At present, global and regional security issues are complicated and volatile, and as a frontier field of strategic games between major powers, geopolitical competition in the Asia-Pacific region has shown a multidimensional trend, and the construction of a new security pattern has become a strategic cornerstone of China's modernization and development. As the core carrying area of the "five major securities" (national defense, food, ecological, energy, and industrial securities), the Northeast region's strategic barrier function and geopolitical pivot role are irreplaceable for the country's overall security. However, there are three limitations in the existing research on the spatial practice of security governance: first, the cross-scale transmission mechanism of security elements has not yet been deconstructed, resulting in the disconnection of the governance chain of "national strategy-regional function-local practice"; second, the analysis of the coupling effect of multiple security elements is insufficient, and there is a lack of spatial interaction models based on geographic embeddedness; third, the lack of spatial and temporal refinements in risk simulation makes it difficult to support the dynamic optimization of the resilience system. In view of these, this study attempted to break through the obstacles and address deficiencies of existing studies from a geospatial perspective based on the disciplinary characteristics of geography and the geographic embeddedness of the "five major securities". On the basis of summarizing and analyzing the existing studies, this study constructed an exploratory analysis framework mainly based on core structure identification-regional dominant security function division-multiscenario and security risk simulation, and suggested that the Northeast region should comprehensively evaluate the security function system and leading role of each regional unit based on the core structure of "one side, one corridor, one network, one zone, three belts, three bases, and four channels", and simulate the security geographic spatial pattern of the Northeast region under different development scenarios and security risks from a dynamic perspective, in order to discover the dynamic changes in security service value. Finally, this study proposed optimized governance strategies focusing on the three aspects of giving full play to the regional advantages, coordinating regional development, and integrating policy objectives, so as to provide useful references for the concrete implementation of the "five major securities" in the Northeast region.
Land capitalization is a central issue in China's rural development and reform. Exploring the logical relationship between land capitalization and rural restructuring as well as the corresponding control strategies is of great significance for deepening the theoretical knowledge and developing practical paths of land use transformation and rural revitalization in the new era. Based on the theory of spatial-temporal fix and spatial production, this study elucidated the mechanism of rural restructuring from the perspective of land capitalization with the analytical framework of motivation-actor structure-specific construction-multidimensional restructuring, and elaborated on the potential dangers arising from the game of different actors and the corresponding coping strategies after examining the actor relationships. The study found that: 1) The capitalization of rural land is a process of increasing the value of rural land and restructuring land property relations through the transfer of corresponding property between different actors with various trading means, which is based on the clear definition of land property rights and permitted access to the circulation market. 2) Driven by the dual drivers of changes in supply and demand and guided by the logic of spatial-temporal fix, the process of land capitalization is triggered by bringing capital to the countryside and the interaction of multiple actors; this process causes the change of the elements-structure-function of the rural territorial system through the spatial production of triadic integration that centers on the creation and acquisition of rural land, and thus promotes the multidimensional restructuring of rural areas. 3) There are both interest-goal links and conflicts between different actors, which imply complex game relations and give rise to various forms of alliances and divisions, leading to problems such as the damage of rural residents' land rights and interests, the crowding out of rural development space, the loss of local history and culture, and the intensification of social conflicts on the countryside. 4) In order to balance the conflicting relationships, innovate the path of land development and its capital realization with the joint participation of multiple key actors, build a coordinated and symbiotic collective action system and a fair distribution system, and enhance the fairness and justice in the restructuring process, control strategies should be developed based on the four dimensions of law, planning, market, and governance.
The rapid development and widespread integration of digital technologies have profoundly transformed the economic structure, becoming a key force in reshaping national innovation patterns and empowering new quality productivity. Based on the invention patent data for key digital technologies in cities of China from 2014 to 2022, this study identified indicators such as the number of key digital technology patents and the technological relatedness density of key digital technologies, to depict the trends of change of China's key digital technology innovation landscape. The study divided cities into digital technology innovation core zones, sub-core zones, potential zones, and peripheral zones, and explored the impact of technological relatedness on urban specialization in new digital technologies. The findings reveal that: 1) China's key digital technology innovation was highly concentrated spatially, with a pronounced siphon effect. 2) The gap in new digital technology development potential between cities was narrowing, with many cities in the central and western regions showing a high degree of digital technology integration, ranking among the top 10 nationally in terms of technological relatedness. 3) Fifty-nine core zones have been identified, thirty of which are located in the Yangtze River Delta, the Pearl River Delta, and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban clusters. Nine potential zones were distributed around the core zones, contributing to regional technological complementarity. 4) Technological relatedness played a key role in the specialization of new digital technologies in cities of China. A 10% increase in technological relatedness led to a 9% increase in the likelihood of specialization in new digital technologies, with the largest increase observed in sub-core zones. Among the seven categories of technologies, the Internet of Things showed the greatest growth.This study reveals the spatial differentiation patterns of digital technology innovation, providing a scientific reference for formulating region-specific digital technology development strategies and promoting high-quality growth of the digital economy.
Based on Marxist productivity theory, cultural capital theory, and the connotation of new quality cultural and tourism productivity, an indicator system for evaluating the development level of new quality cultural and tourism productivity was constructed from three key elements: new quality cultural and tourism workforce, new quality cultural and tourism means of production, and new quality cultural and tourism objects of work. Spatial analysis methods such as entropy weight method, Dagum Gini coefficient and its decomposition method, and Markov chain analysis were used to estimate the development level, spatial-temporal pattern, and regional differences of cultural and tourism productivity in the provinces (municipalities and autonomous regions) of China during 2013-2022. The results show that: 1) The development level of new quality productivity of cultural and tourism industry in China showed an overall upward trend. 2) The regional distribution pattern was higher in the east, followed by the middle, and lower in the northeast and west. Regional difference was the main reason for the overall difference in the development level of cultural and tourism new quality productivity. 3) The development level of new quality productivity of cultural and tourism industry in each province was relatively stable, and there was a phenomenon of "club convergence". 4) High-level development provinces can drive the development of low-level provinces to a certain extent, which proves the existence of inter-provincial spillover effect. Based on the results, some recommendations were put forward, including enhancing the driving and supporting effects of demonstrations, formulating differentiated development strategies, and building cross-regional cultural and tourism innovation platforms.
Land tenure systems are fundamental to the arrangement of production relations within a nation, essential for managing the relationship between farmers and land, and a critical driver for promoting urban-rural integration (URI). Despite this, existing research has yet to fully elucidate the intrinsic mechanisms by which land tenure systems influence URI, particularly overlooking the pivotal role of bidirectional transfer of urban and rural labor (URBT). This study, leveraging the panel data from 30 provinces in China (the data in Xizang, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan are temporarily unavailable) between 2008 and 2020, quantified the spatiotemporal change of URI and employed a continuous difference-in-differences (DID) model, integrated with an improved URBT regulatory variable, to examine the mechanism of impact of the separation of rural land rights policy on China's URI. The findings reveal that the level of URI in China has significantly increased from 0.41 in 2008 to 0.63 in 2020, marking a 53.66% rise, with an evolving spatial pattern characterized by "higher in the east, lower in the west, with expanding inter-regional disparities and narrowing intra-regional differences". The separation of rural land rights policy positively promoted the process of URI in China, but also exhibited spatial heterogeneity, with more pronounced impact in the eastern regions. The URBT had a significant impact on the separation of rural land rights policy's facilitation of URI, displaying an inverted "U"-shaped nonlinear regulatory effect. This article offered policy recommendations from three aspects: county urbanization, fiscal expenditure and coordinated transfer of agricultural population, and effective allocation of land resources, aiming to provide a scientific guidance for China's urban-rural integration development.
Exploring the evolution characteristics and influencing factors of forest land fragmentation in China is of great significance for promoting high-quality development in the forestry sector and enhancing the ecosystem service value of forests. Based on land cover data from 1992 to 2022, this study constructed a comprehensive forestland fragmentation indicator system using multidimensional landscape pattern metrics and analyzed the spatial-temporal trends and drivers of forestland fragmentation across China with spatial statistics and machine learning models. The findings are as follows: 1) In the study period, China's forestland fragmentation indices showed a shift around 2004, with a trend of gradual decline-fluctuating increase. Forest patch size, edge density, and shape regularity exhibited a decline-slight increase trend, while spatial dispersal followed a cyclical low-high-low-high fluctuation. 2) Spatially, forestland fragmentation was high in the south and low in the north, with the highest levels in Southeast China's low mountains and hilly forests, followed by tropical and southwestern mountainous forests, and the lowest in the northwestern mountains and the Inner Mongolia and Northeast forest regions. At the provincial level, fragmentation values peaked in Guizhou, gradually declining outward, with significant fragmentation also observed in Guangxi, Guangdong, Hubei, Hunan, and Yunnan. 3) The drivers of forestland fragmentation varied across periods and regions. Throughout the study period, forest management practices generally mitigated fragmentation, while increasing population density and rising temperatures intensified it. From 1992 to 2001, temperature and timber production were the primary influences on fragmentation; from 2002 to 2011, cropland area and collective forest area became more impactful; and from 2012 to 2022, collective forest area became the leading factor. 4) An examination of the interaction effects among the drivers revealed that in areas with low precipitation and limited forest management intensity, excessive afforestation can exacerbate fragmentation, while fragmentation trends are stronger in regions with higher rainfall and temperatures. Afforestation helps mitigate the adverse impacts of cropland expansion on forestland fragmentation.This study deepens the understanding of forestland spatial pattern evolution in China, identifies regional drivers of fragmentation, and provides a theoretical basis and policy support for optimizing forestland management, promoting intensive use, and enhancing forest ecosystem services.
Scientifically examining the adaptation relationship between urban recreationalization and human settlement quality is of significant importance for advancing urban renewal and enhancing the well-being and happiness of residents. This study explored the contemporary connotations of human settlement quality from the perspective of the living-ecological-production-life quadruple spatial framework, conducted an in-depth analysis of the mechanisms of adaptation between urban recreationalization and human settlement quality, and constructed a pertinent evaluation indicator system. By employing a comprehensive adaptation model and an optimal parameter geodetector, the study also revealed the spatiotemporal characteristics and influencing factors of adaptation. The results show that: 1) From 2011 to 2022, the indices pertaining to urban recreationalization and human settlement quality in the Yangtze River Delta region exhibited a sustained upward trend. Industrial development recreationalization had been the major factor driving urban recreationalization, yet there was a clear need for the further integration and dissemination of recreational activities integrated within everyday lifestyle practices. The production space had significantly contributed to the human settlement quality, while it is crucial to enhance the beneficial effects of ecological and life spaces. 2) The adaptation index for urban recreationalization and human settlement quality in the Yangtze River Delta region showed marked improvement, rising from a score indicative of minimal adaptation (0.551) in 2011 to a score reflective of moderate adaptation (0.732) by 2022. The spatial distribution of adaptation types transitioned from a "scattered" pattern to a more "clustered" aggregation, with high adaptation levels observed in cities such as Nanjing, Suzhou, Hangzhou, and Hefei, as well as their surrounding areas. 3) The coordinated adaptation of urban recreationalization and the quality of the living environment in the Yangtze River Delta region was influenced by a variety of factors, including the natural environment, economic development, urban construction, and policy support. The degree of industrial structure upgrading, the nighttime light index, the extent of built-up areas, and the intensity of urban land expansion were crucial drivers, and the interaction between the nighttime light index, the degree of industrial structure upgrading, and the urban land expansion index had high explanatory power. The research can provide theoretical support for promoting the integrated development of regional culture, tourism and leisure and building livable cities.
Accurately quantifying the complex relationships between urban rail transit and residential property prices along its lines can help optimize land resource utilization and enhance residents' well-being. Taking Lanzhou City as a case, this study employed multi-source heterogeneous data to develop a methodology that integrates an Optuna-optimized XGBoost model with the interpretability techniques of SHAP-PDP. This approach aims to investigate the mechanisms through which subway characteristics influence housing prices and quantitatively analyze the interactive effects between subway characteristics and other key influencing factors. The results reveal that: 1) The XGBoost model outperforms decision trees, random forests, gradient boosting decision trees, and CatBoost, achieving an explanatory power of 77.29%, making its predictions more reliable. 2) Property management fees, betweenness centrality, vegetation coverage, density of transportation facilities, and density of financial institutions are the top five contributors to housing prices, collectively accounting for 46.07% of relative importance. Among subway-related characteristics, network centrality of subway stations exerts a significantly greater impact on housing prices than proximity to the nearest station. 3) The effects of distance to subway station, betweenness centrality, and closeness centrality on housing prices exhibit nonlinear characteristics with distinct threshold effects, indicating that the influence intensity fluctuates significantly with changing conditions. 4) Apart from property management fees, subway characteristics interact intricately with vegetation coverage, density of functional facilities, and building age, yielding positive interactive effects only within specific ranges. Therefore, maintaining various feature elements within optimal ranges is an effective approach to capturing land value premiums. The findings provide a theoretical reference for scientifically assessing the impact of rail transit on urban development, helping to avoid decision-making blind spots caused by information asymmetry. Additionally, they offer policy insights for achieving stable housing price regulation and enhancing the efficiency of urban spatial governance.
Optimizing land use allocation, mitigating land use conflicts, and achieving coordinated development of socioeconomic activities and ecological protection are key points for supporting planning decisions and ensuring regional sustainable development. This study coupled the GMOP-PLUS model to optimize and simulate land use of the central Yunnan urban agglomeration in 2035 and used land use dynamics, landscape indices, and land use conflict assessments to evaluate and analyze multiple scenarios, and subsequently explored the future trends and conflict differentiation characteristics of land development in the region through spatial correlation analysis. The results show that: 1) The coupled model, combined with multi-scenario analysis, can determine a balanced multi-objective land use optimization scheme, with NSGAII outperforming the ideal point method for solving multi-objective problems. 2) The dual-objective development optimization model offers a better comprehensive evaluation of land use, benefiting the protection of arable land and ecology, as well as the stable development of the land system. 3) Future development in the study area will rely on the aggregation and expansion of existing construction land, which tends to disrupt arable land and water bodies. Additionally, land encroachment and rising dynamics caused by construction expansion are likely to exacerbate land use conflicts. Accordingly, regional development must prioritize the reasonable control of construction expansion. 4) The area of high construction intensity, high dynamics, and high conflict, spanning from southern Kunming to western Qujing and eastern Yuxi, should be planned as the key control zone for construction, while areas characterized by low construction intensity, low dynamics, and high conflict are likely to emerge in urban development interaction zones. Therefore, it is crucial to enhance the quality and radiative capacity of regional development hubs and strengthen the coordinated development of cities within the region. This study can provide theoretical and practical references for regional sustainable development and planning decision-making.
Townships, as the fundamental units of China's urban system, are crucial carriers for implementing rural revitalization and urban-rural integration strategies, and their high-quality development needs to align with the vision of rural revitalization. Based on an analytical framework of ecology, human settlement, and industry synergy, this research explored the complex relationships of township multi-objective management through three analytical scales: grid, administrative village, and industrial cluster. Taking Fengmao Town in Zaozhuang City as a case, this study explored the challenges and implementation pathways for high-quality township development. The research findings are as follows: 1) From the single-dimensional perspective, Fengmao shows significant differences across ecological, human settlement, and industrial dimensions. High ecological value areas are mainly concentrated in the central part of the town, areas with better living environments are distributed in the southwest, while industrial development shows characteristics of structural simplicity and spatial imbalance. 2) The multi-dimensional assessment results indicate that areas of high and relatively high importance in ecology, human settlement, and industry account for 10.16%, 10.73%, and 20.00% respectively, while areas of low and relatively low importance account for 89.84%, 89.27%, and 80.00% respectively. Their spatial distribution exhibits dual characteristics of similarity and variability, urgently requiring optimization of coordinated layout for different functions to meet the needs of various governance objects and units. 3) Based on the multi-objective trade-off and synergy classification, significant differences exist across scales. Comprehensive coordination areas dominate at all scales, industrial advantage areas are prominent at the grid and industrial cluster scales, ecological advantage areas are concentrated at the administrative village scale, while human settlement advantage areas are at a disadvantage. The expansion of industrial advantage areas conflicts with ecological protection, while the limited distribution of human settlement areas hinders improvement of the quality of life. Spatial coordination grapples with centralization and decentralization, complicating cross-scale collaborative management. Addressing these challenges requires flexible, refined strategies with timely feedback mechanisms to balance ecological preservation, industrial growth, and human settlement optimization, fostering high-quality coordinated township development.
The atmospheric environmental effect of landscape pattern evolution is considered the main cause of urban air pollution. However, there is no universal landscape classification for relevant research. In this study, the local climate zone (LCZ) framework was introduced to simulate PM2.5 concentration in Nanchang City's main urban area by using the land use regression (LUR) model. The applicability of the LCZ framework in PM2.5 concentration simulation was tested. The results indicate that adjusted R2 of the LUR models with LCZ variables is improved compared with the traditional LUR models, and the standard estimation errors have decreased. The improvement is especially significant in spring and summer. The LUR models with LCZ variables substituting for both land use and population density variables are the best fitting models, indicating that it is feasible to integrate LCZ for PM2.5 concentration simulation, and more than 80% of the variations in PM2.5 can be explained in four seasons. We also found that LCZ 8 (large low-rise) and LCZ 10 (heavy industry) are the best variables to replace industrial land, LCZ G (water) and LCZ F (bare soil or sand) are the best variables to replace ecological land, LCZ 1-3 (compact buildings) and LCZ 5 (open mid-rise) are the best variables to replace population density. The LCZs can explain the driving mechanism of urban atmospheric particles' spatial distribution to a certain extent. The seasonal variation of meteorological factors is the main reason for the seasonal variation of PM2.5 concentration. The PM2.5 concentration of spring and autumn are mainly affected by wind speed, that of summer is affected by relative humidity, and that of winter is affected by temperature and precipitation. This study explored the applicability of the LCZ framework in PM2.5 concentration simulation, and the results can provide a reference for urban air pollution assessment and control.
With the acceleration of urbanization, people's mental health is facing unprecedented threats. Urban blue-green spaces are increasingly emerging as crucial destinations for individuals to undergo healing processes. Consequently, investigating how therapeutic landscapes facilitate the enhancement of physical and mental well-being holds significant practical importance. At the present, research is gradually expanding to the interaction between humans and space or resources. However, the analysis of the relationship between urban blue-green spaces and human healing from the perspective of activity relationships is still relatively weak, lacking explanatory power and empirical exploration. This situation weakens the social influence and practical value of urban blue-green space research. The concept of therapeutic taskscapes emphasizes that participants interact with the environment through specific task activities, and empirical research on therapeutic taskscapes is needed to fill the theoretical gap mentioned above. This study focused on therapeutic taskscapes, summarizing its concept, dimensions, and measurement indicators through literature review and in-depth interviews. The empirical research was conducted in three urban blue-green spaces in Guiyang City, developing and validating a scale for assessing therapeutic taskscapes in urban blue-green spaces through questionnaire surveys. The research outcomes encompass: 1) Developing a scale system for therapeutic taskscapes, encompassing four dimensions—Atmosphere, Job crafting, Emotion engagement, and Embodied cognition—with 22 measurement indicators. The scale exhibits satisfactory reliability and validity. 2) Therapeutic taskscapes exhibit significant positive correlations with the constructs of flow experience and restorative experience, indicating that the scale has good criterion-related validity. This study transcended previous qualitative research on therapeutic taskscapes, broadening the scope to empirical studies. It clarified the previously ambiguous concept of urban blue-green space therapeutic taskscapes and offered a standardized and reliable measurement tool for their quantitative analysis, which provides practical insights for the healthy development of urban blue-green space healing resources.
In the context of global climate change, there have been significant changes in precipitation characteristics. While a large number of studies has analyzed the changes in precipitation amount, there is still a lack of research specifically on the variability of precipitation structure, especially in terms of its annual distribution. Therefore, based on the monthly precipitation data from 1961 to 2022, this study systematically investigated the spatiotemporal evolution of annual precipitation distribution in southern China using Structured Self-Organizing Map, a method known for its unsupervised classification capabilities ideal for analyzing intricate and unlabeled meteorological data. The results show that the concentration of annual precipitation in southern China is relatively low, displaying a low peak pattern. However, there are regional differences in the annual precipitation pattern, classified mainly into two types: Higher spring precipitation in the central area of the region, and early summer precipitation in the periphery and coastal areas. Areas with higher spring precipitation pattern showed phased changes in coverage in southern China, with an overall decreasing trend in coverage area, and the region experienced a transition from higher spring precipitation to greater early summer rainfall. Water is an essential element for crop growth. Therefore, this study used the AquaCrop model, which was developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations for simulating crop growth and crop yield, to further analyze the impact of the variability of annual precipitation distribution structure on rainfed agriculture in southern China through model simulations. The results indicate that with a transition from higher spring precipitation to higher early summer precipitation in southern China, late-season rice yields will increase, while maize and sugarcane will experience reduced yields due to water stress, with a more pronounced decrease in yield under higher temperatures. These results suggest that the variability of annual precipitation distribution structure has a significant impact on crop yields, which provide a guidance for crop cultivation and ensuring food security in China.
Against the background of global warming and large-scale urbanization, heavy rainfall and flooding and urban waterlogging disasters in North China have become more serious, and the demand for disaster prevention and mitigation has become increasingly more pressing. Typhoons and typhoon-related weather systems are an important cause of extreme heavy rainfall in North China. On the basis of previous studies, a variety of literature was collected to identify the sequence of typhoons and heavy rainfall events in North China in 1668. The principle of inferring the past from the present was used to identify the possible typhoon long-distance rainfall events in North China in 1668, and their relationship with sea surface temperature (SST) was discussed. The results show that: 1) There were 9 typhoons in 1668, the earliest one was recorded around May 30, and the latest was around November 4, of which 4 mainly affected South China, and 5 mainly affected East China. 2) The summer of 1668 was overall wet and the occurrences of heavy rainfall events were high in North China, with heavy rainfall recorded in North China during 6 of the 9 typhoons. Three of these were recognized as long-distance typhoon storm events, one was a storm caused by a typhoon traveling northwards, and two were storms that may have been influenced by the typhoon. 3) The 3 typhoon long-distance rainstorms were the typhoon in Jiangsu and Zhejiang with heavy rainfall in Henan on July 25, the typhoon in Jiangxi and Zhejiang with heavy rainfall in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region on August 11-13, and the typhoon in southern China with heavy rainfall in Hebei region. Among them, the heavy rainfall and flooding in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region occurred in August 8-16, between the 5th and 6th typhoons, and caused severe flooding in Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei, which was similar to that caused by the twin typhoons Dusu Rui and Kanu in July 2023. 4) La Niña was one of the main reasons for the high frequency of multiple typhoon events and flooding in North China in 1668, and the multiple typhoons brought more water vapor to North China than usual and contributed to the multiple heavy rainfall events in the region through the interaction with other systems. Double or consecutive typhoons affecting North China may exacerbate the risk of heavy rainfall and flooding. Therefore strengthening monitoring and early warning, and strengthening response measures are particularly important.
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.
