Applied Geography最新文献

{"title":"Deadly connections: Exploring body disposal patterns in homicides through victim-offender relationships","authors":"April Miin Miin Chai ,&nbsp;D. Kim Rossmo ,&nbsp;Yongmei Lu","doi":"10.1016/j.apgeog.2025.103856","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.apgeog.2025.103856","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Delayed recovery of homicide victims’ bodies poses a risk of losing crucial evidence. Body disposal sites are critical for investigations, yet existing research has mainly focused on them as a sub-category. Through an environmental criminology approach, the purpose of this research is to conduct an exploratory spatial data analysis to examine the spatial patterns of known body disposal sites as they relate to victim-offender relationships. A sample of 743 homicide cases sourced from the Homicide Investigation Tracking System (HITS) database was used in this study. Spatial patterns of known body disposal sites in Washington state were examined utilizing ArcGIS mapping and spatial statistics. Results showed significant clustering of body disposal sites within five counties in Washington State. Victims with an intimate relationship to the offender were disposed of closest to where they were last seen, often with signs of attempts to destroy evidence. In stranger-related cases, bodies were typically found farthest from major cities in remote wooded areas but were discovered sooner. Sex worker victims were disposed of farthest from their last known location and took the longest to be discovered. The implications of spatial factors and victim-offender relationships, and understanding how offenders select disposal sites—whether in residential, remote, or accessible locations—are discussed in relation to investigative efforts.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48396,"journal":{"name":"Applied Geography","volume":"186 ","pages":"Article 103856"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-12-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145684148","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Variety of external knowledge and industrial upgrading: Evidence from Chinese semiconductor industry","authors":"Shengjun Zhu ,&nbsp;Xudong Zhang ,&nbsp;Wenwan Jin ,&nbsp;Wenqing Li","doi":"10.1016/j.apgeog.2025.103850","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.apgeog.2025.103850","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>External knowledge serves as a critical source of industrial upgrading, yet existing research rarely examines the heterogeneity within the external knowledge set. Using customs transaction-level data, industrial survey, and patent data of the Chinese semiconductor industry (2000–2013), this paper shows that regional access to unrelated external knowledge facilitates the downstream firms to produce end-consumer products. Such access enables these firms to broaden their knowledge base, meet diverse market demands, and achieve upgrading. In contrast, related external knowledge is more advantageous for upstream firms involved in technology-intensive production. These findings indicate that not all external knowledge uniformly contributes to local firm upgrading; rather, its impact is conditioned by firms’ local product structure and positions within the value chain. By highlighting the complex composition of external knowledge, this study offers new insights into the upgrading of high-tech industry and the intersection of EEG, GVC, and innovation studies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48396,"journal":{"name":"Applied Geography","volume":"186 ","pages":"Article 103850"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-12-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145684682","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Deciphering the causes of getting lost in complex urban space: A multi-scale examination of spatial environmental indicators using multi-source data","authors":"Lin Yang ,&nbsp;Mingxia Luo ,&nbsp;Zejun Zuo ,&nbsp;Mei-Po Kwan ,&nbsp;Daping Xi ,&nbsp;Bo Wan ,&nbsp;Shunping Zhou","doi":"10.1016/j.apgeog.2025.103854","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.apgeog.2025.103854","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Getting lost in complex urban environments is common, yet the environmental determinants of the risk of getting lost (RGL) remain poorly quantified. This study develops a multi-scale, data-driven framework that links local visual–perceptual attributes (e.g., sky visibility, scene openness, pedestrian density) with global spatial–structural metrics (e.g., road curvature, road type, land-use pattern) derived from multi-source geospatial data and image semantic segmentation. Using 3303 easy-to-get-lost (E2G) locations and 3303 matched easy-to-navigate (E2N) locations across six urban context types, we employ random forest regression to identify key environmental correlates of RGL. Results reveal strong context dependence alongside consistent cross-cutting mechanisms. In tourist areas, RGL is primarily driven by road curvature and mitigated by higher sky visibility. In transportation hubs, road type, curvature, and building density elevate RGL, whereas clearer guidance signage and more concentrated land use have protective effects. In cultural and business districts, pedestrian density is the dominant driver, with additional amplification from complex road geometry and fine-grained functional mixing. In residential areas, higher sky visibility and scene openness systematically reduce RGL, while greater building density and road curvature increase it. Across contexts, open, legible vistas are generally associated with lower RGL, whereas crowding and path complexity increase disorientation. The proposed framework achieves a peak predictive accuracy of 0.759 in transportation hubs. Although non-causal, these relationships provide an actionable evidence base for embedding wayfinding legibility into transport and urban design, emphasizing visual openness, simplified layouts, demand management, and standardized guidance to support more navigable and sustainable cities.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48396,"journal":{"name":"Applied Geography","volume":"186 ","pages":"Article 103854"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-12-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145684684","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Does the digitalization of hometowns promote return migrants’ entrepreneurship? Empirical evidence from panel data for China","authors":"Jiangbin Yin ,&nbsp;Guixiang Yi ,&nbsp;Ruiguang Ma ,&nbsp;Le Chen ,&nbsp;Shuhan Yang","doi":"10.1016/j.apgeog.2025.103855","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.apgeog.2025.103855","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Increased return migration and digitalization have opened up new opportunities for growth in rural areas and narrowed the urban-rural divide. However, there is still a lack of empirical evidence regarding the effect of regional digitalization on the entrepreneurship among return migrants. Based on the 2010–2018 China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) data and regional digitalization data, we explore the impact of digitalization in hometowns on return migrants' entrepreneurial decisions and its internal mechanism by using a panel modelling approach. we find that the level of digitalization in the hometown is significantly associated with an increased likelihood of returnee entrepreneurship, and the findings are robust, which reflect a potential promoting effect based on our causal identification design. Specifically, regional digitalization is linked to a higher entrepreneurial probability mainly through potential channels of promoting internet use and alleviating financing constraints, while the impact of improving government administration is not tested. The study also finds that the impact of digitalization on returnee entrepreneurship varies across individuals and regions. Our findings have important implications for research and practice on rural entrepreneurship in the digital era.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48396,"journal":{"name":"Applied Geography","volume":"186 ","pages":"Article 103855"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-11-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145684683","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Will remote work drive a new wave of suburbanisation in Poland? Analysing the relocation preferences of Polish office employees","authors":"Sławomir Kuźmar ,&nbsp;Beata Woźniak-Jęchorek ,&nbsp;David Bole","doi":"10.1016/j.apgeog.2025.103848","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.apgeog.2025.103848","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study assesses how the growing availability of working from home (WFH) shapes office employees' preferences to move to the suburbs and pinpoints potential factors that drive those intentions. We focus on Poland, where the housing market is shaped by exceptionally high home-ownership rates and specific suburbanisation patterns. We surveyed city-dwelling office employees (living in municipalities of 100,000 or more) to gauge their willingness to relocate. Logistic-regression estimates then linked those intentions to respondents’ demographics, job attributes, commuting patterns, and WFH and on-site work-related factors. The results indicate that preference for remote work, its perceived impact on productivity, and private-sector employment are the strongest predictors of relocation willingness, while older age and high commuting convenience reduce such interest. Overall, the evidence suggests that remote work, especially in hybrid form, could become an additional catalyst for suburban expansion in markets characterised by scarce affordable rentals and a strong preference for home ownership, such as Poland.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48396,"journal":{"name":"Applied Geography","volume":"186 ","pages":"Article 103848"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-11-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145614480","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The regional environmental benefits and heterogeneity of eco-innovation networks: Evidence from the Yangtze River Economic Belt in China","authors":"Yang Yang ,&nbsp;Yi Guo ,&nbsp;Senlin Hu ,&nbsp;Erling Li ,&nbsp;Wei Zhao ,&nbsp;Gang Zeng","doi":"10.1016/j.apgeog.2025.103851","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.apgeog.2025.103851","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Constructing Eco-Innovation networks is an effective way to improve innovation capabilities and drive high-quality development. It constructs an indicator system for measuring the environmental benefits of cities at the prefecture level. We quantitatively measure the environmental benefits of cities using the super-efficiency SBM model. Using the PVAR model, we explore the long-term dynamic relationship between eco-Innovation networks and urban environmental benefits. The analysis finds that: ①For core node cities in the eco-Innovation networks, the network has a positive impact on their environmental benefits, but this effect is irregular in the long term. The positive effect of environmental benefits from core node cities on the eco-Innovation networks is weak, smaller than the impact of the networks on the environmental benefits of core node cities. ②For sub-core node cities in the eco-Innovation networks, the network has a strong and sustained positive impact on their environmental benefits, and this impact deepens over time. However, the environmental benefits of sub-core node cities have a short-term negative impact on the eco-Innovation networks. ③For peripheral node cities in the eco-Innovation networks, there is a small mutual promotion between the networks and the environmental benefits of peripheral cities, with both maintaining stability and having minimal mutual influence.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48396,"journal":{"name":"Applied Geography","volume":"186 ","pages":"Article 103851"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-11-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145614482","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Chinese firms’ R&D internationalization: Leveraging global inventor networks for technological exploration","authors":"Kang Sun ,&nbsp;Yuefang Si ,&nbsp;Yi Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.apgeog.2025.103852","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.apgeog.2025.103852","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study investigates the spatial distribution and key factors associated with Chinese firms' R&amp;D internationalization by using overseas patent application data from 1273 Chinese firms filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) over the period 2012–2019. We construct a global inventor network of Chinese firms, focusing on the role of firm-level internal motivations (the breadth and depth of firm's overseas R&amp;D) and the position of cities within this network. Our analysis reveals that information and communications technology (ICT) firms, such as Huawei, dominate these activities, with Shenzhen emerging as a key hub. Chinese firms' R&amp;D internationalization is primarily directed towards major innovation clusters in North America and Europe, including the San Francisco Bay Area and Munich. Using a panel negative binomial fixed-effects model, we find the degree centrality of overseas cities within the global R&amp;D network is positively associated with their attractiveness for Chinese firms. This paper presents a collection of stylized facts about the patterns of Chinese firms' R&amp;D internationalization. Moreover, there is a U-shaped relationship between the breadth of overseas R&amp;D and technological exploration, and an inverted U-shaped relationship between the depth of overseas R&amp;D and technological exploration.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48396,"journal":{"name":"Applied Geography","volume":"186 ","pages":"Article 103852"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-11-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145614481","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A supply-side analysis of the craft beer scene in Spain","authors":"Francisco Sánchez-Cubo,&nbsp;Carlos G. Benavides-Chicón,&nbsp;José Luis Sánchez-Ollero","doi":"10.1016/j.apgeog.2025.103849","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.apgeog.2025.103849","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study focuses on analysing beer, as a crucial element for dining, in portraying the destination image through depicting local images of where it is produced. A supply-side analysis was conducted using descriptive and K-prototype clustering analyses, which incorporated quantitative and qualitative data from an ad hoc database containing craft and industrial beers, to help answer the stated objectives. The results illustrate that, in the Spanish case, the relationship between craft beer and neolocalism may lack support since few local representations are found in craft or industrial beer labelling. Also, four beer clusters were found, allowing a more in-depth understanding of the beer scene in Spain. The findings shed light on the beer phenomenon from a multidimensional approach, combining market information (price, style, format, alcohol content), findings on neolocalism (labelling) and beer groups from clustering. This study is the first to comprehensively analyse the beer scene, combining quantitative and qualitative analysis from the supply side. The results have substantial implications for producers and tourism stakeholders, as they demonstrate there is room for strengthening the link between local imagery, destination identity and beer branding.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48396,"journal":{"name":"Applied Geography","volume":"186 ","pages":"Article 103849"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-11-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145614379","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Heterogeneous effects of neighborhood renewal on mental well-being: A capability approach to analyzing complex causal pathways","authors":"Qinran Yang,&nbsp;Xidan Hu,&nbsp;Yanan Liu,&nbsp;Linchuan Yang","doi":"10.1016/j.apgeog.2025.103847","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.apgeog.2025.103847","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Neighborhood renewal is considered a strategy for reducing place-based health inequalities. However, evidence suggests that such interventions can produce uneven mental health impacts. Drawing on the capability approach, this study explains how sociodemographic characteristics, neighborhood environmental changes, and individual agency, manifesting as perceptual and behavioral adaptation, interact to create intra-community mental well-being disparities. Through latent class regression analysis on survey data from 1127 residents across 16 neighborhoods in Chengdu, China, the study identifies three subgroups who experience renewal differently: higher-income older female natives, lower-income young male migrants, and the lowest-income young female migrants. First, sociodemographic characteristics establish patterned variations in environmental exposure and perceptions among the three subgroups. Specifically, lower-income young migrants are less exposed to beneficial environmental changes than higher-income local older women. These groups demonstrate distinct environmental perception patterns categorized as affection-oriented, development-oriented, and survival-oriented. Second, environmental changes exert temporally and socially heterogeneous effects on the three groups' mental well-being by altering health-related resource access<em>.</em> With environmental transformations intensifying, the health benefits for the first group continue to grow, while the benefits for the latter two groups initially rise but later decline. Finally, individuals’ strategic environmental perceptions further reshape health disparities. The study contributes to the multiple and interconnected causal pathways through which neighborhood renewal impacts mental well-being inequalities. It unravels the constraints imposed by structural factors on the environment-health and agency-health associations and the pathways and mechanisms through which environmental interventions and individual agency may overcome such constraints, which generates valuable insights for developing equity-oriented renewal policies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48396,"journal":{"name":"Applied Geography","volume":"186 ","pages":"Article 103847"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-11-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145614381","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Identification of factors influencing cooperation between border towns in different border traffic regimes","authors":"Izabela Iwona Zabielska ,&nbsp;Anna Klimach ,&nbsp;Agnieszka Dawidowicz","doi":"10.1016/j.apgeog.2025.103841","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.apgeog.2025.103841","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Cross-border cooperation is shaped by the permeability and functions of state borders, yet the impact of specific determinants under varying traffic regimes remains underexplored. This study examines the Polish–Russian border, which has shifted between three distinct regimes over the past two decades: the visa regime (2006), the local border traffic agreement (2013), and the border closure following the war in Ukraine (2023). A survey of local governments in three Polish border towns—Bartoszyce, Braniewo, and Gołdap—was conducted to evaluate and rank factors influencing cooperation across these different political and institutional contexts.</div><div>The results reveal a dynamic evolution of perceived drivers and barriers of cross-border cooperation. Economic factors dominated in 2006, when cross-border exchange was viewed both as an opportunity and a burden due to visa-related costs. Under the semi-permeable regime in 2013, their importance declined as trade normalized and transaction costs fell. In 2023, following the border closure, economic drivers weakened further, while economic barriers—linked to the loss of markets—regained significance. Institutional barriers persisted across all periods, reflecting long-term asymmetry between EU and Russian governance systems. Social factors fluctuated: they were highly significant under restrictive conditions in 2006, declined during institutionalized cooperation in 2013, and re-emerged in 2023 as residual channels of resilience when formal cooperation collapsed. Cognitive factors remained weak throughout, suggesting limited knowledge exchange and persistent stereotypes, while geographical proximity played a negligible role.</div><div>By comparing three consecutive regimes, the study demonstrates that the trajectory of cross-border cooperation was primarily determined by political and institutional frameworks, with local actors adapting to external conditions rather than shaping them. Nevertheless, the resurgence of social drivers during border closure highlights the latent resilience of local communities and their potential for future re-engagement.</div><div>This study introduces a novel classification and ranking of determinants of cross-border cooperation and offers a replicable analytical framework for assessing cooperation dynamics under varying border permeability. The findings provide practical guidance for policymakers and local authorities seeking to sustain cooperation and social resilience in politically asymmetric and volatile border regions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48396,"journal":{"name":"Applied Geography","volume":"186 ","pages":"Article 103841"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-11-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145614378","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}