Social spatial segregation is a concept of sociality and spatiality. Its measurement directly impacts the validity of the classification of segregation degrees. According to the different focuses of spatial segregation research through its development, the author divides social spatial segregation study into the following stages: the beginning from the 1950s to the 1970s; the multi-dimensional group assessment stage in the 1980s; switching to a spatial focus in the 1990s; multi-modeling and multi-perspective period in the 2000s to date. This review introduces the main features of different approaches, the social background against which the developments occurred, and the main measurement indices and models of each stage. Socio-spatial segregation research started relatively late in China. It can be divided into an early embryonic stage from the 1980s to the 1990s and the vigorous development stage from 2000 to present. Socio-spatial segregation research in China involved mostly empirical studies with aspatial measures of segregation, which cannot solve the modifiable areal unit problem beyond the census tract and thus made little theoretical contribution to the ongoing debates. Segregation research often used more traditional segregation indices, lacking multi-dimensional spatial-correction segregation methods. The papers reviewed were not based on previous research and cross-fertilization did not seem to occur. As a result, a unified paradigm has not appeared. The rapid development of mobile Internet and social network space in the past few years put forward new demands to the social spatial segregation calculation method. On the other hand, location-based personal behavioral data and virtual network-based cyberspace interactive data provide a new perspective for socio-spatial segregation study .

Geography of home is becoming an important research field in the western academic world. Both the quantity and the citation rate of the publications on this topic are growing significantly, in cultural geography study in particular. This article reviews the diverse literature on the geography of home and calls for domestic study in China in the context of great social and cultural transitions. First, the conceptualization of home was interpreted by tracing back in the literature. Home was treated as "heaven" in early research of the 1970s inspired by the humanistic trend at the time, while was criticized for its ignorance of the negative feelings and experiences of the subordinate groups. At present, this concept is understood increasingly as political and embedded with critical interpretations. The review found that the geography of home is closely related to identity, including gender, sexuality, class, and ethnicity. These identities shape and are shaped by home. Finally the article reviews studies on two key phenomena examined from the perspective of home: transnational migration and homelessness. These studies focus on the impacts of the wider economic and social contexts as well as related policies. More importantly, growing attention has been paid to the home making practice and the meanings of home experience of the migrants and the homeless people. Despite of the abundant research on the geography of home, such study in China is relatively rare although the idea of home occupies a key position in traditional cultures of China. Especially during the recent development of globalization and social transformation, the theory of home may be helpful to explain and interpret new topics that have emerged in China such as the growth of forced migration, flow of labor force, and empty nester family. The existing body of literature on the geography of home provides insightful ideas for related studies in China. However, empirical studies should be conducted in the context of China, which may enrich or challenge the theory of home.

Studying urban social space by means of maps has a long history and diverse patterns of research have developed in different contexts. In recent years, along with the rapid development of GIS technology and Big Data, social data are becoming increasingly diversified and accurate, which offers the possibility for re-recognizing social spaces. This article examines the research of social atlas in China and abroad since the 1900s with regard to cartographic organization and methods and data, aiming for providing some guidance for future studies of social atlas in China. The map-based social research and applications evolved from the initial purpose of comprehensive description to thematic interpretation, and theoretical verification. With regard to cartographic method, the four main types are cartogram map, grid map, dot map, and density map. This article illustrates the effectiveness of social atlas study and reviews its applications in China. It stresses that social atlas, as an efficient method to present sociospatial relations, is able to describe the complicated spatial features of social elements, which is significant for understanding the social reality of a city under transition. However, research of social atlas in China is still in need of further development and greater attentions should be paid to such study in the future.

As crime is becoming a serious problem in today's society, there exists a great opportunity for anticrime studies in China. Crime geography, which focuses on the spatial aspect of crime from a comprehensive perspective, is playing an increasingly more important role in crime prevention and control. Although it emerged in the late 1980s in China, it has not gained much attention from academics and practitioners of law enforcement. The potential of crime geography studies is considerable. In order to promote disciplinary development and explore the application value of the subject, we review related studies in China based on articles published in scholarly journals, which are obtained from three popular e-databases in China: Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), WANFANG DATA, and VIP Database. Our analysis are divided into three parts. (1) we classify all articles into five research topics: introduction of foreign research and practices, discipline building and theoretical research, spatio-temporal characteristics of crime distribution, causes and mechanisms of crimes, and crime prevention strategies. Each theme is reviewed comprehensively. (2) We gain insights from a longitudinal and cross-over analysis on the development of the research areas (disciplinary backgrounds) and topics in Chinese crime geography. (3) We point out the priorities and directions in future research. The results show that crime geography in China has maintained a growing momentum during the past 25 years (1986-2010). It has attracted scholars from various disciplinary backgrounds, such as geography, policing management, urban planning and applied mathematics. Although their focuses vary, they all pay much attention to the introduction of foreign research and practices whilst crime prevention strategies research is gaining increasing attention. Until now, a primary anticrime system has been formed based on four different theories and techniques including comprehensive analysis, situational crime prevention, Crime Prevention through Environment Design (CPTED) and Policing Geographic Information System (PGIS). In terms of spatial- temporal distribution and causes of crimes, Chinese researchers have engaged in a broad range of research, yet in-depth studies are inadequate. Most studies employ simple indicators such as crime rate, crime density, and locational quotient to characterize the spatial distribution of crimes, while few pay attention to the temporal and temporal-spatial aspects, for example repeat and near repeat crimes. Quantitative methods such as correlation and regression are mainly used to analyze the causes of crimes, while few methods are put forward and used to explore the micro-level interactive mechanisms of crime. Considering the current state of research, much work needs to be done in the future. (1) Interdisciplinary academic exchanges should be encouraged to develop a commonly accepted framework of crime geography in China. (2) Chinese scholars should carry out more empirical case studies highlighting the domestic context, and explore unique theoretical contributions of Chinese scholars to the world. (3)We should deepen and broaden the research contents, especially the study of interactive relationships between crime and micro- environment, and behavioral spaces of agents in crime events. (4) Special attention should be given to the application of new research methods, for example agent-based crime simulation, in crime geography studies. (5) more collaboration between academics and practitioners should be made to satisfy the social needs and improve the quality of research.

Folk festivals usually play important roles in consolidating local groups and improving the local economy. However, various social groups who hold different opinions of the same place actively participate in the construction of local festivals, especially the created folk festivals, and therefore different place identities are represented and negotiated. The created folk festival "Yuexiu Temple Fair" is a hybridization of the Canton (Guangfu) culture and the north cultural symbol of "Temple Fair (Miaohui)" from the northern parts of China. It has acquired the official legitimacy and then been written with new meanings by various social groups who are actively engaging in the place-making process. However, "Yuexiu Temple Fair" itself is widely contested and negotiated about whether it is Canton or non-Canton. For the above reasons, a combination of research methods including participant observation, interview and literature analysis are adopted in this research for an in-depth exploration about how the different groups: the government, the media, the experts and the ordinary people-utilize the cultural representation power to express their understanding of Guangfu culture and construct place identity in the context of "Yuexiu Temple Fair". The findings are as follows: City is a conflict field where multicultural identities and place identity are negotiated and there are various cultural identities in one city. Culture is continually negotiated by different groups and there are different points of view between Guangzhou natives and newcomers and even within each group; Meanwhile, the created folk festivals become the fields in which place identity is constructed and whose place identity is represented largely depends on who can acquire the greater power of cultural representation. "Yuexiu Temple Fair" provides an opportunity for various actors to construct their imagined "Guangfu culture". More specifically, the local government leads the 1st "Yuexiu Temple Fair", the media objectively reflected the views of experts and ordinary citizen groups, and during the period, the government took an active attitude to hearken the discourse mainly on behalf of the local cultural identity. Then, native inhabitants in Canton, especially those holding opposite discourses successfully attracted more attention and the 2nd "Yuexiu Temple Fair" is full of "Guangfu taste". Thus the place identity of Guangzhou natives is represented in the "Yuexiu Temple Fair". Unfortunately, the newcomers did not make their opinions public and some newcomers even felt being marginalized, so the "Yuexiu Temple Fair" may not enhance their identity to the place. In addition, the experts are relatively independent and more like bystanders of "Yuexiu Temple Fair" instead of cooperating with the government. This study improves understanding of the role that the created folk festivals play in the construction of place identity theoretically and also has a positive implication for guiding the city using festivals to improve cultural infusion of different groups and enhance their place identity in practice.

Resident is an important stakeholder of tourism. Sense of place, perception of benefits and costs affect residents' satisfaction, and further affect the sustainable development of tourism resorts. Previous studies were mostly about the one-way relationship of how sense of place affects the perception of tourism impacts, but what is the other way round? Based on an exploratory factor analysis, we find that residents' perception of tourism impacts can be classified into three parts: perceived costs, perceived psychic benefits and perceived physical benefits. Then is there any structural relationship within the residents' perception of tourism impacts? This article uses the world natural heritage Sanqingshan Resort as a case. Based on a review of existing literatures we build a structural equation model (SEM) using questionnaire survey and interview data. The survey questions include basic demographic characteristics of residents, sense of place, perception of tourism impacts, satisfaction and so on. The survey samples are located in the two entrances of the core scenic area of the research site and comprised of 271 residents who are greatly influenced by tourism. The result of this research indicates that: (1) Sense of place and the perception of tourism impacts influence each other. There is no significant mutual impact between cost perception and sense of place. Sense of place and the perceived benefits have a strong impact on each other, especially the perceived psychic benefits influence strongly residents' sense of place. Residents' sense of place as a kind of human emotion has a similar influence on the perceived psychic benefits. The deeper residents' sense of place, the more intense are the perceived psychic benefits, for example, image promotion of tourism resorts. Better psychic benefits improve residents' sense of place. (2) Perceived benefits including perceived psychic benefits and physical benefits play the most significant role on the sense of place and satisfaction in SEM, especially the perceived psychic benefits. These two parts in perceived benefits influence each other significantly. (3) Residents' sense of place has a positive significant impact on satisfaction, the same as perceived psychic benefits and perceived physical benefits, but perceived costs have negative and non-significant impact on satisfaction. Residents' perceived psychic benefits improve satisfaction more efficiently than physical benefits, but this does not mean perceived physical benefits are unimportant: perceived psychic benefits and perceived physical benefits have a strong mutual influence. As tourism develops, local residents feel pride for the place (which denotes a strong perception of psychic benefits), and this generates better expectation for physical benefits. As a result, perceived psychic benefits play a stronger role in connecting residents' sense of place and satisfaction than perceived physical benefits. (4) We also classified the surveyed residents into native and non-native by birthplace to test differences between natives and immigrants. Native residents' sense of place and perceived psychic benefits are higher than non-native, and are more sensitive about perceived costs, while the perceived physical benefits are lower than non-native residents. One shortcoming of this study is that, although the measured variables have high factor loadings, their number is small, which may not be enough to illustrate latent variables efficiently. The number of measured variables should be increased in future research to test the results.

Taking 1192 academicians of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) as a case study, temporal and spatial pattern and evolution mechanism of the development of senior science talents are identified and analyzed by using regional Gini coefficient, centralization index and ESDA method. The results show that: (1) At the provincial level, the locations where the academicians of CAS were native or born, acquired his or her highest education (degree), and had long-term work experiences, showed a strong imbalance among the eastern, central and western China. (2) Most of the locations of the three categories have shown significant and positive geospatial autocorrelation since the 1950s. In terms of agglomerative growth, during the four time periods from 1950 to 2010, including 1950s, 1980s, 1990s and the first beginning of the 21st century, the locations of native and birth places presented a spatial trend of gradual increase followed by gradual decrease, while the locations of both highest education (degree) and long-term work experience presented a spatial trend of gradual decrease. (3) HH concentrated locations of the three categories are mainly distributed in the eastern and coastal regions and their neighboring provinces, and the number of three types of locations presented the trends of increase followed by decrease, little change, and gradual increase, respectively. (4) Most provinces among the type IV locations of the three categories with transitions in the evolution of temporal and spatial patterns are the ones that maintain the same level within themselves and with the neighboring provinces during the four periods from 1950 to 2010, and nearly half of provinces presented continuous stability. Type I, II and Ⅲ provinces varied in numbers and some of the provinces had significant transitional phenomenon. (5) Differences and changes of natural resources, economic conditions, political and cultural environment, and educational atmosphere all more or less have influences on the overall spatial distribution and the evolution of temporal and spatial pattern of academicians of CAS.

Recently, the actor-network theory (ANT) was widely applied to the field of human geography. ANT approach provides a new perspective by allowing researchers to take into consideration the flow of factors and network interaction. After a brief introduction of ANT, this paper summarizes the progress of ANT applications to human geography by summing up the application topics and methods in different branches, and compares the gap between international and domestic researches. This paper reveals that ANT promotes the progress of human geography in both theory and application. Most theoretic explorations happened in the field of economic geography: the relational economic geography based on ANT provides new angle for the reconstruction of "postmodernism" economic geography theory system. In application, analytical framework of ANT applied to the field of human geography emphasizes actors, translation process, and the result, with special attention to the spatial changes as verification of the effect of actor network. ANT uses a structural way to construct the main actor behaviors, resulting in an effective analysis framework for local development and policy implementation research in every branch of human geography. High citation rates of ANT applied research papers indicate ANT approach is now attracting more and more attention in the field of human geography. However, compared to international researches, domestic researches are relatively lagged and limited. Currently, domestic researches still remain in the stage of applying ANT analysis framework directly with little thinking about theory improvement, while international research is starting to rethink the limitations of ANT approach. Based on recent rethinking of ANT use, this study emphasizes that analytical framework of ANT should be highlighted and the use of ANT should carefully control the size of the network and the list of actors, due to the uncertain research paradigm.

In recent years, along with the rapid development of globalization, international sojourn has become a universal phenomenon. Based on literature study, we found the main topics in the research on international sojourn as follows: sojourn experiences of international students, transformative power of international sojourn, reentry experience, pre-departure experience. The literature showed that most of research works were published by sociologists without geographical background, yet following geographical research themes explicitly and implicitly, namely, human-environment-time and space. International sojourners would experience culture shock when they move to a new place with different culture. Gradually, sojourners adapt to and even identify with the culture of the new place. From the view of cultural geography, Sojourners' sense of new place takes shape in the process of adaptation. In this paper, we suggested international sojourn should be brought into the research field of cultural geography and pointed out ideas and topics of the research on international sojourn from geographical perspective. Future studies should focus on sojourners' influences on the sojourn places and their hometowns, especially on the identities of different places. The study of international sojourn can not only provide theoretical foundation and guidance to multicultural development, recruitment of employees for multinational corporations, cross-cultural education and cross-cultural communication, but also benefit the research of cultural geography.

Income inequality and floating population are two important factors affecting crime rate. One major problem of the previous studies is that they were all based on ordinary least squares (OLS) estimation with constant coefficients. OLS estimation presumes that the individuals are homogeneous and the relationship between the crime rate and the two affecting factors do not change over spatial units, which contradicts the fact that significant differences exist among the 31 provinces of China. In other words, the relationship between crime and income inequality and floating population is too complicated to be explained by ordinary least squares estimation with constant coefficients. Geographically weighted regression (GWR) is a powerful tool for exploring spatial heterogeneity. GWR recognizes that relationships between variables are likely to vary across space. Instead of estimating one parameter for each independent variable, GWR estimates local parameters. A parameter is estimated for each data location in the study area. In a GWR model, parameters are estimated using a weighting function based on distance so that locations closest to the estimation point have more influence on the estimate. Using geographically weighted regression model, this paper analyzes the local relationship between crime rate and income inequality and floating population in 31 provinces of China. The results show that: (1) The effects on crime rate are spatially non-stationary. The correlation between crime rate and income inequality is significant in some provinces, but not significant in some other provinces. The correlation between crime rate and floating population is significant in all provinces, but not with the same degree. (2) GWR model is more suited than OLS model, the AIC and R square are both improved in GWR model. This study demonstrates the usefulness of GWR for exploring local processes that drive crime rates and for examining the misspecifications of a global model of crime rate. The practical implication of GWR analysis is that different crime prevention policies should be implemented in different regions of China. Because of such a heterogeneity, criminal policy needs to suit the local situations.

South Africa is China's largest trading partner and investment destination in Africa, especially in infrastructure construction. Study of the spatial distribution of South Africa's population is of great significance to the cooperation of the two countries. Based on the census data from 1996 to 2011, this paper describes the spatial pattern and evolving trend of the diverse population of South Africa with time series and cross section data between 1996 and 2011 at county level, based on population density analysis, spatial autocorrelation analysis, population gravity center model, shift-share analysis, and unbalanced index. Using the software platform of ArcGIS and OpenGeoDa, conclusions are made as follows. (1) Population density of South Africa has "high on east and low on west" features, and also has multicore clustering characteristics in metropolitan areas and port cities. (2) Population density varies significantly in different regions. Metropolitan areas and coastal port cities have high population densities, while central and western regions have low population densities. (3) In terms of trend in population change, population distribution in South Africa became more and more imbalanced from 1996 to 2011. The gravity center of population moves to the northwest of South Africa since 1996. (4) Shift-share analysis shows population growth rate have undergone "high-low-high" stages for the last 15 years. At provincial level, Gauteng andWestern Cape have been always the places with dense populations.