Islandization of the University Town from the Perspective of Student Off-Campus Behavior: A Case Study of Changqing University Town, Jinan City, China
Publication: Journal of Urban Planning and Development
Volume 149, Issue 1
Abstract
In the wake of China’s rapid urbanization and higher education reform, a large number of new urban spaces have emerged, in particular, university towns. When promoting urbanization and stimulating economic growth, the isolation of the university town from the central city has become increasingly apparent. This article defined the islandization of the university town and analyzed it from the perspective of the behavior of the main actors of the university town, the students. Taking Jinan Changqing University Town, Jinan City, China as a case study, this article used a survey questionnaire and interviews to investigate the patterns of university town students' off-campus behavior. By constructing an analysis framework, this article discussed the characterization, influencing factors, and formation mechanism of the islandization of the university town. The results indicated that although the daily behavior of students was concentrated mainly in the university town, the student's needs could not be fully satisfied in the university town alone. Therefore, students needed to go to the central area of Jinan City, China for important activities, which included studying, working part-time jobs, shopping, recreation, and medical treatment. The main mode of transportation for the students that left the university town was public transport, which was considered inconvenient and costly in terms of time. Student behavioral characteristics indicated that the university town was spatially separated from society, which is a significant feature of islandization. The imperfection in the spatial factors was the basis of the islandization of the university town, which further triggered the behavior and psychological isolation of the students. In addition, spatial, student behavior, and psychological factors interacted and reinforced each other, which eventually formed a vicious circle and led to the increased isolation of the university town.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
Support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41701177) is gratefully acknowledged.
References
Aitken, S. C. 1992. “Person-environment theories in contemporary perceptual and behavioural geography II: The influence of ecological, environmental learning, societal/structural, transactional and transformational theories.” Prog. Hum. Geogr. 16 (4): 553–562. https://doi.org/10.1177/030913259201600405.
Aitken, S. C. 1993. “Perceptual and behavioural theory in practice.” Prog. Hum. Geogr. 17 (3): 378–388. https://doi.org/10.1177/030913259301700307.
Bai, L. 2006. “Graduate unemployment: Dilemmas and challenges in China’s move to mass higher education.” China Q. 185: 128–144. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305741006000087.
Cai, Y. 2010. “Global isomorphism and governance reform in Chinese higher education.” Tertiary Educ. Manage. 16 (3): 229–241. https://doi.org/10.1080/13583883.2010.497391.
Chai, Y. 2013. “Space–time behavior research in China: Recent development and future prospect.” Ann. Assoc. Am. Geogr. 103 (5): 1093–1099. https://doi.org/10.1080/00045608.2013.792179.
Chan, R. C. K., and X. B. Zhao. 2002. “The relationship between administrative hierarchy position and city size development in China.” GeoJ. 56 (2): 97–112. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022463615129.
Chen, M., W. Liu, and D. Lu. 2016. “Challenges and the way forward in China’s new-type urbanization.” Land Use Policy 55: 334–339. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2015.07.025.
Chien, S., and F. Wu. 2011. “The transformation of China’s urban entrepreneurialism: The case study of the city of Kunshan.” Cross-Curr.: East Asian Hist. Cult. Rev. 1: 1–28.
Ding, C. 2003. “Land policy reform in China: Assessment and prospects.” Land Use Policy 20: 109–120. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0264-8377(02)00073-X.
Fan, C. C. 1999. “The vertical and horizontal expansions of China’s city system.” Urban Geogr. 20 (6): 493–515. https://doi.org/10.2747/0272-3638.20.6.493.
Gumprecht, B. 2003. “The American college town.” Geog. Rev. 93 (1): 51–80. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1931-0846.2003.tb00020.x.
Harvey, D. 1989. “From managerialism to entrepreneurialism: The transformation in urban governance in late capitalism.” Geogr. Ann. Ser. A Phys. Geogr. 71: 3–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/04353684.1989.11879583.
He, S., and F. Wu. 2005. “Property-led redevelopment in post-reform China: A case study of Xintiandi redevelopment project in Shanghai.” J. Urban Aff. 27 (1): 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0735-2166.2005.00222.x.
Hsing, Y. 2010. The great urban transformation: Politics and property in China. New York: Oxford University Press.
Kang, O. 2004. “Higher education reform in China today.” Policy Futures in Educa. 2 (1): 141–149. https://doi.org/10.2304/pfie.2004.2.1.4.
Lefebvre, H. 1991. The production of space. Oxford: Blackwell.
Li, X., H. Tan, and A. Rackes. 2015. “Carbon footprint analysis of student behavior for a sustainable university campus in China.” J. Cleaner Prod. 106: 97–108. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.11.084.
Li, Z., X. Li, and L. Wang. 2014. “Speculative urbanism and the making of university towns in China: A case of Guangzhou university town.” Habitat Int. 44: 422–431. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2014.08.005.
Lin, G. C. S. 2000. “State, capital, and space in China in an age of volatile globalization.” Environ. Plann. A: Econ. Space 32: 455–471. https://doi.org/10.1068/a3264.
Ma, L. J. C. 2002. “Urban transformation in China, 1949 – 2000: A review and research agenda.” Environ. Plann. A: Econ. Space 34: 1545–1569. https://doi.org/10.1068/a34192.
Molotch, H. 1976. “The city as a growth machine: Toward a political economy of place.” Am. J. Sociol. 82 (2): 309–332. https://doi.org/10.1086/226311.
Molotch, H. 1993. “The political economy of growth machines.” J. Urban Aff. 15 (1): 29–53. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9906.1993.tb00301.x.
Pante, M. D. 2018. “Far from isolation: The spatial politics of the relocation of the main campus of the university of the Philippines, 1930s–1970s.” J. Social Issues Southeast Asia 33 (3): 499–535. https://doi.org/10.1355/sj33-3a.
Ruoppila, S., and F. Zhao. 2017. “The role of universities in developing China’s university towns: The case of Songjiang university town in Shanghai.” Cities 69: 56–63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2017.05.011.
Shafi, R., A. Delbosc, and G. Rose. 2020. “Travel attitudes and mode use among Asian international students at an Australian university.” Transp. Res. Part D Transp. Environ. 80: 102259. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trd.2020.102259.
Shiuh-Shen, C. 2013. “Chinese eco-cities: A perspective of land-speculation-oriented local entrepreneurialism.” China Inf. 27 (2): 173–196. https://doi.org/10.1177/0920203X13485702.
Shen, J. 2022. “Universities as financing vehicles of (sub)urbanisation: The development of university towns in Shanghai.” Land Use Policy 112: 104679. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2020.104679.
Sum, C.-Y. 2018. “A great leap of faith: Limits to China’s university cities.” Urban Stud. 55 (7): 1460–1476. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042098017716845.
Wang, X.-R., E. C.-M. Hui, C. Choguill, and S.-H. Jia. 2015. “The new urbanization policy in China: Which way forward?” Habitat Int. 47: 279–284. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2015.02.001.
Wang, Y., and W. Tang. 2020. “Universities and the formation of edge cities: Evidence from China's government-led university town construction.” Pap. Reg. Sci. 99: 245–265. https://doi.org/10.1111/pirs.12480.
Wu, F. 2007. China’s emerging cities: The making of new urbanism. London: Routledge.
Wu, F. 2015. “Planning for growth: Urban and regional planning in China.” Town Plann. Rev. 87 (2): 77–78.
Wu, F., and J. Zhang. 2007. “Planning the competitive city-region: The emergence of strategic development plan in China.” Urban Aff. Rev. 42 (5): 714–740. https://doi.org/10.1177/1078087406298119.
Xu, J., and A. G. O. Yeh. 2005. “City repositioning and competitiveness building in regional development: New development strategies in Guangzhou, China.” Int. J. Urban Reg. Res. 29: 283–308. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2427.2005.00585.x.
Ye, C., M. Chen, R. Chen, and Z. Guo. 2014. “Multi-scalar separations: Land use and production of space in Xianlin, a university town in Nanjing, China.” Habitat Int. 42: 264–272. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2014.01.005.
Yin, G., and Y. Liu. 2017. “Administrative urbanization and city-making in post-reform China: A case study of Ordos City, Inner Mongolia.” Chin. Geogr. Sci. 27 (6): 891–903. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11769-017-0919-1.
Yin, G., Y. Liu, and F. Wang. 2018. “Emerging Chinese new towns: Local government-directed capital switching in inland China.” Cities 79: 102–112. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2018.02.026.
Zhang, S. 2014. “Land-centered urban politics in transitional China – can they be explained by growth machine theory?” Cities 41: 179–186. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2014.02.010.
Zhao, X. 2006. “Fiscal decentralization and political centralization in China: Implications for growth and inequality.” J. Comp. Econ. 34: 713–726. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jce.2006.08.006.
Zhou, J., Y. Wang, and J. Wu. 2018. “Mode choice of commuter students in a college town: An exploratory study from the United States.” Sustainability 10 (9): 2–18.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Urban Planning and Development
Volume 149 • Issue 1 • March 2023
Copyright
© 2022 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Aug 5, 2021
Accepted: Oct 7, 2022
Published online: Dec 20, 2022
Published in print: Mar 1, 2023
Discussion open until: May 20, 2023
ASCE Technical Topics:
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.