Modern tourism geography in China began in the late 1970s. After sustained exploration and development, it has made remarkable achievements in theoretical development, talent cultivation, and practical advancement. However, with ongoing societal change, tourism geography in China faces unprecedented challenges. How to better serve national strategies and industrial development has become an important question of the times. This paper provides an in-depth discussion of the discipline’s internal logic of formation, the evolution of research paradigms, knowledge spillover effects, and the construction of its disciplinary system in the new era. The findings are as follows: 1) After decades of practical exploration and theoretical development, the theoretical system of Chinese tourism geography has matured, its research agenda has continued to deepen, and its capacity to support national strategic needs has strengthened markedly. 2) Tourism geography has consistently taken the tourism human-environment relationship as its central thread, shifting from an early emphasis on “land” to a focus on the mechanisms of human-land interaction. 3) The field’s research paradigm has gradually moved from experience-based induction to an approach that gives equal weight to theory and empirical analysis, forming a methodological system grounded in the integration of qualitative and quantitative methods and the cross-validation of multiple data sources; this work has also generated knowledge spillovers to economics, management, and sociology. 4) Driven jointly by national and regional needs, talent cultivation and institutional restructuring, and shifts in research paradigms and themes, interdisciplinary integration has increasingly become a major development trend in tourism geography in China. 5) The inheritance and future development of Chinese tourism geography should remain problem-oriented, strengthen technology-enabled research, and concentrate on key tasks including talent development, innovation in foundational theory, optimization of the disciplinary system, and service to major national strategies.
This study aims to investigate how environmental regulations affect the green efficiency of water resources in tourism, and to verify whether technological innovation plays a mediating role in this relationship. Using panel data from 31 provincial-level administrative regions in China from 2012 to 2021 (excluding Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan due to incomplete and inconsistent statistics), this study first introduces the tourism grey water footprint and constructs an evaluation index system for the green efficiency of water resources in tourism. The slack-based measure (SBM) model is employed to measure the green efficiency of water resources in tourism. Then, with environmental regulation as the core explanatory variable, a fixed-effect panel regression model is constructed to examine its direct impact on tourism’s green water efficiency. Furthermore, a mediating effect model is adopted to explore the transmission mechanism, with technological innovation as the mediating variable. A series of robustness tests are conducted to ensure the reliability of the estimation results. The results show that: 1) The overall level of green efficiency of water resources in China’s tourism industry is moderate, with an annual average value of 0.475 during 2012—2021, showing a steady upward trend. Significant regional disparities exist among eastern, central and western China, presenting a concave pattern characterized by ‘lower in the central region and higher in the eastern and western regions’. 2) Environmental regulation has a significant positive effect on the green efficiency of water resources in tourism, and this result is robust after controlling for industrial structure, population size, resource endowment and other variables. Regional heterogeneity tests show that environmental regulation plays a significant role in central and western China, while the effect is not significant in eastern China. 3) Technological innovation plays a partial mediating role in the process whereby environmental regulation promotes the green efficiency of water resources in tourism. Environmental regulation stimulates the innovation compensation effect, encouraging tourism-related enterprises to carry out technological innovation, and such innovation further improves the green efficiency of water use in tourism. Environmental regulation can directly and significantly improve the green efficiency of water resources in tourism, and indirectly enhance such efficiency by promoting technological innovation. The implementation intensity and policy effects of environmental regulation vary across regions. It is recommended that eastern regions focus on high-quality innovation-driven development, while central and western regions should strengthen environmental regulation intensity and optimize policy implementation. Promoting coordinated improvement of environmental regulation and technological innovation is an effective path to upgrade the green efficiency of water resources in tourism and realize the high-quality and sustainable development of tourism.
In the context of cultural and tourism integration, cultural experience and dissemination in tourism activities play a vital role in enhancing cultural confidence. During development, some tourist destinations encounter a misalignment between their projected image and the image perceived by tourists, which has an impact on tourists’ cultural experience and emotional connection. Existing research in the fields of tourism geography and cultural geography mainly explores the ‘sense of place’,‘symbolism’, and ‘emotional resonance’ of cultural memory and their influencing factors. However, there is a lack of in-depth analysis focusing on the ‘mysticism’ cultural core represented by museum-type tourist attractions and its compatibility with tourist demands from both supply and demand perspectives. To examine the congruence between the officially projected image and the tourist-perceived image of the Sanxingdui Museum, this study compiles a research dataset consisting of 10 329 tourist reviews from platforms such as Ctrip and Qunar spanning from August 1st, 2023 to July 30th, 2025. The paper formulates a four-dimensional analytical framework: ‘cultural symbol type-supply presentation level-demand experience level-matching value’. Using network text analysis and integrating the dual perspectives of the ‘official projected image’ and the ‘tourist-perceived image’, it systematically evaluates the communication efficacy and matching degree of the Sanxingdui Museum’s tourist image. The ROST CM6 software is employed as an analytical instrument. First, a statistical analysis of high-frequency words extracted from the officially projected image and the tourist-perceived image is conducted to identify their respective focal points. Second, a social network analysis is conducted, where node size represents the centrality of high-frequency words, and edge connections indicate the logical associations between words. Finally, emotional sentiment in tourist evaluations is quantified to differentiate positive, neutral, and negative emotions and their intensities, providing a basis for the emotional analysis in subsequent matching assessments. This process reveals the disparities between the projected and perceived images of the Sanxingdui Museum. The findings indicate that: 1) Among the four major cultural themes associated with the museum exhibits, namely the origins of the Ancient Shu civilization, the religious-sacrificial power system, the superposition of divine and royal authority, and the regional cultural landscape. The official positioning of the origins of the Ancient Shu civilization is highly aligned with tourists’ perceptions. Tourist perceptions of the religious-sacrificial power system are close to the official interpretations, indicating a moderate level of alignment. However, there is a curiosity-driven bias in tourists’ perceptions of the superposition of divine and royal power, while awareness of the regional cultural landscape remains notably weak. Both reflect a low level of alignment. 2) In terms of cultural presentation approaches, tourists heavily rely on traditional guided tours. Permanent exhibitions inadequately convey deeper cultural values, and technology-assisted displays receive limited attention. 3) Tourist experiences are predominantly positive. Negative emotions mainly stem from dissatisfaction with ancillary services and the inconsistent quality of guided tours, suggesting a direct relationship between service provision and emotional tendencies. Finally, targeted measures and recommendations are proposed to enhance tourists’ cultural experience at the museum.
Under the background of ongoing tourismization in traditional villages, the protection of the authenticity and the living transmission of intangible cultural heritage (ICH) face persistent and multifaceted challenges. Traditional village residents, as the core agents of living ICH transmission, play a critical role in sustaining the vitality of cultural heritage, and their emotional attachments to local heritage are of great significance for the sustainable development of ICH. In response, this study constructs an analytical framework of “ICH resilience–emotional hierarchy” for traditional village residents, and establishes a three-dimensional measurement system that encompasses resistance, adaptability, and innovativeness. Taking Huangdu Dong Ethnic Culture Village as a case study, the research systematically analyzes the characteristics of residents’ emotional resilience. The empirical findings are as follows:1) The overall level of ICH emotional resilience among Huangdu Village residents is assessed as relatively high, although substantial intra-community heterogeneity and significant inter-individual disparities are evident across the village’s socio-spatial fabric. 2) A distinct gradient hierarchy structures residents’ ICH emotions: Instinctive Emotion, demonstrates the greatest intensity, followed by Behavioral Emotion manifested in routine cultural practice, whereas Reflective Emotion, tied to conscious critical appraisal, remains comparatively underdeveloped. 3) Among the three resilience dimensions, Innovation Emotion, which signals adaptive capacity and creative agency within tourism settings, exhibits the highest intensity, succeeded by Adaptation Emotion, while Resistance Emotion, the protective sentiment against external disruption, emerges as the most fragile and vulnerable dimension.4) Furthermore, group-based differences in ICH emotional resilience are pronounced, exhibiting significant correlations with socio-demographic attributes and place-based relational factors, notably occupation, age cohort, and the depth of kinship and territorial rootedness. The analysis of the driving mechanism indicates that the evolution of ICH emotional resilience of Huangdu Village residents is essentially a product of the reconstruction of rural human-land relationships, and a continuous process of adaptation between the residents and the village space, as well as the ICH culture.By foregrounding the emotional geographies and affective interactions of residents within heritage landscapes, this study contributes a nuanced, resident-centered emotional evidence base essential for ICH conservation and transmission policies. Moreover, it provides critical insights and actionable references for implementing emotional governance strategies and fostering socially sustainable planning practices in the context of tourism development within traditional village environments.
Situated at the intersection of Geography of Art and the anthropology of painting, this study explores the dynamic development and cultural logic of Shuicheng peasant paintings in Guizhou, focusing on local inscription, landscape storytelling, and the reproduction of cultural space. This article based on the deep interview and participatory observations, it analyzes how Shuicheng peasant painting constructs place sense, reconstitutes aesthetic values and turns cultural meanings to economic capital under modernization and marketization pressure through the analysis of drawing and visual symbol, and finds that, first, Shuicheng peasant paintings mainly depict local life, ethnic customs and agricultural labor, condensing the characteristics of regional into special flat and symbolically visual form. Second, by using stylization of colors and composition of pictures, Shuicheng peasant paintings strengthen rural memories and local identifications, build an ideal image of home and thus express a sense of place, and show emotional attachment. Third, the creation of Shuicheng peasant paintings is influenced by the interplay of personal emotions, the market and dominant ideologies, reflecting the network of power relations among the artists, the policymakers and market intermediaries. Fourth, in the context of commodification, the cultural symbols of Shuicheng peasant paintings are also converted into economic value, promoting the development of local cultural industries, but also leading to the tension between artistic originality and commercial adaptation. It argues that Shuicheng peasant paintings are not merely a picture copy of the rural landscape and the folk life, but a culture area where emotion, memory and social interaction coexist. It is theoretically, extending the analytical framework of art geography by incorporating sense of place and production of space, showing how art practices participate in the reconstitution of local identity and the creation of cultural capital. In terms of empirical example, the Shuicheng case shows how vernacular art operates as a repository of cultural memory and a medium of local self-expression under a globalized situation. In sum, Shuicheng peasant paintings are an example of the spatial logic of contemporary Chinese rural art: They make lived experiences into visual stories of place-making, negotiate local-rootedness and external-consumption, and contribute to rearticulating regional identity in a changing cultural landscape. This study provides new insights on the spatial production and cultural-geographic meanings of vernacular art, enriching the understanding of the localization and globalization of Chinese rural creativity.
Village public space serves as a key window for understanding Manchu villages and is a crucial topic in the study of minority villages. This paper takes 99 Manchu villages with Manchu ethnic culture in Shuangcheng District, Harbin City as the research objects, and comprehensively employs methods such as GIS kernel density analysis and social network analysis to systematically explore the distribution characteristics and influencing factors of their village public spaces. The research findings are as follows: 1) From 1985 to 2025, the public spaces in Manchu villages in Shuangcheng District show a significant agglomeration distribution, mainly concentrated in Manchu towns such as Tongxin Manchu Township etc., forming a spatial pattern of “large aggregation and small dispersion”, which is highly consistent with the administrative affiliation of Manchu villages; 2) The spatial network structure shows type differences, of which organizational nodes have both administrative and cultural functions, while living, leisure and production spaces respectively embody practical connections, cultural cohesion and industrial orientation characteristics, clearly distinguishing them from non-Manchu villages; 3) The spatial distribution pattern is driven by both internal and external factors, with village environment, user structure, Manchu cultural elements, as well as policy guidance and cultural tourism playing a role together, among which the inheritance of Jingqi culture, modern policies and cultural tourism economy are the core driving forces; 4) The spatial layout integrates the historical genes of the Qing Dynasty’s Eight Banners system with the modern administrative and economic system, forming an evolution feature of the interweaving of traditional remnants and modern functions. This study constructs a framework for analyzing the public spaces of Manchu villages, aiming to provide empirical evidence and model references for the dynamic inheritance of Manchu culture, rural cultural revitalization and village space optimization.
Village industrial land is an important support for the development of new rural industries and new formats in the new era, and it is of great significance to promote the revitalization of rural industries. This study analyzes the spatial characteristics of China’s village industrial land use in 2020 by using the land change survey data based on the Third National Land Survey, and examines the driving mechanism of village industrial land use changes at different spatial scales by using the Geodetector model. The results show: 1) The average scale of village industrial land in counties is 821.47 hm2, and the per capita village industrial land is 43.52 m2/person, both of which have a significant positive correlation in spatial distribution. 2) At the regional level, the scale of village industrial land in the eastern region is significantly higher than in other regions, and both the Northeast and Eastern regions have a per capita village industrial land scale exceeding 60 m2/person. The Theil index indicates that the differences within the four major regions dominate the formation of national differences. At the provincial level, only Hebei and Shandong have industrial land scales exceeding 2×105hm2, and Qinghai has the largest internal differences in village industrial land. 3) At the national level, rural permanent population, topographic relief and rural per capita disposable income factor have a greater driving force on the scale of village industrial land. At the regional level, urbanization rate, topographic relief and rural per capita disposable income have a greater impact on the scale of village industrial land in the western region, while other regions are mainly affected by rural resident population, topographic relief, and cultivated land area. The interactive detection shows that the scale of village industrial land in various regions is also affected by multiple factors, but there are heterogeneity characteristics. Focusing on the needs of rural industrial revitalization in the new era, this study analyzes the characteristics and trends of rural development in various regions, and puts forward policy suggestions to promote the integration of village industrial land and intensive and economical utilization.
Realizing the benign interaction between urban-rural integrated development and rural human settlements is the inevitable path to further promote the all-round revitalization of rural areas. By constructing a coupling coordination mechanism framework for urban-rural integrated development and rural human settlements, this study empirically analyzes the coupling coordination characteristics and spatial linkages of urban-rural integrated development and rural human settlements in 31 Chinese provinces from 2011 to 2021, using the coupling coordination model, spatial gravity model, and social network analysis. The results show that: 1) During the study period, the comprehensive levels of urban-rural integrated development and rural human settlements in China both exhibited an upward trend, presenting a stepped spatial distribution pattern of “high in the eastern and central regions and low in the western region”. 2) The temporal evolution of their coupling coordination level experienced a process of initial decline followed by recovery, with significant regional polarization. Spatial agglomeration characteristics emerged: eastern, central and southern China tended toward high-quality coordination; northeast and north China toward basic coordination; and southwest and northwest China toward maladjusted development. 3) The internal differences in the spatial linkage network of their coupling coordination have been increasing, accompanied by growing disequilibrium and a “Matthew effect”. Spatially, strong linkage potential zones agglomerated in a “pocket shape” along the southeast coast, while western regions such as Xinjiang, Ningxia and Qinghai remained long-term low-value zones of linkage potential, showing a certain degree of low-value solidification. Spatial correlation featured “reliance on proximity and avoidance of distant neighbors”. 4) In terms of spatial network structure, the coupling coordination of the two systems has formed relatively stable network linkages, yet the network structure is relatively loose and its compactness needs to be improved. Provinces in eastern and central China exert strong spatial spillover and intermediary effects in the linkage network, whereas provinces in southwest and northwest China are in a dominated position.
Based on the questionnaire survey data of older adults and residents’ committees in 21 dilapidated communities (out of 30 sampled communities) in Guangzhou in 2023 and multi-source geospatial data, this paper examines to what extent and how the small-scale renovation of dilapidated communities influences older adults’ community participation, using propensity score matching and multilevel mediation effect with structural equation modeling. The results indicated that, the accessibility of facilities (i.e., cultural and sport facilities, old-age care service facilities, and community centers) exerted a significant positive direct effect on older adults’ community participation. Besides, community green space ratio and green view index contributed to a higher level of community participation of older adults by fostering a stronger sense of belonging. When comparing renovated and unrenovated communities, results showed that the small-scale renovation significantly improved older adults’ community participation. Compared with the unrenovated communities, multiple built environment characteristics in the renovated communities encouraged older adults’ community participation through improving a sense of belonging and community cohesion. For unrenovated communities, the mediating effects of individual agency (i.e., individual participation capacity and participation consciousness) were more prominent. In addition, in renovated communities, community information exchange efficacy exhibited a significant and sustained positive impact on older adults’ community participation. Furthermore, this study indicates that apart from built environment renovation, small-scale renovation in dilapidated communities also contributed to older adults’ stronger capacities of information exchange and interaction, and thereby improved their community participation and social equality. This research provides valuable insights for promoting the healthy aging initiatives in China, as well as the scientific and long-term renewal and governance of dilapidated communities.
Against the backdrop of continuous urban expansion and the accelerating evolution of internal spatial structures, urban regeneration has emerged as a crucial initiative to promoting high-quality urban development in China. With the in-depth advancement of urbanization, the contradiction between the rigid demand for urban space expansion and the shortage of stock space has become increasingly prominent, which makes urban regeneration an important way to tap the potential of urban stock space, optimize urban functional layout, and promote urban sustainable development. As a significant form of urban spatial organization, the polycentric spatial structure, which is characterized by the coexistence of multiple core areas and rational division of labor among them, has gradually become the mainstream direction of urban spatial planning in many cities. Therefore, exploring the impact of polycentric spatial structure on urban regeneration and its underlying mechanisms not only is of great theoretical significance for enriching the research system of urban spatial structure and urban regeneration, but also has important practical value for guiding cities to formulate scientific spatial planning and urban renewal strategies. Utilizing panel data from 281 cities at the prefecture level and above in China from 2011 to 2023, this study empirically examines the relationship and underlying mechanisms between polycentric spatial structure and urban regeneration. In the research process, we first construct a comprehensive evaluation index system for polycentric spatial structure and urban regeneration, measuring the level of polycentric spatial structure and the intensity of urban regeneration in each city. Then, we adopt panel data regression models to control individual fixed effects and time fixed effects, so as to enhance the robustness and reliability of the empirical results. In addition, we also conduct endogeneity tests and robustness tests through instrumental variable methods and substitution of core explanatory variables to ensure the credibility of the research conclusions. 1) There exists a U-shaped relationship between polycentric spatial structure and urban regeneration. 2) Mechanism analysis reveals that market integration serves as an intermediary in the impact of polycentric spatial structure on urban regeneration. 3) Heterogeneity analysis further uncovers that this U-shaped relationship is more pronounced in coastal cities and larger cities, as well as in non-old industrial cities and non-resource-based cities. Based on these conclusions, the paper proposes the following recommendations: cities should optimize polycentric spatial planning to enhance the quality and efficiency of urban regeneration, improve mechanisms for market integration, and implement differentiated governance strategies. These measures aim to foster the synergistic advancement of polycentric spatial structure and urban regeneration, ultimately contributing to the achievement of high-quality urban development goals.
A precise comprehension of the spatiotemporal evolutionary regularities and integrated paradigms inherent in population structure serves as a pivotal cornerstone for the formulation of urban development strategies and comprehensive spatial planning frameworks. Existing studies rarely identify the comprehensive populated mode of megametropolitan areas from a multi-dimensional population perspective based on a micro scale. Therefore, based on the data of multiple population types from 2010 to 2020, this study adopts methods such as spatial analysis and composite index methods to conduct research on the spatiotemporal evolution characteristics and the comprehensive populated mode in Beijing. The research shows that:1) Beijing has formed three new types of circular zones, including the outflow areas of young migrant populations, the inflow areas of young highly educated people, and the areas where the aging population is increasing with the inflow of the elderly and the outflow of the young. 2) The first area is concentrated within the urban area, which is mainly attributed to the transformation and rational layout of regional industries. 3) The second area is concentrated in the suburban areas and shows a circular distribution pattern. Taking industrial transfer and improving the construction of high-quality public service facilities is an effective way to guide the targeted flow of young highly educated people. 4) The third area is concentrated in the far suburban areas and has the characteristic of clustered distribution. There are obvious weaknesses in the regional industrial structure and economic benefits, but these areas possess unique ecological environmental conditions that bring excellent suitability for the elderly. This article helps to deepen the understanding of the spatial distribution patterns and evolutionary models of population structure in megacities. The study confirms that the population distribution in megacities has gradually shifted from a stage of central agglomeration to a stage of suburban decentralization. Meanwhile, through a multi-dimensional analysis, this research identifies the integrated model of spatial evolution in population structure, offering a more comprehensive perspective for examining the spatial distribution of urban population structure. Furthermore, the findings contribute to exploring the formation mechanisms underlying the spatial evolution of population in megacities. The research outcomes are poised to afford a robust scientific underpinning for guiding the rational demographic distribution and for selecting contextually high-quality urban spatial development paradigms that are commensurate with local geographical, socioeconomic, and ecological contexts.
Based on survey data collected in the Donghu High-Tech Zone of Wuhan, this study constructs a structural equation model with residential and workplace built environments as well as social networks as core explanatory variables, aiming to examine their impacts on migrants’ behavioral adaptation and psychological integration. It also explores heterogeneity across population subgroups. The findings reveal: 1) The overall urban integration among the surveyed migrants is moderately high, with behavioral adaptation exceeding psychological integration; female and older-generation migrants exhibit higher levels of integration. 2) Built environment characteristics such as residential leisure facility density and land-use mix significantly affect behavioral adaptation, while residential street betweenness and workplace building density influence psychological integration. 3) Both the size and structure of social networks in destination city significantly promote urban integration. Social networks also play a mediating role between the built environment and urban integration, with stronger mediation effects observed for psychological integration. 4) The effects of the built environment are more pronounced among female and older-generation migrants, highlighting the importance of differentiated spatial planning and social interventions. Policy recommendations include optimizing residential and workplace environments, enhancing functional zoning and transportation design in communities, facilitating migrants’ social capital accumulation, and adopting group-specific strategies to foster urban inclusiveness.
In this study, 115 resource-based cities were selected as cases, and an evaluation index system of potential, correlation and resilience was constructed based on the adaptive cycle theory. On the basis of analyzing the spatio-temporal evolution characteristics of three-dimensional attributes, the evolution stages of resource-based cities were identified, and then the evolution characteristics of each stage were analyzed. The results show that: 1) The growth of potential, correlation and resilience of resource-based cities shows a phased evolution feature of “slow growth in the early stage and rapid growth in the later stage”. But there are significant differences in spatial distribution; Among them, the spatial dispersion of potential is obvious, the correlation shows a decreasing trend from the southeast coast to the northwest inland, and the resilience shows a spatial agglomeration characteristic of “coastal and river”. 2) Under the comprehensive action of internal and external factors, the development and evolution of resource-based cities are in the stages of exploitation-conservation, conservation-release, release-reorganization in the adaptive cycle. The cities in exploitation-conservation stage are mainly growth-oriented and mature ones, mainly located in energy rich areas, such as Shanxi, Gansu and Inner Mongolia. The cities in conservation-release stage are mainly declining ones, concentrated in the old industrial base of northeast China. The cities in release-reorganization stage cover all types and are mainly distributed in the eastern part of the Hu-Huanyong Line. 3) The different stages correspond to different development and evolution characteristics.The cities in the exploitation-consrvation stage have obvious path dependence and extension characteristics, and their potential, correlation and resilience are on the rise; In the process of development, problems such as economic recession, environmental deterioration and population contraction occur in the exploitation-release stage, and the three-dimensional attribute value of the cities is in a declining trend. In the release-reorganization stage, the cities realize the renewal and reorganization of the elements, forming a new development path, and its three-dimensional attribute value recovers after the decline.
In response to the current bottlenecks in China’s territorial space planning in dealing with extreme flood events, such as lagging response, incomplete control systems, and insufficient land guarantee for disaster prevention, this paper aims to explore the optimization path of comprehensive disaster prevention planning. Taking the Hetao Area in Shenzhen as the object, by sorting out the transmission relationship of disaster prevention planning at all levels of territorial space, it is proposed to integrate the “high-risk disaster avoidance zone” into the “three zones and three lines” control system. The study utilized the data from the first national comprehensive risk census of natural disasters to assess the flood risk in the Hetao area. The study precisely identified the high-risk points within the Hetao area and constructed an optimized disaster prevention design plan from four dimensions: spatial resilience, infrastructure fortification, land composite utilization, and multi-level sponge systems. Specifically, this multi-dimensional approach effectively tackles the scarcity of disaster-prevention land by transforming rigid, single-use urban spaces into flexible safety buffers. It shifts the traditional passive response model into a proactive spatial intervention.This optimization strategy achieves a deep coupling of disaster risk control and the spatial planning base map, significantly enhancing the comprehensive resilience of high-density urban areas in response to super-standard floods, providing a scientific empirical reference for disaster prevention and mitigation planning in similar regions in China.
Based on county-level data in China from 2000 to 2020, this study employs the coupling coordination degree model to measure the level of coordination of pollution reduction and carbon reduction and examines its regional differences and spatiotemporal evolution. Using the STIRPAT model, panel quantile regression is further applied to quantify the differentiated and dynamic impacts of socioeconomic and natural factors on the coordination of pollution reduction and carbon reduction at the county level. The results show that during the study period, the level of coordination of pollution reduction and carbon reduction in Chinese counties exhibited a continuous decline, and regional disparities expanded over time. The coordination level shows significant spatial autocorrelation across counties. High-high spatial agglomerations display a contiguous distribution pattern, whereas low-low spatial agglomerations are relatively few in number and exhibit a scattered distribution pattern. Population size, per capita GDP, and industrial value added exert inhibitory effects on the coordination of pollution reduction and carbon reduction, whereas fiscal revenue, patent applications, and the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) exert significant positive effects on the coordination of pollution reduction and carbon reduction. The coordination level exhibits a U-shaped nonlinear relationship with economic development. Fiscal revenue in counties with low and medium coordination levels improves the coordination of pollution reduction and carbon reduction. The effects of the influencing factors on the coordination of pollution reduction and carbon reduction exhibit spatial heterogeneity. Population size shows a negative correlation with the coordination of pollution reduction and carbon reduction in most counties. Vegetation coverage plays a significant role in promoting the coordination of pollution reduction and carbon reduction in north China and east China. Regions with higher ventilation coefficient (VC) facilitate the diffusion of pollutants; however, the effect remains limited in northwestern China.
The fragmentation degree of the coastline is an important indicator characterizing the continuity of the natural coastline and the intensive utilization degree of the artificial coastline, which is of great significance for realizing the protection and restoration, intensive utilization, and comprehensive management of the coastline. Based on the Landsat series of remote sensing images, this study extracted the continental coastline of Shandong Province from 1984 to 2020, and constructed a coastline fragmentation index based on the landscape fragmentation degree and the coastline diversity index to conduct an analysis of the scale effect and spatio-temporal evolution characteristics of the fragmentation degree of the continental coastline of Shandong Province from 1984 to 2020. Finally, the correlation characteristics between the coastline fragmentation degree and the artificialization rate of the coastline were analyzed. The research shows that: 1) There is an exponential relationship between the continental coastline of Shandong Province and the observed scale, and 5 km is an ideal scale to study the fragmentation characteristics of the continental coastline of Shandong Province. 2) In the past 36 years, the fragmentation degree of the continental coastline in Shandong Province fluctuated between
Permafrost covers approximately 20%-25% of the global land surface, playing a critical role in hydrological regulation and geomorphic stability in high-latitude regions, while storing nearly half of the world’s soil organic carbon. Climate warming and fire disturbances are the primary drivers of permafrost degradation in the Northern Hemisphere, leading to the release of organic carbon sequestered in frozen soils into the atmosphere, creating a positive feedback loop that exacerbates global warming. Moreover, temperature increases in high-latitude regions significantly outpace those in other parts of the Northern Hemisphere, further intensifying permafrost degradation. Formation and expansion of thermokarst lakes and ponds (TLP) are among the most direct indicators of permafrost degradation. The evolutionary lifecycle of TLP typically encompasses four main stages: formation, expansion, stabilization, and decline. Their evolution is influenced by multiple factors, including permafrost type, vegetation characteristics, and atmospheric temperature changes, resulting in distinct evolutionary patterns across different regions. With the accelerating trend of climate warming in high-latitude areas, coupled with frequent wildfires in boreal forests and potential ecosystem shifts due to permafrost degradation, there is an urgent need to clarify the short-term and long-term impacts of global climate warming and fire disturbances on the formation and evolution of TLP. The northern part of the Da Hinggan Mountains, located at the southern margin of the Eurasian permafrost zone, is China’s only mid-to-high latitude permafrost region. In recent decades, permafrost degradation in this area has significantly intensified due to climate warming, wildfires, and human activities. This study focuses on the “May 6” catastrophic forest fire in the northern part of Heilongjiang Province’s Da Hinggan Mountains, one of the largest wildfires in modern Chinese history. Using remote sensing imagery, TLP were extracted from both the burned area and an adjacent unburned area of equal size, and their spatiotemporal changes were analyzed. The evolutionary processes of TLP in the Da Hinggan Mountains were also examined. The results indicate that: 1) Fire disturbances accelerate the formation and expansion of TLP, with effects encompassing both short-term pulse impacts and long-term cumulative impacts. 2) Under the combined influence of climate warming and wildfires, the area of TLP in the permafrost region of the Da Hinggan Mountains has significantly increased over the past 36 years. However, due to the short-term pulse effect, small and medium-sized TLP in the burned area expanded rapidly within four years post-fire, while the annual change rate in the unburned area remained relatively stable. Additionally, due to the long-term cumulative effects of fire disturbances, the expansion of TLP in the burned area significantly exceeds that in the unburned area. The primary characteristic of TLP changes in both areas is the expansion of small TLP, with medium-sized TLP exhibiting the strongest response to fire disturbances. 3) Unlike evolutionary mechanisms of TLP in continuous permafrost zones of the Arctic hinterland, the decline of TLP in the Da Hinggan Mountains is primarily driven by drainage and sediment accumulation. Consequently, lifecycle of TLP in this region, from formation to disappearance, is relatively short, exhibiting rapid evolutionary dynamics. This study elucidates characteristics of TLP changes and influence of wildfire disturbances on TLP at the southern margin of permafrost regions, providing a novel perspective for understanding permafrost degradation in China.
Based on firm-level and industrial chain perspectives, this study employs methods such as standard deviational ellipse and QAP regression analysis to examine the spatiotemporal patterns, industry structure, and influencing factors of global shipping company mergers and acquisitions from 1997 to 2024. The results indicate that: 1) Global shipping M&A events are concentrated in Europe, East and Southeast Asia, Central America, and North America, with significant yearly fluctuations in their number. 2) Both acquirers and targets exhibit a clear “northwest-southeast” orientation in their standard deviational ellipses, with their centers of distribution shifting continuously southeastward, though the spatial pattern of targets changes more gradually. 3) The industrial structure of global shipping M&A continues to adjust, showing an extension and integration trend along the shipping industrial chain. Freight and passenger shipping segments display distinct structural characteristics in M&A activities. 4) M&As are more likely to occur between countries and regions that are geographically proximate, linguistically similar, economically close, and have comparable shipping network connectivity, yet exhibit significant disparities in shipping scale and external dependence. Furthermore, the shipping M&A network demonstrates notable investment inertia and path dependence.
In the context of globalization and the ensuing wave of cross-border migration, the birthplace diversity of high-skilled talents in destination countries (regions) has increasingly become a critical external driver of knowledge recombination. However, existing literature primarily focuses on the direct effects of talent mobility or the absolute scale of immigrants, largely neglecting the relationship between the birthplace diversity of immigrants and the host country’s breakthrough technological innovation. Moreover, there is a lack of deep exploration into the complex mechanisms and internal structural features underlying this diversity variable. Based on the OECD REGPAT database and global high-skilled bilateral migration data, this paper systematically reveals the spatial distribution and evolutionary trends of talent birthplace diversity and breakthrough innovation. Utilizing a cross-national panel dataset, we empirically examine the impact of high-skilled talent birthplace diversity on the accumulation of breakthrough innovation in destination countries, addressing potential endogeneity through a Two-Stage Least Squares (2SLS) approach with an instrumental variable based on the gravity model. The findings include: 1) The global spatial patterns of breakthrough innovation and international high-skilled talent flows have evolved significantly, showing a strongly interrelated trend. 2) The birthplace diversity of high-skilled talents significantly promotes breakthrough technological innovation in destination countries. Diverse talent pools facilitate this by introducing heterogeneous knowledge, broadening the local knowledge base, and fostering a vibrant innovative atmosphere. 3) The knowledge proximity among source countries exerts a crucial non-linear moderating effect on the relationship between talent diversity and breakthrough innovation. Specifically, the innovation premium of diversity reaches its peak at a moderate level of knowledge proximity. This helps explain the mixed results in existing diversity studies: excessive knowledge proximity leads to information redundancy, while excessively low proximity escalates cross-group communication barriers and trust costs, thereby weakening the knowledge combination effect. This study confirms the positive role of talent birthplace diversity on breakthrough innovation and innovatively supplements the evaluation of diversity’s internal structure through the lens of knowledge proximity. It provides significant policy implications for countries—especially emerging economies seeking technological catch-up—suggesting a shift from merely focusing on talent scale to optimizing the “structural complementarity” of imported talents, and cultivating an inclusive “diverse integration” ecosystem to minimize cultural barriers and avoid knowledge enclaves.
Photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) is a crucial climatic factor determining vegetation photosynthetic efficiency and plays a key role in forest productivity and the terrestrial carbon cycle, directly influencing carbon assimilation processes. However, the relatively short duration of instrumental observations limits our understanding of its long-term variability, especially in mountainous regions where observational records are scarce. The Shennongjia region, designated as a UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Programme reserve, hosts unique mountain ecosystems, where variations in PAR not only directly influence local ecological processes but also reflect the long-term impacts of climate change on montane ecosystems. In this study, we developed tree-ring chronologies of ring width (RW), earlywood blue intensity (EWBI), latewood blue intensity (LWBI), and delta blue intensity (DBI) from Abies fargesii in the Shennongjia region. These chronologies were combined with monthly mean precipitation, air temperature, cloud cover, and PAR data spanning 1984—2024 to examine the relationships between tree-ring parameters and climate variables for individual months and all possible combinations of consecutive months from September of the previous year to October of the growing season year, allowing the assessment of both lagged and cumulative climatic effects. The results indicate that delta blue intensity exhibits a significant positive correlation with PAR in August of the current year (r=0.77, P<0.01), suggesting a strong sensitivity of DBI to radiation variability during the late growing season. Based on this relationship, a regression model was developed to reconstruct PAR variability for the period 1812—2024. The reconstructed series explains 58.85% of the variance in the adjusted remotely sensed PAR data (adjusted R2), indicating a reliable reconstruction with good predictive skill. During the reliable period 1904—2024, PAR shows pronounced interannual variability, while no statistically significant long-term trend was detected (P>0.05). This study represents the first application of delta blue intensity for PAR reconstruction, demonstrating its strong potential for investigating long-term variations in radiation-related climatic variables. The findings provide new insights into ecosystem productivity changes in the Shennongjia region and offer a useful reference for similar mountainous environments.
In order to provide data support for the effective protection and rational development and utilization of rare and endangered protected plants in Xinjiang. The list of rare and endangered protected plants in Xinjiang was determined through data query and specimen retrieval, and the species diversity and geographical distribution pattern were analyzed. The distribution hotspots of rare and endangered protected plants in Xinjiang were determined by screening algorithm. The results show that: 1) There are a total of 294 species of rare and endangered protected plants in Xinjiang, belonging to 58 families and 151 genera. Among them 1 species of algae from 1 family and 1 genus, 1 species of fungi from 1 family and 1 genus, 4 species of lycopods and ferns from 4 families and 4 genera, 12 species of gymnosperms from 3 familiesand 5 genera, 276 species of angiosperms from 49 families and 140 genera. 2) The distribution of rare and endangered protected plants in Xinjiang is highly uneven, with significantly higher richness in northern Xinjiang than in southern Xinjiang. The Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture has the highest richness. 3) The vertical distribution of rare and endangered protected plantsranges from −100 to
