Nature-based solutions (NbS) represent an efficient approach to utilizing natural resources while simultaneously protecting ecosystems, addressing the social, economic, and environmental challenges we face today. Recognized internationally as a cutting-edge method for ecosystem management, NbS can be effectively applied to the restructuring of rural spaces. This approach not only mitigates the ecological and environmental crises hindering rural development, but also unlocks the potential for rural growth, fostering comprehensive revitalization of rural areas. This study outlined the conceptual evolution of NbS, and explored the conceptual connotation of rural spatial restructuring based on NbS from the perspectives of various stakeholders, including local governments, village committees, rural business entities, and rural residents. The analysis was structured around four dimensions: ecological space, physical space, economic space, and social space. The research systematically examined the progress in restructuring the ecological space, physical space, economic space, and social space of rural areas through NbS, focusing on ecological conservation and landscape optimization, the optimization of production and living spaces, land consolidation and agricultural transformation, the commodification of natural landscapes, and balancing the needs and expectations of different stakeholders. The study concluded by suggesting future research directions, emphasizing the localization of NbS concepts, the establishment of multi-sectoral collaborative mechanisms, optimization strategies for resource and capital allocation, phased assessments of socioeconomic impacts, and the application of quantitative methods to measure socioeconomic benefits.

In view of the fact that there is no systematic summary of recent studies on the history of geography in China except in some selected fields, based on a literature review and the change of thoughts in research on the history of science, this study examined the major progress of recent research on the history of geography and related works in China, and discussed the issues that deserve further attention in the future. The literature review found that: 1) The history of geography is an independent academic field in Chinese geography, characterized by fruitful research results, wide field coverage, and stable research groups. 2) The system of the field has been tentatively constructed, forming a research system that covers disciplinary history, intellectual history, social history, and research on compiling history, which largely corresponds to the research field of the history of science. 3) There are many thoughts in the study of the history of geography, which largely aligns with the main trends of contemporary history of science. However, due to insufficient reference to the new trends in the history of science such as the social history of knowledge, contextualism, conceptual history, and reading history, there are only few research achievements under the recent trends of geographical thoughts. 4) The spatial scope, subfields, and subjects of the research objects are different, mainly reflected in the focus on the study of the history of Chinese geography, and studies on the history of cartography and modern historical geography in China, famous geographical research institutions, societies, and scholars in contemporary China have made fruitful achievements. In contrast, the corresponding research on other spatial scopes, sub-areas, and subjects is weaker. 5) Specialized research on the history of Chinese geography has focused on the ancient period, with a gradual emergence of the modern period, and modern and contemporary research is mainly a review of progress and a synthesis of the literature. The main issues worthy of attention in future research include: 1) Focusing on weak areas of research, and presenting a more comprehensive development trajectory of Chinese geography, especially the disciplinary history in the last hundred years. 2) Strengthening the reference to the trends of the social history of knowledge, contextualism, conceptual history, and reading history, and paying more attention to research on the history of geography under modern and contemporary geographical thoughts. 3) Paying attention to the interpretation of the social value of the history of modern and contemporary Chinese geography and expanding the societal cognition of geography. 4) Emphasizing dialogue with international research and enhancing the international discourse of research on the history of Chinese geography.

Administrative divisions are an important part of the national system of governance, and the related adjustments have become an important tool for optimizing the administrative management system, improving the effectiveness of national governance, and promoting regional spatial reorganization. Among these adjustments, county-to-district conversion, as an important part of China's county-level administrative division adjustment from 1997, has become a hot topic that has attracted much attention in the study of administrative division. Based on existing studies, this article analyzed the change of county (city) abolition and establishment of districts from the aspects of progress, occurrence logic, assessment method, and multiple impacts in a comprehensive manner. We found that the number of counties (cities) converted to districts in China experienced a fluctuating increase and then a rapid decrease, followed by a rapid increase and then a gradual decrease, with an overall M-shaped temporal pattern, and 2000-2002 and 2014-2016 were the two peak periods of conversion. National policies provided the necessary conditions for county-to-district conversion, local demands promoted the implementation of the conversion, and the final adjustment was often the result of the game between multiple actors. The research methods became more diversified, but the relevant basic theories and methodological studies are relatively weak, and there is still a big gap between the status quo and the requirements of governance modernization. The conclusions of the existing studies on the economic and social benefits of county-to-district conversion are inconsistent, while that on the impact of ecological benefits is relatively uniform, that is, the quality of the regional ecological environment has been improved by the county-to-district conversion. In summary, this article argued that in the future there is an urgent need to strengthen the theoretical and methodological research on the setting up of administrative districts, reveal in depth the positive and negative effects of county-to-district conversion on the development of cities and regions, strengthen the analysis of the driving mechanism of county-to-district conversion, and examine the triggering conditions of county-to-district conversion, in order to provide references for the scientific improvement of decision making of local governments as well as the optimization and adjustment of the national policies on county-to-district conversion.

The world is undergoing unprecedented changes that have not been seen in a century, with an era of uncertainty and precarity beginning to emerge. Over the past 20 years, the concept of precarity has rapidly become a topic of great interest in Western human geography. This article first explained the basic connotations of precarity in terms of labor conditions, ontological experience, and class categories based on the classic literature of Western social science. It then reviewed the research trajectory of precarity in Western human geography and found that the geographical research on precarity exhibits a significant critical thinking approach. It focuses on the impact of structured environments of precarity on individuals and their responses within such environments, forming two main research threads: one is the study of precarity in labor conditions under specific historical circumstances, focusing on the structural mechanisms of precarious employment and the agency of the precariat; the other is the study of precarity as an ontological experience of human life, focusing on the impact of precarity caused by geopolitics and the politics of everyday urban life on residents and the political consequences that arise. Finally, the article suggests that research on precarity in the Chinese context can be carried out by integrating the economic situations of emerging economies, the new normal of the economy, flexible capital accumulation, and international politics. This article aimed to promote the field of human geography in China to extend into the realm of precarity, preparing for research in understanding social risks brought about by precarity and achieving long-term stable development of the social economic system.

In the context of China's rapid urbanization, the migration of ethnic minority population is becoming increasingly more active, and has become an important component of China's migration groups, which has attracted widespread attention. This article reviewed the existing studies from the perspective of geography, which is conducive to enhancing interdisciplinary dialogue and expanding the research direction of ethnic minority population migration in China. Based on the reality of ethnic minority migration in China, this study incorporated the relevant migration theories on the basis of Chinese ethnicity theories, and established a macro-micro analytical framework. The study found that the migration of ethnic minority population has entered an active period, and the overall pattern of migration was from rural to urban areas, mainly within the provinces and across provinces from west to east; China's ethnic minority migration was also affected by factors that are common for the overall migration of the country, including ethnic minority languages, specific cultural practices, and co-ethnic network connections. Other factors related to ethnic culture also played an important role, but existing studies are weak in examining the mechanism of cultural factors; Ethnic minority migration in China not only promotes urbanization but also facilitates a wide range of interaction, communication, and integration among all ethnic groups, and its impact on urban-rural integration and the protection and revitalization of ethnic villages in ethnic minority areas requires the joint attention of different disciplines. Looking forward to future research, the study can be expanded in terms of the dispersal pattern and characteristics of change of ethnic minority migrants in urban scale hierarchies, the examination of the role of cultural factors in whether and how to migrate, and the effects of migration on the development of urban-rural transformation in ethnic minority areas and on ethnic minority individuals, respectively.

The economic space of urban-rural interface is an important topic that has long been concerned by geography, sociology, urban and rural planning, and other disciplines. This study adopted a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods: we read the classic literature to examine the research lineage; and we downloaded the Chinese and English publications from China National Knowledge Infrastructure and the Web of Science databases and quantitatively analyzed the data by using the CiteSpace 6.26 software, which was used as supporting evidence for the division of the research phases. This study examined the three stages of international research related to the economic space of the urban-rural interface: the emergence of early exploration in Europe and the United States, the development of attention to less developed regions, and the emergence of the post-industrial era. Then it examined the three stages of Chinese research: the reference of foreign theories at the beginning of urbanization, the concern of real problems during the acceleration of urbanization, and the exploration of multiple values in the middle and late stages of urbanization. It also concluded that the economic space of the urban-rural interface presents three characteristics: inclusive mixing of economic types, dynamic fragmentation of morphological evolution, and dualistic coexistence of economic dynamics. There are two paths in the evolution of economic space in the urban-rural interface: one is led by top-down forces, showing the path of peri-urban agriculture-centralized large-scale industry-high-tech industry; the other is driven by bottom-up forces, showing the path of peri-urban agriculture-township industry in the early stage, and then different branches with regional differences in the later stage. Urbanization is the fundamental driving force for the economic space evolution of the urban-rural interface; technological factors are the core factors for this evolution; and the government, the market, and the society all play a key role in the change. Based on the above review, we proposed four directions for future research on the economic space of the urban-rural interface in terms of scale and regional differences, post-industrial characteristics, cross-border network characteristics, and governance guidance.

Rhythmmanalysis, as an important theory in geographic research, has received extensive attention in the international academic community, but has not yet been fully emphasized in the Chinese academic community. This article first defined the connotation of Henri Lefebvre's concept of rhythm, and explained the theoretical connotation and inner connection of polyrhytmia, arrhythmia, eurhythmia, dressage, and isorhythmia in the theory of rhythm analysis; second, it systematically reviewed the rhythm research of the international geography community in the dimensions of the subject, the place, and the mobility. The article further discussed the deep insight of rhythm analysis in understanding the interactions between human activities and geographical space. Third, the article explored two theoretical perspectives of rhythm analysis—a localized time and a temporalized place—and explained the differences and connections between them in terms of research focus. Ultimately, rhythmanalysis, as a humanistic research method, pays attention to the comprehensive development of individuals, offering new theoretical perspectives and research methodologies for issues such as life rhythm, cultural rhythm, and ecological rhythm within the context of contemporary China. The article posits that the localization and modernization of the theory of rhythm analysis will provide a scientific guidance for the theoretical innovation of human geography practice in China, and is of great significance for promoting the sustainable development of society and the comprehensive development of human beings.

With the increased rate of urbanization, health problems resulting from the distant separation of jobs and housing as well as increased reliance on motorized travel have become increasingly prominent. As a healthy and sustainable mode of transportation, active travel holds significant positive potential for achieving the peak emission and carbon neutrality goals and realizing the Healthy China strategy. The impact of active travel on residents' physical health has garnered significant interest among scholars in geography, transportation, and urban planning. However, research on its impact on psychological health and well-being is still in an early stage. This study aimed to contribute to this area by providing a systematic summary of the empirical effects surrounding the relationship between urban active travel and psychological health and well-being, drawing on relevant journal publications in China and internationally. The results of our review show that the majority of the studies have confirmed the positive impacts of active travel on psychological health and well-being. However, these impacts were also moderated by personal and spatial factors, resulting in heterogeneity. Furthermore, this study found that the impact path of active travel on psychological health and well-being is complex, involving the joint action of multiple direct and indirect factors. The main action paths include: the direct effect of intrinsic characteristics, the mediation effect of individual physiological functions, the moderating effect of the physical environment, and the mediation effect of the social environment. In addition, psychological health and well-being can also have a feedback effect on active travel behaviors by influencing travel willingness. Finally, based on the current status of the research conducted, this article also put forward relevant recommendations for improvement, especially to provide new ideas for conducting similar research in China. These findings offer insights for promoting active travel through policy measures and urban planning strategies, and facilitating the research and development of healthy cities in China.

Households are a key carrier for urban spatial reconfiguration and socioeconomic transition, and also a crucial intermediate level between the individual, the community, and the city. Existing studies have recognized the importance of research on spatial-temporal behavior from the perspective of households, but they usually take the characteristics and division of responsibilities of households as background and explanatory factors. The interactions and connections between household members are rarely considered, and the complexity of intra-household behavioral interactions of various households and different types of behavior is not well understood. This research focused on household and intra-household behavioral interactions. First, it created a time-space-society framework to measure behavioral interactions in three dimensions, that is, temporal interaction, spatial interaction, and social relationship interactions, and refined the patterns of intra-household behavioral interactions. Second, it revealed the mechanisms of influence and effects of intra-household behavioral interactions, taking China's socioeconomic background into account. Finally, aiming to improve the quality of life of household members, it proposed an optimization scheme of living space with the household-friendly orientation. The research contributes to reintroducing the household level in urban research based on spatial-temporal behavior, and promoting behavioral geography research to emphasizing individuals' interactions. It also provides new ideas for examining social issues such as fertility, as well as child and elderly care, offering a scientific reference for the optimization of community life circle and urban space, and promote household-friendly urban planning and social governance.

The water storage information retrieved by GRACE satellite provides high-precision data for the study of water cycle process. However, assimilating terrestrial water storage change data of GRACE satellite into existing distributed hydrological models for streamflow simulation has become a key scientific challenge in utilizing GRACE data to improve the accuracy of water storage and streamflow simulations. Based on a review of current research progress, this article summarized the commonly used methods for assimilating GRACE water storage change data into distributed hydrological model, the principles and advantages/disadvantages of existing data assimilation approaches, and the extent to which different data assimilation methods improve the accuracy of hydrological modeling for water storage and streamflow simulations. Furthermore, this study identified the problems associated with assimilating GRACE water storage change data into distributed hydrological models and then proposed possible solutions to these problems. The results of this study indicate that the challenges in assimilating GRACE water storage change data into distributed hydrological models include: 1) the contradiction between the high spatial and temporal modeling requirements of hydrological models and the low spatial and temporal resolutions of GRACE data and 2) the discrepancy between the individual simulation of water storage components in distributed hydrological models and the representation of total terrestrial water storage changes by GRACE data. Findings from previous studies in different river basins manifest that assimilating GRACE water storage data can reduce the root mean square error of water storage simulations by approximately 5% to 40% and increase the correlation coefficient of water storage simulations by about 10% to 50%. However, the improvement in streamflow simulation accuracy is relatively limited, with an increase in the correlation coefficient of approximately 2% to 16%. This research provides theoretical and methodological references for the development and application of hydrological models assimilating GRACE satellite water storage data.

Scene theory provides a new theoretical perspective for deepening research of cultural and tourism integration. This study used the scene theory as a theoretical analysis tool, summarizing the research value of cultural and tourism scenes, proposing the theoretical connotation and logic of cultural and tourism scenes, and identifying the research direction of cultural and tourism scenes. The research findings are as follows: 1) The research value of cultural and tourism scenes is reflected in placing the cultural and tourism industries in the same dynamic and complete system, and the differentiated scenes formed are conducive to implementing heterogeneous cultural and tourism integrative development strategies. 2) The theoretical connotation of cultural and tourism scenes includes four parts: First, concrete substance is an important foundation for the existence of cultural and tourism scenes. Second, the unique cultural value is contained in cultural and tourism scenes. Third, cultural values are the core components of cultural and tourism scenes. Last, the construction of cultural and tourism scenes becomes the driving force for culture and tourism integration. 3) The theoretical logic of cultural and tourism scenes is formed by the interaction of three dimensions: local originality, symbolic perception, and value expression. 4) Future research on cultural and tourism scenes should focus on the theoretical connotation and contemporary value of cultural and tourism scenes, the expression of cultural value in cultural and tourism scenes, the pattern recognition and operation mechanism of cultural and tourism scenes, and the application of digital technology in cultural and tourism scenes. The research can provide a theoretical basis and scenario application reference for promoting the development of culture and tourism integration.

Mobility is a typical feature of tourism activities. Under the new mobility paradigm, mobility has become the core of tourism, and therefore the study of tourism phenomena requires the use of mobility research methods. Unlike traditional static qualitative research methods, the role of ethnography as a new method of mobility study in the production of acculturating knowledge makes it an increasingly important methodological choice for conducting tourism research from the perspective of mobility. However, most of the existing studies have only used ethnography, lacking a detailed explanation of the specific processes, what to pay attention to, and the intrinsic links between ethnographic application and knowledge production at the theoretical and methodological levels. Based on this, our study focused on the perspective of mobility, beginning with a review of mobility and ethnography at the theoretical level. It then explored the relationship and implications between tourism research and ethnography. Second, this study examined the development of core issues, methodological choices, and attention in the application of ethnography to tourism research. The study showed that: 1) Ethnography offers new methods and possibilities for tourism research from a mobility perspective compared with quantitative methods, traditional qualitative methods, and traditional ethnography. 2) The limitations and shortcomings of ethnography have also led to some controversy, and the debate has concentrated on two aspects: the researchers' ability to maintain value-neutral objectivity, and the privacy or ethical implications of the research. 3) As a new method for tourism research under the perspective of mobility, although ethnography is controversial, in terms of the method itself, ethnography still has great potential for further development and promotion. In the future, we should continue to expand the content of ethnography's themes and the direction of its application, overcome ethnography's methodological limitations, and apply ethnography to a wider range of tourism research.

The study of administrative center relocation integrates perspectives from a wide range of fields, including geography, history, economics, politics, and environmental studies. Exploring the historical development and future trends of administrative center relocation is crucial for enhancing the scientific, normative, and effective setting of administrative divisions and for promoting the modernization of the national governance system and governance capabilities. This study systematically analyzed relevant Chinese and international publications through a comprehensive literature review and bibliometric analysis, elucidating the conceptual attributes, thematic evolution, main research findings, and future development trends of administrative center relocation research. The study found that the motivations for relocating administrative centers are deeply rooted in supporting national strategic development. There is an interactive relationship between research findings and national policies, effectively promoting the deepening and expansion of the field of administrative division studies. The historical continuity and interdisciplinary nature of research on administrative center relocation provide rich perspectives and methodologies for the study. Given the differences in the stages of socioeconomic development and administrative systems between international and Chinese contexts, international experiences imply that China needs to adopt a dialectical approach based on its specific national conditions to develop a research path with distinctive Chinese characteristics. This involves critically analyzing international case studies and adapting the lessons learned to fit China's unique sociopolitical and economic landscape. In the process of promoting the modernization of the national governance system and governance capabilities, it is essential to strengthen the evaluation of the effects and underlying mechanisms of administrative center relocation. This includes a thorough scientific assessment of relocation plans, focusing on their feasibility, potential benefits, and risks. By employing effective administrative division measures, regional sustainable development can be promoted, and the efficiency of national spatial governance can be enhanced. The conclusions of this study can provide theoretical references and practical guidance for research on the relocation of administrative centers in China, promoting in-depth academic research and methodological innovation in this field.

Knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) is considered a key driver of innovation and economic development in the knowledge economy era as an industry that provides knowledge and technology services. With the rise of the knowledge economy and the advanced industrial structure in the 1990s, scholars in China and internationally began to focus on the spatial distribution of KIBS and the process of knowledge diffusion, as well as its significant role in promoting industrial integration, regional innovation, and economic transformation. Since the twenty-first century, rapid economic globalization has propelled the application research of KIBS in geographical fields such as national and regional innovation, industrial clusters, and innovation networks. Under the new situation of globalization and the new research paradigms of economic geography, research on the integration of KIBS and various research paradigms of economic geography, the mechanism of impact of KIBS on the new information technology revolution and new quality productivity, the mechanism of impact of KIBS on industrial upgrading and regional transformation from the perspective of global-local interaction, global-local production network, and multiscale innovation space reconstruction are relatively insufficient. Based on the current research progress, the authors reviewed the key publications on KIBS in the field of geography in China and internationally, summarized the spatial and temporal distribution characteristics of KIBS publications, and used the bibliometric analysis software CiteSpace 6.2.R6 to make a visual analysis of research hotspots in this field. We systematically summarized the research hotspot content and research trend of KIBS. Combined with the new situation of globalization and the major strategic issues of China's economic geography research, we put forward the prospect of KIBS geographical research focusing on KIBS and regional development transformation under the new trend of globalization, KIBS and new quality productivity, global-local innovation centers, KIBS and global-local innovation networks from the perspective of global-local interaction, and KIBS and multiscale innovation spatial coupling.