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.
