Based on the report Xunwu investigation made by MAO Zedong and his group in the 1930s, this paper analyzed the regional historical geographic relations between Xunwu and Nanyue (an ancient name of Guangdong) by means of the traffic location, economic geographic relations and regional culture in the 1930s. Geographic information system (GIS) techniques were applied to reconstruct the historical scenes by using historical map data, current remote sensing data, historical road and toponymy information, as well as other related historical data. (1) Research results in this study reconstructed and corroborated the descriptions about regional transportation systems in Xunwu investigation. The basic characteristics of water and land transportation networks between Xunwu and Nanyue were also analyzed. Xunwu performed as a transportation hub mainly owing to its typical border location and natural geographical conditions. (2) The economic geographic relationship between Xunwu and Nanyue was characterized by a typical “salt northward and rice southward” pattern. Although the economic development level of the border areas near Xunwu was low, Xunwu played a transit station role in the regional trade network. Meanwhile, socioeconomic development in Xunwu was deeply influenced by Nanyue. (3) The culture of the border areas was closely linked with the human and historical geography of Nanyue. The red forces in south Jiangxi and northeast Guangdong made indelible contribution to the Central Soviet Area in China, and so the border areas near Xunwu have a deep red tourism cultural deposit. The results of the study would have some effects on guiding the planning policies of regional development, and also would provide a “red travel route of Xunwu investigation” for the redevelopment of the old post roads in Nanyue.
Under the influence of modernity, community has become more complicated in many aspects such as values, identity, social relationships, etc. Festivals, as the expression of lifestyle and culture that interacts with community, has become an important event by which the community reconstruction is observed and influenced. With the unprecedented revival of festivals in the latter half of twentieth century, the relationship of festivals with the vicissitude of community in the context of modernity has been concentrated in cultural geography. Based on analysis of previous literature of festivals and community reconstruction, the process and mechanism of community reconstruction such as the vicissitude of community, the interrelatedness of social relations and power, the conflicts and integration in community development can be explained more deeply. This article proposes a framework in regard of the relationship between festivals and community reconstruction under the context of modernity in four aspects: continuation of traditional community and reproduction of modern identity, reform of immigrant community and integration of multiple identities, community regeneration and place marketing, the reshaping of order and negotiation of power. The results can be illustrated as follows : (1) Traditional communities pursue or rebuild local traditions through festivals, by which the community identity is continued, reconstructed and strengthened and then transformed into social capital to maintain local continuity in a rapidly changing world. (2) In terms of the migrants in multicultural communities, festivals is not only a way of protecting their original identity , but also an acculturation strategy to integrate into the local community and establish hybrid identity. (3) Rooted in the local culture, festivals can also be used as symbol economy. Communities rely on them for place marketing to revive their vitality and establish their image. However, the interrelated realities such as economy, politics, culture, society embedded in festival promotion need to be acknowledged to address deeper mechanism of community regeneration. (4) In a world dominated by discourse, the power relationship enables different stakeholders to impose their will on social relations. What is more, the invasion of capital makes the power structure more sophisticated. Therefore, the reconstructing of community identity, class stratification, place image and economy vitality has become more and more pluralistic. In conclusion, the reconstruction of modern community is closely tied with festivals. On the one hand, the community is not dispelled by modernity, but developing in a more sophisticated manner with continuing the traditional community order, or building hybrid community order by absorbing foreign and innovative elements, or expanding its influences through place marketing. On the other hand, festivals are constantly adjusted and recreated by globalization, marketization and other modern forces. Furthermore, considering the particular context of contemporary China in a period of rapidly social transformation, it is worthy of conducting locally theoretical and empirical researches on the interaction of Chinese rural society and modernity. Around this theme, it is instructive to explore the relationship between festivals and community reconstruction in China from the perspectives of different actors and the creation of social relations, community boundaries and social production, etc.
By constructing the evaluation index system of financial exclusion, this paper calculates the financial exclusion degree of 31 Chinese provinces (cities and Autonomous regions) from 2004 to 2012, and by applying the method of exploratory spatial data analysis and spatial Durbin model, this paper discusses the spatial characteristics and the spatial effect of Chinese provincial financial exclusion. The results show that: 1) the financial exclusion degree of the 31 provinces in China is generally high, forming a pattern of increasing level from the East to the Middle-West in space. 2) China’s financial exclusion shows obvious characteristics on the spatial correlation and spatial agglomeration, and a noticeable trend of low-low agglomeration in the east and high-high agglomeration in the west, this trend is stable. 3) The results of the spatial Durbin Model analysis show that regional economic development, financial expenditure capability, education level and population density have significant negative correlation with the financial exclusion in this region, the direct effect is significant; The indirect effect of education level and population density is prominent, that means that increasing the regional education level and population density can reduce the spatial difference of financial exclusion to a certain extent. 4) The regions with high financial exclusion level on the one hand need to accelerate their economic development, enhance the internal hematopoietic function to increase the direct effect; on the other hand, have the fiscal policy and monetary policy appropriately directed to the central and western regions, strengthen government’s macro-control so as to prevent the further expansion of financial exclusion’s regional differences; at the same time, popularize financial knowledge, actively promote regional financial cooperation and exchange, increase the investment of human capital to promote the expansion of regional financial spatial spillover effect.
Based on the 5th and 6th population census and socioeconomic data, this article uses different economy factors and principal component analysis to create city economy development index while it also uses the number of different talents and AHP analytic hierarchy to create city talent index. After creating these two kinds of index, they are applied to analyze coupling relation between talent superiority and economy development in China. Other models are also included in this article to figure out the relationship between talent superiority and economy development such as Local Getis-Ord G* and coupled coordination degree model. Main results for this study are as follows: (1)Spatial features of economy development in China are obvious. On the whole, the level of urban economic development has increased from 2000 to 2010. Compared to that in 2000, the spatial feature of urban economic development can be summarized as “diffusion in large scale, cluster in small scale” in 2010. However, the economy gap within a city is getting bigger and bigger and the most obvious one is the economy difference between capital city and none-capital cities. (2)Compared to that in 2000, the spatial polarization of urban talent superiority is remarkable in 2010. The spatial structure can be concluded as following three modes: Senior talent superiority regions (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen)-Intermediate talent superiority regions (Direct-controlled municipalities, capital cities and cities specifically designated in the state plan) - Low level talent superiority regions (other cities). In a word, the difference between eastern and western parts and the difference between capital cities and non-capital cities are obvious. (3)Coupled coordination degree model shows that all of the regions can be summarized as three modes: ①High coupling degree - high coordination degree cities: this kind of cities is mainly located in eastern part of China or located in middle and western part but are capital cities and these cities not only have a high speed of economy development but also do well in attracting talents and innovative companies. Obviously, when a city has a higher speed of economy development it is much easier for it to attract talents and the increase of the number of talents will also strengthen the development of a city. With this virtuous circle, cities located in the eastern part can develop sustainably and jump into another virtuous circle. ②High coupling degree - low coordination degree cities: this kind of cities is mainly located in middle and western parts of China but they have a low speed of economy development and do poor in attracting talents. These cities not only are lacking in natural resources but also fail to attract innovative factors so it is hard for them to attract talents and finally to jump into another vicious circle. ③Low coupling degree - middle coordination degree cities: this kind of cities is mainly located in middle and western parts of China and they are resource based cities, their development mainly depends on their natural resource including: mineral products and petroleum so their industry structure may be vulnerable. In a word, these cities also develop in an unsustainable way. From 2000 to 2010, the eastern region has tended to be ‘High coupling degree - high coordination degree’ mode while the middle and western regions have tended to be ‘High coupling degree - low coordination degree’ mode.
The recognition of spatial differentiation of retail formats and its driving force is very important to optimize the allocation of urban resources. The traditional research is mainly based on sampling survey and questionnaire interview to observe the difference of spatial distribution. Based on that, the driving mechanism is further explored. With the emergence of new data, it is possible to explore the spatial differentiation of retail industry in more detail. Spatial distribution recognition of retail formats based on high precision and large sample data is more accurate and convenient than traditional research. Based on that, this study is based on the data of 47 026 retail outlets in Guangzhou in 2014. By using the methods of information entropy, nearest distance analysis, and kernel density analysis, we discussed the distribution pattern of retail industry in Guangzhou. The study process is as follows: First we analyzed the overall distribution pattern of retail industry in Guangzhou. Then we discussed the spatial differentiation of different formats. Finally, we analyzed the impact mechanism of retail industry in Guangzhou. The results are shown as follows: 1) The retail function of Guangzhou concentrates on the urban core area. The urban core area has a higher density distribution of retail outlets, and the development of retail function is more mature. The retail function is more proportionate in Yuexiu, Liwan, Tianhe (North) districts and the proportionality is significantly decreased from the core to the periphery. 2)The spatial distribution of different formats of retail industry has different characteristics. The concentration of retail outlets based on commercial services and basic living services is significantly higher than the comprehensive retail format. Convenience stores, professional stores, and food stores have a high degree of agglomeration, while the distribution of supermarkets and shopping malls is relatively balanced. 3)The distribution of different types of retail outlets is significantly different in each circles. The integrated types are relatively proportionate while those commercial types are more concentrate in the core layer and the inner layer. The integrated retail format has a consumption threshold so that their distribution is more balanced. The retail formats of business services more rely on the distribution of people, so they are concentrated in the urban core areas. 4)The driving force of urban retail spatial pattern is complex. The consumers flow, agglomeration factors, accessibility, the distribution of population, local policy factors and social spatial differentiation work together to affect the formation and evolution of retail format space.
