Since its inception, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has garnered widespread international attention. Its vision of green development aligns with the theme of global sustainability, but has been long attacked by the Western public opinion. The study of Western public opinion's discourse construction of the Green BRI could help advance its construction, uphold China's national environmental image, and bolster China's international discourse influence. Based on LDA and Word2vec models, this research conducts comprehensive examination of the Western media reports on BRI under the issues of resources, environment, and ecology since 2013 by means of text analysis. The spatio-temporal evolutionary characteristics of report topics are investigated, and the mechanism of discourse construction and the geopolitical motivations behind Western public opinion are revealed. The study finds that: (1) Western media's engagement with the Green BRI could be categorized into three periods, namely, the observing period (2013-2016), the developing period (2017-2021), and the silent period (from 2022 to the present). (2) The primary concerns of Western media revolved around the negative impacts of fossil fuels on the aspects of resource depletion, environmental pollution, and ecological degradation; the transition process, trade activities, and investment dynamics of clean energy, as well as the international environmental cooperation and energy competition. The multifaceted interactions between infrastructure development and wildlife conservation were also prominent topics. (3) Western media reports displayed spatially differential characteristics, suggesting varying levels of engagement and prioritization. The UK and the US were widely concerned over global environmental issues, while paying great attention to their own state interests and China's negative environmental performance. France and Germany avoided associating their own affairs with the Green BRI, Canada and Australia almost exclusively concentrated on their self-interests, and New Zealand exhibited relatively low enthusiasm for reporting. (4) In order to maintain the consistency of their national roles, Western countries employed public opinion tactics to construct discursive narratives around the Green BRI, which were ideological, grand narrative-driven, demonizing, and romanticizing. The national public opinion roles of countries were not only shaped by their interests and positions as "the Self", but also influenced by the expectations of other countries as "the Other".

With the increasingly severe global energy crisis, countries are working together to control carbon emissions and develop low-carbon economies. In this context, the new energy vehicle industry has entered a stage of rapid growth. However, how to analyze the interaction between the new energy vehicle production network and local regions has become one of the key issues of academic attention. This article selects BYD, a benchmark enterprise for new energy vehicles in China, and focuses on the strategic coupling mode and driving mechanism between BYD's production network and typical regions by organizing its domestic core suppliers for new energy vehicles in 2022. The study shows that: (1) The overall production layout of different production system components in China has formed a spatial pattern with the Pearl River Delta, Yangtze River Delta, and Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region as the cores. Specifically, the production network of batteries and electric drive systems has the largest scale and high degree of agglomeration, while the clustering degree of body and chassis accessories is the lowest, and the high-frequency connections of the production network are mainly concentrated between cities in the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta. (2) In the process of interaction between production networks and regional development, due to the influence of regional location advantages and enterprise spatial stickiness, a differentiated coupling mode has emerged, mainly manifested as the coexistence of dependent coupling, reciprocal coupling, and absorption coupling. (3) The interactive relationship channel between local production networks and regional development constructed based on "network characteristics-strategic coupling-regional interaction" promotes the transformation of enterprise production from field related space to value related space, providing practical support for the localization of strategic coupling theory in China. This article attempts to divide the production system of new energy vehicles into intelligent electronic and electrical systems, battery and electric drive systems, thermal management systems, and vehicle chassis decoration systems. Based on typical cases, it analyzes the strategic coupling mode and mechanism. On the one hand, it provides practical support for the localization plan of strategic coupling through theoretical construction and deduction, and on the other hand, it provides empirical support for analyzing the interactive relationship between the production network and regional development of domestic leading enterprises in China.

The regionalization of international trade in low-carbon technology products essentially creates a new border for the dissemination of low-carbon technologies, and leads to the uncertainty in each country′s efforts to reduce carbon emissions. Regionalization results either from differences in terms of trade (the clustering of trading countries) or from geopolitical and geo-economic relations (the emergence of trading blocs). The purpose of this study is to examine whether regionalization hinders the impact of international trade in low-carbon technology products on carbon reduction. It also compares the likely difference between trade clusters and trade blocs. Based on the data of international trade in low-carbon technology products from 2001 to 2019, the study utilizes social network analysis to explore the characteristics of trade clustering, and explores whether the event that APEC promoted the liberalization of trade in low-carbon technology products in 2012 has different impacts on countries inside and outside the trade bloc. On this basis, the grouped regression and difference-in-difference model are applied to examine the emission reduction effect of trade clusters and trade blocs, respectively. The empirical results show that: (1) The clustering of trading countries promotes the diffusion of low-carbon technology products from the cores to their neighboring countries in a hierarchical manner. In contrast, the trade bloc widens the gap between countries inside and outside the bloc by strengthening the trade links among countries within the bloc. (2) The clustering of trading countries does not lead to the significant gap in carbon reduction between countries inside and outside the bloc. However, the trade bloc exacerbates the imbalances between countries inside and outside, while improving the emission efficiency of countries inside. (3) Countries can respond to the inequality risk in environmental benefits brought by trade regionalization via increasing the level of domestic environmental regulation. According to these findings, countries should pay more attention to strengthening their comparative advantages, reducing the risk of peripherization, and coordinating their domestic and international policies, when responding to the transition of economic globalization and participating in global environmental governance. China should prepare for the making of the environmental goods lists, international standards, and new trade partnership.

The Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis is a representative theoretical framework that explores the intricate relationship between economic development and environmental quality. Despite its significance, existing literature has often neglected to explore the shape and mechanisms of the Environmental Kuznets Curve from a micro-consumption perspective. This study seeks to address this gap by investigating the shape of the Environmental Kuznets Curve within Zhejiang province, based the data derived from the Resident Carbon Footprint Survey. In addition to analyzing shape of the Environmental Kuznets Curve, this paper expands upon the theory of income elasticity of demand for environmental quality by incorporating two mediating variables: developmental lifestyle and green lifestyle. This approach facilitates an examination of how variations in income levels influence residents' carbon footprints. This paper reveals the following: (1) From the micro-consumption perspective, no "inverted U-shaped" Environmental Kuznets Curve has been observed between residents' income and their carbon footprints in Zhejiang province. Instead, a significant positive relationship is identified,wherein residents' carbon footprints increase as income rises. (2) Income growth increases residents' carbon footprints by promoting the adoption of developmental lifestyle, which aimed at enhancing quality of life and enriching oneself through an expansion of consumer categories and an upgrade of consumption structures in daily. (3) While green lifestyle, which aimed to reduce resource consumption and pollution through forming a preference for low-carbon products and cultivating habits of resource conservation, effectively reduces residents' carbon footprints, income growth does not lead to a reduction in carbon footprints through the promotion of green lifestyle. The findings suggest that income growth does not inherently foster the adoption of green lifestyle; rather, individuals who adopt green lifestyle often do so based on factors beyond mere economic considerations. (4) Environmental perception, environmental attitudes, and environmental knowledge significantly facilitate the adoption of green lifestyles among residents. Residents who perceive higher environmental quality, hold more positive attitudes toward environmental protection, and possess greater environmental knowledge reserves are more likely to embrace a green lifestyle. This study serves as a complement to the empirical research on the micro-consumption perspective of the Environmental Kuznets Curve, expanding and verifying the theory of income elasticity of demand for environmental quality, and providing policy insights for achieving the "dual carbon" goals.

The synergy of reduction of pollution and carbon emissions (RPCE) is a key strategic mission of China during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) period, and technological innovation is a key driving force to promote the synergy of RPCE. However, the majority of previous research has analyzed pollution reduction and carbon emissions reduction as two distinct issues, rarely integrating them into a unified framework for comprehensive consideration. In particular, there is a need for further investigation into the spatio-temporal synergies between pollution reduction and carbon emissions, as well as the driving effects of technological innovation. Based on the panel data of 108 cities above prefecture level in the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) from 2003 to 2019, the spatio-temporal evolution characteristics of urban RPCE and the driving effect of technological innovation were explored. The results show that: (1) The level of RPCE in the YREB shows a "U"-shaped pattern from 2003 to 2019, and 2011 is a key inflection point; However, the specific time of inflection points in the upper, middle and lower reaches is different. After a brief descend, the level of RPCE in the lower reaches rose continuously after 2007, while the middle and upper reaches only entered a stable rising stage after 2013. (2) During the study period, there is no consistent change trend between pollution reduction and carbon reduction, among which the per capita industrial wastewater discharge, per capita industrial SO₂ discharge and PM_2.5 show a trend of first rising and then falling, while the per capita CO₂ emissions still maintain a fluctuating growth trend; (3) Technological innovation has significant local effect and spatial spillover effect on urban RPCE. Among them, there is an inverted "U"-shaped relationship between technological innovation and per capita industrial wastewater, per capita industrial SO₂, and per capita CO_2, which is significantly promoted first and then inhibited, while technological innovation only inhibits PM_2.5. Therefore, this paper suggested to improve the technological innovation capacity, especially the driving role of green technological innovation in RPCE, and at the same time, it is necessary to adjust measures to local conditions and strengthen the innovation synergy between cities in the YREB.

Urban agglomerations and metropolitan areas have become important spatial forms of urbanization and important carriers of regional economic development. In the context of regional integration and the construction and strengthening of urban networks, urban agglomerations and metropolitan areas have become spatial units of economic circulation and competition. This study combines the theoretical framework of metropolitan area integrated symbiotic network to explore the characteristics and effects of the internal network of metropolitan areas. The study shows that: (1) Both symbiotic nodes and networks have hierarchy, and there is a hierarchical differentiation between the central city and peripheral areas.Agglomeration nodes mainly appear in central cities, while in peripheral cities, there are two types: agglomeration and spillover. The districts and counties under the jurisdiction of the central city are mostly middle to high-level nodes, while low-level symbiotic nodes are mostly distributed in the peripheral areas of the metropolitan area. And the transformation of symbiotic node types and the ascent of levels are relatively difficult. (2) The development level of the integrated symbiotic network in the Hefei metropolitan area is relatively low, but it has hierarchical characteristics, namely the existence of three levels: core network, associated network, and peripheral network. The profit of these three levels of symbiotic networks gradually weaken in the integrated symbiotic network, and show a decreasing pattern from the center to the peripheral areas. (3) Symbiotic agglomeration and symbiotic spillover effects coexist in the integrated symbiotic network of metropolitan areas. The agglomeration effect of central cities is significant, widely siphoning surrounding resources in space. However, the symbiotic spillover effect has directionality, overflowing along the key development axis of metropolitan area integration. Although the symbiotic agglomeration effect is still dominant in central urban areas at present, there is a trend of the symbiotic agglomeration network transforming into the symbiotic spillover network. From the perspective of symbiotic network, this study fits in with the concept of "cooperation, symbiosis and multi-win" of metropolitan area integration, and constructs a new idea of regional integration and urban network research, with a view to providing reference for improving and balancing the development benefits of urban agglomerations and metropolitan areas under the high-quality development strategy.

Under the influence of globalization and informatization, express logistics network has become an important part of urban network. By using the directed and weighted data, this study constructed an urban express logistics network in the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB). On this basis, it used node symmetry, link symmetry, PageRank algorithm, Community Detection and other methods to explore the spatial structure characteristics of the urban express logistics network in the study area from the perspectives of urban link structure, urban node structure and urban community structure. In addition, exponential random graph model (ERGM) is used to explore the influence mechanism of urban express logistics network of the YREB. Results show that: (1) The urban express logistics network presents a multi-centralized and hierarchical network structure with Shanghai, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Chengdu, Chongqing, Nanjing, Wuhan, Jinhua and some other major cities as the core, and the closeness of express connections between cities in the downstream area is significantly greater than that in the midstream and upstream areas. (2) From the perspective of the direction of express flow, the cities in the upstream, midstream and downstream areas in the YREB are mainly the cities of inflow type, while the cities of balanced and outflow type are mainly distributed in the downstream area, and the express traffic among cities in the downstream is relatively symmetrical. (3) The spatial organization of urban express logistics in the YREB is affected by administrative boundaries and geographical proximity, and three communities are formed in the region that are basically coupled with the scope of the upstream, midstream and downstream areas. (4) According to the estimation results of ERGM, there is a reciprocal effect of express connections between the cities in the YREB. And the express connection between the cities in the study area is restricted by the geographical distance between cities. From the perspective of the receiver effect of city, the population size of city has a positive impact on the inflow of express delivery of city; From the perspective of the sender effect of city, the commodity supply capacity of city has a positive impact on the outflow of express delivery of city, and the existence of supply and demand between cities is the basic driving force for the formation of urban express logistics network.

Industrial chain modernization is the inherent requirement of building a modern industrial system and a major strategic deployment to promote Chinese modernization. Human capital agglomeration can affect industrial chain modernization, which is subject to the mediating effect of technological innovation and consumption demand, as well as the moderating effect of different types of talent policies. However, there is no empirical research on the impact mechanism of human capital agglomeration on industrial chain modernization. Based on the human capital theory and industrial economic theory, the author uses the provincial panel data of China from 2001 to 2022, and builds a multi-dimensional fixed effect model to test the impact of human capital agglomeration on industrial chain modernization and the mediating effect of technological innovation and consumption demand, as well as the moderating effect of different types of talent policies on the impact. The empirical results show that human capital agglomeration positively affects industrial chain modernization. Specifically, the human capital agglomeration increases by one unit that will promote industrial chain modernization by 0.091 units. Technological innovation and consumption demand play a mediating effect on the impact from supply and demand sides, respectively. Specifically, on the supply side, human capital agglomeration forms production effect through technological innovation, which pushes industrial chain to advanced and modern types of chains; On the demand side, human capital agglomeration forms consumption effect through consumption demand, which pulls industrial chain to advanced and modern. Different types of talent policies play a moderating effect on the impact respectively, of which the development policy has the largest moderating effect, the security policy follows, and the introduction policy has the least. Further research shows that the spatial lag effect of human capital agglomeration is an important factor affecting industrial chain modernization, and the effect has regional heterogeneity. In terms of the degree of impact, the spatial lag effect of human capital agglomeration has the greatest impact on the western region, followed by the central region and the eastern region. The research of this paper provides a new explanation from human capital agglomeration for understanding industrial chain modernization, expands the theoretical framework of the impact mechanism of human capital agglomeration on industrial chain modernization, and provides a theoretical basis for policymakers to better grasp the policy orientation of industrial development.

The differentiation and reconstruction of the local landscape should not only combine the individual demands of the humanist paradigm, but also place them in the specific places of "ancestral hall", "Chinese traditional village", and "social structure" to study the process and results of synergistic mechanism. Through the superposed analysis of structuralism and humanism, this study analyzes the visible reconstructing process and the invisible driving mechanism of the local landscape in a traditional village. The conclusion shows that the local landscape of Dangjia village is mainly reflected in geographical space, functional space, social space and consciousness space. The geographical space organically combines the villagers with the natural environment, which is a local landscape with physical environmental characteristics; The functional space shows the selection and adaptation of the environment in the development process of Dangjia village, which is a local landscape that connects the needs of survival; The social space reveals the gathering motives of different villager groups, which is a local landscape that interprets social relations; The consciousness space connects the relationship between the place identity of the villagers and the cultural landscape of the village, which is the local landscape that reflects the spiritual civilization. In these four spaces, the representation and reconstruction of local landscapes include both structuralism and humanism, and the combined vectors of the two mechanisms are interdependent and interconverted forming a cyclic superposition of "re-localization" and "de-localization, which jointly interprets the logical relationship of local landscape reconstruction. Among them, the structuralism mechanism of the local landscape in Dangjia village is derived from the exogenous forces carried by multiple participants including economic transformation, institutional policies, capital competition and class relations, which are all external-constructive mechanism. The humanist mechanism originates from the villagers' spontaneous participation in the construction of the landscape, including topology, topophobia, and power psychology, which are all internal-demand mechanism. This study aims to coherently response to three questions: for whom? why? and how the local landscape of Dangjia village was reconstructed? which has theoretical and practical significance, one is to provide new theoretical guidance for the study of rural settlement landscape, and the other is to provide a useful reference for the protection of the "cultural continuity and emotional sustenance" in traditional villages.

The study of rural innovation systems is a vital supplement to the theoretical research on innovation systems. Establishing a rural innovation system tailored to national conditions is an essential requirement for boosting the overall efficiency of the national innovation system. This paper, under the guidance of innovation system theory, refines and analyzes the connotations and characteristics of rural innovation systems and discusses their formation process and mechanisms. The research proposes that the rural innovation system is a complex socio-economic structure, developed through the collaborative efforts of various entities to drive multi-dimensional innovation in rural regions. Key features of the rural innovation system include regional specificity, complexity, a dual-process nature, multifunctionality, and cross-sectoral interactions. The evolution of the rural innovation system, from its inception, growth, to maturity, is influenced by a combination of factors from governmental, market, and societal sectors. This evolution reflects the integrated effects of quadruple helix mechanisms, vertical transmission processes, and horizontal coupling mechanisms. The rural innovation system is shaped by the interplay of various internal and external factors. Internal factors include geographical location, economic basis, resource and environment endowments, social capital, and human capital. External factors encompass macroeconomic environment, institutional arrangements, market demands, professional techniques, and government support. The general mechanism of village development involves local villagers as the main body, with rural elites as the core element. Based on a systematic insight into local resources, development willingness, market demand, government policy orientation, and external experiences, rural elites stimulate internal motivation and integrate external motivation. These actors jointly build collaborative organizations, learn for innovation, formulate development strategies, carry out division of labor, and participate in market competition, accelerating the optimization of local village's bio-physical, techno-economic, and institutional-social structures, leading to transitional development. In conclusion, the paper proposes strategies and recommendations for enhancing the rural innovation system. These include the establishment of a national framework for rural innovation, advancement of the modern agricultural innovation system, emphasis on institutional innovation benefits, and fortified integration of urban and rural innovation strategies. Future strategic research on rural innovation systems, from an international perspective, is envisioned to focus on scientifically assessing rural innovation systems, investigating practical mechanisms, and studying resilience enhancement. The paper also highlights the importance of urban-rural integration and agricultural technology innovation, suggesting that urban-rural linkages play a crucial role in promoting agricultural technology innovation and sustainable development.

Rural tourism is a vital means for people to escape noisy and crowded urban environments and pursue the tranquil and rustic rural spaces. Although the influence of sound on health has been proven across various disciplines, fewer studies have focused on the effects of multiple sources of sound in rural spaces on people′s health. The development of rural tourism leads to noise problems, yet rural soundscapes are important health-enabling resources that have not yet been adequately recognized and utilized. Based on this, this paper focuses on rural tourism practitioners, who often work in noisy and crowded environments, with a case study of Hongcun village, Anhui province, China. It employs a mixed-methods approach that combines in-depth interviews and Geographic Information Systems (GIS), exploring the mechanisms through which rural soundscapes affect the health of tourism practitioners from the perspective of mobility and the framework of enabling resources. The results show that: (1) Rural soundscapes show spatiotemporal dynamics, with differences in the sound sources and decibel levels in rural spaces during night and day. (2) The motivations of rural tourism practitioners influence their spatiotemporal mobility arrangements for work, residence, leisure, and social activities in rural spaces, which in turn affect their experiences of rural soundscapes, thereby differentially impacting their health. (3) The perceptions of rural sounds as resources and the spatiotemporal mobility potentials of rural tourism practitioners affect their spatiotemporal mobility arrangements for various activities in rural spaces, dynamically influencing the relationship between their experienced rural soundscapes and health. Notably, when rural tourism practitioners recognize the significance of rural sounds as health-enabling resources and actively leverage their spatiotemporal mobility potentials to adjust their daily life arrangement and engagement with diverse rural soundscapes, they can effectively transform these soundscapes into physical, social, and emotional resources, thereby enhancing various aspects of their health. This process can create dynamic and evolving positive mechanisms that facilitate the beneficial effects of rural soundscapes on the health of tourism stakeholders within the rural context. A thorough analysis of soundscape experiences and health in rural spaces helps to enrich the ways rural resources are developed and rural environmental health enhancement pathways from an auditory perspective, providing valuable implications for the sustainable development of rural tourism destinations.

As a novel solution to tackle the issue of uneven allocation of agricultural resources, overseas farmland investment has progressively become a pivotal strategy for global responses to food supply crises and bolstering the resilience of food security systems. This paper uses complex network analysis and core-periphery analysis to examine the topological and spatial structural evolution characteristics of the global overseas farmland investment network from 2000 to 2020. The exponential random graph model (ERGM) is used to comprehensively reveal the influencing factors of the formation and evolution of the global overseas farmland investment network from both endogenous and exogenous perspectives. The results indicate that: (1) From 2000 to 2020, global overseas farmland investment increased by 8.89 times. The main investors were private enterprises, financial institutions, state-owned enterprises, non-profit organizations, etc. Developed countries and emerging developing countries were mostly investing countries, with the focus of investment shifting from Africa and Southeast Asia to Latin America and Eastern Europe. (2) The complexity of the global overseas farmland investment network has increased, and the network expansion mainly depends on the addition of new nodes. However, the overall structure of the network is relatively loose, the network density and reciprocity are low, and the investment links between countries are mostly one-way. The network presents a "core-periphery" structure. The degree of differentiation between core countries and peripheral countries tends to expand, but the coreness of core countries is decreasing, and the overall importance of core countries is weakening. The network presents a cluster structure. The spatial competition between communities at the regional level is intensifying, two major groups were formed with one centering on China and France, the other on the United States and Canada. (3) The evolution of the global overseas farmland investment network does not occur randomly. The endogenous structural effects of the network promote the evolution of the network in the direction of low reciprocity, low cohesion, decentralization and balance. Behaviors such as resource endowment, economic factors, political factors and business environment attributes promote the large-scale development of networks, while exogenous networks such as borders, religion, language, trade agreements, and food trade connections have significant synergistic effects with the evolution of overseas farmland investment networks.

In the work of disaster reduction, the government promotes the transformation of disaster-related information from fragmentation to aggregation, which plays an important role in improving the ability of disaster reduction. Based on the theories of distance attenuation, information loss and principal-agent, this paper first clarifies the implementation bias of disaster reduction measures under information barriers. Then, by taking the establishment of the national big data comprehensive experimental area as a quasi-natural experiment, using the municipal panel data from 2014 to 2019 and the multi-period DID model, the paper empirically analyzes the changes of urban disaster reduction effects inside and outside the experimental area. The benchmark regression results show that the improvement effect of disaster reduction capability of cities in the national big data comprehensive test area is significantly better than that of cities outside the test area. This conclusion is still valid after the endogeneity processing of wind speed and hydropower instrumental variables, as well as the robustness tests such as eliminating the interference of sponge city, eliminating high-level cities, changing the grouping strategy and replacing the dependent variables. The mechanism analysis shows the city governments in the national big data comprehensive test area have made more efforts to treat disasters with numbers, and have paid more attention to the accuracy of pre-disaster risk prediction, the timeliness of disaster relief and the scientificity of post-disaster recovery and reconstruction. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the establishment of national big data comprehensive test area plays a more obvious role in disaster reduction in cities that attach importance to industry-university-research technological innovation cooperation. The marginal contributions of the paper are as follows: Firstly, the research focuses on the shaping of the government's disaster reduction capacity under the impact of natural disasters, which is helpful to tap the functional advantages of the construction of the pilot area in crisis survival. Secondly, it reflects the efforts made by local governments to control disasters by numbers from three aspects before, during and after disasters, and provides enlightenment on how to improve the breadth and depth of application of big data center construction from the perspective of combining geography and management science.

A thorough understanding of the spatiotemporal patterns and determinants of interprovincial migration of older adults in China is beneficial for local governments to anticipate local ageing trends and scientifically allocate old-age care resources. Based on microdata from the sixth (2010) and seventh (2020) national population censuses and the 2005 and 2015 national 1% population sample surveys, this study reveals the spatiotemporal patterns of interprovincial migration of older adults in China from 2000 to 2020. Additionally, it uses panel negative binomial gravity models to explore the determinants influencing migration flows and investigates how these factors have evolved over time. The main findings are as follows: (1) The volume of interprovincial migration flows has consistently increased, accompanied by a rising proportion of older migrants among all interprovincial migrants. (2) The interprovincial migration patterns of older adults exhibit spatial unevenness, characterized by a predominant flow from the central, western, and northeastern regions to the eastern region. These patterns closely align with the directional characteristics observed in the migration of working-age populations. Guangdong, Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang are popular destinations for older migrants, whereas Heilongjiang, Sichuan, Anhui, and Henan serve as primary origin provinces. (3) The determinants of older migration flows include regional consumption levels, quantity of medical services, urban greening levels, air pollution, annual temperature differences, average annual humidity, and family caregiving (i.e., caring for grandchildren). Older migrants tend to migrate to provinces with higher consumption levels, more medical services, higher levels of urban greening, lower air pollution, and smaller annual temperature differences. Meanwhile, they are more likely to leave provinces with lower consumption levels, higher air pollution, larger annual temperature differences, and higher humidity. (4) Over time, the impact of consumption levels on the interprovincial migration of older adults has decreased, while the influence of annual temperature differences and the care of grandchildren has increased. The effects of medical services, urban greening levels, air pollution, and average annual humidity have shown a fluctuating trend. These findings provide a comprehensive understanding of interprovincial migration of older adults in China, offering policy implications for actively addressing population ageing and optimizing the allocation of old-age care resources.

Randomized enrollment is an effective way to promote equity in educational opportunities, and the design and optimization of randomized mechanisms under the proximity-based distance constraints for basic education enrollment have attracted attention from multiple disciplines, such as economics and geography, with each discipline focusing on its own aspects. Compared to economics, which focuses on individual-scale matching algorithms with Pareto improvement of probabilities as a criterion, geography pays more attention to neighborhood-scale optimization models with spatial equalization as the criterion. The former emphasizes the efficiency optimization of random assignment, while the latter emphasizes equity optimization but without focusing on the individual scale. There is still a lack of comparison and dialogue between these two approaches. In view of this, this paper creates a Preference-based Maximal Opportunity Equality(PMOE) based on the Maximal Accessibility Equality Problem (MAEP) at the individual scale, compares it with the Probabilistic Sequential Mechanism Algorithm (PSM) with distance constraints included in economics, and takes Shijingshan district in Beijing as an example. The results show that, compared to the randomized allocation outcomes of PSM, PMOE yields relatively small changes in overall utility and commuting distance costs, while achieving substantial improvements in equity. Specifically, PMOE has a slightly lower overall utility level of 9.83% than PSM, while the distance cost is slightly higher by 0.107 km, but the standard deviation of expected utility, which indicates the degree of equalization, significantly decreases by 85.07%. However, without a centralized decision-making mechanism, fairer optimization outcomes are more difficult to implement, and this is reflected in the individual scale, where about 2/3 of students have slightly higher utility levels in PMOE than in PSM, but another about 1/3 have significantly higher utility in PSM, and PMOEs with better equity overall may be less likely to be more broadly supported, given that weak improvements are less likely to be practically supported than significant improvements. At the neighborhood scale, more educationally rich districts have higher levels of utility in the PSM while traveling closer to school, but the differences in utility levels are smaller both between and within neighborhoods under the PMOE results. The paper further discusses the implications of both approaches for enrollment policy.

Mountains, oases, and deserts dominate the landscapes of the arid Northwest China. Special landscape background conditions and intensified human activities have put local ecosystems under serious threat. Integrated management of ecosystem services is an important prerequisite for sustainable regional development. Therefore, investigating the causes of ecosystem service bundles in typical areas facilitates efficient and integrated management of ecosystem services in arid zones. In this study, we selected the Shiyang River Basin, a typical "mountain-oasis-desert" system. We quantitatively assessed five key ecosystem services in the basin using the InVEST and CASA models. The spatial distribution pattern of the five ecosystem services in the watershed was mapped. We identified five ecosystem service bundles via the K-means cluster method, and the number and spatial distribution of ecosystem service bundles in the watershed were counted and mapped. The reasons for the formation of dominant ecosystem service bundles in different sub-systems were examined using redundancy analysis. The results showed that: (1) The five key ecosystem services in the Shiyang River Basin exhibited different spatial distribution patterns, and overall services gradually declined from the mountain ecosystem to the desert ecosystem. (2) Five types of ecosystem service bundles were identified in the watershed, with variations in their numbers and spatial location within each subsystem. The mountain subsystem is dominated by ecological conservation bundle; the oasis subsystem is dominated by ecological minimum bundle; the desert subsystem is dominated by ecologically depleted bundle. (3) An ecological conservation bundle with higher levels of all services is more likely to form in the mountain subsystem in response to annual precipitation and vegetation cover (FVC). In the oasis subsystem, population density, GDP, and soil moisture contribute to the formation of a food supply bundle dominated by food production services. In the desert subsystem, coarse sand content, mean annual temperature, and potential evapotranspiration are the main factors inhibiting each service, leading to the formation of an ecologically depleted bundle with low levels of each service. The study's results provide a relevant theoretical basis for the integrated ecological management of the Shiyang River Basin and other inland river basin areas in arid zones.

A large number of researches have focused on soil erosion and sediment transport in small loess catchments. However, quantifying spatio-temporal paths of sediment transport is still challenging. The spatio-temporal paths of sediment transport and their corresponding transport rates are important indices for quantifying the material and energy transport on the earth's surface. Previous studies had investigated the sediment transport paths in rivers and gullies based on mass conservation. But the spatio-temporal paths of sediment transport in catchment scale used to be overlooked. In this paper, the spatio-temporal paths of sediment transport were inferred in a small catchment based on the principle of mass conservation. First, the terrain changes were observed by repeated surveys, and the hydrological data were collected at the same time. Second, various flow direction models were used to determine the sediment transport paths in hillslopes. Third, the flow direction models and hydraulic simulation were compared in channels for determining optimal paths. Finally, the hillslope and channel runoff were processed differently and then merged together to obtain the whole catchment results. The experimental results show that compared with the D8 and MFD-md models, the MFD-se model is more suitable for inferring sediment transport paths in hillslope areas, and the area with mass conservation is 89.95%-100%. In channel areas, the hydraulic simulation and MFD-se model have small performance difference. The mass conservation of hydraulic simulation is 0.22% higher than that of the MFD-se model. After the two methods are merged, the area with mass conservation is 90.03%-100% for the whole catchment. The proposed method simulated 9 period results of sediment transport paths in the study area, which shows a clear spatio-temporal changes in paths of sediment transport and its transport rate. With the development of technologies such as UAV photogrammetry, Lidar, and InSAR, the acquisition of high-resolution terrain data is becoming increasingly convenient. The proposed method can be widely applied to monitor and evaluate soil erosion in catchment, bringing insights to the study of earth surface processes.

Understanding regional industrial evolution is pivotal to promoting the restructuring of economic geography patterns. Although evolutionary economic geography (EEG) provides a paradigm for analyzing regional industrial evolution, existing research still faces two limitations. First, there is a lack of systematic integration of the key mechanisms and recent progress of regional industrial evolution. Second, insufficient attention has been given to how the integration of multiple theories affects regional industrial evolution. Therefore, this paper extends from EEG to multi-source theories integration, systematically summarizing influencing factors (e.g., local and non-local forces, technological relatedness, multidimensional related-ness, diversity and complexity, and agency), while constructing a theoretical framework for regional industrial evolution. This paper further explores the integration of EEG with other theories (i.e., regional innovation systems, geopolitical economy, global production networks, and sustainability transitions) to reveal the mechanisms of regional industrial evolution. By identifying current research gaps, this paper proposes future directions along two dimensions: methodological innovation and expanded research scope. This paper not only provides an integrative framework for the theoretical innovation of EEG but also promotes dialogue and integration among diverse theories in regional industrial evolution. Furthermore, this paper offers theoretical underpinnings for the reconfiguration of global value chains and the layout and evolution of regional industries in China.

As the global industrial pattern is undergoing restructuring and remodeling, manufacturing has become the main battlefield of international economic competition and even comprehensive national power competition. This paper elaborates in detail on the scientific connotation and driving system of manufacturing transformation and upgrading. Then, we measure the performance of manufacturing transformation and upgrading in 62 major economies around the world, using kernel density estimation, Markov chain, barrier degree model, and panel regression model to explore their dynamic evolution, barrier shortcomings and driving factors. The study results are as follows: During 2001-2020, the global manufacturing sector has undergone a significant overall transformation and upgrading, with absolute disparities among economies initially widening before gradually narrowing. There exists a stabilizing phenomenon of “club convergence” in global manufacturing transformation and upgrading, as well as a certain degree of “path locking” in the state transfer. Following the trend of continuous eastward movement of the international industrial wave, the global manufacturing industry is evolving from the Atlantic pattern to the Pacific pattern. East Asia is gradually becoming a new growth pole for global manufacturing transformation and upgrading. Industrial robot density, digitalization of manufacturing inputs, servitization of manufacturing inputs and GVC position are key barriers to the global manufacturing transformation and upgrading factors. China's primary challenges lie predominantly in factor transformation, particularly in the realm of digital transformation. Capital deepening, technological innovation, industrial agglomeration, and production services play an important role in driving manufacturing transformation and upgrading. Technological innovation and industrial agglomeration contribute more significantly to the growth of developing economies than to that of developed economies.

Consulting plays a key role in the contemporary global knowledge economy, and its cross-border expansion has been accelerating since the globalization of firms from the 1970s onwards, while also contributing to the globalization of other industries. However, little is known about external environment influences on the consulting industry's overseas location decisions in existing studies of cross-border expansion in advanced producer services. Constructing a mechanism to explain the influencing factors of the overseas location choice of the consulting industry under the role of internalization process and location advantage, this study used the US consulting firms data in the 2023 Vault Consulting list to the spatio-temporal pattern of its overseas offices, and analyzed the influencing factors of overseas expansion location choice with the help of negative binomial regression model. The results show that: (1) The overseas offices of the US head consulting firms have a bipolar distribution pattern led by developed countries in Western Europe and emerging market countries in the Asia-Pacific region at the country scale, and tend to be clustered in global cities at the city scale. (2) An analysis of the spatial and temporal evolution of the overseas offices of Boston Consulting Group, the representative enterprise of the U.S. head consulting firms, reveals that the expansion on the national scale starts from Western Europe and Japan, and then extends to the Asia-Pacific region, the Arabian Peninsula in Latin America, and finally to Central Asia and Africa. On the urban scale, it expands from the global gateway cities in Western Europe and Japan to the regional gateway cities in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. (3) The cross-border expansion of the U.S. head consulting firms has been influenced by a combination of outward foreign direct investment, political geopolitics, cultural and geographical distance in the internalization process, and market size, the level of global financial centers, and digital capabilities in terms of location advantage.

With the increasing severity of global ecosystem degradation, it is crucial to understand the spatiotemporal evolution patterns of ecosystem health and the driving mechanisms, which are vital for developing effective ecological governance strategies and advancing sustainable development goals. This study used the “Vigor-Organization-Resilience”assessment framework to measure global ecosystem health from 2000 to 2020, employed spatial analysis to reveal the spatiotemporal evolutionary characteristics of ecosystem health, and used Geodetector to identify the dominant driving factors and their interaction mechanisms at the continental scale. The results showed that: (1) From 2000 to 2020, the global ecosystem health index showed a gradual upward trend, increasing from 0.495 to 0.511. In terms of ecosystem health levels, the moderate level of ecosystem health occupied the largest area and maintained a dominant position, with its extent increasing over time. Overall, the structural pattern exhibited a tendency to concentrate toward the moderate level. Higher ecosystem health values were mainly observed near the equator and along coastal regions. (2) Global changes in ecosystem health demonstrated significant spatial clustering, characterized predominantly by high-high and low-low aggregation patterns. Ecosystem health improvement areas continued to expand, while degradated areas experienced a substantial reduction. (3) Forest cover, annual precipitation, and land use intensity were the dominant drivers of ecosystem health. Interactive detection results consistently showed nonlinear enhancement or bivariate enhancement effects, and the explanatory power of natural-anthropogenic interactions showed an increasing trend over time, indicating that the driving mechanisms of global ecosystem health have shifted from natural environment dominance toward increasingly intertwined natural and human factors.

With the implementation period of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) advancing, a scientific assessment of China's progress and an analysis of its influencing mechanisms are essential to accelerating their achievement. This paper utilizes panel data from 287 cities in China from 2000 to 2020 to establish a comprehensive indicator system encompassing three levels: basic needs, anticipated goals, and governance. Employing methods such as multi-indicator comprehensive evaluation, spatial autocorrelation analysis, and spatial econometric modeling, this study measures both the progress and spatial distribution of China's SDGs, while also examining the mechanisms by which spatial spillover effects influence the advancement of these goals. The results show that: (1) From 2000 to 2020, the overall progress of SDGs in China's 287 cities and across its three major systems has exhibited a fluctuating yet generally upward trend, with notable variations in both space and time, demonstrating a decreasing gradient from the southeastern coastal regions to the western inland areas. (2) The SDG scores across China's 287 cities reveal a pronounced pattern of spatial agglomeration, characterized by a decline in both high-high and low-high agglomerations and a concurrent rise in high-low and low-low agglomerations. High-high agglomerations are predominantly found in the eastern coastal regions, while low-low ones are concentrated in the northwestern inland areas. (3) At the overall scale of the study area, the direct effects of progress towards SDGs indicate that the initial level of these goals shows diminishing marginal returns, while other variables demonstrate positive effects. In terms of indirect effects, only the expected progress of neighboring cities in relation to their initial levels shows a positive effect, whereas the other variables exhibit suppressive effects. The direct effects observed at the geographic and urban agglomeration scales are largely consistent with those at the overall scale of the study area, although the indirect effects reveal some variations.

Coastal wetland land reclamation is one of the important ways to obtain reserve land resources, and its impacts on waterbird populations and habitats are gradually emerging. Based on land reclamation data and waterbird survey data from the Yancheng coastal wetlands between 1987 and 2020, this study employed the MaxEnt model, the Land Development Intensity (LDI) index, and a Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) model to analyze spatiotemporal evolution patterns in reclamation development intensity and waterbird habitats. Furthermore, it examined local variations in how reclamation intensity influenced the spatial and temporal distribution of waterbird habitats. The results showed that the land use structure of the study area rapidly changed from ecological land use to construction land use from 1987 to 2020. The development intensity of land reclamation in 1987 showed a pattern of low in the northeast and high in the southwest, and the intensity of reclamation in 2020 generally increased. The intensity of reclamation in the areas west of Tiaozini and Dafeng Port was generally greater than 8.01. In 2020, the number of waterbird species was the lowest, down 25.33% compared with 1997, and the number of individual waterbirds also showed a downward trend, with the distribution of waterbird populations gradually shifting to the central and southern parts of the study area, and the tendency of spatial segregation increasing. From 1987 to 2020, the habitat of waterbirds was mainly distributed around the Hexin area, with significant expansion in the southern Tiaozini area. The area of sub-suitable and most suitable habitat in 2007 was the smallest. The most suitable habitat showed a fluctuating increase, up from 106.95 km² in 1987 to 158.47 km² in 2020. The intensity of reclamation and development exhibited a high-low clustering pattern relative to waterbird population distribution. From 1987 to 2020, the low-high aggregation area continued to shrink. The negative impacts of reclamation development intensity on waterbird habitats were mainly observed in the area from the north buffer area to the core area, and the reclamation development in the south buffer area and the Tiaozini area had a positive impact on waterbird habitats in 2020, with the regression coefficients ranging from 0.167 to 0.339. The landscape characteristics of suitable habitat areas exhibited a trend toward increasing fragmentation and complexity. This study will provide data support for the management of anthropogenic activities in coastal wetlands and contribute to the conservation of species habitats.

Creative fairs are an informal commercial and emerging creative space in modern cities. Based on the analysis perspective of spatial production theory and everyday geographies, this article takes Guangzhou as an example, adopting spatial econometrics and comprehensive qualitative research methods to explore the informal creative spatial pattern, production process, socio-cultural practices, and the metaphorical human-place interaction mechanism of creative fairs. It has found that: (1) Guangzhou's creative fairs present a core edge structure of “urban agglomeration and suburban dispersion”, which not only follows polices, traditional commercial spatial location factors, and the newly creative places, but also is influenced by the “rent dependence” brought by the informal embeddedness. (2) Through consultation with formal spaces and different actors, creative fairs informally embed in idle areas of three types of urban spaces including mainstream consumption spaces, citizen living spaces, and traditional creative spaces, thereby revitalizing these locales and fostering the renewal of social relationships within everyday environments. (3) Creative participants use the material space as a carrier to produce, consume, perform and construct their own identity and urban lifestyle. Through a series of social, cultural, and temporal practices, fair vendors have gradually formed a new urban creative tribe that pursues fun and comfortable living. Creative fairs disrupt the consumption experience mechanisms of mainstream urban commercial spaces by incorporating emotional nostalgia, multidimensional sensory experiences, group interaction, and citizens' perceptions of lifestyle factors. (4) Moving beyond the logic of power, capital and discourse inherent in original commercial space and creative models, citizens, acting as bottom-up agents, participate in the production of urban space practice. This engagement transforms creative spaces from productive areas into living space, while also unveiling the meaning of everyday life metaphorized through “representational space” as essential life experience. The analysis of the spatial pattern of urban creative fairs and multi-stakeholder socio-cultural practices addresses a gap in traditional commercial and consumer geography by incorporating a bottom-up perspective on the creative economy, thereby providing valuable insights for urban spatial governance.

The influx into the countryside of small tourism enterprises from outside produces a novel pattern in rural revitalization. This tourism phenomenon also generates friction and conflict between tourism enterprises and villagers. Drawing on the social exchange theory, this paper employs the new concept of “negotiation exchange” to examine the villager-enterprise dyad in the spatial conflicts between villagers and enterprises in rural tourism destinations. Taking the Tangkouxu Community in Kaiping City, Guangdong Province as a case study, this paper analyzes the causes, processes, influencing factors, and results of the negotiation of villager-enterprise spatial conflicts in rural tourism destinations. This case elucidates the spatial negotiation and exchange mechanisms during the process of achieving spatial justice and advances our understanding of their microscopic processes. The findings can be summarized as follows. (1) The discrepancy between enterprises' and villagers' spatial demands represents the fundamental cause of spatial exchange. The traditional spatial norms exercised by villagers influence their willingness to negotiate and exchange with tourism enterprises. The varying degrees of necessity in these enterprises' spatial demands lead to the different dependence of enterprises on a spatial exchange relationship. (2) The “common vision” of getting rich through tourism and interpersonal ethics based on “reciprocity” serve to regulate the spatial exchange relationship between the two parties. (3) The key to realizing spatial exchange through negotiation is to respect the traditional norms of villagers' spatial use and ensure that the interests of the village as a whole are satisfied. (4) Functioning as a moderating force, local governments regulate the structure and dynamics of the dialogue in the negotiation between the villagers and enterprises. Local governments serve as a pivotal intermediary, determining the extent to which negotiated agreements can align with the principles of justice. (5) As a macrosocial structure, spatial justice can be conceptualized as a dynamic equilibrium comprising a multitude of negotiated spatial exchange outcomes. This study reveals the micro-foundation for the formation of spatial justice. In addition, a procedural perspective on spatial production and justice is provided by presenting the dynamic process of realizing spatial justice through the theoretical observation of spatial “negotiation exchange”. This perspective was previously lacking in the literature. In the development of rural tourism, it is important to consider the impact of tourism on the spatial norms ascribed to by local residents. Furthermore, future studies should incorporate residents' perceptions of changes in their use of community spaces as a key variable in the assessment of residents' supportive attitudes toward tourism development.

Under the dual impetus of the rural revitalization strategy and the tourism powerhouse strategy, rural tourism has become a crucial vehicle for promoting urban-rural element flows and reconstructing rural value systems, where the spatial compatibility between market entity vitality and resource development potential critically shapes resource allocation efficiency and sustainable development trajectories. Grounded in the “entity vitality-development potential” feedback mechanism, this study constructs a spatial matching analytical framework, integrates multi-source data and spatial analysis methods to measure the market entity vitality, resource development potential, and their spatial matching degree across China, subsequently categorizing regions into three types and proposing tailored optimal strategies. Key findings indicate that: (1) Structural alignment between resource productization potential and market entities' developmental capacity underpins spatial matching dynamics, with their interactions mediated through product transformation systems acting as pivotal drivers; (2) Nationally, market entity vitality is predominantly fueled by policy incentives and optimistic market expectations, manifesting as multi-industry engagement dominated by agritourism, yet remains structurally dependent on urban-driven elements infusion; (3) Resource development potential exhibits dual constraints from natural environmental and socioeconomic factors, with most regions demonstrating significant endowment advantages and high potential characterized by a “high southeast-low northwest” gradient, where socioeconomic forces dominate and form multiple high-potential clusters; (4) The dual effects of “information asymmetry of market entities” and “constraints on resource development potential” can lead to the coexistence of the phenomena of “over-dense development” and “idle resource potential”. Currently, the spatial mismatch between the market entity vitality and the potential for resource development is pronounced across the country. The spatial pattern is highly correlated with regional development conditions, and severe over-development is not common. The phenomenon of “idle resource potential” is more prominent, reflecting deep-seated problems such as the imbalance in the connection between market supply and demand. This research provides valuable insights for optimizing the distribution of market entities, mitigating the risk of superficial prosperity, and guiding the transition of rural tourism from scale expansion to quality-driven development. It provides a theoretical analysis framework and scientific decision-making basis for the policy design of rural tourism under the rural revitalization strategy and the realization of the goal of common prosperity in urban and rural areas, and helps to promote the coordinated advancement of the strategy for rural revitalization and the tourism powerhouse.

In recent years, the rapid development of China's super large-sized cities and very large-sized cities (“mega-cities” for short) has attracted a large number of young people into the city, but the livable level of the city has not been matched to improve; especially for young people, inconvenient commuting and insufficient public services are particularly prominent. Therefore, understanding and addressing the living conditions and spatial needs of young urban populations is a crucial aspect of urban health examinations, urban renewal initiatives, and the development of modern governance frameworks in mega-cities.Based on the perspective of material space, the academic circle carried out research and evaluation on the livability of big cities by objectively describing the spatial characteristics or establishing an evaluation index system. Starting from human behavior and perception, this study integrates objective evaluations derived from crowd behavior with subjective assessments based on public perception. Utilizing multi-source spatiotemporal big data and urban social network data, it constructs both objective digital profiles and subjective perceptual portraits of urban livability for young populations in mega-cities. The results show that: From the objective perspective, young adults exhibit significantly longer commuting times compared to other demographic groups, along with pronounced patterns of “residential marginalization and employment centralization”. Furthermore, the provision of facilities such as kindergartens, nurseries, parks, and squares in youth-concentrated areas is generally and markedly inadequate. From the subjective perspective, compared with other demographic groups, young people face greater pressure from work and survival, and their concerns are focused on transportation issues such as bus and subway, parking, non-motor vehicles, and daily life problems such as education, children's activities, leisure and entertainment. Then, a “human-space” spatial optimization strategy, which aligns with human behavior patterns and perceptual characteristics, is proposed.

Cultural heritage serves as a record and inheritance of traditional culture across nations, holding unique significance and value in the historical course of human development. This paper explores the protection and inheritance mechanism of cultural heritage through a space-behavior interaction theoretical lens, focusing on three research sites in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province: the West Lake Cultural Landscape, the Grand Canal (Hangzhou Section) World Heritage Site, and the Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City. Utilizing a grounded theory approach, field interview data and policy texts spanning nearly four decades, including Zhejiang's cultural heritage protection regulations are analyzed. The results show that philosophy, organizational framework, technological innovation, implementation approaches, and regulatory system constitute the core elements of cultural heritage protection and inheritance mechanism. Specifically, the internal relations are as follows: (1) the sustainable development of cultural heritage is promoted by adhering to a people-oriented philosophy and multi-stakeholder participation; (2) spatial monitoring and spatial management are carried out through new technology and innovative approaches to regulate the responsibility and behavior of multiple stakeholders, and eventually form relatively stable and operable rules and regulations. This process is the result of the interaction between space and behavior, which are complementary and evolving, and jointly promote the protection and inheritance of cultural heritage.This paper provides a valuable case for the sustainable development of cultural heritage, and also contributes “Zhejiang Experience” to the transmission and dissemination of outstanding traditional Chinese culture.

The rapid advancement of communication and transportation technologies has facilitated the emergence of spatial networks as an innovative organizational form for cultural-tourism integration. A thorough investigation into the structural complexity and formative mechanisms of these spatial networks is essential for constructing a high-quality, synergistic development model for the cultural and tourism industries. This study measures the level of cultural-tourism integration based on Chinese provincial panel data from 2006 to 2022, and uses social network analysis, QAP regression analysis and other methods to explore the complex characteristics and formation mechanisms of the spatial structure of cultural-tourism integration. The results suggest that: (1) The level of cultural-tourism integration has shown a steady increase, with a distinct east-high, west-low spatial distribution. Meanwhile, the strength of spatial correlations in cultural-tourism integration has continued to grow, maintaining a stable pattern of dense connections in the east and sparse linkages in the west. Furthermore, the spatial network structure has evolved from a dual-core hub-and-spoke model toward a more polycentric configuration. (2) The spatial network of cultural-tourism integration has evolved from a simple random structure to a complex and an orderly one. It exhibits features of unscaled network of preferential attachment, along with a continuously strengthening “small-world” effect. Meanwhile, network polarization has gradually weakened, while connectivity and clustering show fluctuating yet overall upward trends. (3) Provincial-level areas such as Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Guangdong serve as the central actors and intermediary communicators in the spatial association network of cultural-tourism integration, which dominate, connect and control the external radiation and spatial spillover of the level of cultural-tourism integration, while the areas such as Xinjiang, Ningxia and Shanxi are at the periphery of the network. (4) Geospatial proximity, disparities in economic development, variations in urbanisation levels, and differences in residents' cultural-tourism consumption expenditure have a significant positive impact on the optimisation of the spatial correlation network of cultural-tourism integration. In contrast, disparities in openness to foreigh markets, differences in education levels, and variations in the government macroeconomic regulation exhibit a negative impact. Furthermore, the direction and magnitude of the effects associated with differences in openness and cultural-tourism consumption display stage-specific characteristics over time. This study explores the external synergistic development pathways of cultural-tourism integration from the perspective of the spatial evolution of network symbiosis, deepens the theoretical research into cultural-tourism integration, and provides scientific guidance for top-down cross-regional cooperation aimed at promoting high-quality cultural-tourism convergence.

Against the backdrop of China's low fertility rate and the implementation of the “Double Reduction” Policy, there is a growing demand among parenting families for more diverse, accessible, and high-quality leisure activity spaces. This study clarifies the concept and structural characteristics of leisure activity spaces. Using Hangzhou as a case study, it identifies such spaces through big data analytics and examines their spatial distribution patterns. Using the 2023 Urban Health Examination Data Set, this paper verifies the impact of leisure activity space layout on fosterers' perceptions of child-friendliness in children's activities. The research findings are as follows: (1) In Hangzhou, children's leisure activity spaces exhibit a spatial distribution that gradually decreases from the central urban areas toward the periphery; (2) The greater the area and diversity of leisure activity spaces near fosterers' homes, the higher their perceived level of child-friendliness in such activities; (3) The impact of leisure activity space layout on fosterers' perception of children's activity friendliness varies according to space type and the attributes of different population groups. This study aims to contribute to empirical research on the relationship between space and children, providing a scientific basis for the development of child-friendly cities and the enhancement of well-being for parenting families.

Exploring the spatial differentiation characteristics and influencing factors of elderly-support service resources (ESSR) is essential for actively supporting the national strategies on population aging and Healthy China. Employing 340 prefecture-level and higher administrative units as the study subjects, this research integrates four data categories—statistical yearbooks, population censuses, remote sensing products, and registration records of elderly care institutions from the Ministry of Civil Affairs. Using the Comprehensive Index Method, the Theil Index and its decomposition, and the Optimal Parameters-based Geographical Detector Model, the study assesses the distribution level and pattern of ESSR from both aggregate and per capita perspectives. This approach characterizes the spatial disparities in ESSR allocation and identifies key influencing factors and underlying mechanisms. Furthermore, the impact and implications of population aging on the allocation of ESSR are also examined. The results show that: (1) Hu Line is an important dividing line of the spatial distribution of ESSR. The total ESSR presents a spatial pattern of “high in the southeastern half and low in the northwestern half”, while the per capita ESSR presents a pattern is featured by “high in the northwest inland and low in the southeast coast”. (2) ESSR is spatially uneven at both the total and per capita levels, with Theil index values of 0.283 and 0.066, respectively. The contribution of regional differences in ESSR to the total difference is higher than that of regional differences. (3) Population aging process and financial investment are the most critical driving factors behind the spatial differentiation of ESSR. Compared with the total level, the policy tilt at the per capita level plays a significant balancing role, whereas the influence of economic development is relatively limited. The positive interaction between the aging process and the level of economic development and other factors will significantly enhance the explanatory power of factors at the total and per capita levels. (4) Population aging has a nonlinear effect on the rationing of ESSR, and the fitting results show a U-shaped curve, with a turning point of approximately 22.37%. After that, as population aging intensifies, the level of per capita ESSR is expected to correspondingly rise.

The escalating aging crisis has underscored deficiencies in urban elder care services. Off-site elder care has emerged as a pivotal solution and a natural choice for enhancing the integration of regional elder care services. This study examines the integration of such services within three major urban agglomerations in China-the Yangtze River Delta (YRD), Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH), and Chengdu-Chongqing (CCH)-employing the Wilson Gravity Model and complex network analysis methods to systematically analyze the spatial and temporal dynamics of regional integration from 2010 to 2020. Additionally, it utilizes the Temporal Exponential Random Graph Model to investigate underlying influence mechanisms. The findings reveal that: (1) Regional integration processes have expanded the scale and density of off-site elder care networks, with the YRD exhibiting coupling characteristics indicative of advanced integration levels, followed by BTH, while CCH, though rapidly developing, remains relatively behind. (2) The networks within these city clusters are evolving distinctively; the YRD expands through multiple core, BTH consolidates primarily in core areas, and CCH transitions from a dual-core to an axial-spoke configuration. This evolution signifies an intensification of the scale effect and a reduction in spatial attenuation. (3) The generation of off-site elder care flows is influenced by multiple factors, where locally adapted psychological preferences and intersecting economic variables serve as central mechanisms in off-site elder care network formation, with cultural assimilation and reciprocal rhythms playing crucial roles in network evolution. The study concludes that regional off-site elder care integration policies have significantly enhanced resource sharing and industrial collaboration across urban agglomerations, thereby improving the supply and efficiency of cross-city elder care and contributing significantly to the national strategy for elder care.

In the context of rapid increase in China's migrant population, shrinking family size, and aging population, the “old drifters” (parents who move to cities to live with their adult children) have become an indispensable group that cannot be ignored. Unlike other migrant groups, the spatial activities of “old drifters” are mainly concentrated in their children's “home” space, making the micro “home” space an important entry point for a comprehensive reflection of their lives. This study, based on the critical geography of “home”, integrates the perspective of intergenerational support into the analysis framework, starting from the everyday life practices of intergenerational interaction of “old drifters”, to explore the reconstruction and negotiation of their “home”. The study found that: (1) The forced spatial mobility has complicated and obscured the “old drifters” understanding of “home”, gradually transforming it into a translocal “home” space shaped by interacting with material, emotional, and power dynamics. (2) “Old drifters” and their offsprings have experienced the process of “one-generation residence” to “multi-generation residence”, “the main character of life” to “a supporting role in life”, “rooted home” to “rootless home”. Factors such as the shift in intergenerational priorities, changes in intergenerational power dynamics, the demanding work schedules of adult children, and the separation of elderly couples have contributed to the neglect of the genuine emotional needs of “old drifters.” As a result, their children's homes have become spaces of emotional distance, while their rooted sense of “home” has turned into a place of no return. (3) “Old drifters” can reconstruct their “home” space, and in the process of migration, they have practiced social interaction through re-tribalization, localized food adaptation practices, and cross-place spatial practices, so that the emotional identification, concepts, and meanings of “home” are continuously extended and reshaped in the process of deconstruction. This study depicts the daily life picture of “old drifters” who are living under an unequal intergenerational interaction relationship with their offsprings under the same roof.

Under the dual background of urbanization and population aging, rural areas located at the urban-rural interface in the Yangtze River Delta are experiencing intense restructuring processes, profoundly shaping the everyday lives of elderly residents. However, there is a significant contradiction between the homogenized rural construction and the diverse behavioral needs of the elderly population. Moreover, existing research primarily focuses on urban elderly behavior, and there is limited understanding of the dynamic, chain-like spatiotemporal behaviors of rural elderly people. Additionally, research scales have not yet fully reached the community level, and the complex network relationships between rural elderly behaviors and the urban-rural spatial environment have not been adequately explored. This study takes a complex network perspective and uses Jiangwan Village in Suzhou as a case study. Based on micro-level spatiotemporal behavior surveys of elderly individuals, this study combines multi-source data to identify public spaces, constructs a public space network driven by geographical accessibility, as well as a daily behavior network guided by the elderly's behavior chains. The study reveals the network coupling relationship between daily elderly behaviors and public spaces from three levels: “system”, “structure” and“node”. The findings provide scientific basis and practical insights for the active aging adaptation of rural areas at the urban-rural interface in the Yangtze River Delta. The research shows that: (1) The daily behavior network exhibits stronger flow efficiency and overall connectivity, but there is a clear conflict between the boundary isolation of urban-rural public spaces and the cross-boundary integration of elderly behaviors. (2) The structure of the daily behavior network is becoming increasingly decentralized, while the geographically fragmented layout of public spaces fails to accommodate the growing diversity and frequency of elderly residents' behavioral flows. (3) The two-dimensional network centrality of public space nodes shows significant differentiation, and there is a clear misalignment between traditional spatial function classifications and the “space-behavior” interaction patterns. (4) Based on the coupling relationship between space and behavior networks, this study proposes targeted aging-adaptation planning strategies, including cross-boundary collaborative planning and governance, multi-scale spatial optimization compatible with network structures, and public space renewal guided by relational typologies.

This study constructs a “attribute-relationship” dataset of Chinese semiconductor enterprises and, by drawing on location theory, evolutionary economic geography, and relational economic geography, develops an interpretive framework for the relationships among the central government, local governments, and enterprises. Social network analysis is employed to investigate the evolution of spatial characteristics and the driving mechanisms of China's semiconductor industry. The findings reveal that: (1) China's semiconductor industry is primarily concentrated in metropolitan regions centered around Beijing, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Pearl River Delta. Different regions exhibit relatively distinct functional roles within the semiconductor industry chain. Cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen serve as “hubs” for the agglomeration and diffusion of semiconductor activities, while their respective regions are deeply embedded in the investment and financing “networks” of the industry. (2) Under the “actor-relationship” interpretive framework, the interactions among the central government, local governments, and semiconductor enterprises, the historical foundations of semiconductor development in specific regions, and the supply-demand dynamics both within and outside the semiconductor industry chain are identified as key factors shaping the spatial structure of China's semiconductor industry. (3) The inter-actor relationships further influence the geographical layout of the semiconductor industry by integrating and intervening in the historical foundations of regional semiconductor development and the market resources related to supply and demand in the industry. Moreover, these relationships manifest in different forms and interaction mechanisms across different historical periods. This research aims to combine spatial analysis of enterprise data with qualitative insights into the semiconductor industry's development, in order to establish a more robust theoretical framework and uncover the specific mechanisms behind the formation of China's semiconductor industry's geographical patterns. The study seeks to provide further insights into the spatial logic of strategic emerging industries in China from an economic geography perspective.

Innovative factors tend to exhibit pronounced geographical clustering. Amidst growing uncertainties in international economic and technological competition and the accelerated transformation of China's domestic economic model, a crucial challenge is to effectively promote the diffusion and transfer of high-quality scientific achievements, thereby achieving high-level technological self-reliance. This paper examines the spatio-temporal evolution of technological diffusion within strategic emerging industries in the Yangtze River Delta. Building on this foundation, and grounded in the Chinese government's strong commitment to innovation-driven development, the study empirically investigates the impact of the G60 Science and Technology Innovation Corridor on regional technology diffusion and its underlying mechanisms. The results show that: (1) The breadth and depth of technology diffusion within the study area continue to expand, following an evolutionary shift from single-centre to multi-centre interactions, with cities along the G60 Innovation Corridor occupying a dominant position. (2) The development of the G60 Innovation Corridor significantly enhances the technological diffusion capacity of cities along its route, particularly in developed cities such as Shanghai and Hangzhou. (3) Mechanism analysis indicates that the corridor primarily promotes regional technological diffusion through three channels: strengthening strategic government guidance, enhancing economic agglomeration (high-tech enterprises and talent), and optimizing the innovation environment (transport infrastructure, financial supply, and openness to external markets). (4) Further analysis reveals that while the corridor facilitates the diffusion of applied and proprietary technologies among enterprises, it does not appear to significantly improve technology transfer from universities and research institutions to enterprises. These findings not only deepen our understanding of how cross-regional collaborative innovation policies, exemplified by the G60 Innovation Corridor, contribute to the high-quality diffusion of scientific and technological achievements, but also provide valuable policy implications for future design.

Cross-border intellectual property deployment has become a key strategic approach for major countries to capture international markets and participate in global competition. This paper constructs a theoretical framework for the locational choice of cross-border IP deployment, integrating methods such as GIS spatial analysis and econometric analysis. Using U.S. digital technology patents as a case study, it systematically depicts the temporal evolution, locational selection patterns, deployment pathways, and influencing factors of cross-border IP deployment. The findings are as follows: (1) The scale of cross-border IP deployment in U.S. digital technologies has shown a fluctuating upward trend. (2) The geographical scope of this deployment has undergone a dynamic process of “contraction-expansion-contraction”. Its key deployment locations have shifted eastward, forming a dual-core spatial structure centered on East Asia and Europe. In several key fields, there has been a trend of concentration toward leading countries. (3) The preferred deployment pathway involves initial filing in the home market, followed by global deployment through mechanisms such as the PCT. (4) Strategic motivations such as market-oriented strategies and home country priorities are the driving forces behind the U.S. cross-border IP deployment in digital technologies. Host country environmental factors, including market size, competitive pressure, and the level of IP protection, have significant effects on attracting U.S. IP deployment. Multidimensional proximity also plays a key role: geographic and linguistic proximity reduce the cost and barriers to cross-border deployment, while economic proximity, representing similar market demand, reflects the necessity of reinforcing IP deployment.

The new round of scientific and technological revolution is accelerating the disappearance of knowledge barriers. Knowledge, technology, and thinking from different fields mutually converge in the strategic emerging industry, thus continuously promoting the generation of radical technological innovation. Taking the biomedical industry as an example, we categorize technological convergence into two related types: similar and complementary, as well as two development dimensions: horizontal and vertical. Based on the patent data of 287 cities at prefecture level and above in China from 2004 to 2018, we portray the spatio-temporal differentiation characteristics of technological convergence, and examine the mechanism of technology convergence on radical technological innovation. The results show that: (1) The level of technological convergence of the biomedical industry in Chinese cities shows an overall upward trend, with obvious regional differences. Cities with high levels of technological convergence are mainly located in the Yangtze River Delta, the Bohai Rim, and the Pearl River Delta. (2) The 19 key cities of the biomedical industry are divided into four tiers of convergence development. Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou show strong convergence strength, while the remaining cities still have different development shortcomings. (3) The innovation effect of technological convergence varies according to convergence types and convergence dimensions. Horizontal and vertical convergence among similar technologies as well as vertical convergence among complementary technologies promote the radical innovation level of the biomedical industry in different degrees, while the effect of horizontal convergence among complementary technologies is not significant. This study provides a more detailed scientific cognition of the spatio-temporal evolution of technological convergence and its innovation effect, which can provide scientific references for the formulation of innovative development policies for strategic emerging industries.

As a core pillar of new energy development, the new energy vehicle industry has become an important part of the national strategies around the world. The article adopts social network analysis, trade contribution ratio, interdependence index and other methods to comprehensively analyze the dynamic evolution of the global new energy vehicle trade network and the evolution of China's position based on the relevant data from 2017 to 2023. The results show that: (1) The global trade network of new energy vehicles has shown the trend of “group-type” and “decentralization”. China's position in the global new energy vehicle trade network has improved significantly, with all its trade network indicators performing strongly and ranking among the top five internationally. (2) In terms of trade contribution, China's role in the global new energy vehicle market is expanding. However, its production capacity remains oriented primarily toward the domestic market. In 2022, China entered the global top five in terms of trade contribution rate for the first time, yet still lagged significantly behind traditional automotive leaders like Germany. (3) In terms of trade relations, China's role in the new energy vehicle sector has evolved from a position of relative disadvantage to one of advantage, with its dominance continuously growing. Based on the conclusions, the following policy recommendations are proposed: first, China should should closely monitor the international NEV market dynamics and make timely, flexible adjustments to its capacity planning and market strategies. Second, China should place strategic emphasis on achieving sci-tech self-reliance and self-strengthening at higher levels. Sustained increases in R&D investment are crucial to securing a sustainable competitive edge for its new energy vehicle industry on the global stage. Third, China should steadily expand institutional opening up, strengthen international exchanges and cooperation, and ensure effective integration with international economic and trade policies.

The great power game and global changes have caused a huge impact on China's industrial chain, with a sharp increase in insecurity factors. China attaches great importance to industrial development and emphasizes the need to enhance the modernization level of industrial chain. At the same time, digital economy is booming, not only demonstrating the power to reshape industrial competitive advantages, but also potentially changing the laws of industrial development. It is of great significance to explore how digital economy affects industrial chain modernization and its impact mechanism. This paper constructs a theoretical analysis framework of digital economy's impact on industrial chain modernization from the dual perspective of supply and demand. Based on the sample data of 238 cities at prefecture level and above in China from 2010 to 2022, this paper explores how digital economy affects industrial chain modernization and its mechanism by using multidimensional fixed effect model, and parallel mediation effect model. The results are as follows: (1) The digital economy significantly facilitates industrial chain modernization. This finding holds after a series of rigorous tests, including using instrumental variables constructed by the lagged explanatory variable and shift-share methods to address endogeneity, and conducting robustness checks by altering variable measurements, estimation methods, sample scope (e.g., excluding municipalities), and data intervals. (2) The test of mediation mechanism shows that the digital economy mainly affects industrial chain modernization through supply and demand channels. Among them, the supply side mainly plays a driving role through human capital and technological innovation. The demand side mainly plays a pulling role through consumer demand. (3) The test of moderation mechanism shows that the impact of digital economy on industrial chain modernization is moderated by data protection scenarios. Among them, data openness, data rule of law construction and data security guarantee all play a positive moderation role. (4) Heterogeneity test shows that digital economy has differential impacts on industrial chain modernization in cities of different regions, sizes, and urban agglomerations. The impact of the digital economy is more pronounced in regions with a more developed economy, a larger city scale, and a stronger urban agglomeration. This study thereby enriches the existing theoretical framework and offers practical insights for policymakers in selecting pathways to achieve industrial chain modernization.