Suchergebnisse

The article is devoted to the problems of the development of modern Chinese cities, which describes the development of large Chinese cities in the 20th and 21st centuries, analyzes contemporary problems and the conditions for their formation in the near future. The pur- pose of the article is to show the dynamic development of the largest and most important modern cities in China and the problems that arise in connection with their development. Novelty — first in the periodical literature describes the development of megacities as a ra- tional option for the territorial organization of urban areas. The methodological basis of the article consists of historical-logical and complex approach, tabular and graphical me- thods of presenting research results. In the 80s, the fi rst special economic zones were created. His process was characterized by the introduction of elements of the free market, the de- collectization of agriculture, changes in the sectoral structure of the economy and its ration- alization. A prolonged concentration of the population in large cities of China causes their further expansion and the formation of large metropolitan clusters — megacities. Given the development of the Chinese economy, it should be understood that its participation in international exchange, despite notable progress, still too small; expansion in world markets occurs with low quality and, as a result, with low prices for Chinese goods; China's growing position in the global economy is predominantly quantitative rather than qualitative. To con- solidate China as one of the leaders in the process of economic globalization, it is important to ensure the eff ective management of such large centers of concentration of human and material resources as megacities. In this regard, much attention is paid to the analysis of trends and the conditions for the further development of Chinese cities. It is determined that in 20-25 years, more than 1,000,000,000 Chinese citizens will live in large cities. Th e process of converting them into a new modifi ed form, megalopolises, will continue. Th e factors that will infl uence the development of modern megacities, and the set of internal processes for their further development (political, social, economic, ethnic, religious and environmental) that require some structuring are identifi ed. Th e negative aspects of urbanization were iden- tifi ed: growing income inequality and a deterioration in population structure. To overcome these phenomena, restructuring of the regional economy and measures to overcome inequa- lity are considered useful, where preference is given to income distribution mechanisms de- pending on the quality of labor, stimulation of social responsibility of employers and others. Th is assessment of China's demographic policy is aimed at improving family planning.

The rhetoric of public librarianship includes many ringing claims for the role of libraries in democracy; and, on the 20-year anniversary of the advent of democracy in South Africa in 1994, it is an opportune moment to examine the rather confusing fortunes of libraries in our young democracy. In recent years, some 20 libraries have been destroyed in social protest; yet the LIS profession would argue that libraries are agents of development and social transformation. The paper reports on the work of the authors on the LIS Transformation Charter which, after a start-stop-start process of two phases over six years, has now been handed to government. The paper analyses the political and professional forces that influenced the Charter writing process; but we argue that the final Transformation Charter offers a vision of a transformed and integrated library system that has meaning to all sectors of South African society.