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Four stages of the adaptive cycle highlighting the four possible policy leverage points identified on a rural community's adaptive change cycle (Holling and Gunderson (2002, p. 34, Figure 2.2–1)). Notes: Seeds of Innovation (A) – Averting the 'back loop' (B) – Slowing down or reversing the 'front loop' (C) – Expediting the 'back loop'; Cultivation of creativity – Expediting the 'back loop'; Colonization of ideas – Expediting the 'back loop'; Laying fallow – Resource outflow.
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Globally, rural regions are searching for innovative growth opportunities to reinvigorate their economies. This paper examines the redevelopment of rural communities through an ecological lens – based on the notion of continuous cycles of adaptive change within complex systems as first identified within Holling’s concept of panarchy. Panarchy sugge...
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... alignment of the concept to economy systems -with periods of steady predictable growth, marked by sudden and unpre- dictable shifts (or corrections) -is the motivation for it use in this instance. However, for simplicity, it should be noted that this work uses a single adaptive change cycle (Figure 1) to introduce the panarchy model as a new framework for examining rural economic development strategies. From the point of view of regional or rural economic development policy, the sphere of influence of policy-makers could be characterized by an adaptive change cycle that is bounded by both time and space. ...
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... adaptive change cycle is composed of four stages: release, reorganization, exploitation and conserva- tion, shown in Figure 1 (Holling 2001;Holling & Gunderson 2002;Simmie & Martin 2010;Benson & Garmestani 2011). In the release stage of the adaptive change cycle (Figure 1, lower right) or the creative destruction stage, opportunities exist for rapid change in the system and novel recombination of components. ...
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... adaptive change cycle is composed of four stages: release, reorganization, exploitation and conserva- tion, shown in Figure 1 (Holling 2001;Holling & Gunderson 2002;Simmie & Martin 2010;Benson & Garmestani 2011). In the release stage of the adaptive change cycle (Figure 1, lower right) or the creative destruction stage, opportunities exist for rapid change in the system and novel recombination of components. With an ecological system, this would suggest that dominant 2 P. Slight et al. ...
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... and potential in the system are also low; in an ecosystem setting, this would be reflected by resources and species in the system become unorganized (Holling & Gunderson 2002). In the reorganization stage (Figure 1, upper left), the resources are used in new ways as innovations and experi- ments are tested. Within ecosystems, new species begin to recolonize the area and capture available resources (Holling & Gunderson 2002). ...
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... the exploitation stage of the adaptive change cycle (Figure 1, lower left), the resources begin to accu- mulate. The accumulation of biomass ( Beier et al. 2009) within an ecosystem or the development of new, stable business sectors in a regional economy would be parallel examples. ...
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... the conservation stage of the cycle (Figure 1, upper right), an increase in system rigidity can occur. Competition increases, and fewer species dominate the ecosystem -those that have competed successfully and have acquired a larger share of the available resources ( Beier et al. 2009). ...
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... adaptive change cycle, thus, has two key 'loops' to understand (Figure 1). The 'back loop' of the adaptive change cycle, from release to reorganization, is typically characterized by radical innovation -large unpredictable changes in the adaptive change cycle that are more risky with uncertain outcomes. ...
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... most important aspect in a rural community's change cycle to predict is a trajectory toward economic decline. Similar to Holling's (2001) model for ecosystems this same scenario takes place in the release stage of the 'back loop' of the cycle (Figure 1, lower right). Just prior to release stage, the authors noted a pattern of increased rigidity amongst businesses in rural communities due to conditions such as stagnant product development or reduced competitiveness. ...
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... affecting businesses include economic recessions, growth and technological advancements of distant business competitors and unexpected closures of major employers (Simmie & Martin 2010). An archetypical community in the release stage ( Figure 1, lower right) has decreasing connectedness, low resiliency and low potential -similar to ecosystem char- acteristics at this stage (Holling & Gunderson 2002). At this stage, the community is experiencing business clo- sures, a retiring workforce and/or a workforce migrating in search of new employment opportunities. ...
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... the community enters into the reorganization stage of the 'back loop', the rural community is ripe for innovation ( Figure 1, upper left). At this point, the creative reorgani- zation of community resources can occur. ...
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... archetypical rural community in the reorganization stage ( Figure 1, upper left) has higher resiliency and potential for change but reduced connectedness as the supply chains of existing businesses begin to dismantle and seek to reorganize. This is consistent with the sugges- tion of Simmie and Martin (2010) that the potential of a reorganizing community is high as alternative futures open up for the community. ...
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... reorganization of the ecological community opens up new niches for exploitation by opportunistic species (Figure 1, lower right). The same could apply to a human community, where the reorganization presents the opportunity for the development and exploitation of new business niches and available 'resources'. ...
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... archetypical community in the exploitation stage (Figure 1, lower right) is characterized by increasing con- nectedness as new networks develop between businesses and resiliency and the diversity of new businesses grows. ...
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... the community gradually redevelops, its networks and businesses enter into the conservation stage of the adaptive change cycle (Figure 1, upper right). Similar to the arrival of species with lower reproductive rates and longer life- spans (MacArthur & Wilson 1967;Ashton 2009), the authors observe that a community in the conservation stage is characterized by fewer business sectors dominat- ing the area, each with a more typical lifespan and faced with the need to more effectively compete for limited resources. ...
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... archetypical community in the conservation stage (Figure 1, upper right) will be characterized by rigidity and declining resiliency (Holling & Gunderson 2002;Simmie & Martin 2010). The rigidity of the rural community increases as supply chains and other aspects of the busi- ness networks such as markets and the internal manage- ment structures within the businesses themselves, become more defined. ...
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... instruments could be used to slow down or reverse the 'front loop' of the cycle by pulling the community back from the conservation to the exploitation stage or speed up the 'back loop' of the cycle by pushing the community forward from the release to the reorganization stage (1). Slowing down or reversing the 'front loop', or speeding up the 'back loop', position the community at a point of higher resiliency within its cycle, thus decreasing its vul- nerability to disturbance (Figure 1, lower and upper left). ...
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... main leverage points and one minor leverage point, defined by the authors, were positioned at specific locations along the adaptive change cycle for policy- makers and community leaders to consider: seeds of inno- vation; cultivation of creativity; colonization of ideas and laying fallow. Their locations along the cycle are noted in Figure 1, and they are discussed individually further. The development of these points was also informed by two additional sources of empirical data: (1) key informant interviews conducted with economic development officials from government departments and community develop- ment agencies in Atlantic Canada and (2) content analyses of current published economic development strategies/ policies in each of the various provinces of Atlantic Canada. ...
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... first leverage point on the adaptive change cycle falls just prior to a community entering the conservation stage on the cycle. At this point (labelled seeds of innovation, Figure 1A-C), policy-makers are aware business sectors dominating the economic activity in a community. The authors hypothesize that young businesses launched in earlier stages have closed by this point; those that have successfully competed for resources now define the area. ...
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... early will help diminish obstacles that could stall or prevent the community from progressing forward. As such, the recommendation is for policy dri- vers linked to the seeds of innovation leverage point to be applied at the midpoint of the 'front loop' of the adaptive change cycle and continue to the end of the conservation stage ( Figure 1C). This will allow plenty of time for targeted community policies to develop in preparation for the release stage. ...
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... seed bank, can provide components for renewal in a faster, smaller scale, e.g. a particular stand impacted by fire ( Holling et al. 2002b). In a community, this remember feature (Figure 1) could comprise supportive provincial policies that support new business ventures at the munici- pal level ( Holling et al. 2002b) or an excess of supply of a particular natural resource due to the closure or down- sizing of a downstream user. For example, a supportive community renewable energy policy at the provincial level could help increase market opportunities for renewable energy entrepreneurs at the smaller municipal level. ...
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... unchecked this collapse leads the community into a stage that in ecological terms would trigger the 'release' stage and the related processes referred to earlier. However, if the conditions preceding a collapse can be recognized and, thereby, the collapse anticipated, policy- makers and community leaders may be able put back- ward pressure on the cycle, pulling it back from conser- vation towards exploitation ( Figure 1B). This could be accomplished by supporting new product development within existing industries -intended to place them in niche markets globally and help them retain their compe- titiveness -as opposed to simply subsidizing a failing industry in its current form. ...
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... finding new niche markets for existing single indus- tries remains difficult, policy-makers and community lea- ders may still be able to help a community bypass the release stage and go straight into the reorganization stage ( Figure 1A). They can implement policies that support a reduced dependency of the region's supply chains and industry networks (i.e. its small-and medium-sized suppli- ers) on these single industries (Box 2). ...
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... leverage point exists just as a community begins to collapse in the release stage of the adaptive change cycle (Figure 1). This point, cultivation of creativity, will ideally create an amenable environment for businesses to test new ideas, develop novel products and experiment in new markets. ...
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... that survive these early tests could be instru- mental in moving the community in a new direction eco- nomically. As such, to support this 'amenable environment', policies must be applied at the start of the release stage and be sustained through to the middle of the 'back loop' (Figure 1). If one applies the panarchy lens then, to be successful, a policy intervention must occur early on, before the collapse is complete. ...
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... as a community can remember how to succeed in seeds of innovation, a community's failure can also spread, negatively influencing other communities in a region. Referred to as revolt in the panarchy model (Holling et al. 2002b), it is suggested that policy-makers must be cautious of this feature at the cultivation of creativity leverage point (Figure 1). In an ecosystem, the revolt feature takes place when a disturbance such as a forest fire or pest infestation in a small patch of forest eventually affects the entire stand ( Holling et al. 2002b). ...
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... third major leverage point exists between the middle of the 'back loop' and the end of the reorganization stage (Figure 1). This colonization of ideas leverage point is where one should target economic instruments that help move emerging businesses from the reorganization stage into the exploitation stage. ...
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... noted the importance of creativity from within as one mechanism for moving the community in a positive to be able to manage any economic downturns. As a small province, economic development officials and residents alike from Prince Edward Island recognize that the Island will always be reliant in part on its traditional, seasonal industries (PEI Official 1, 2, 3). Tourism, fishing and farming are seasonal industries and are expected to drive the economic success in the province now and into the future (PEI Official 2). ...
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Citations
... For example, Salvia and Quaranta (2015) consistently assess the state of social, economic, and natural capital for each adaptive phase in the analysis of agricultural systems (i.e., durum wheat, sheep, and goat farming) in the Basilicata region of southern Italy. Slight et al. (2016) likewise consistently describe the expected state of businesses, the workforce, infrastructure, and the population of a theoretical rural community as it passes through the phases of the adaptive cycle. Mhango and Dick (2011) also consistently assess the state of the political regime, food security, and GDP in Malawi across all the studied time periods. ...
... However, various inconsistencies emerge for the phase of conservation regarding the degree of economic capital, social cohesion, social capital, human capital, physical capital, and natural capital (see Supplementary Material - Table 6). For example, the physical domain is defined by improvements in infrastructure (Lentz et al. 2018;Reyes-Santiago et al. 2022), consistency in the built environment (Westmont 2021), and the aging of infrastructure (Slight et al. 2016). The inconsistencies in the amount or state of capital in the phase of conservation are likely a reflection of uncertainty on whether potential refers to the accumulated capital or the capital available for change. ...
... These disturbances include market shocks, the death of a prominent landowner, the emergence of a war, a pandemic, droughts, storms, wildfires, earthquakes, and/or disease outbreaks (see Gibbons 2012;Rasmussen and Reenberg 2012;Thanh et al. 2020). The reviewed studies also identify a decrease in the accumulated capital such as the loss of economic capital (see Salvia Bunce et al. 2009;Slight et al. 2016;Westmont 2021), and natural capital (see Huber-Sannwald et al. 2012;Salvia and Quaranta 2015). There are no notable inconsistencies except for the observation of the continuation and increase in (over)exploitation in a few studies (see Thanh et al. 2020;Thorkildsen 2014), while most studies observe a decline in human exploitation of the environment and a decline in productivity (see Beier et al. 2009;Fraser and Stringer 2009;Roberts et al. 2018) (see Supplementary Material - Table 7). ...
The theory of adaptive cycles, as developed almost 40 years ago by Holling (1986), has great potential as a tool to understand, anticipate, and alter the trajectories of change in natural resource systems. However, its incorporation in natural resource policy and management remains limited. A total of 112 studies are reviewed to assess how the theory of adaptive cycles has been applied to understand the behavior of natural resource systems (i.e., woodlands, croplands, rangelands, and fisheries) and how its application can be improved to enhance the potential of the theory to inform natural resource management. The review reveals that the theory has largely been applied in haphazard ways because there is no procedure in place to prevent the manipulation of empirical data to fit the path prescribed by the theory. The theory of adaptive cycles is primarily approached as a conceptual framework instead of as a set of testable and falsifiable hypotheses. Ill-fitting management recommendations can ensue when the theory is not tested, which demonstrates the pressing need for the development of a standardized procedure that future studies can follow. A 7-step procedure is developed to enhance the transparency and reliability of the application of the theory of adaptive cycles and to contribute to the realization of its potential to inform natural resource management.
... A frequent analogy is fire-suppression in a forest, which otherwise would naturally recycle nutrients and initiate secondary succession, leading to increased risk of catastrophic fire. In social systems also, extending the fore loop can lead to a more brittle and maladaptive system (Slight, Adams, & Sherren, 2016). This is an excellent corollary for climax thinkingthe desire to hold in stasis, or force stasis, despite changing conditions and the need to re-use some of the various capitals otherwise locked-up. ...
Fulltext https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/j.ctv19t41pj.4.pdf Many of us, when facing landscape change such as energy infrastructure development, often demonstrate a belief that we inhabit a 'climax' landscape. In successional terms, a climax landscape is defined here as one that is perceived by those who live in and use it to have reached a stable and ideal state after various stages of socio-cultural progress, from 'pioneers' on up, as humans met their needs through landscape modification. This chapter defines a new concept, climax thinking, that is making it difficult to adapt landscapes to new needs: e.g. renewable energy, climate adaptation, urban densification. Understanding and easing climax thinking could smooth the way for numerous sustainability transitions. While we often believe we will not be able to adapt to change in our landscapes, the opposite has been repeatedly demonstrated. Not only do our expectations and norms slowly change as generations replace one another, but landscape expectations and preferences can evolve even within the generation that has witnessed quick and dramatic change. Ecologists have debunked the idea of equilibrium in natural systems, and a similar development is needed in public perceptions of lived landscapes. This chapter describes climax thinking as a powerful illusion. It describes the pathology of climax thinking, and the need for a non-equilibrium model for managing public good change in lived landscapes, mapping to related theories and ideas in other fields. Finally, it proposes a cross-disciplinary research and action agenda to help avoid casting landscape futures around old needs and old solutions while maintaining sense of place, identity and cultural heritage.
... A frequent analogy is fire suppression in a forest, which otherwise would naturally recycle nutrients and initiate secondary succession, leading to increased risk of catastrophic fire. In social systems also, extending the fore loop can lead to a more brittle and maladaptive system (Slight, Adams, and Sherren 2016). This is an excellent corollary for climax thinking-the desire to hold in stasis, or force stasis, despite changing conditions and the need to reuse some of the various capitals otherwise locked up. ...
... Likewise, 'community resilience' often refers to the ability of a place to cope with and adapt out of adverse situations and is used as a spatially delimited -but not further defined -unit for studies of resilience, also in tourism (Cochrane, 2010;Pechlaner & Innerhofer, 2018). Within a tourism context, threats to rural areas may include slowonset shocks (ageing populations, outmigration, low wage, lack of education, public sector cutbacks) (Slight, Adams, & Sherren, 2016), or more rapid shocks like declining popularity of tourist destinations, economic crisis (Amore et al., 2018;Cochrane, 2010), environmental disasters (Amore et al., 2018), or epidemics. ...
Outdoor tourism is on the growth agenda of public strategies and public-private development partnerships in many peripheral areas of the world, raising high expectations for job creation and rural development. Based on participant observation in an outdoor tourism cluster project and qualitative interviews with other tourism and regional development actors on the Baltic island of Bornholm, Denmark, this research asks how the micro-entrepreneurs and volunteer event organizers contribute to rural destination development, and how their contributions can best be supported by regional development actors. Drawing on the concepts of placial engagement and translocal connections, the research shows that micro-entrepreneurs’ and volunteer event organizers’ mobility and multi-local place engagement, combined with their orientation towards goals other than profit maximation, represent a strong rural place-development potential – a potential that tends to be undervalued by established tourism and regional development actors. The small-scale outdoor tourism actors show strong collaborative and networking behaviour regarding business, product, and place development. In addition to (modest) tourism-generated income and (often part-time) employment, they contribute by providing new residents, business diversity and flexibility, translocal resources and knowledge, as well as actively engage in place-making and branding. These diverse qualities can be argued to strengthen innovation, attractiveness and community resilience in economically challenged rural areas. The relevance of using a translocal perspective on tourism entrepreneurship and rural destination development is exemplified by the article in its presentation of the wider development contributions of the micro outdoor tourism actors which are important to acknowledge for regional development actors to build on them strategically.
... The concept of an adaptive cycle has been applied to recent research. Slight, Adams and Sherren (2016) noted that certain leverage points can create change as an adaptive process with reference to a rural community including seeds of innovation, cultivation of creativity, colonization of ideas and laying fallow work together to transform the community. ...
... Adaptive loops and resilience theory have been used to frame the dynamics of change in agricultural socio-ecosystems at the individual farm, territorial or industry level (e.g. Allison and Hobbs 2004;Sinclair et al. 2014;Darnhofer et al. 2016;Slight et al. 2016), though applications of a complete panarchy nesting multiple adaptive loops across scales remain rare (but see: Soane et al. 2012;Tittonell 2014) and, to our knowledge, none have considered biocultural heritage issues. ...
CITATION: Winkel T., Núñez-Carrasco L., Cruz P.J., Egan N., Sáez-Tonacca L., Cubillos-Celis P.E., Poblete-Olivera C.J., Zavalla-Nanco N.O., Miño-Baes B., Viedma-Araya M.P. 2020. Mobilising common biocultural heritage for the socioeconomic inclusion of small farmers: panarchy of two case studies on quinoa in Chile and Bolivia. Agriculture and Human Values, 37: 433-447. URL: https:/doi.org/10.1007/s10460-019-09996-1.
ABSTRACT: Valorising the biocultural heritage of common goods could enable peasant farmers to achieve socially and economically inclusive sustainability. Increasingly appreciated by consumers, peasant heritage products offer small farmers promising opportunities for economic, social and territorial development. Identifying the obstacles and levers of this complex, multi-scale and multi-stakeholder objective requires an integrative framework. We applied the panarchy conceptual framework to two cases of participatory research with small quinoa producers: a local fair in Chile and quinoa export production in Bolivia. In both cases, the “commoning” process was crucial both to bring stakeholders together inside their communities and to gain outside recognition for their production and thus achieve social and economic inclusion. Despite the differences in scale, the local fair and the export market shared a similar marketing strategy based on short value chains promoting quality products with high identity value. In these dynamics of biocultural heritage valorisation, the panarchical approach revealed the central place as well as the vulnerability of the community territory. As a place of both anchoring and opening, the community territory is the privileged space where autonomous and consensual control over the governance of common biocultural resources can be exercised.
... High resilience is equivalent to high adaptive capacity, this means the ability to flexibly respond to disturbances [7]. Originating from ecology, the AC can also be transferred to human systems, including regional economies [7,8,27,30,31]. ...
... Fath et al. [29] have further explored the AC in the context of the resilience of social systems, identifying key features for the success of a system as well as investigating the typical pathologies systems can experience in each phase of the cycle. Slight et al. [31] have identified leverage points for each phase of the AC that can help regional economies building adaptive capacity and successfully navigate the AC. Rogov and Rozenblat [32] propose an approach that determines urban resilience by the interplay of adaptive cycles on three different spatial scales. ...
... According to Holling [6], functional diversity among a system's components is essential for building resilience. The goal of the following policy recommendations is to help the regional economies to avoid or escape the typical traps and pathologies of their respective stages of the AC [29,52] and increase their adaptive capacity with the help of the leverage points identified by Slight et al. [31]. ...
This paper recalls the development of the German lignite regions Rhineland and Lusatia since 1945 to allow for a better understanding of their situation in 2019. We analyze their economic resilience, defined as adaptive capacity, using Holling’s adaptive cycle model. We find that the Rhineland is currently in the conservation phase, while Lusatia experiences a reorganization phase following the economic shock of the German reunification. Key policy recommendations for the upcoming coal phase-out are to foster innovation within the Rhineland’s infrastructures to avoid overconnection, and to expand digital and transportation infrastructure in Lusatia so that the structurally weak region can enter the exploitation phase. Future policymaking should take into consideration the differences between the two regions in order to enable a just and timely transition during which lasting adaptive capacity can be built.
... Adaptive loops and resilience theory have been used to frame the dynamics of change in agricultural socio-ecosystems at the individual farm, territorial or industry level (e.g. Allison and Hobbs 2004;Sinclair et al. 2014;Darnhofer et al. 2016;Slight et al. 2016), though applications of a complete panarchy nesting multiple adaptive loops across scales remain rare (but see: Soane et al. 2012;Tittonell 2014) and, to our knowledge, none have considered biocultural heritage issues. ...
Valorising the biocultural heritage of common goods could enable peasant farmers to achieve socially and economically inclusive sustainability. Increasingly appreciated by consumers, peasant heritage products offer small farmers promising opportunities for economic, social and territorial development. To identify the obstacles and levers of this complex, multi-scale and multi-stakeholder objective, an integrative conceptual framework is needed. We applied the panarchy conceptual framework to two cases of participatory research with small quinoa producers: a local fair in Chile and quinoa export production in Bolivia. In both cases, the "commoning" process was crucial both to bring stakeholders together inside their communities and to gain recognition for their productions outside and thus reach social and economic inclusion. Despite the difference in scale, the local fair and the export market shared a similar marketing strategy based on short value chains promoting quality products with high identity value. In these dynamics of biocultural heritage valorisation, the panarchical approach revealed the central place as well as the vulnerability of the community territory. As a place of both anchoring and opening, the community territory is the priviledged space where autonomous and consensual control over the governance of common biocultural resources can be exercised.
... Nevertheless, it has not as of today developed wealth, mechanisms and adaptive capacities for increased Fig. 3. The offshore wind, mussel and seaweed production sectors in the Dutch North Sea located in adaptive cycle; with four core stages including; growth (r), no change (K), release (Ω), and reorganisation (α) (adapted from Holling, 2001;Slight et al., 2016). ...
... The adaptive cycle with four core stages including; growth (r), no change (K), release (Ω), and reorganisation (α) (adapted fromHolling, 2001;Slight et al., 2016). ...
Activities in the North Sea are intensifying. The European Union instructs maritime spatial planning across member states that motivates coordination of activities, stakeholders, policies, governance levels and nations. Social innovation is a concept addressing ways in which changing attitudes, behaviour or perceptions are leading to new and improved ways of acting jointly within a group and beyond. The main aim of this article is to explore social innovation in maritime spatial planning. Instances of social innovation are assessed across three sectors in the Dutch North Sea: the offshore wind energy, the offshore mussel cultivation and the offshore seaweed farming. The assessment shows that, while existing systems of social innovation are favourable to the offshore wind expansions, the barriers to grow for the offshore mussel sector include low willingness to change within the sector, and disadvantageous governmental support to change. The offshore seaweed farming is in a stage of re-organisation of not yet developed regulations, rules and norms for production offshore and enhanced cooperation, with unsure outcomes. Maritime spatial planning can play a more influential role for change if tackling main challenges, including inclusiveness, accountability, private user rights and realisation of organisation or reorganisation, and if making use of the potentials of knowledge brokers when sectors are advancing with new technologies.
... Currently, a considerable number of studies are focused on urban-rural development and the effects of urban policies on the development of urban areas Slight et al. 2016). Land-use and land-cover change (LUCC) estimations are effective approaches for studies of urban-rural development (Li et al. 2007). ...
Urbanization has created a significant gap between the Three Northeast Provinces (TNP) and the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) since China’s reform and opening-up. In this study, we explain this problem by employing an urban expansion index, spatial hierarchical clustering, the Zipf-PLE model, fractal theory, and time-series analysis. Statistical data on the built-up area, population, and gross domestic product were downloaded from the National Bureau of Statistics of China. The results revealed the following. (1) During the stage of the planned economy, as a result of the significant government investment in development, the urban built-up areas in the TNP and the YRD reached 1867 and 757 km², respectively, in 1984. (2) During the stage of the socialist market economy, the urban built-up area of the YRD experienced rapid growth over the 30 years from 1984 to 2014 with a rate of increase of 668.8%, which was higher than that of the TNP (139.9%). In 2014, the urban built-up areas of the TNP and the YRD were 4479 and 5820 km², respectively. (3) Locational advantages had significant effects on urban development after China’s economic reform. The coastal cities of the YRD had higher rates of increase of the built-up areas. By contrast, the border cities of the TNP had lower rates of increase. Finally, this paper finds that the socialist market economy exhibited more efficiency in promoting urban expansion and economic development. The results are significant for generating balanced and sustainable regional development strategies in the future.
