Global climate change has exerted significant impacts on the arid regions of Central Asia, reshaping their hydrological cycle and highlighting the increasing vulnerability of regional water resource systems. This study systematically reviewed multi-source observational data and model simulation results from existing research, and, from the three dimensions of climate change, glacier and snow cover variations, and water resource changes, revealed the spatiotemporal differentiation patterns of water resources in Central Asia. The constraints of data-related and methodological uncertainties on water resource evaluation were also discussed. 1) Climate change: Since 1901, Central Asia has exhibited a pronounced warm-wet trend, characterized by a persistent temperature increase and growing precipitation. Annual precipitation increased by 0.66-1.93 mm per decade, showing marked spatial heterogeneity. During 1960-2011, the annual mean temperature rose at a rate of 0.3-0.4 ℃ per decade. From 1901 to 2013, the frequency of extreme high‑temperature events increased by about 30% compared with other regions at similar latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere. Multi-model projections indicate a regional warming of 2-6  ℃ by the end of the 21st century, with precipitation trends ranging from -3.34  mm per decade to +4.63  mm per decade, and showing seasonal differentiation characterized by winter wetting and summer drying. 2) Cryosphere response: Glaciers in the Tianshan Mountains have been retreating at rates of 0.53%-3.01% per year in area, with mass loss showing a southwest-to-northeast increasing gradient. Snow cover across Central Asia exhibits spatiotemporal variability, with an overall significant decrease in extent and duration. 3) Water resource changes: In glacier-rich basins, runoff has shown a short-term increasing trend, but in some cases, glacier-fed runoff has already reached a turning point toward decline. Long-term projections suggest that by 2100, total runoff in the Tianshan Mountains could decrease by up to 36%. Human activities, superimposed on climatic forcing, further exacerbate water resource stress. Although advances have been made in data integration, distributed hydrological modeling, and downscaling techniques, inadequate high-altitude observations, inconsistencies in data resolution, limited representation of nonlinear processes in models, and insufficient understanding of cryosphere-hydrology coupling mechanisms continue to hinder systematic understanding and accurate prediction. Therefore, strengthening the construction of transboundary hydrometeorological monitoring networks and developing multi-scale data assimilation systems will be essential for enhancing the monitoring and regulation of water resources, advance water resource assessment under climate change scenarios, and support sustainable water resource management, thereby improving the capacity of Central Asia to cope with climate change and ensure water security.

Currently, global Fintech innovation has become a core area of financial competition among countries. Based on the Orbis global intellectual property database, this study analyzed the development trends of global Fintech innovation from 1962 to 2022 and compared the technological knowledge capabilities between China and traditional financial powerhouses such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan. The findings are as follows: 1) From 1962 to 2022, there has been a significant increase in both the quantity and knowledge diversity of Fintech patents, accompanied by deepening integration with five major technological categories: "electronic information technology", "big data", "mobile Internet", "blockchain", and "artificial intelligence". Also, the integration among different types of technological innovations continued to intensify. 2) In terms of the application of technological knowledge in Fintech, traditional financial countries had a clear advantage in the field of electronic information technology, while China has excelled in big data and mobile Internet, driving the widespread adoption of digital payments and smart financial platforms. Moreover, China dominates in multiple key technological fields such as electronic information technology, blockchain, and artificial intelligence. However, China's application capabilities in financial services remain relatively weak, representing a key area for future improvement in its Fintech development. In terms of Fintech technological knowledge combinations, China and the United States exhibited the strongest knowledge integration in information technology, with notable competitive strength in the combined innovations of biometric technology with e-commerce and electronic payments. 3) Traditional financial countries maintain a high degree of similarity in their technological knowledge application and integration capabilities, while significant differences exist between China and these countries. Based on the conclusions of this study, China not only needs to focus on technological breakthroughs in emerging fields such as blockchain and artificial intelligence but can also deepen international cooperation to achieve collaborative breakthroughs in common technological challenges. By establishing strategic partnerships and knowledge sharing, China can accelerate its innovation capabilities and contribute to the global development of Fintech.

Development zones serve as core carriers of industrial agglomeration and are important engines of regional economic growth. However, during their transformation and upgrading, they often encounter challenges such as industrial homogeneity and blind competition. To address these issues, it is essential to actively respond to policy initiatives that aim to build a symbiotic and complementary industrial system in development zones and foster positive interactions among them. This study focused on 97 national-level development zones in the Yangtze River Delta region and, based on the theory of technology interaction, employed technology complementarity and competition index, social network analysis, and quadratic assignment procedure (QAP) methods to analyze the change and influencing factors of technology interaction from 1985 to 2021. The findings indicate that: 1) The technology interaction in the national-level development zones in the Yangtze River Delta region has gone through three stages—fluctuation at a low level, differentiated growth and decline, and synchronous growth—and presented a dynamic change process from competition and complementarity to technology complementarity. 2) The trends in technology interaction between national-level economic development zones and high-tech zones were generally similar, but the latter exhibited a higher intensity of interaction. 3) As the technology interaction network matures, the technology complementarity network has evolved into a "multi-core, multi-level, and wide-coverage" diamond-shaped structure, with increasingly close connections among the communities, while the technology competition network presents a decentralized "multi-point blossoming" pattern. 4) In the early stage, technology interaction was significantly influenced by administrative boundaries and hierarchical differences between cities. In the middle of the development stage, cross-regional cooperation emerged, and the impact of urban hierarchy increased. In the later stage, geographical proximity and industrial structure similarity became the primary drivers, reflecting a shift from government-led, city connection-dependent to market-driven, self-initiated cooperation. This study expands the theoretical boundaries of technology interaction, further deepens the research progress of coordinated development of development zones, and provides a contribution of knowledge based on the fundamental structure of technology elements.

Exploring the way to implement differentiated strategies according to the development characteristics of different types of urbanization is the key theoretical and practical problem for realizing the sustainable and healthy development of China's new urbanization. Based on the census data of 2010 and 2020, this study identified five types of urbanization of the population in the West Taiwan Strait urban agglomeration, including the local urbanization type, the in-situ urbanization type, the nearby urbanization type, the inter-provincial urbanization type, and the undetermined registered residence urbanization type, starting from the household registration and current residence of the population and the definition of "urban" in the urban-rural division. The ESTDA exploratory spatial-temporal data analysis and spatial Durbin model were used to explore the spatial-temporal characteristics and influencing factors of each type of urbanization. The results show that: 1) With regard to the spatial distribution, all urbanization types exhibited a macro-level pattern characterized by either overall improvement or gradient diffusion. Specifically, the in-situ urbanization type and the local urbanization type demonstrated significant advancement in overall levels during the study period. Meanwhile, the nearby urbanization type, the inter-provincial urbanization type, and the undetermined registered residence urbanization type manifested gradient diffusion distributions. These formed distinct spatial patterns: the in-situ urbanization type diffused radially from prefectural-level city cores; the local urbanization type exhibited a coastal-to-inland decreasing gradient; while the inter-provincial urbanization type and the undetermined registered residence urbanization type showed concentrated coastal agglomeration with dispersed inland distribution. 2) In terms of the spatial-temporal evolution, significant spatial autocorrelation persisted across all urbanization types, with overall agglomeration features remaining stable yet undergoing notable shifts. The high-high cluster region of the in-situ urbanization type expanded from the Chaoshan area to establish a dual-core structure encompassing Chaoshan and Shangrao. Concurrently, the primary high-high cluster zone of the local urbanization type shifted westward. For the nearby urbanization type, the inter-provincial urbanization type, and the undetermined registered residence urbanization type, their low-low clusters coalesced into a contiguous belt along the Fujian-Jiangxi border, whereas their respective high-high clusters maintained strong coastal concentration. 3) With regard to the driving mechanisms, the spatial framework was initially established by natural geographical conditions. Historically evolved clustered sociocultural networks further facilitated diversified urbanization pathways. Governmental influence operated through dual channels: direct intervention via open policies, the household registration system, administrative division adjustments, and urban-rural demarcation; and indirect steering through regulatory control over economic development, social factors, and spatial planning elements.

Under the background of population decline, the number of cities in China with shrinking urban population continues to increase, posing challenges to the allocation of urban construction land resources. This study, based on multi-source population and land use data and taking Northeast China as a case example, constructed a hierarchical constraint plus multi-scenario simulation forecasting method to predict urban population changes from 2020 to 2035. It further identified construction land development risks from the perspectives of "static coordination" and "dynamic adaptation", proposing ideas for optimized land allocation. The study found that: 1) Urban population forecasts reveal a continued decline in Northeast China, with a growing number and intensifying severity of shrinking cities. The spatial pattern exhibits a clear "core growth-peripheral shrinkage" characteristic, with resource-based and old-industrial cities facing particularly severe shrinkage. 2) Urban population changes show diverse types, with differentiated pressures on land allocation transformation, dominated by "deepening shrinkage" and "falling into shrinkage" types, and significant interprovincial differences. 3) The region is characterized mainly by "static scale redundancy" and "insufficient dynamic adaptation" in the human-land relationship, with widespread redundancy in prefecture-level cities' construction land and most cities still following expansion-based land allocation patterns at the baseline period. 4) Risk identification of construction land highlights deep-seated conflicts; different levels of land allocation risks exist in 30 shrinking cities. High-risk cities form a "land-asset decline cycle" and urgently need to explore "value pathways" within "land reduction". By constructing a systematic logical framework linking population forecasting and land use risk, this study innovated population prediction methods and provided a comprehensive diagnosis of land use risks, offering valuable exploration for guiding optimized construction land allocation in shrinking cities.

Exploring innovative paths and models for rural revitalization and development transformation through the participation of multiple agents has become a core focus of rural geography in response to national strategic demands in China. Drawing upon the symbiosis theory and taking Gengche Town in Suqian City of Jiangsu Province as a case study, this study examined the mechanism by which stakeholders establish and maintain symbiotic relationships to jointly advance rural transformation and development. The findings indicate that the central government, local governments, and local actors—represented primarily by rural elites—constitute the fundamental symbiotic units in the rural transformation symbiotic system. Among them, the central government is responsible for strategic planning, local governments for policy experimentation and implementation, while rural elites and residents act as the driving force for transformation through bottom-up entrepreneurial activities. Rural transformation is embedded in a symbiotic environment characterized by multi-scalar linkages of macro-intermediate-endogenous elements. Shifts in national strategies and the rise of e-commerce economy provide the macro external context for transformation, whereas the social networks of rural acquaintances and the collaborative atmosphere among online entrepreneurs form the endogenous environment. Local governments serve as intermediaries between the national and rural scales, coordinating the interests of all parties and facilitating resource integration. Given the differences in interests, resources, and capabilities among the symbiotic units, they have developed symbiotic models such as mutual benefit, complementarity, and mutual assistance to bridge these gaps and enhance symbiotic effect.

Under the strategy of ecological conservation and high-quality development in the Yellow River Basin, the implementation of residential relocation projects is an inevitable choice to comprehensively promote high-quality development and rural revitalization in the Yellow River beach area. Based on the theories of human-environment relationship and regional high-quality development, this study used quantitative analysis methods such as a multi-factor comprehensive evaluation model and geographical detectors, combined with field research and text analysis, to investigate the spatial characteristics and driving mechanisms of residential relocation in the Yellow River beach area of Henan Province. The results show that: 1) There are significant spatial differences and hierarchical differentiation in the driving forces for residential relocation in the beach area, with higher driving forces concentrated in the central area and higher resistance mainly distributed on the eastern side. 2) The overall tendency for residential relocation in the beach area is mainly at medium to high levels, but there are significant differences among counties (districts), exhibiting a "centralized" spatial distribution pattern with Zhengzhou as the "center". 3) The two-dimensional mapping analysis result shows that residents of 53.85% of the counties (districts) in the beach area are still in a state of low-level driving and resistance for relocation. This low-level development status may increase the risk of residential relocation driving factor identification, especially for resistance factors, thereby posing significant uncertainty and potential challenges to the effectiveness of residential relocation in the beach area. 4) The spatial characteristics of the driving forces for residential relocation in the beach area are the result of the mutual influence and combined action of various impact factors, with income levels, geographical location, policy support, and individual factors being the primary driving factors. The research results can provide scientific references for the differentiated formulation and precise implementation of relocation policies for residents in the Yellow River beach area, as well as for the assessment of relocation risks.

The reconstruction of rural living spaces is a profound aspect of building livable, business-friendly, and beautiful villages, and examining its process is of great significance. Taking tourism gentrification as the entry point and based on Bourdieu's field theory, this study constructed an analysis framework of "rural living space field structure-transformation mechanism deconstruction". Using Shiwei Village in Eerguna City, Inner Mongolia as an example, this study systematically analyzed the reconstruction of rural living spaces and its mechanisms during the process of tourism gentrification. The study found that: 1) Tourism gentrification in Shiwei Village showed distinct temporal and spatial characteristics, having gone through the embryonic stage, the primary stage, and the development stage, transforming from the original field to a tourism field. 2) Rural living space is a field, and based on the daily behavioral activities of residents, four sub-fields—residence, consumption, employment, and social interaction—can be derived. Therefore, a four-element analytical framework for the reconstruction of rural living spaces was constructed and its reconstruction characteristics were analyzed. 3) The rural living space field is full of competitions and games among different actors. Within the field, "power-capital-habit" interact with each other, based on which we deconstructed the transformation mechanism of the living space field in Shiwei Village. The study aimed to deepen rural living space studies from a theoretical perspective. It is not only an exploration of applying field theory in the field of geography, but also provides a new analytical framework for the reconstruction of rural living spaces and the clarification of the complex problems and mechanisms behind it.

Enhancing human well-being while mitigating environmental stress is an essential component of the sustainable development strategy for lake regions. This study constructed and computed the index of environmental intensity of human well-being (EIWB) for the region around Poyang Lake. Applying the Dagum Gini coefficient and the Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) decomposition method, this study examined the spatiotemporal differentiation characteristics and driving effects of the EIWB in the region from 2007 to 2022. The findings are as follows: 1) During 2007-2022, the region around Poyang Lake exhibited a trend of coordinated development characterized by a continuous improvement in comprehensive human well-being and a gradual alleviation of environmental pollution, with a significant reduction in the EIWB. Both the lakeside area and the periphery area registered significant decreases in the EIWB, while the lakeside area exhibited a relatively higher level compared to the periphery area. 2) The spatial differences of the EIWB in the region around Poyang Lake initially contracted before expanding. The differences within regions surpassed the differences between regions and the differences between river basins exceeded those within river basins. The key to narrowing the spatial differences of EIWB in the region around Poyang Lake is in reducing the differences within regions and the differences between river basins. 3) Technological effect and intensification effect were the primary drivers behind the decrease in the EIWB in the region around Poyang Lake, the lakeside area, and periphery area, and the effect was more significant in the lakeside area than at the periphery. Population agglomeration effect, economic growth effect, and well-being transformation effect served to counteract this decline. The research findings provide a decision-making basis for promoting the sustainable enhancement of human well-being in major lake regions in China, and offer a reference for formulating differentiated green transformation strategies for lake areas.

Residential mobility is an important way to understand urban social and spatial transformation and mechanisms of problem occurrence, and test the social and spatial effects of urban policies. Based on a comprehensive analysis of aggregated data on migration cities and micro-level non-aggregated studies, this study takes Anqing City as an example and used data from 3367 migration surveys, to map out residents' mobility network at the community level with the help of social network analysis. It examined the role of the community in residents' mobility and the spatiotemporal characteristics and change in the interaction between the community and residents' mobility. The results indicate that: 1) The community is the "medium" through which structural factors influence micro behaviors. Structural factors have an important impact on residents' mobility behavior through different types of communities. It manifests as the existence of structurally "transitional" communities within the residents' mobility network. The "transition" communities serve as the initial "settlement" areas for migrant populations entering the city and as a "springboard" for urban residents moving to other communities. Over time, the structural "transition" communities have evolved from work unit-related communities to those surrounding large-scale wholesale markets, low-income housing projects, old communities, communities prone to environmental risks, relocation and resettlement communities, and urban villages. 2) Micro-scale relocation behavior promotes the change of community attributes and the evolution of communities. It is manifested as the mobility intense community transitioning from the original work unit-related community to neighboring communities and surrounding communities with environmental risks. Communities "detach" from within the community boundaries and move towards neighboring communities and cities. 3) The combined effect of "structure-community-behavior" and the differences in the roles of the three at different times have promoted the interaction between communities and relocation and the spatiotemporal change of the residents' relocation network. This research provides an important reference for understanding community changes and realizing good governance in the community.

Narrowing the health gap between different older adult groups is a key aspect of advancing the national strategy for healthy aging. This study used self-reported health data of the population aged 60 years old and above in 124 counties in Guangdong Province from the 2010 and 2020 population census data. The proportion of those reporting "good health" was used as an indicator to measure the health status among the older adult population in different counties. Exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA) and the spatial Durbin model (SDM) were applied to analyze the spatiotemporal patterns and determinants of the health status of migrant and local older adult populations in the province. There were three main findings. First, the overall health status of the older adult population in Guangdong Province showed an upward trend. Significant inter-county disparities were observed between migrant and local older adult populations. Counties with higher levels of health status were predominantly concentrated on the economically developed Pearl River Delta, while counties with lower levels of health status were located in the peripheral areas of the province. Second, the health status of migrant older adults was significantly higher than that of their local counterparts. This health advantage exhibited spatial and temporal variations. Third, economic development and the availability of medical and healthcare facilities were associated with the health status of local older adults. In contrast, factors such as neighborhood deprivation, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, water coverage, PM_2.5 concentration, the proportion of migrants, and household size were more strongly related to the health status of migrant older adults. These findings provided valuable insights for optimizing public service resources allocation and promoting regional development in the context of healthy aging.

Cropland serves as the cornerstone of agricultural production and food security, with its quantity and spatial configuration exerting a direct influence on crop production efficiency. Although Africa possesses vast land resources, the availability of arable land remains limited, posing serious challenges to regional food security. Accurately identifying the distribution and spatial characteristics of cropland, as well as uncovering its relationship with crop yield, provides a critical foundation for formulating agricultural development strategies and food security policies. However, the accuracy of existing land use products in Africa remains limited, making them insufficient for large-scale cropland monitoring. In recent years, phenological parameters, which capture the temporal dynamics of vegetation growth, provide a promising approach for improving the accuracy of cropland extraction. To better understand cropland changes and their impact on cereal yields across Africa, this study employed the GLASS-LAI product and a phenology-based method to extract cropland distributions for 2010 and 2020. By integrating land use data and crop yield statistics, we assessed how cropland fragmentation and surrounding land composition influence cereal production. The results indicate that: 1) The cropland extraction results based on phenological parameters achieved high accuracy, with overall classification accuracy exceeding 0.9 according to the confusion matrix. 2) From 2010 to 2020, cropland fragmentation increased in most African countries, with a significant negative correlation between fragmentation and cereal yields observed in regions such as West Africa. 3) The proportion of built-up areas and water bodies surrounding croplands showed a stronger influence on cereal yield than other land use types. 4) In addition to fragmentation and built-up land proportion, economic development and climatic factors are key drivers of yield variation, with clear regional differences in their explanatory power. This study uncovers the mechanisms linking cropland landscape patterns and cereal yield performance in Africa, providing scientific evidence to support locally adapted strategies for improving agricultural productivity and informing targeted food security policies.

Disaster resilience building has become a key strategic choice and innovative governance path to deal with the threat of flood disasters. Based on the survey data of 54 villages and 685 farming households in flood-prone areas of Sichuan Province, this study constructed a disaster resilience framework from three dimensions of resistance, recovery, and adaptability. Based on three typical landforms of the region—plain, hill, and mountain, the entropy method and grey correlation degree model were used to evaluate the disaster resilience of villages and farming households and reveal its scale-related characteristics. The results show that: 1) Village-scale disaster resilience was at the medium and low levels, and mainly distributed in mountainous and hilly areas; At the subdimension level resistance showed the highest values, followed by recovery and adaptability. 2) Disaster resilience at the farming household scale was at the medium and low levels, and there was no significant spatial distribution difference between regions. At the subdimension level resistance showed the highest values, followed by adaptability and recovery. 3) There was a certain continuity of disaster resilience at the village and farming household scales, and the difference in the level of disaster resilience at the farming household scale was more obvious. In the corresponding relationship of resilience at different scales and regions, the correlation of medium disaster resilience level was stronger, especially in plain areas. 4) There was a correlation effect between scales. Emergency response, accessibility of government aid, and village cohesion at the village scale had the greatest impact on the disaster resilience of farming households, and this pattern was highly consistent under different terrain conditions. Collective collaboration, human resources, and disaster prevention awareness at the farming household scale were the primary factors affecting village resilience, and there were regional differences in the dominant factors in different terrain areas—plain areas emphasized collective cooperation, hilly areas emphasized transformation ability, and mountainous areas relied on human resources.The research results provide a scientific basis for formulating differentiated regional disaster prevention policies, which is of great practical significance for enhancing the effectiveness of multi-scale collaborative governance and building resilient rural areas.

Reconstructing the timing of past mountain glaciations is critical for understanding regional climate evolution and geomorphic development. Single-grain post-infrared infrared-stimulated luminescence (pIRIR) dating using K-feldspar has recently been applied to glacial and glaciofluvial sediments in high mountain regions, such as the Tibetan Plateau. However, challenges and issues still exist, and the reliability of the method requires further validation. In this study, we assessed the feasibility of applying single-grain K-feldspar pIRIR dating to glaciofluvial deposits from the headwaters of the Urumqi River in the eastern Tianshan Mountains—a region known for well-preserved Quaternary glacial landforms and detailed stratigraphic sequences. Two sediment samples were collected from a glaciofluvial lens near the Hongwuyue Bridge site. Both single-grain quartz OSL and K-feldspar pIRIR measurements were attempted. The quartz grains exhibited low luminescence intensity, resulting in unreliable age estimates. In contrast, dose recovery tests indicated that the K-feldspar pIRIR₁₁₀ and K-feldspar pIRIR₁₇₀ protocol are well suited for the local sediments. After excluding scattered signals using the normalized median absolute deviation (nMAD) method, equivalent dose distributions were modeled using the central age model (CAM). The IR₁₁₀ and pIRIR₁₇₀ ages were found to be consistent, with final pIRIR₁₇₀ ages of 21.9 ± 2.4 ka and 22.1 ± 2.4 ka for the two samples. These ages agree well within reasonable error range and correspond with previous glacial chronologies from the Shangwangfeng moraine complex. The results demonstrate that single-grain K-feldspar pIRIR dating, when properly screened and modeled, can yield reliable ages for glaciofluvial sediments, providing a valuable tool for reconstructing mountain glacier histories.