportunities and constraints that Taiwanese businesses in the YRD and the PRD have in practice encountered, in order to determine whether Chinese local bureaucrats are a help or hindrance in this broader political objective of preferential treatment. It compares Taiwanese businesses with other overseas investors in both secondary and tertiary sectors in the two localities. The research methodology used has included semi-structured elite interviews in China and Taiwan between 2008 and 2010 with relevant decision-makers, namely Taiwanese investors, non-Taiwanese foreign investors, Chinese and Taiwanese government officials. In order to obtain qualitative insights into Chinese local authorities' viewpoints, attitudes and strategy of their approaches to the Taiwanese businesses in China, as well as knowledge of how Taiwanese businesses develop their business activities in China, the main method of data collection in this thesis is therefore in the form of elite interviews. The research concludes that while Taiwanese investors generally do get preferential treatment from Chinese local governments as compared with other investors, there is no general rule which can give them assurance of this. From an examination of several criteria influencing local governments, it seems that much depends on personal relations (guanxi) with Chinese officials, Chinese society being still heavily influenced by traditional attitudes and relationships. Further, the application of laws is still guided by 'rule of man' instead of 'rule of law'. Company location, size and type of industry are other important factors in the application of the preferential policies. Moreover, the incentives that Taiwanese investors have previously received are gradually decreasing, mainly for two reasons. One is the evolution of Chinese central government's plans, aiming to achieve their objectives for economic development of the country, while also making for a wider distribution of wealth and giving greater support to Chinese domestic companies. The other is because of the increased role of local governments, allowing them to set their own initiatives; their response is found to have been to put their localities' interests first and act more independently and pragmatically to changes in their local circumstances. This thesis has made a contribution to the application of methodology by its in-depth analysis and diversity of people interviewed, and to existing literature by exploring the less-developed area of cross-strait political economy studies. However, the qualitative nature of this study and its reliance on a situation which is subject to constant change provide room for further examination by others with different backgrounds or may usefully be looked at again in the light of additional information, such as larger samples of interviews, a different methodology such as quantitative methods, different variables such as Chinese domestic companies, different regions of China, or developments in the countries and regions under study.

Cette recherche interroge l’existence des nouvelles formes de ruralité émergentes dans le bassin métropolitain du delta du Yangzi. En opposition à l’écart croissant entre patrimoine infrastructurel et société on réaffirme la priorité du territoire comme principe théorique et paradigme naturel. L’analyse des processus historiques d’aménagement du territoire agricole à partir des réformes foncières et des pratiques autochtones de « Guangxi » (réseaux sociaux), a révélé une restructuration des ressources stratégiques du territoire du delta avant la réorganisation des espaces ruraux bâtis : la nature du sol et le réseau de l’eau. En même temps dispositif de contrôle politique et de développement social, la modification de l’infrastructure territoriale jusqu’ à la fin du maoïsme, peut être interprétée comme un investissement sur le long terme du capital humain et environnemental. Notre hypothèse est que la diffusion des petites et moyennes entreprises dans les zones rurales représente une forme de capitalisation des matrices sociales et organisationnelles du tissu agricole plus ancien. Ces transformations ont amené à la formation de nombreux espaces hybrides et clusters des entreprises dispersées dans la campagne qui s’appuient de façon complémentaire aux réseaux environnementaux préexistants. En conséquence, ce mode de production a à son tour, remodelé la relation entre l'économie, les communautés et l'environnement naturel locaux donnant lieu à des formes du développement sans fractures, plus ductiles et résilientes où la relation entre l'espace construit et l'espace agricole n'est plus de nature opposée. Ce qui émerge est un réseau de “milieux” dont chaque élément rend compte de la conception d’un paysage, de matériaux propres, de méthodes et procédures de construction. L’organisation morphologique qui en résulte montre un modèle d'urbanisation capillaire dans ces zones conventionnellement définies « non-urbaines ». Interroger ces formes émergentes de ruralité veut dire réviser la façon de conceptualiser la notion du « territoire métropolitain », et notamment de ce que on définis l’ « urbain ». On fait valoir, finalement, pour un besoin urgent de reconsidérer la séquence programmatique qui sous-tendent la morphologie spatiale de régions mégalopolitaines, par la prise en compte des rapports de continuité entre « milieux » et « communauté » et par le biais d'un examen des interactions entre ces réalités souvent, disjoints / The territorial scale and the form of the territory are fundamental basis to understand metropolitan processes and the changes occurred in its spatial, economic and social structure. The centrality of landforms and of their dynamics inspires more situated approaches, in which the agency of natural elements is integrated. This research investigates the existence of new forms of emerging rurality in the metropolitan basin of the Yangtze Delta. In opposition to the growing gap between infrastructural heritage and society, the priority of the territory is reaffirmed as a theoretical tool and environmental paradigm. The research hypothesis is that the spread of small and medium-sized enterprises in rural areas represents a form of capitalization of the spatial reorganization occurred in the Commune's period. The preliminary factor which originated the process of rural industrialization is based on the restructuring of two strategic territorial resources: the soil structure and the water network. These transformations have led to the formation of numerous hybrid spaces and clusters of small and micro enterprises dispersed over the countryside. As a result, this mode of production has, in turn, reshaped the relationship between the local economy, communities and natural environment giving rise to forms of urban development without fractures, where the relationship between the built space and the agricultural area is no longer of an opposite nature. What emerges is a network of "milieu” where the resulting socio-spatial organization shows a pattern of capillary urbanization in these conventionally defined "non-urban" areas. The notion of urban is changing and ecological rationality can offer fundamental opportunities to analyse, intersect and integrate the various territorial layers