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  • Theory Discussion
    LI Gan, BA Shiqi, YAO Yuyang, CHEN Ying
    PROGRESS IN GEOGRAPHY. 2025, 44(6): 1115-1129. https://doi.org/10.18306/dlkxjz.2025.06.003

    As an extension of human society's real space, cyberspace carries a variety of social practice activities. This new mode of implementation of practical activity has triggered a paradigm shift in society, making cyberspace a new strategic space for nations. Based on theories of spatial production and relational geography, this article holds that space is a product of relations and employs an actor-network-space model to analyze the mechanisms of cyberspace production. It categorizes actors in cyberspace into individual users, network enterprises, and governments. The social, production, and power relations among these actors constitute community network spaces, platform network spaces, and national network spaces. In community network spaces, individual users engage in practical activities based on their own needs. In platform network spaces, network enterprises attract more users by analyzing data generated from user practices, forming a positive cycle that promotes the production of cyberspace. In national network spaces, governments govern cyberspace based on the power they possess in the real world, maintaining national cybersecurity. The characteristics of relational centrality determine that there will inevitably be actors in a dominant position in relations. There is competition for dominance in cyberspace relations in the global network space. Network infrastructure resources are the foundation of global cyberspace competition and determine the upper limit of each country's development in cyberspace. Diverse practical activities are key to obtaining a dominant position in cyberspace, and high-vitality spaces are more attractive to users. Technological innovation is a safeguard for consolidating a position in cyberspace, as new modes of practical activity can create more network relations. China should explore cutting-edge technologies, innovate spatial production methods, actively participate in the formulation of global cyberspace-related technical standards, deepen exchanges with other countries' cyberspaces, and transform China's advantage in network practice volume into a competitive advantage in cyberspace. The foundation of the prosperity and development of cyberspace lies in the relations formed by interactions among actors. Actors in cyberspace should follow the principle of a "community with a shared future for mankind", coexist harmoniously in the global cyberspace, enrich cyberspace relations together, and promote the prosperity of the global cyberspace.

  • Theory Discussion
    CHEN Mingxing, TANG Shujuan, LU Dadao, CHEN Liangkan, XIAN Yue
    PROGRESS IN GEOGRAPHY. 2024, 43(12): 2327-2336. https://doi.org/10.18306/dlkxjz.2024.12.001

    Space is a fundamental concept in geography and the traditions of geographical thought. With the continuous advancement of the information technology revolution, our understanding of space is also evolving, leading to the emergence of the concept of the space of flows. This concept has become a new perspective for understanding globalization, global cities, and the spatial organization of socioeconomic activities in the new era. This article reviewed and analyzed the proposition, evolution of the connotation, and expansion in the field of geography of the concept of space of flows. Through application cases at four different geographical scales—global, national, city, and individual—the article demonstrated the unique explanatory power of the space of flows in understanding real-world problems. The space of flows transcends the limitations of the space of places, emphasizing the importance of various "flows" in the spatial organization of urban systems and socioeconomic activities. It explores new epistemological and methodological innovations in understanding space, which is significantly essential for modern geography's innovative development. It also contributes to promoting the interdisciplinary integration of geographical science in the new era.

  • Theory Discussion
    BAO Jie, ZHAO Yebei, LU Lin, ZHANG Yu
    PROGRESS IN GEOGRAPHY. 2024, 43(12): 2337-2351. https://doi.org/10.18306/dlkxjz.2024.12.002

    Famous mountain resorts in China are important carriers for displaying the essence of Chinese culture and assisting in the construction of ecological civilization. While the positive interaction between culture and nature is an important goal of high-quality development of famous mountain resorts in China, the social construction of nature has also become a key perspective to interpret their formation and change. This study aimed to develop a theoretical analysis framework for the change of famous mountain resorts in China from the perspective of the social construction of nature to explore the processes of change and mechanisms. It proposed to explore the process logic and system logic of the change of famous mountain resorts in China from the perspective of the social construction of nature, including the production of natural values and meanings under the construction of multiple subject discourse, the social spatial practice of nature, and the feedback and response of human-environment relationships. This study also examined the interrelationships between traditional cultural roots, ancient power, and modern capital, as well as the continuous interaction with local daily life, to construct a multidimensional framework composed of the internal driving force of traditional culture, the control force of power, the transformation force of capital, and the penetration force of daily life, in order to guide the exploration of the mechanism of change of famous mountain resorts in China. Theoretically, this research attempted to bridge the social-natural dichotomy in the study of the change of the regional system of human-environment relations, broaden the perspective of research on human-environment relations, and explore the applicability of the theory of the social construction of nature on a broader scale and specific fields. It also compensated for the situational aphasia of related research on the "humanized nature" of famous mountain resorts in China, and in practice, provides a guidance and reference for realizing the sustainable development of mountain economy and society.

  • Theory Discussion
    XUE Bing, XU Yaotian, LI Hongqing, ZHANG Yuxin, REN Wanxia
    PROGRESS IN GEOGRAPHY. 2024, 43(11): 2107-2123. https://doi.org/10.18306/dlkxjz.2024.11.001

    The integrated consolidation of resources within human-environment systems can effectively promote the scientific establishment of resource spatial configurations in courtyards, facilitating regional ecological and economic development. With the intensification of population aging and decline, China, as a large traditional agricultural country, is likely to see most rural living spaces returning to traditional courtyard-style structures in the future. Therefore, based on Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory and the resource metabolism theory, we explored the development scenarios of rural courtyards in China in the future. We also applied the resource metabolism analytical framework with the fundamental characteristics of the micro-geographical, economic, social, and industrial systems of courtyards, systematically analyzing the spatial configuration and flow patterns of courtyard resources. By comprehensively considering the multi-level needs of rural residents in the future, we established a conceptual model of courtyard resource spatial evolution based on an improved version of Maslow's theory, a panoramic resource flow model for courtyards under spatial compound structures, an evaluation indicator system of courtyard resource metabolism, and a future-oriented research framework for resource metabolism in rural courtyards, which systematically elucidated the scientific relationship between courtyard resource metabolism research and spatial function and regional policy. We innovatively put forward the scientific basis and research framework of resource metabolism with independent courtyards as the research object, evaluated the flow pattern of resources in the courtyard from the micro-scale, which is helpful for accurately identifying the optimal allocation path of resources in the region, so that the allocation of resources, ecological benefits, economic benefits, social benefits, and residents' emotional benefits can be maximized. It provides a scientific support for the global integration and diversified value-added of courtyard resources, provides an efficient guidance for the development decision making of rural areas, and promotes the sustainable development of rural human settlements.

  • Theory Discussion
    CHEN Hao, LU Lin, ZHENG Shanting
    PROGRESS IN GEOGRAPHY. 2023, 42(11): 2198-2212. https://doi.org/10.18306/dlkxjz.2023.11.010

    Rurality in the context of tourism is not only the epistemology of rural grand narrative, but also the methodology leading the practice of rural tourism development. This study analyzed the rural development process from traditional villages, rapid urbanization, to urban-rural integration, reviewed the relevant literature on rurality in China and internationally from the perspectives of rural regional functions, political economy, and overall rural construction, and analyzed rurality in the context of tourism based on the conceptual analysis logic of "element composition-basic attributes-important features". This study proposed that: Rurality in the context of tourism is the local significance of tourism's influence on the human-environment relationship in the process of rural reconstruction. From the perspective of the subjects of demand, it is reflected as tourists' cognition and emotion towards the countryside, and from the perspective of rural development, it is reflected as the result of the practice of rural tourism development carried out continuously by multiple subjects in the context of specific rural regional space. The basic attributes of economy, social and culture, nature and landscape, the regionalism of spatial dimension, the dynamic nature of time dimension, and the experience of value dimension should be understood in the relationship between "I" and "other", urban and rural, modernity and tradition, and commerciality and authenticity. This study constructed a framework of rurality concept analysis in the context of tourism, and put forward the prospect of future research at the levels of research content and methods.