Asia-Pacific Journal of Regional Science最新文献

Urban expansion has become a major challenge in recent years, threatening environmental sustainability and urban planning. Methods to quantify urban growth are limited, but the combination of geospatial techniques and spatial metrics offers significant advantages in quantifying growth and detecting early signs of sprawl for sustainable development. This study evaluated the effectiveness of the entropy model, landscape metrics, and urban metrics in quantifying urban growth. We focused on Tirunelveli City, the sixth-largest corporation in Tamil Nadu, India, by its evolution, spatial patterns and urban expansion trends. Landsat images and the CART classifier were used to prepare LULC maps for the years 1997, 2005, 2015 and 2022. Built-up areas of the city were extracted, and Shannon Entropy, five landscape metrics, four urban metrics, and the urban sprawl matrix were applied. Landscape metrics and Shannon Entropy methods indicated that the city was experiencing sprawl. Urban metrics were applied to five concentric rings, each with a 2 km radius from the city center, revealing a moderate growth rate. The urban sprawl matrix analyzed the city’s spatial pattern, confirming the presence of a multi-nuclei structure and development along major roads, known as ribbon development. We conclude that the urban sprawl matrix is an effective method for analyzing city spatial patterns. Shannon Entropy and landscape metrics provide robust results for quantifying sprawl, and urban metrics are reliable for assessing growth rate. Therefore, local planners should focus on Concentric Ring 04, where significant growth has occurred, to ensure sustainable urban development.

The integration of Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) into hybrid renewable microgrids offers great potential for improving the resilience of off-grid regions. This study aimed to develop a comprehensive simulation framework to evaluate multiple BESS capacities (80–300 kWh) over a ten-year horizon, incorporating seasonal variability, load growth, hydroelectric disruptions, and stochastic uncertainties. We addressed the gaps in existing frameworks by including reliability metrics such as Energy Not Served (ENS), Loss of Load Expectation (LOLE), Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) and export revenue, in addition to evaluating carbon emissions. The results indicated that a 220 kWh BESS configuration provided the best balance of resilience, reducing ENS and LOLE while maintaining a reasonable LCOE over the 10-year period. The novelty of the work lies in its ability to incorporate multi-year disaster events, stochastic load growth, and time-of-use tariffs in a hybrid microgrid context. The simulation framework’s originality is demonstrated by its ability to balance energy reliability, environmental performance, and economic feasibility, offering valuable insights into how energy storage can optimize rural electrification in disaster-prone areas like Sarawak, Malaysia.

Climate change poses a significant threat to the sustainability of summer crop production in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, a region where agriculture is vital to the economy and rural livelihoods yet increasingly vulnerable to climatic variability. This study employed a Nonlinear Autoregressive Distributed Lag (NARDL) model to investigate the asymmetric short- and long-run effects of maximum and minimum temperatures, rainfall, carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, and relative humidity on aggregate summer crop production from 1989 to 2023. The results revealed statistically significant asymmetric relationships: positive rainfall shocks exerted a favorable influence on yields in both the short and long term, whereas rising maximum temperatures were associated with substantial yield reductions. Minimum temperature increases and moderate CO₂ concentrations demonstrated positive effects, while elevated humidity at high temperatures contributed to productivity losses. These findings highlight the complex and differentiated pathways through which climatic factors affect crop performance and underscore the necessity of targeted, crop-sensitive adaptation strategies. Such measures are essential to enhance the resilience and long-term sustainability of the agricultural sector in NSW under evolving climatic conditions.

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This study explored the interplay between complementary attitudes, adaptive capacity, competitive performance and community willingness to participate in sustainable tourism initiatives in small towns. Using Labuan Bajo, Indonesia, as a case study, the research applied Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to examine the relationships between these variables. Results indicated that complementary attitudes strongly influence competitive performance and willingness to participate, highlighting the importance of shared values and community cohesion. Competitive performance, encompassing marketing effectiveness and resource availability significantly drove participation, while adaptive capacity demonstrated indirect importance in fostering resilience. These findings revealed that small-town development strategies should integrate community engagement, ecological awareness and innovative practices to ensure sustainable economic growth. Policy implications suggest alignment of local strengths with broader regional urban systems for inclusive and sustainable development. Limitations and recommendations for future research include the need for longitudinal studies and comparative analyses across varying urban contexts to enhance understanding of small-town dynamics in sustainable tourism.

Urban expansion in the Yangtze River Basin has profoundly altered landscapes, posing considerable challenges to natural conservation and socioeconomic sustainability. Understanding the scale of urban expansion at the subbasin scale and implications for ecosystem services is crucial for sustainable development and regional environment protection. This study examined the relationships between subbasin-scale urbanization and ecosystem services from 2000 to 2020 using the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) model, Multi-scale Geographically Weighted Regression (MGWR), and the Spatial Durbin Model (SDM). The results indicated a continuous acceleration of urbanization, leading to a decline in key ecosystem services, including Water Yield (WY), Soil Conservation (SC), Carbon Storage (CS), and Habitat Quality (HQ). Notably, WY remained relatively high in the coastal areas of the Poyang Lake Basin, while SC was higher in the Jialing River Basin. Ecosystem services between regions showed spillover effects, forming a 'clustering effect' on ecosystem services. However, urban expansion primarily affected local ecosystem services, possibly due to factors such as urban management boundaries. These findings provide new insights into eco-environmental management, emphasizing the need for integrated strategies that balance urbanization with the natural protection and resource regulation in the Yangtze River Basin.

As an integral component of China's rapid economic growth, the environmental externalities of foreign investment warrant rigorous assessment. Using Panel data from Chinese prefecture-level cities from 2002 to 2022, this study examined the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) on urban pollution through the lens of its sectoral composition. Our results indicated that a higher proportion of FDI in the secondary sector significantly intensified urban pollution. This effect was particularly pronounced in western regions, cities with weaker environmental regulations and non-tourism-oriented cities. Mechanism analysis revealed that in the competition for FDI, local governments often lower environmental standards, which amplified the negative externalities of this sectoral bias and reinforced the "pollution haven" effect. Furthermore, a threshold regression analysis demonstrated that as inter-jurisdictional competition intensified, the adverse environmental impacts of secondary-sector FDI escalated in a stepwise manner. This study offers a structuralist explanation for the "pollution paradox" and provides actionable policy insights. Specifically, we advocate for a structural transformation of FDI, reformed performance evaluations for governments, and adapted environmental regulatory frameworks. These measures can help break the "race to the bottom" dynamic and achieve a balance between FDI quality and sustainable development.

This study examined the influence of spatial interdependencies on regional total factor productivity in Japan by focusing on the contrasting effects of borrowed size and agglomeration shadows. Using panel data from 47 Japanese prefectures between 2000 and 2018, we compared the manufacturing and non-manufacturing sectors by estimating the Spatial Durbin Model and the Spatial Durbin–SARAR Model. These models enable a detailed decomposition of productivity effects into direct (within region) and indirect (spillover) components across space. The results indicated that industrial agglomeration and transport capital positively influence local productivity in both sectors. However, negative spillovers, interpreted as agglomeration shadow effects, were also observed, where the concentration in neighboring regions suppressed local performance. Human capital exerted a consistently positive impact on manufacturing, with evidence of interregional spillover effects. These findings highlight the sector-specific spatial dynamics and indicate the need for differentiating regional policy responses. For the manufacturing sector, promoting networked industrial clustering and labor mobility can enhance productivity but must be balanced against the risks of overconcentration. In the non-manufacturing sector, decentralized service economies and spatially equitable infrastructure investments are critical for reducing competitive displacement from urban cores. By clarifying the conditions under which borrowed size and agglomeration shadow effects prevail, this study contributes to spatial productivity theory and offers actionable insights for designing regionally differentiated development strategies.

Ecotourism enables travellers to explore and learn about nature. This study investigated the relationships between awareness, environment sustainability, hindrances in ecotourism development, and potential benefits and intentions to revisit among tourists of Himachal Pradesh. The study area comprised four districts of Himachal Pradesh, namely Lahaul-Spiti, Kinnaur, Kullu and Solan Districts. Structural Equation modelling was employed to assess the influence of awareness, environmental sustainability and hindrances in ecotourism development on revisit intentions, mediated by potential benefits. PLS-Predict was employed to examine the predictive effectiveness of the model. Primary data was acquired from 261 tourists using a purposive sampling method. Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) was used for hypothesis testing. The structural model demonstrated that both “awareness” and “environmental sustainability" positively affects “revisit intentions” through the mediating influence of “potential benefits”. Although the ecotourism policies of Himachal Pradesh focus on institutional framework and community development, adherence should be given to make tourists cognisant about the environment and surroundings of the state. It is important that the educational aspects of ecotourism should be incorporated so that environmental sustainability can be maintained in the long run.

In Indonesia, the advent of decentralization marked a profound politico-economic transformation from a centralized authoritarian government in 1999. After more than two decades, Indonesian urban studies have overlooked the relationships between regional economic growth and environmental consequences, especially in the context of fiscal decentralization. We hypothesized that variations in fiscal decentralization and capital expenditure lead to higher land surface temperature at the local level, highlighting the need for tailored urban environmental policies. Using six metropolitans on Java Island—Jakarta, Bandung, Cirebon, Jogjakarta, Semarang, and Surabaya—this study examined the effects of two components of fiscal decentralization, intergovernmental transfer funds and capital expenditure, on the urban environment between 2014 and 2022. The environmental quality was approximated by Land Surface Temperature (LST) obtained from the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform. Structural breaks analysis and panel fixed-effect regression were also performed. Evidence of structural breaks due to the pandemic and mixed effects of intergovernmental transfer and capital expenditure on urban temperature were revealed. These findings contribute to the literature by providing empirical evidence on the role of fiscal decentralization and urbanization on variations in urban temperature.

Trade dynamics within Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) regions shift from globalization to regionalization, thus a comprehensive understanding of the emission dynamics associated with internal versus external exports is critical. This study employed structural decomposition analysis to examine the drivers of emissions embodied in exports (EEE) originating from within and destined for beyond RCEP from 2010 to 2019. Results showed that internal EEE growth was primarily driven by demand effects, while external EEE declines were mainly due to reductions in carbon intensity. Technology spillovers through external trade reduced emissions in middle- and high-income countries, whereas internal trade increased emissions in low-income countries due to pollution haven effects. Intra-RCEP trade also enhanced production efficiency when compared to external or purely domestic trade. External demand was predominantly characterized by household consumption, while internal demand driven by investment and government spending. These findings underscore the need for policies that promote the diffusion of clean technologies, regional integration and greener investment, as well as the implementation of stricter emission controls in low-income regions to effectively mitigate emissions amid evolving trade patterns within the RCEP framework.