Chinese Geographical Science最新文献

The dual-path model of industrial evolution and spatial progression has been widely acknowledged and incorporated into the strategic planning to promote the development of urban industries and regional collaborations. However, current research on inter-enterprise city networks mainly focuses on the single sector of flows on all enterprise branches, such as product value chains and production factors, but neglects that of particular industry department. Built upon the new economic geography and city networks theory, this paper develops a methodological framework that focuses on the analysis of city network evolution characteristics of smart industry. Particularly, a conceptual model of smart industry enterprise-industry-city is proposed and then applied to a case study of smart industry in the Yangtze River Delta Region, China. Using enterprise supplier-customer data, a city network of smart industry is constructed and subsequently analyzed with the proposed model. Findings indicate that the smart industry network in Yangtze River Delta Region exhibits a hierarchical structure and the expansion of the network presents a small-world network characteristic. The study not only makes a methodological contribution for revealing the industrial and spatial evolution path of the current smart industry, but also provides empirical support for the formulation of new economic development policies focused on smart industries, demonstrating the role of city clusters as carriers of regional synergistic development.

Although accelerated urbanization has led to economic prosperity, it has also resulted in urban heat island effects. Therefore, identifying methods of using limited urban spaces to alleviate heat islands has become an urgent issue. In this study, we assessed the spatiotemporal evolution of urban heat islands within the central urban area of Fuzhou City, China from 2010 to 2019. This assessment was based on a morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA) model and an urban thermal environment spatial network constructed using the minimum cumulative resistance (MCR) model. Optimization measures for the spatial network were proposed to provide a theoretical basis for alleviating urban heat islands. The results show that the heat island area within the study area gradually increased while that of urban cold island area gradually decreased. The core area was the largest of the urban heat island patch landscape elements with a significant impact on other landscape elements, and represented an important factor underlying urban heat island network stability. The thermal environment network revealed a total of 197 thermal environment corridors and 93 heat island sources. These locations were then optimized according to the current land use, which maximized the potential of 1599.83 ha. Optimization based on current land use led to an increase in climate resilience, with effective measures showing reduction in thermal environment spatial network structure and function, contributing to the mitigation of urban heat island. These findings support the use of current land use patterns during urban heat island mitigation measure planning, thus providing an important reference basis for alleviating urban heat island effects.

Container ports and hinterland manufacturing are two important forces of the local participation in economic globalization. This study, taking the Pearl River Delta (PRD), China with an export-oriented economy as an example, applies Huff and panel regression models to evaluate the impact of hinterland manufacturing on the development of container ports during the period of 1993–2019. The results show that 1) the spatial patterns of hinterlands for hub ports help to determine the distribution range and scale of economic variables that affect port throughput; 2) the hinterland’s gross manufacturing output has universally positive influence on port throughput, wherein export-oriented processing and the entire manufacturing industry have significantly positive impact on port throughput in 1993–2011 and 2001–2019, respectively; 3) the two internal structural factors related to an export-oriented economy, labor-intensive sectors and foreign-funded terminals, have positively moderate the direct influence of hinterland manufacturing on port throughput. Our results highlight the importance of local context in understanding port-manufacturing relationship in developing economies. Based on our findings, policy implications are further proposed to enhance port network organization in PRD.

Safeguarding the elderly population in the countryside is an inherent requirement for alleviating social conflicts in rural areas and effectively carrying out China’s Rural Revitalization. The existing spatial mismatch between rural elderly service facilities and population distribution in China aggravates the imbalance of facility resource space, how to improve the accuracy of demand and supply results and better measuring the spatial fairness of elderly service is significant to realize the optimal allocation of rural elderly service. Based on the above, this study pays attention to the refined needs of the elderly population, and focuses on the spatial equity of the rural elderly facilities, to make up for the short boards of the basic public services in the countryside and realize the all-round rural revitalization. This study takes Huanxian County in the hilly loess area of Longdong, China as an example and explores the spatial equity of rural elderly services by using the Urban Spatial Network Analysis (UNA) to measure the accessible quantity and supply capacity of elderly services. The results found that there were 553 rural eldercare service facilities in Huanxian County, including 285 eldercare facilities and 268 medical and health facilities, and the spatial distribution is characterized by a southward shift in the east and uneven regional distribution. Overall, the supply capacity of rural pension services was generally good, with the township center as the gathering point and spreading out in a faceted manner, with nearby townships forming a contiguous area; however, there were strong contrasts and obvious differences in the strength of supply capacity. However, the spatial equity of rural eldercare service was poor. In 42.05% of the elderly population grid cells, eldercare service spatial equity was extremely low. The spatial distribution also presented a northern preference over the southern, a western preference over the eastern, and a concentration along the highway. The study explored the realization of spatial equity in the optimal allocation of rural elderly services based on paying attention to the refined needs of the rural elderly population, a vulnerable group, to provide a reference for solving the shortcomings of basic public services in rural areas. The fair allocation of rural elderly services demands that the spatial optimization of facility layout be organically coordinated with policy, management, and post-maintenance, and all elements in the rural territorial system be fully mobilized to achieve the basic guarantee of China’s rural elderly problems.

Due to the uncertainties posed by climate change, resilience has become an increasingly important variable for evaluating regional ecosystem stability. The assessment of Ecological Network Resilience (ENR) is crucial for establishing mitigation strategies and sustainable socioeconomic development in arid regions. Shiyang River Basin is an arid watershed in Northwest China with complex characteristics, its ENR and spatial differentiation characteristics in 2020 were investigated in this work based on the Complex Adaptive System (CAS) theory. The results indicated that the mean Ecological Network Resilience Index (ENRI) value for the Shiyang River Basin was 0.390 in 2020, and the mean values in the southern mountainous, middle oasis, and northern desert regions of the basin were 0.598, 0.461, and 0.237, respectively, demonstrating evident spatial differences. Additionally, the ENR of the basin exhibited distinct distribution characteristics across different dimension, whereas the trend of the integrated ENR of the basin was consistent with that of elemental, structural, and functional resilience, indicating the constructed three-region ENR model based on the logical relationship of element-structure-function was suitable for evaluation of the ENR in arid inland river watersheds. Furthermore, strategies for enhancing regional ENR were proposed from the perspective of adapting to climate change.

Quantitatively assessing the carrying capacity of water and land resources systems in arid and semi-arid areas is crucial for achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. In this work, taking Yulin City in China as a case study and employing the Criteria Importance Through Intercriteria Correlation (CRITIC) method, a modified model of coupling degree was developed to evaluate the carrying capacity of water and land resources systems endowment and utilization, as well as their coupling coordination degree from 2013 to 2020. Our findings indicate that the water and land resources of Yulin are diminishing due to declines in agriculture, higher industrial water use, and wetland shrinkage. However, reallocating domestic water for ecological sustainability and reducing sloping farmland can mitigate this trend of decline. Temporally, as the coupling coordination between water and land resources system endowment in Yulin continuously improved, the coupling coordination between water and land resources system utilization first decreased and then increased with 2016 as the turning point. Spatially, the carrying capacity of water and land resources systems, the coupling coordination degree between water and land resources system endowment, and the coupling coordination degree between water and land resources system utilization in Yulin exhibited the same pattern of being higher in the six northern counties than in the six southern counties. Improving the water resources endowment is vital for the highly efficient use of water and land resources.

Urban-suburban-rural (U-S-R) zones exhibit distinctive transitional characteristics in interaction between human and nature. U-S-R transition zones (U-S-RTZ) are also highlighting the function diversity and landscape heterogeneity across territorial spaces. As a super megacity in western China, Chengdu’s rapid urbanization has driven the evolution of U-S-R spaces, resulting in a sequential structure. To promote the high-quality spatial development of urban-rural region in a structured and efficient manner, it is essential to conduct a scientific examination of the multidimensional interconnection within the U-S-RTZ framework. By proposing a novel identification method of U-S-RTZ and taking Chengdu, China as a case study, grounded in a blender of natural and humanistic factors, this study quantitatively delineated and explored the spatial evolutions of U-S-RTZ and stated the optimization orientation and sustainable development strategies of the production-living-ecological spaces along the U-S-R gradients. The results show that: 1) it is suitable for the quantitative analysis of U-S-RTZ by established three-dimensional identification system in this study. 2) In 1990–2020, the urban-suburban transition zones (U-STZ) in Chengdu have continuously undergone a substantial increase, and the scale of the suburban-rural transition zones (S-RTZ) has continued to expand slightly, while the space of rural-ecological transition zones (R-ETZ) has noticeably compressed. 3) The landuse dynamics within U-S-RTZ has gradually increased in 1990–2020. The main direction of landuse transition was from farmland to construction land or woodlands, with the expansion of construction land being the most significant. 4) R-ETZ primarily focus on ecological functions, and there is a trade-off relationship between the production-ecological function within the S-RTZ, and in the U-STZ, production-living composite functions are prioritized. This study emphasizes the importance of elastic planning and precise governance within the U-S-RTZ in a rapid urbanization region, particularly highlighting the role of suburbs as landscape corridors and service hubs in urban-rural integration. It elucidates to the practical implications for achieving high-quality development of integrated U-S-R territorial spaces.

With the loss of substantial natural wetlands in coastal zones, artificial wetlands provide alternative habitats for many shorebirds. Scientific management of artificial wetlands used by shorebirds plays an important role in maintaining the stability of shorebird population. Satellite tracking technique can obtain high-precision location information of individuals day and night, providing a good technical support for the study of quantitative relationship between waterfowls and their habitats. In this study, satellite tracking method, Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information System (GIS) technology were used to analyze the activity pattern and habitat utilization characteristics of Pied Avocet during breeding period in an artificial wetland complex in the Yellow River Delta (YRD), China. The results showed that the breeding Pied Avocets had a small range of activity, with a total core and main home range of 33.10 km² and 216.30 km², respectively. This species tended to forage in the pond and salt pan during the day and night, respectively, with an unfixed staying time in the breeding ground. The distance between breeding ground and feeding ground was less than 6 km. It is emphasized that in addition to improving the conditions of the remaining natural habitats, effective managing artificial habitats is a priority for shorebird conservation. This research could provide reference for the management of artificial wetlands in coastal zones and supply technique support for the protection of shorebirds and their habitats, and alleviate human-bird conflicts and sustainable development of coastal zones.

There are significant differences between urban and rural bed-and-breakfasts (B&Bs) in terms of customer positioning, economic strength and spatial carrier. Accurately identifying the differences in spatial characteristics and influencing factors of each type, is essential for creating urban and rural B&B agglomeration areas. This study used density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise (DBSCAN) and the multi-scale geographically weighted regression (MGWR) model to explore similarities and differences in the spatial distribution patterns and influencing factors for urban and rural B&Bs on the Jiaodong Peninsula of China from 2010 to 2022. The results showed that: 1) both urban and rural B&Bs in Jiaodong Peninsula went through three stages: a slow start from 2010 to 2015, rapid development from 2015 to 2019, and hindered development from 2019 to 2022. However, urban B&Bs demonstrated a higher development speed and agglomeration intensity, leading to an increasingly evident trend of uneven development between the two sectors. 2) The clustering scale of both urban and rural B&Bs continued to expand in terms of quantity and volume. Urban B&B clusters characterized by a limited number, but a higher likelihood of transitioning from low-level to high-level clusters. While the number of rural B&B clusters steadily increased over time, their clustering scale was comparatively lower than that of urban B&Bs, and they lacked the presence of high-level clustering. 3) In terms of development direction, urban B&B clusters exhibited a relatively stable pattern and evolved into high-level clustering centers within the main urban areas. Conversely, rural B&Bs exhibited a more pronounced spatial diffusion effect, with clusters showing a trend of multi-center development along the coastline. 4) Transport emerged as a common influencing factor for both urban and rural B&Bs, with the density of road network having the strongest explanatory power for their spatial distribution. In terms of differences, population agglomeration had a positive impact on the distribution of urban B&Bs and a negative effect on the distribution of rural B&Bs. Rural B&Bs clustering was more influenced by tourism resources compared with urban B&Bs, but increasing tourist stay duration remains an urgent issue to be addressed. The findings of this study could provide a more precise basis for government planning and management of urban and rural B&B agglomeration areas.

Mangroves play a pivotal role in tropical and subtropical coastal ecosystem, yet they are highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, particularly the accelerated global sea level rise (SLR) and stronger tropical cyclones (TCs). However, there is a lack of research addressing future simultaneous combined impacts of the slow-onset of SLR and rapid-onset of TCs on China’s mangroves. In order to develop a comprehensive risk assessment method considering the superimposed effects of these two factors and analyze risk for mangroves in Dongzhaigang, Hainan Island, China, we used observational and climate model data to assess the risks to mangroves under low, intermediate, and very high greenhouse gas (GHG) emission scenarios (such as SSP1-2.6, SSP2-4.5, and SSP5-8.5) in 2030, 2050, and 2100, and compiled a risk assessment scheme for mangroves in Dongzhaigang, China. The results showed that the combined risks from SLR and TCs will continue to rise; however, SLRs will increase in intensity, and TCs will decrease. The comprehensive risk of the Dongzhaigang mangroves posed by climate change will remain low under SSP1-2.6 and SSP2-4.5 scenarios by 2030, but it will increase substantially by 2100. While under SSP5-8.5 scenario, the risks to mangroves in Dongzhaigang are projected to increase considerably by 2050, and approximately 68.8% of mangroves will be at very high risk by 2100. The risk to the Dongzhaigang mangroves is not only influenced by the hazards but also closely linked to their exposure and vulnerability. We therefore propose climate resilience developmental responses for mangroves to address the effects of climate change. This study for the combined impact of TCs and SLR on mangroves in Dongzhaigang, China can enrich the method system of mangrove risk assessment and provide references for scientific management.