This inspiring picture book tells the story of the friendship between Ringo, Paul, George, and John, and how their unique talents came together to make something brilliant.In 1957, a boy named Paul met a boy named John. John was funny and confident, while Paul was quiet and steady, but one thing they had in common was a love and talent for songwriting.When they were joined by George and Ringo

This inspiring picture book tells the story of the friendship between Ringo, Paul, George, and John, and how their unique talents came together to make something brilliant.In 1957, a boy named Paul met a boy named John. John was funny and confident, while Paul was quiet and steady, but one thing they had in common was a love and talent for songwriting.When they were joined by George and Ringo

The urbanisation of China over the last three decades has been a hugely significant development, both for China’s reform process and for the world more generally. This book presents recent research findings on China’s continuing urban transformation. Subjects covered include the decline of the rural-urban divide, the spatial restructuring of Chinese urban centres and urban infrastructure, migrant workers, new housing and new communities, and "green" responses to urban environmental problem...

This book aims to provide a scholarly account of recent understandings and reflections on some of the prevalent and emerging issues in urban and regional China, such as urbanization, inequality, hukou (household registration) reforms, labor relations, not-in-my-backyard protests and environmental governance. Presenting rich data analysis and case studies, these book chapters together utilize multidisciplinary approaches and contribute to the empirical and theoretical literature in developm...

This book explores the relationship between urban form and greenhouse gas emissions in China, providing new insights for policy, urban planning and management.Drawing on the results of a four-year multidisciplinary research project, the book examines how factors such as urban households’ access to services and jobs, land use mixes and provision of public transport impact on greenhouse gas emissions. The authors analyse data from a wide range of sources including 4677 sample househo...

With the increasing threat of depleted and contaminated water supplies around the world, this book provides a timely and much needed analysis of how cities should manage this precious resource. Integrating the environmental, economic, political and socio-cultural dimensions of water management, the authors outline how future mega-city systems can maintain a high quality of life for its residents.With the rapidly evolving and wealthy Shanghai as the key example, the paradox between ...

China’s urban growth is unparalleled in the history of global urbanization, and will undoubtedly create huge challenges to China as it modernizes its society. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach, this book presents an overview of the radical transformation of China’s urban space since the 1970s, arguing that to study the Chinese urbanization process one must recognize the distinctive political economy of China.After a long period as a planned socialist economy, China’s rapid ent...

A sea of change has occurred in China since the 1978 economic reforms. Bringing together the work of leading scholars specializing in urban China, this book examines what has happened to the Chinese city undergoing multiple transformations during the reform era, with an emphasis on new processes of urban formation and the consequent reconstituted urban spaces. With arguments against the convergence thesis that sees cities everywhere becoming more Western in form and suggestions that the Ch...

This book provides first-hand, insiders’ perspectives on urban issues in China, aiming to provide a theoretically informed and empirically rich discussion of the new social landscape of urban China in the 21st century. The research reported encompasses both quantitative and qualitative methodologies, with the latter based on extensive and in-depth fieldwork. The authors, most of them being native Chinese, had distinctive advantages in gaining access to study subjects, and had intimate know...

A new revolution in homeownership and living has been sweeping the booming cities of China. This time the main actors on the social stage are not peasants, migrants, or working-class proletariats but middle-class professionals and entrepreneurs in search of a private paradise in a society now dominated by consumerism. No longer seeking happiness and fulfillment through collective sacrifice and socialist ideals, they hope to find material comfort and social distinction in n...

China's economic growth has been more robust in some regions than others. In a country as large as China, examinations of regional differences can provide a viable way to learn about the economy as a whole. Rongxing Guo provides a systematic introduction to the economies of China by describing their external and internal drivers and by placing them within geopolitical and even socio-cultural boundaries. His pairings of case studies and empirical techniques reveal a rich, deep appreciation ...

Rapid economic growth in the world's most populous nation is leading to widespread soil erosion, desertification, deforestation and the depletion of vital natural resources. The scale and severity of environmental problems in China now threaten the economic and social foundations of its modernization.Using case studies, Morton analyzes the relationship between international and local responses to environmental problems in China, challenging the prevailing wisdom that weak complianc...