Green finance is also called environmental finance or sustainability finance. As an important kind of financial development, green finance focuses on the win-win situation between the environment and economic growth by supporting the environmental protection industry. On the other hand, the green low-carbon transformation development can form diversified green capital needs, which will induce financial institutions to adjust products and services structure, innovate green finance service models and application scenarios with ecological concepts, and this will promote the development of green finance. Therefore, the concept and practice of green financial development and green low-carbon transformation are highly consistent, and there is an inherent logic of coordination and mutual promotion. However, there is limited literature on the coupling and coordination relationship between green financial development and green low-carbon transformation, and the research on influencing factors needs more in-depth discussions. To reveal the status of coupling and coordination between green financial development and green low-carbon transformation, this study used the entropy method to measure the level of green financial development and green low-carbon transformation, and introduced the coupling and coordination degree model, geodetector, and ArcGIS technology to explore the spatial and temporal variation characteristics and influencing factors of coupling and coordination between green financial development and green low-carbon transformation based on the data of Hunan Province from 2013 to 2021. The results show that the coupling and coordination degree between green financial development and green low-carbon transformation in Hunan Province was on the rise year by year, and continued to improve over time. The status was transiting to a coordinated stage step by step. The coupling and coordination degree in various regions showed a relatively consistent trend with the entire province. The coupling and coordination degree exhibited spatial agglomeration characteristics and presented a green development pattern radiating from Changsha City to the surrounding areas. The spatial differentiation of the coupling and coordination degree was obvious, greater in the eastern region than the western region, and in the northern region than the southern region. However, the growth speed in the western and southern regions was higher than that in the eastern and northern regions. The geodetector test results show that the coupling and coordination degree was influenced by factors of economic development, financial development scale, green R&D investment, digital infrastructure, and regional openness. Among them, the explanatory power of green R&D investment and financial development scale was greater than other factors, and both of them were the driving factors for the coupling and coordination between green financial development and green low-carbon transformation. The research may enable governments to clearly understand the integrated pattern of green financial development and green low-carbon transformation, so as to provide a decision-making reference for the integrated development of green financial development and green low-carbon transformation, and a reliable theoretical basis for cultivating new quality productivity according to local conditions to promote high-quality development.

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.

With the in-depth development of a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation, intelligent manufacturing equipment has become an important force to promote the high-quality development of industry, and the study of its production and supply relationship is of great significance to optimize the distribution of new quality productivity.Based on the data of core enterprises and suppliers in China's intelligent manufacturing equipment industry from 2010 to 2023, this study explored the spatial change characteristics of production-supply relationships of China's intelligent manufacturing equipment industry from three dimensions: production and supply linkage, production and supply network, and production and supply cluster by Pareto analysis and k-kernel analysis. The results are as follows: 1) The number and intensity of enterprise connections were increasing, and 700-1800 km was the general distance of production and supply connection of intelligent manufacturing equipment enterprises. The pattern of intercity production and supply links evolved from the shape of dual core radiation, triangle, to bow and arrow in China, and there were similarities and differences in the dominant flow of intercity production and supply links. The strong production and supply links between enterprises gradually shifted from intracity to intercity, and the number of export-oriented cities increased rapidly. 2) For more than a decade, the structure of the intercity production and supply network of China's intelligent manufacturing equipment industry has become increasingly compact and complex. After 2015, the city hierarchy of the intercity production and supply network has moved from a "pyramid" to a flat structure. 3) The number of production and supply clusters of China's intelligent manufacturing equipment industry has increased from 21 to 29. The production and supply cluster of the Yangtze River Delta has always maintained a leading position, the production and supply clusters of the Pearl River Delta, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, and Shandong Peninsula have developed steadily, and the status of the production and supply clusters in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and the Chengdu-Chongqing region have significantly improved. The pattern of association of node cities within the clusters can be divided into five types: Single center, one core and multiple subordinates, two cores and multiple subordinates, multi-center, and low-level equilibrium, and the node association patterns within the clusters have showed spatiotemporal heterogeneity from 2010 to 2023.

Exploring the impact of urban morphology on the thermal environment is crucial for implementing sustainable urban planning and improving thermal conditions of cities. However, current research on the multiscale analysis of the heterogeneity in urban morphology's thermal environmental effects at the community scale is still insufficient, and the process of effectively integrating research findings into urban planning and management practices also faces numerous challenges. This study focused on the Nankai District, a typical high-density urban area in Tianjin Municipality, and used the building vector data and Landsat 8 remote sensing imagery to quantify urban morphology and land surface temperatures during the summer at the community scale. It integrated the multiscale geographically weighted regression and K-means clustering methods to investigate the spatial heterogeneity of urban morphology's impact on land surface temperatures and to perform cluster zoning. The results revealed that: 1) The summer land surface temperatures in Nankai District exhibited a high in the north and low in the south distribution with significant spatial autocorrelation, forming high-high and low-low aggregation patterns. 2) The multiscale geographically weighted regression model significantly outperformed ordinary least squares and geographically weighted regression models in fitting and explaining the relationship between urban morphology and land surface temperatures. 3) The impact of urban morphology factors on summer land surface temperatures showed multiscale spatial heterogeneity, with influences ranking from highest to lowest as follows: building density > normalized difference vegetation index > floor area ratio > building volume density, where building density and building volume density contributed to higher temperatures, whereas the normalized difference vegetation index and floor area ratio had a notable cooling effect. 4) Clustering based on the spatial heterogeneity of urban morphology indicators affecting summer land surface temperatures allowed the study area to be divided into three distinct regions, which enabled the formulation of differentiated planning strategies. The findings of this study provide a basis for optimizing community thermal environments. Moreover, effectively integrating multiscale geographically weighted regression and K-means clustering methods offers new perspectives and methodological frameworks for urban thermal environment research and related fields.

The world is currently experiencing unprecedented changes, with frequent geopolitical conflicts, major public health incidents, extreme natural hazards and disasters, and other emergencies. The risks of the global grain supply chain are becoming increasingly prominent, and enhancing the resilience of the global grain supply chain has become a fundamental way to ensure the security and stability of the global grain supply chain. This study measured the resilience of international grain supply chains by identifying multidimensional supply chain network resilience measurement indicators based on the perspective of complex network. The characteristics of change of resilience and node anti-interference ability were analyzed. The results show that: 1) The global supply chains of rice and corn have a higher level of resilience, followed by the global supply chain of wheat, and the global supply chain of soybean has the lowest level of resilience. 2) The global supply chain networks of the four types of grain products are all resilient networks with fast recovery capacity and adaptability and their resilience levels have all improved. However, there are differences in their improvement levels, with soybeans, rice, wheat, and corn in descending order. 3) In the global supply chain network of the four types of grain products, China's anti-interference level is higher than the world average, but lower than the United States, and the anti-interference level of wheat and corn needs to be improved. The results of this study have important practical and theoretical significance for clarifying the resilience level and characteristics of change of the global grain supply chain, which may help enhance China's position and anti-interference ability in the global grain supply chain network.

In the context of global warming, there is a higher probability of occurrence of the summertime compound hot extremes when daytime and nighttime heat sustains, which lead to the reduction of continuous precipitation and increase of precipitation with short duration and high intensity, resulting in changes of diurnal precipitation pattern at summertime in the Northern Hemisphere land area. Compared with the well-understood summer precipitation on the annual scale, current knowledge about combined daytime and nighttime precipitation remains too scarce for the Loess Plateau of China. Based on the daily precipitation and maximum temperature dataset from 1970 to 2020 released by the National Meteorological Information Center and using the empirical orthogonal function (EOF) and Mann-Kendall trend analysis method, we investigated the spatiotemporal variations of rainfall amount, days, and intensity for four types of diurnal precipitation process on the Loess Plateau in summertime (from June to August), including sunny days and rainy nighttime, hot daytime and rainy nighttime, rainfall days for diurnal composite precipitation, as well as rainy daytime and rainless nighttime. The results are as follows: 1) From 2000 to 2020, the Loess Plateau witnessed a significant increase of precipitation amount in summertime and nighttime, which had not changed the spatial pattern characterized by a decreasing gradient of precipitation from southeast to northwest. 2) Consistent with the fluctuating precipitation amount and decreased precipitation days, there was a significant increasing trend for the precipitation intensity in sunny days and rainy nighttime, rainfall days for diurnal composite precipitation, rainy daytime and rainless nighttime from 2000 to 2020, while for hot daytime and rainy nighttime the precipitation intensity maintained stable fluctuations after the 1990s. 3) Areas in the central arid zone of Ningxia, eastern part of the Hetao Plain, northern Shanxi Province, and from the Fen-Wei Plain to the Yiluo River Plain were sensitive to the variations of sunny days and rainy nighttime. However, the Earth-Rock Mountain and high-altitude regions of the southwestern Loess Plateau are sensitive to hot daytime and rainy nighttime changes. Meanwhile, we observed a high sensitivity for the variations of rainfall days for diurnal composite precipitation, as well as rainy daytime and rainless nighttime in the valley and plain areas of the southeastern part of the Loess Plateau. The findings highlight that the increased intensity of daytime precipitation and diurnal composite precipitation is changing the patterns of diurnal extreme precipitation on the Loess Plateau, inspiring to enhance the research regarding the variations and mechanism of diurnal extreme precipitation in summertime.

Functional polycentricity is a reflection of the essential attributes of urban agglomerations, and an important way to build a new urbanization pattern of division of labor and cooperation with improved functions.Based on Tencent's population movement data from 19 urban agglomerations of China, this study analyzed the spatiotemporal change characteristics of population flow networks at the national and regional scales and functional polycentricity in urban agglomerations, and further explored the influencing factors of functional polycentricity. The results show that: 1) The regional functional polycentricity index of urban agglomerations of China as a whole is larger than the national functional polycentricity index and evolves toward stronger polycentricity, and there is a large gap between the national and regional functional polycentricity indices of the three types of urban agglomerations. 2) The regional functional polycentricity index of most urban agglomerations is larger than the national functional polycentricity index, which is in line with the general pattern that the larger the scale, the smaller the polycentricity index. The functional polycentricity type of each urban agglomeration is stable, but the direction of change differs. There is no obvious relationship between the functional polycentricity type of urban agglomerations and the type of urban agglomerations' development, and the type of urban agglomerations' functional polycentricity shows complexity. 3) The increase in GDP per capita reduces the national functional polycentricity index and shows a "U"-shaped correlation with the regional functional polycentricity index. The increase in the ratio of the total value of the secondary and tertiary industries promotes the increase of the national functional polycentricity index, and the increase in the size of the resident population and the decrease in the proportion of Internet users promotes the increase of the regional functional polycentricity index. The results of this study can provide relevant references for the development strategy of the spatial structure of urban agglomerations.

As China's economic and trade cooperation with Southeast Asia and other regions becomes increasingly close, accelerating the construction of the new western land-sea corridor and enhancing the quality and efficiency of logistics development is of great significance for promoting economic development and high-level opening-up in the inland areas of western China. This study focused on 30 urban units within the core coverage area of the new western land-sea corridor. Based on long-term statistical data, it employed the back propagation (BP) neural network model to predict the railway and highway freight volumes of each city after the completion of the main corridor. An improved gravity model was used to simulate the freight connections between cities under future corridor capacity conditions. Additionally, social network analysis was applied to compare the railway and highway logistics network structures before and after the completion of the corridor. The results indicate that: 1) The construction of the new western land-sea corridor helps reduce the railway and highway distances between cities in the core coverage area, increasing the total freight volume of each city. 2) Upon completion of the corridor, logistics connections between seaports and landports, such as Fangchenggang and Kunming facing Southeast Asia, and cities such as Chongqing and various provincial capitals, will be significantly strengthened. This will also promote the flow of goods to prefecture-level cities, leading to a hierarchical and integrated development pattern in the logistics network. 3) In terms of the distance reduction effect, changes in freight volume, and shifts in logistics network structure, the construction of the corridor has a stronger impact on the railway logistics network compared to the highway network. By comparing the changes in land logistics network patterns before and after the construction of the corridor, this study provides scientific insights for optimizing corridor layout, upgrading logistics networks, and promoting high-quality regional economic development.

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.

Under the background of globalization, informatization, industrialization, and urbanization, the hierarchical structure of China's urban system and its flow networks are intertwined and interact with each other. Based on the improved gravitational field model and the spatial econometric model, this study analyzed the economic efficiency of the Wuhan metropolitan area under the interaction of urban hierarchy and population flow (hierarchy-flow). The study found that the economic performance of cities and towns in the Wuhan metropolitan area showed a significant center-periphery pattern, and the Wuhan-Ezhou-Huangshi-Huanggang axis of economic efficiency is initially formed. The total economic volume of cities and towns grew super-linearly with the increase of urban population scale, but the gap between them tended to narrow. Population flows across scales promoted the growth of urban economic efficiency, and there was heterogeneity in the effects of different dimensions of urban hierarchies on urban economic efficiency. The influence of scale hierarchy on urban economic efficiency was negative, while increased population flows to large cities reduced scale diseconomies. Functional hierarchies contributed to the economic efficiency of cities and towns, and they further promoted agglomeration economies through cross-scale population flow. The administrative hierarchy promoted efficient economic growth in cities and towns, and growth in the scale of urban mobility at high administrative tiers promoted hierarchical diffusion. The interaction of hierarchy-flow expands the research perspectives of urban economic growth, deepens the understanding of the mechanism of high-efficiency growth of cities with different hierarchies, and lays the foundation for the coordinated and high-efficiency development of urban economy in metropolitan areas.

To support the safe and effective growth of regions, resilient city networks should be built in metropolitan areas. Current research is focused on understanding how disaster risk propagates in city networks and assessing network resilience. This study developed a multiplex city network model composed of facility and function based on the fundamental concept of the city network, and investigated the functional, physical, and geographic relationships across networks. Second, we examined the resilience of the multiplex city network in terms of both the structure and function and the network as a whole and local areas. Third, we illustrated how disaster risks spread in the multiplex city network from three perspectives—propagation path, propagation process, and propagation impact, which establish a logical relationship between disaster impact and network resilience. Lastly, we proposed a three-step framework for assessing the resilience of multiplex city networks: modeling the multiplex city network, simulating risk propagation of the network, and using indicastors to measure the network's resilience. The feasibility and validity of the framework were verified by the case study of resilience assessment of the "road-people's flow" multiplex city network in the Wuhan metropolitan area under the impact of flooding. The case results demonstrate that as disaster risks spread through the network, certain cities' structural and functional status will alter, drawing attention to these changes as a means of enhancing network resilience. For instance, some cities and network paths will have much less connectedness and as a result, these cities should improve their own preparedness during the latent phase of disasters and recovery capacity during the mitigation phase. Certain cities and paths have an absorptive capability during the risk outbreak period that helps keep the city network operating as intended. This research offered a fresh look at the theory and methodology of city network resilience assessment that considers disaster risk transmission. It concentrated on the real requirements for the development of regional network security. By examining and altering the interactions between cities, the suggested framework can contribute to making city networks more resilient.

Rural and urban spatial systems are a spatial support for implementing the rural revitalization strategy. Against the backdrop of increasingly prominent issues in individual village development, constructing a rural and urban spatial system identification path that serves rural cluster development is an effective way to achieve regional coordinated development. This study established a rural and urban spatial system identification path of "rural development poles-rural development clusters" and used multi-source data from 379 villages of 18 towns in Jinghai District, Tianjin Municipality, to analyze the spatial network characteristics of villages and towns. Based on the rural and urban spatial system identification path, rural development clusters were then delineated, and revitalization paths for different development clusters were proposed. The main conclusions are as follows: 1) The spatial network characteristics under the dimensions of economic development, resource endowment, and living environment vary, with notable local agglomeration characteristics of comprehensive development levels. The network density exhibits a distribution pattern that decreases from the northeast to the southwest. 2) Based on resource characteristics, villages were categorized into four types and eight variants: multi-resource dominant (P-C-A), dual-resource dominant (P-C, P-A, C-A), single-resource dominant (P, C, A), and non-resource dominant (p-c-a), with single-resource dominant and non-resource dominant villages being the majority in Jinghai District. 3) According to the rural and urban spatial system identification path, central villages, characteristic villages, and rural development clusters were sequentially identified based on the spatial network. Furthermore, sub-clusters of rural development were identified based on the dominant resource evaluation results. A rural and urban system in the study area was ultimately mapped, comprising 24 central villages, 13 characteristic villages, 9 rural development groups, and their 30 subordinate rural development sub-groups. 4) Based on the optimization pattern of the rural and urban spatial system, the characteristics of rural development clusters were further analyzed, and a clustered development path for promoting rural revitalization by zoning and classification was proposed.

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.

The Internet and digital platforms have driven the establishment of external network relationships in creative industries, and the formation of virtual network relationships has profoundly changed the resource acquisition ability of cities and further influenced the development of local creative industries. Based on the data of China's online game industry from 2010 to 2022, this study explored the impact of cities' embeddedness in industrial networks on the development of local online game industries. This study found that: First, while digitization drives decentralized production in the game industry, it also exacerbates the dominance of existing game centers. The main nodes of the online game industry cooperation network are dominated by eastern coastal cities, but small and medium-sized cities in the central and western regions have also begun to rise and are gradually embedded in the external network dominated by core cities due to the widespread use of digital technology. Second, external network embedding has a positive impact on the development of local online game industries. Even though cities with higher network power control the flow, matching, and combination of creative resources in the network, other cities are still able to improve their access to resources through a large number of external collaborations and strengthened connectivity with superior nodes. Lastly, the spatial dependence of local game industry development is low, and the spillover effect of virtual agglomeration-type network relationship is more obvious than that of geographical proximity. The results of the study help to deepen the understanding of the spatial organization of creative industries in the context of high digitization and provide references for local governments to optimize the layout of the game industry on the basis of clarifying the spatial structure and development logic of China's online game industry.

Cultural heritage sites are a comprehensive space constructed by a large number of signs and symbols, both material and immaterial, such as ancient architecture, folk customs, ritual traditions, and identity recognition. The Beijing Central Axis is located in the center of the old city of Beijing, with a total length of 7.8 km. It is not a single line, but a multidimensional dynamic space that encompasses multiple subjects, constantly constructing meaning, imagining symbols, and spreading narratives. It is a highly concentrated area of urban functions. Drawing on Lefebvre's dialectic of spatial triad, this study examined the spatial production characteristics and problems of the Beijing Central Axis from three levels—spatial practice, spatial representation, and representational space—through field research, case comparison, and social semantic network analysis. We found that protection of heritage and tourism practices driven by social factors and forces under the leadership of the government have reshaped the heritage and tourism space of the Beijing Central Axis, forming an important socialized structure of the current central axis space. This process is not only about the restoration and renewal of physical space, but also about the inheritance and innovation of social aspects and culture. However, this process is facing many challenges, including the high complexity of the heritage protection and management system, the lack of innovative interpretation of the overall value of the central axis, and an imbalance in the allocation of tourism space versus heritage space. Therefore, the relationships between power, interests, and cultural identity should be properly handled. In terms of heritage protection and management, the system should be further simplified, and a more efficient multisectoral coordination mechanism should be established; in terms of heritage value interpretation, the application of digital technology should be strengthened to enhance the accessibility and appeal of heritage; and in terms of public participation, the design of the tourism routes should be optimized to balance and enhance tourism space while enriching heritage space through diversifying community activities, education programs, and volunteer services.

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.

China has fully entered a stage of moderate aging, and the elderly migration population has become a focal group in contemporary urban and rural governance. Supported by the data of interprovincial migration flows of China's elderly population from 2000 to 2020, we used social network analysis and the eigenvector spatial filtering Poisson pseudo-maximum likelihood estimation (ESF PPML) gravity model to explore the spatial-temporal variability of influencing factors of interprovincial elderly migration in China. The following conclusions were drawn: 1) From 2000 to 2020, the scale of China's interprovincial elderly migration population continued to grow, and the main destinations remained basically stable. 2) The migration pattern of the elderly population remained stable but also with some changes: Generally, a large number of elderly people migrated from the northeastern, central, southwestern, and northwestern regions to the northern, eastern, and southern regions; however, from 2015 to 2020, there was a reversal trend in the outflow of elderly people from the southwestern and northwestern regions. In addition, the density of the elderly migration network first decreased and then increased, and the source areas became increasingly dispersed while the destination areas remained concentrated. The main migration flows occurred more frequently between adjacent provinces over time. 3) The ESF PPML model indicated that traditional gravity factors (population size, geographical distance), living costs, natural environment factors, health service facilities, resource depletion level, and social network factors jointly drove the interprovincial elderly migration pattern between 2000 and 2020. 4) Over the 20-year period, the hindering effect of living costs on interprovincial elderly migration showed a weakening trend, while the promoting effect of social network factors on elderly migrants had gradually increased. The impact of health service facilities on the elderly migrants was relatively weak and fluctuated, while natural environment amenity only significantly affected the scale of out-migration of the elderly population. The findings of this study provide a scientific and empirical foundation for actively addressing population aging and promoting high-quality population development in the new era.

The Triangle of Central China is one of China's important growth poles. However, while its core area is growing, the non-core area is suffering serious shrinkage. Traditional identification methods that focus solely on the population dimension can lead to a "one-size-fits-all" approach. In this study, we explored the spatial patterns and characteristics of shrinkage in the Triangle of Central China using multidimensional scaling dimensionality reduction and clustering algorithms, considering population, economy, and land use dimensions. Compared with the single indicator method, our approach provides a better identification of "potential shrinkage" and has a more accurate description of characteristics and status of shrinkage. Based on this approach, we derived the following findings. First, our study revealed that the Triangle of Central China primarily experiences three types of shrinkage—population shrinkage-led, land use shrinkage-led, and all-around shrinkage-led urban shrinkage. Second, the spatial features of shrinkage can be described as partial shrinkage within the core cities, extensive shrinkage in the surroundings, and scattered growth in the periphery. Third, the rapid industrial transformation, the siphoning effect of higher-level cities, the preferential policy for ethnic minorities, and the regional development strategies are the key factors contributing to the three typical growth and shrinkage patterns. Fourth, under the combined effects of the reduction of urban demand, the increase of urbanization cost, and the development of counties as a national strategy, the return of population and resources may become a new trend for the Triangle of Central China. Last, as a response to this new trend, central cities should face up to the insufficient momentum for land urbanization, avoid excessive expansion, and prevent the formation of false urbanization and debt problems. County seats may become the main carrier of the population inflows. This requires provincial and municipal governments to move resources down to the county level and rely on the county economy to absorb some of the cities' excess production capacity and labor force. The new approach can improve the accuracy of identification of shrinkage. And our findings of the new shrinkage pattern of the Triangle of Central China based on this approach can contribute to a better understanding of the urbanization process.

Under the background of rapid urbanization and living heritage tourism development, traditional ethnic minority villages, as a unique geographical unit that nurtures ethnic regional cultures, have become increasingly hollowed out, showing multi-dimensional spatial change with both common and individual characteristics. Based on this phenomenon, this study took Pingtan Village of the Xiangxi Dong ethnic community in Hunan Province as an example, and applied the framework of quantitative assessment of hollowing out status quo-analysis of spatial variation of hollowing out-exploration of hollowing out formation mechanism by using index construction, qualitative research, and the institutional analysis and development (IAD) framework, to explore the status quo, spatial variation characteristics, and formation mechanism of hollowing out in Pingtan Village. The study found that: 1) From the quantitative results, the external appearance of traditional buildings in the village is still well preserved, but population hollowing out and building hollowing out are significant, and the degree of hollowing out of the new village, commercial streets, and traditional village shows the characteristics of microscopic geographic differentiation. 2) In terms of the specific features of hollowing out, residents' non-farming employment and conservative mobility have increased, the architectural space shows fragmentation of the spatial texture at the macro level and low-energy development of residential buildings at the micro level, and the cultural space faces the challenges of the loss of local representation and inheritance. 3) With regard to the hollowing formation mechanism, the hollowing out of Pingtan Village is a complex process of alienation of the village territorial spatial system driven by the macro social environment and the micro confined space, as well as by the combination of exogenous and endogenous subjects. The study aimed to explore the general patterns of the characteristics and formation mechanism of the hollowing out of traditional ethnic minority villages, to provide a scientific basis for the effective implementation of urban-rural integration and rural revitalization in the same types of micro territorial space, and to promote the survival of traditional ethnic minority villages in a living state.

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.

Palaeoflood events were the response of river systems to regional climatic variability. Through extensive and detailed field investigations in the Lihe River Basin, a TZC profile containing typical palaeoflood sediments was found at the riverbank platform in the middle reaches of the river, and the profile was observed, measured, stratified, and sampled. The macroscopic and microscopic characteristics of sediments (magnetic susceptibility, grain-size composition, and end-members) indicate that the three groups of palaeoflood sediments are typical overbank flood deposits (OFD) in the plain area, and record three phases of palaeoflood events. The results of sample OSL datings and Bacon age-depth model simulations reveal that the three palaeoflood events occurred in the Late Pleistocene 12.0-11.6 kaBP, Middle Holocene 4.2-3.8 kaBP, and Late Holocene 1.8-1.5 kaBP, respectively. These periods correspond to global climate transitions or abrupt climate events, during which the monsoon climate changed abnormally, its variability increased, and both flood and drought events occurred. In the same periods, there were also large climate variability and frequent extreme climate events in the Lihe River Basin, which caused sudden heavy rainfall and led to flood disasters in the basin. This study is of great significance for flood prediction, flood disaster reduction in the Lihe River Basin and even the Huaihe River Basin, as well as for revealing the response pattern of regional river hydrology to global change.

Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (hereinafter referred to as Inner Mongolia) is an important ecological barrier in northern China. Under the joint drive of natural and human factors, the dynamic process of vegetation change in Inner Mongolia has significantly varied since the twenty-first century. However, there is still a lack of systematic quantitative research on the location, degree, and occurrence of abrupt changes in vegetation, and the contribution of different driving factors. This study selected six remote sensing vegetation indices and used the Theil-Sen trend, Mann-Kendall test, and Breaks for Additive Season and Trend methods to monitor the spatiotemporal patterns of vegetation greening and browning in Inner Mongolia from 2000 to 2022. The contributions of natural and human factors were quantitatively analyzed using the improved Residual Trends method and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling. The results show that: 1) From 2000 to 2022, 29.62%-36.96% of the areas in Inner Mongolia experienced vegetation greening, while only 0.36%-0.51% of the areas experienced browning. Positive abrupt changes mainly occurred in grasslands (35.9%) in the central and western regions and forested areas in the eastern region (25.7%), while 42.7% of the negative abrupt changes occurred in the western grassland areas such as Chifeng City and western Hulunbuir City. 2) Climate change dominated 88.8% of vegetation greening and 62.8% of vegetation browning in the study area, with 5.8% of greening and 14.8% of browning being dominated by land use. Both factors had positive effects on vegetation greening areas and negative impacts on browning areas. 3) For greening areas and browning areas, direct impact of temperature, soil moisture, population density, and land use intensity had dominant effects on most areas. The direct and indirect effects of various factors exhibited significant spatial heterogeneity in distribution. This study can provide a scientific guidance for the development of ecological restoration in Inner Mongolia.

In the context of climate warming, the risk of extreme rainfall-induced flash floods has become one of the major constraints on sustainable socioeconomic development. This study focused on the Magui River Basin in western Guangdong Province to investigate the impact of land surface changes on extreme rainfall-flash flood hazard. First, a regionalized extreme rainfall-flash flood numerical model was constructed to simulate flood inundation characteristics under extreme rainfall scenarios. Subsequently, multi-source remote sensing data were used to interpret the characteristics of human construction activities, river engineering activities, and natural factor changes, and different land surface change scenarios were established. Finally, based on the relationship between extreme rainfall-flash flood hazards and land surface characteristic changes, the quantitative impact of land surface changes on flash flood hazards was analyzed. The results indicate that within the study area, human construction activities had a significantly greater influence on flash flood hazard changes than natural factors, with river engineering activities, particularly channel widening, showing notable effectiveness in extreme rainfall-flash flood hazard prevention and control. Specifically, when the area of river engineering activities increased by 5.72%, the high-risk and medium-risk zones for extreme rainfall-flash flood hazards decreased by 11.53% and 7.99%, respectively. An increase in the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) from 0.19 to 0.58 (an increase of 0.39) resulted in reductions of 1.96% and 1.07% in these two risk zones, respectively. This study's findings can guide disaster prevention and mitigation engineering and regional planning at the watershed scale, in order to reduce regional extreme rainfall-flash flood disaster risks.

New quality productive forces act as a bridge for balanced economic development between urban and rural areas. This study analyzed the change of China's new quality productive forces using the panel data from prefecture-level cities spanning from 2011 to 2021. Through the application of mediation effect models and spatial econometric models, the study examined the influence of new quality productive forces on the urban-rural income gap, the mechanisms at play, and the spatial spillover effects. The results indicate that: 1) Since 2011, the overall level of new quality productive forces in Chinese prefecture-level cities had shown a steady upward trend, with significant spatial clustering characteristics. The various components of the new quality productive forces exhibited a "point and area clustering" spatial pattern. 2) The development of new quality productive forces had a significant positive impact on reducing the urban-rural income gap. This conclusion remained valid after robustness and endogeneity tests. 3) The results of the mediation effect analysis confirm that improvements in new quality productive forces in Chinese cities not only contribute to narrowing the urban-rural income gap overall but also affect the gap through mechanisms such as enhancing labor productivity and resource allocation efficiency. 4) The results of the spatial econometric analysis indicate that the development of new quality productive forces in China had a positive spillover effect on the urban-rural income gap. While it reduced the gap within a region, it also positively influenced the narrowing of the gap in neighboring regions. The enhancement of new quality productive forces is crucial for optimizing regional layouts. Moving forward, it is essential to integrate urban-rural coordinated development goals with the cultivation of these productive forces, emphasizing their positive impact on promoting urban-rural coordinated development.

Based on 220 survey questionnaires collected from Hongni Village, Pingshun County, Changzhi City, Shanxi Province and the perspectives of positive tourism impact perception and negative tourism impact perception, combining the mediation effect of the interaction between hosts and guests and the moderating effect of place attachment, this study used the structural equation model and fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis to examine the formation mechanism and improvement pathways of residents' subjective well-being in rural tourism destinations. The results show that both positive tourism impact perception and negative tourism impact perception directly affect subjective well-being. There exist some mediation effects in the above two pathways. Place attachment has a negative moderating effect on the positive perception of tourism impact and subjective well-being, and a positive moderating effect on the negative perception of tourism impact and subjective well-being. The simultaneous occurrence of high levels of positive impact perception and place attachment is the sufficient condition with strongest explanatory power for obtaining subjective well-being. The research results provide some practical guidance for revealing the mechanism of impact of subjective well-being and improving the subjective well-being of local residents in rural tourism destinations.

Harbin loess is situated at the easternmost end of the Eurasian loess belt, which has great significance for revealing the eastward expansion process of aridification in the Asian inland region. The previous bottom boundary age of Harbin loess deposits is in contradiction with the process of aridification in Asia, which limits the understanding of the coupling process of climate, landform, tectonic movement, and drainage evolution in the Songnen Plain area. Therefore, in this study, the high-resolution ¹⁴C, OSL, and ESR dating of the Huangshan loess section in Harbin was carried out, and the analysis confirmed the validity of the established chronological framework through the fitting and extrapolation of the actual dating results. The following conclusions were drawn: 1) The bottom boundary age of the loess in Harbin is 170 ka based on the Bayesian model. 2) Harbin loess is located in the northern edge of the East Asian monsoon climate region, which represents the aeolian deposition of the easternmost end of the Eurasian loess belt. The beginning of loess deposits in Harbin indicates that their source area had undergone obvious aridification, which means that the formation of the Songnen sandy land should not be later than 170 ka BP, and this also further confirms the eastward movement process of aridification in Asian inland region. 3) The loess deposits in Harbin are a response to the climate, tectonic movement (uplift of Songliao watershed), and drainage evolution (the drainage evolution of the Songhua River system and the extinction of the Songnen paleolake) of the Songnen Plain. Therefore, on the basis of a reliable age frame, the bottom boundary age of Harbin loess plays a certain role in limiting the estimated time of the tectonic uplift of Songliao watershed and drainage evolution of the Songhua River.