UKNA Seminar

This seminar will feature presentations by three researchers from the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences: Dr Jian Li, Dr Chuanhong Zong and Dr Dai Weijuan. 

Lunch will be provided, but registration is required. Please use the registration form below.

Session 1

The Rise of Innovation Districts: The Experience, Strategy and Mechanism from Yangpu District in Shanghai

Abstract：Since the 1990’s, with the policy of suppressing the manufacturing industry and developping a services industry, the transformation of the central city of Shanghai has been imperative. In this process, the regional development of Shanghai is unbalanced. With the help of financial services, business and trading, headquarters economy and other productive service industries, some districts, including Huangpu, Luwan, Pudong New Area, Jingan and Xuhui, have made great achievements in their economic development. However, some other districts that in the past were based on manufacturing industry, such as Yangpu, Putuo, and Zhabei, have faced severe difficulties in their transformation. Urban construction, living conditions, unemployment, social security and other issues suffered as a consequence.

However, in recent years, Yangpu district, with its rich university resources, has made a turnaround in its economic development. Especially against the background of innovation-oriented development, some new economic spaces such as the Tongji Knowledge Economic Circle, the Innovation and Intelligent Area, and the Yangpu Kechuang Center, have shaped innovation-rich districts in Shanghai, each driven by its own motivations and exhibiting different developming mechanisms. These 'innovation spaces' are in accord with the discussion on the rise of innovation districts by the Brookings Institution. Based on the theoretical framework of innovation space, this presentation will mainly discuss actors, organization work, interactive mechanism, and the strategies of different types of innovation districts in Yangpu, to analyze the development mechanism and theoretical framework of this new urban economic space.

Dr Jian Li comes from Shanghai, China, where is an an associate professor at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences. He got his PhD degree (2008) in Human Geography from Eastern China Normal University, his dissertation focusing on global production networks of high-tech industry in China, especially in Shanghai and Yangtze River Delta region. Since 2008, he has worked at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, studying local industry upgrading from the perspective of global production networks, R&D of TNCs and so on. His project 'Global production networks, local industry upgrading and development of high-tech cites in China' was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China. In 2011, Jian Li published a  book entitled 'Global production networks and spatial organization of production in the metropolitan area', which mainly discussed how the production organization affected the spatial structure in the Shanghai metropolitan area and Yangtze River Delta Region. In recent years, Jian Li’s research has focused more on urban transformation from the perspective of industry upgrading, workers and population, and spatial restructure in Shanghai, especially in Yangpu district and Zhangjiang High-tech Park.

Session 2

New Cooperation Institutional Mechanisms of Yangtze River Delta

Abstract：Yangtze River Delta is an important international gateway to the Asia-Pacific region, modern service industry and advanced manufacturing center. During the "Thirteen -Five" period, the world economy will be in a rebalancing stage. Economic transformation and upgrading in China and Yangtze River Delta today is the most urgent task.

After years of exploration and practice, the integration of Yangtze River Delta has shifted from the element- level to system-level. The cooperation institutional mechanisms, including decision-making, coordination and implementation layer, was increasingly improved. But because of the demands of different interests, there are still many contradictions inevitably.

At the same time, the new situation and the pattern of the transformation of innovation brings a huge challenge for Yangtze River Delta, such as “One Belt And One Road” strategy, “Shanghai Free Trade” strategy, “Global Technology Innovation Center” strategy and so on. How can Yangtze River Delta adapt to the trend of world economic and social development? The institutional mechanisms are the key. In the future, the development trend of Yangtze River Delta regional cooperation will grow to the depth and breadth, economic and society, government and social organization.

Therefore, during the "Thirteen-Five" period, Yangtze River Delta must solve the bottleneck problems and form a strategic and cooperative new style of institutional mechanism to promote regional integration.

Dr Chuanhong Zong, an associate professor from Institute of Urban & Population Research, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, whose major is urbanization and region research, mainly about Yangtze River Delta Megalopolis. Over the years, he presided over a number of Shanghai philosophy social issues, technology soft issues, such as “Research on the Yangtze River Delta Haze Controlling”,” Shanghai and Yangtze River Delta Collaborative Strategies in Technology Innovation During the ‘Thirteen-Five’ period”. In addition, he participated in the preparation of Yangtze River Delta Regional Planning, researched on the cooperation institutional mechanisms of Yangtze River Delta.

Session 3

The land use conversion during urbanization: typical case study in Chinese cities

Abstract: China 's urbanization process is also a non-farm rural land use process. Under China's unique system of collective ownership of rural land , land requisition system , the household registration system , the nature of local government, etc., China 's urbanization has led to the expansion of the urban area and rural residents at the same time , excessive non-agricultural use of rural land, land- use inefficiency，the unfairness of non-agricultural development rights of rural land in different rural collective economic organizations. Reforming the land expropriation system and permitting the owner of rural land to share the gains of the land rights of non-agricultural development are becoming consensus. How to optimize the urban and rural land use while protecting the interests of farmers' land property rights has become the main problem of the reform of rural land property rights system.

One of the characteristics of China's reform is " to cross the river by feeling the stones " . Reform of the rural land property rights system is as well. Over the past decade , for non-agricultural use of rural land , except land acquisition mode, there have been various reforms throughout China. The specific practices of non-agricultural land use , changes in the distribution of benefits and the property relations of all participants are different. These attempts at reform provide the foundation for the improvement of China 's land Management Law. This report describes the background of rural land property rights system reform, introduces several influential non-agricultural land use patterns ( such as the cases took place in Chongqing , Chengdu , Tianjin and other cities in China ) , including the changes in land-use efficiency , the changes in interests of all stakeholders, the changes in legal relations of participants in various modes.

Dr Dai Weijuan is an assistant research fellow from Center for Urban and Regional Studies in Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences (SASS). She received her BA in applied mathmatics from Tongji University in 1996 and her Master’s degree in management in 2004 and PhD in economics in 2010 from SASS. She is the author of Land Transfer of Rural Land in China During the Urbanization (Shanghai Academy of Social Science Press, 2011), as well as dozens of articles and book chapters. She focus more on regional economy and rural land system reform in China. She is also a China certified public accountant.