Transport geography focuses on the interactions between transportation systems and geographical spaces, as well as their impacts on socioeconomic development and environmental change. In recent years, the scope and focus of transport geography have continued to expand, and new changes have taken place in its research paradigm. To promote the innovative development of transport geography, this article builds upon the discipline's connotations, characteristics and research frontiers. It conducts an interdisciplinary dialogue around four thematic sessions: Theory, Sector, Interdiscipline and Prospect. (1) The Theory session proposes that the localization and globalization of the theories and concepts of transport geography, as well as the transformation of research objects and paradigms, have become the key focuses of scholars' future research. (2) The Sector session puts forward that air transportation, maritime shipping, logistics activities and road transportation have different roles and functions for the development of transport geography. (3) The Interdiscipline session suggests that transport geography is closely related to disciplines such as spatial planning, computer science, sociology and GIS, and has the potential for interdisciplinary research. (4) The Prospect session points out the direction of transport geography in the future from the dimensions of low-altitude transportation, new transportation models, mobility and disciplinary frontiers.

Extreme heat events have negative impact on the environment, agriculture, public health, and socio-economic sustainability. A comprehensive understanding of their trends, spatial distributions, and driving factors is crucial for providing scientific support to address climate change. This study, based on remote sensing techniques and various statistical methods, utilizes daily near-surface temperature data in China from 1979 to 2018, combined with data from the National Climatic Data Center. By analyzing indicators related to extreme heat events in China, we explore the evolution patterns of extreme heat events and the driving factors behind temperature rise. The results indicate that indicators such as annual extreme maximum temperature, annual average extreme maximum temperature, number of summer days, heatwave events, and severe heat events exhibit an overall increasing trend across the country, with a noticeable abrupt change occurring between 1997 and 1999. The provincial growth rates of annual extreme maximum temperature and severe heat events exhibit significant spatial heterogeneity. The increase in annual extreme maximum temperature in six provinces, including Beijing, Chongqing, and Gansu, exceeds the national average rate. A significant warming trend is observed across all provinces, accompanied by an expansion in the geographical range of severe heat events and an increase in spatial clustering of summer days. Observation month and DPT (dew point temperature) have a significant positive impact on AT (air temperature), while observation hour, SLP (sea level pressure), and SC (sky condition) have significant negative impacts. The conclusions of this study provide important insights for future research on global climate change and sustainability.

In the context of global warming, the frequent occurrence of heatwaves and droughts has caused catastrophic impacts on natural ecosystems and socio-economic systems, attracting increasing attention. However, current research mostly emphasizes the multiple features of single extreme event, with insufficient comparative analysis of the spatio-temporal characteristics of multiple events, and their correlation mechanisms also need further study. In order to better understand and cope with heatwave and drought events, based on the observational data of meteorological stations in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River from 1961 to 2020, this study used Sen+Mann-Kendall trend test and wavelet analysis to reveal the evolutionary characteristics of heatwave events and drought events during the warm season in this region, and to explore the spatial and temporal correlations between them from multiple perspectives. The results showed that: (1) Throughout the period (1961-2020), the number of heatwave days, frequency, maximum duration and drought frequency were not significantly increased, while the number of drought days and the maximum duration of drought were slightly decreased, and the change cycles of heatwaves and droughts had a high consistency. In terms of different periods, except for drought frequency, other indices showed a increasing trend in the early period (1961-1990) and increasing in the late period (1991-2020), and the changes of heatwave indices in both periods were significant (p<0.05). (2) The high values of heatwave days, frequency and maximum duration were observed in the southeastern part of the study area, and the stations with significant increase of heatwave indices during the entire period and late period were mainly located in Hunan and Jiangxi provinces. The drought days, frequency and maximum duration were higher in the middle and lower on both sides, and higher in the east than in the west. In the late period, approximataly 60% of the stations showed an increasing trend in drought indices, gradually covering the central and western parts of the study area. (3) Heatwave events and drought events showed a significant positive correlation. After 1990, changes in the number of heatwave days, frequency and maximum duration generally preceded the corresponding drought indices by about 1/4 cycle. Meanwhile, the spatial scope of the corresponding indices with significant correlation expanded rapidly. Among them, Hunan and Jiangxi and the southern parts of Hubei and Anhui provinces were the regions with high correlation coefficient, and the occurrence probability of compound dry-hot events increased obviously. These research results provide the reference and basis for preventing the risk of heatwaves, droughts and compound disasters in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

In the stage of high-quality development, cities in China are seeking low-carbon development paths with Chinese characteristics through transformational development. Although the intensity of carbon emissions has been effectively controlled, the total amount of carbon emissions has not decreased synchronously, but has instead shown an overall upward trend in carbon emissions, known as the carbon rebound effect. As an important spatial carrier of the urbanization pattern in the new era, urban agglomerations are dual sensitive areas for carbon emissions and high-temperature heat waves (hereafter heat waves). Exploring the relationship between carbon rebound and heat waves within their scope is of great significance for the high-quality development of Chinese cities. Based on panel data and meteorological data from 19 urban agglomerations in China, this article analyzes the changing trends of carbon rebound effect and high-temperature heat waves in China's urban agglomerations over the past 17 years (2006-2012), and explores the response of heat waves in urban agglomerations to carbon rebound effect at different time scales. The results indicate that: (1) The carbon rebound effect of urban agglomerations generally shows a significant upward trend, with the Chengdu-Chongqing and Guanzhong Plain urban agglomerations experiencing the fastest growth rates. (2) The vulnerability of heat waves at different levels varies, with slight heat waves occurring most frequently and severe heat waves being relatively rare in frequency. The duration of heat waves shows a distribution pattern of “longer in the eastern and central regions and shorter in the western and northeastern regions”. (3) On an interdecadal scale, the frequency and duration of heat waves have a more significant impact on carbon rebound, with obvious cumulative effects, and significant differences between urban agglomerations, but overall show a promoting effect of growth.

Benefiting from the unique rich light energy resources in the northeastern part of the Tibetan Plateau, Qinghai Province has successfully realized the large-scale diffusion of solar photovoltaic (PV) power generation technology. However, the impact of PV parks on local meteorological conditions in the alpine region has not been fully studied. In this paper, Taratan Photovoltaic Park in Fubian County, Qinghai Province was selected as the research site, aiming to systematically analyze the impact of large-scale photovoltaic development on local meteorological conditions by comparing the meteorological elements inside and outside the photovoltaic power station. The results show that: (1) The wind direction inside the photovoltaic power station is more simple than the comparison point, especially in winter, the east wind becomes the dominant wind direction. This change is due to the fact that the photovoltaic panels change the local wind direction and tend to a higher wind direction concentration. (2) The wind speed in the photovoltaic power station decreased significantly due to the shielding effect of the photovoltaic panel, and the annual average wind speed decreased from 3.67 m/s in the comparison point to 0.74 m/s, with a decrease of 80%. Under the conditions of different wind directions, the photovoltaic array has significantly different effects on the near-surface wind direction, especially the wind speed in the southeast direction decreases most significantly, reaching 94%. (3) Affected by the change of the underlying surface, the temperature inside the photovoltaic power station is lower than the comparison point outside the photovoltaic power station, and the maximum temperature difference is 1.65℃, and the cooling effect is more significant in the low temperature month. (4) The PV power station increases the local daily average relative air humidity by changing the surface characteristics, especially in the low temperature month, the humidity increase effect is more significant, with the maximum humidity increase range being 5.8%. (5) The photovoltaic power station effectively reduces the regional solar radiation, and the annual average radiation value is reduced by 5.5%-6.4%. This study reveals that PV power stations in the alpine region have a significant regulatory effect on the local climate, which further proves the environmental regulatory effect of PV power stations.

The transformation of resilient countryside is an important theoretical and practical issue in rural revitalization of Chinese path to modernization. The theoretical tools of human-land relationship in geography and resource allocation in economics have potential for dialogue and innovation on this issue. Based on the theoretical cognition of rural transformation and resilient countryside, this paper explores the transformation logic and mechanism of resilient countryside from the perspective of reconfiguration of human-land relationship and production factors by methods of literature research, logical deduction and case analysis. The results indicate that: (1) The core attribute of resilient countryside is the adaptive reorganization in the face of environmental disturbance such as urbanization. The reconfiguration of production factors and human-land relationship is the key to rural adaptive reorganization, and provides an effective clue for investigating the transformation of resilient countryside. (2) Facing the dilemma of underdeveloped resource allocation in rural areas, the transformation solution of resilient countryside lies in multidimensional rural restructuring through the optimization of factor combination and human-land relationship. The logic of this transformation consists of recombination of production factors, reconfiguration of human-land relationship, restructuring of regional system, and reconstruction of settlement form in rural areas. (3) In the face of environmental changes, the transformation of resilient countryside is a comprehensive process in which the human-land relationship is empowered and then rural resilience is strengthened through the accumulation and efficiency improvement of production factors by related actors. The transformation of resilient countryside can be divided into additional, embedded, alternative and extended patterns according to the modes of reconfiguration of production factors. The conclusion aims to further enhance the explanatory and guiding power of human-land relationship theory on rural transformation practice by the exploration of interdisciplinary research ideas.

The cultivated land balance policy has changed from the old balance that controls cultivated land requisitioned by non-agricultural construction to the new balance that controls all kinds of land requisitioned by cultivated land. Facing the new situation of cultivated land protection, it is of great significance to refine the ideas and methods of cultivated land balance policy scientifically and reasonably, and to explore the ideas of cultivated land protection based on cultivated land use control to guarantee the national grain security and sustainable utilization of cultivated land resources. This study based on a systematic analysis of the cultivated land use control system from the perspective of the new cultivated land balance policy, constructed a cultivated land utilization level evaluation system based on the multi-dimensional orientation of nature, cultivation, management, and production, as well as a framework for evaluating the potential for compensating cultivated land that takes into account the multi-dimensional constraints of planning, economy, ecology, and society. Further, this study clarifies the spatial differentiation characteristics of cultivated land utilization level and potential for compensating cultivated land, and delineates the cultivated land protection zones based on the perspective of the new cultivated land balance policy by coupling the quantity and appropriateness. The study results show that: (1) China's cultivated land utilization level is high on the whole, but shows unevenness in spatial distribution, with the best performance in the Middle-lower Yangtze Plain and the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain. (2) China's compensation of cultivated land has certain potential but shows spatial distribution differences. Therefore, compensation for cultivated land should prioritize open forests, other forests, and grasslands with low to medium coverage under the requirements of the law and regulations. (3) Under the new situation, China's cultivated land can be divided into strategic reserve zones (12.74 million hm²), key protection zones (11.47 million hm²), fallow and rehabilitation zones (3.11 million hm²), and diversified development zones (9.63 million hm²), and policies are implemented according to the ideas of rigid control and resilience adjustment. The study can provide a foundation for the implementation of the cultivated land balance policy, and a reference for the sustainable use of cultivated land resources and the optimization of the pattern of territorial spatial development and protection.

Deconstructing the mechanism of cultivated land use transition (CLUT) towards sustainable intensification is an important prerequisite for exploring CLUT regulation paths and promoting the transformation of farmland utilization to sustainable intensification. Starting from the theoretical connotations of CLUT and sustainable intensification of cultivated land use (SICLS), this paper analyzes the mechanism of CLUT's characteristic change, effect response and scenario adaptation for sustainable intensification, builds a comprehensive regulatory framework for CLUT integrating “feature-effect-scenario” towards SICLS, and explores the governance logic, decision space, and key technological paths in CLUT regulation, hoping to provide theoretical reference for optimizing CLUT regulation and promoting SICLS. The results show that: (1) CLUT is a composite system covering multi-dimensional morphological attributes such as landscape pattern, structural composition, management and utilization, and functional services. Its multi-dimensional morphological characteristics form a logical relationship with the diverse goals of SICLS. (2) The logic mechanism of CLUT for SICLS mainly includes its feature trend logic and change mechanism, effect response logic and action mechanism, and scenario adaptation logic and matching mechanism. The essence of CLUT regulation is to weaken the negative impacts of changes in cultivated land use patterns based on appropriate pathways, strengthen their positive effects, and then reshape agricultural production and resource utilization patterns that are beneficial to regional SICLS and suitable for environmental scenarios. (3) The comprehensive regulatory framework of CLUT integrating “feature-effect-scenario” towards sustainable intensification can effectively solve problems such as the incompatibility between governance paths and environmental scenarios, and the mismatch between governance effectiveness and target vision in traditional CLUT regulation, providing theoretical support and reference for scientific diagnosis of CLUT regulation orientation and promotion of SICLS from a multi-dimensional and composite perspective.

With the reform of the rural land system, rural land has undergone transformations from resource to asset, and from asset to capital, with its essence lying in the capitalization of agricultural land management rights. From this perspective, exploring the transformation response of cultivated land use patterns represents an enhancement and deepening of theoretical research on land use transition. This paper constructs an analytical framework for the capitalization of rural land management rights, clarifies the internal logic between such capitalization and cultivated land use transition, and thereby investigates the mechanism of cultivated land use transformation under this framework. The findings reveal that: (1) The essence of rural land management rights capitalization lies in the process where, under the premise of clarified rural land property rights, rights holders circulate management rights through market mechanisms via leasing, equity participation, and mortgages. This enables fluid circulation and value appreciation of anticipated rural land benefits, ultimately establishing a conceptual analytical framework of “complete rights → fluid circulation ↔ value enhancement”. (2) The intrinsic interaction between rural land management rights capitalization and cultivated land use transition manifests primarily in three aspects: The completeness of management rights drives the reconstruction of cultivated land rights structure system; The fluid circulation of management rights propels the reorganization of cultivated land organizational management system; The value appreciation of management rights facilitates the reshaping of cultivated land value distribution system. (3) Under the influence of management rights capitalization on cultivated land rights structure, organizational management, and value distribution systems, transformation occurs in cultivated land use patterns. Explicit transformations concentrate on cultivated land quantity and planting structure, while implicit transformations focus on operational models, scale expansion, multifunctionality, and utilization efficiency. The study emphasizes that the capitalization of rural land management rights not only enhances land value but also provides farmers with new pathways for optimizing resource allocation through market mechanisms, contributing to breaking the urban-rural dual structure and promoting agricultural modernization and rural revitalization. However, vigilance is required against potential risks of excessive capitalization leading to non-grain production conversion of farmland, necessitating the implementation of differentiated policy guidance and regulatory measures.

This paper focuses on the rise of urban geopolitics as an interdisciplinary research field within the discipline of human geography and uses the method of systematic literature review to sort out the progress of this field. Based on the systematic review, this paper finds that the current research in this field has shown a gradually increased tendency in attention since 2009, and the research content is also increasingly systemizing. From the literature analysis, this paper finds that the core research content of urban geopolitics can be understood from the following three main aspects: (1) urban geopolitics focuses on the changes in physical space experienced by cities in the context of global geopolitical changes, with particular reference to the (re)production of urban space as reflected in the physical landscape, urban spatial structure, and urban infrastructure in relation to issues such as war, large-scale conflict, ethnic conflict, counter-terrorism, and current colonialism; (2) urban geopolitics focuses on the linkages between geopolitical elements and urban social environment, including the impact of geopolitics on urban social space, urban everyday space, and urban governance, as well as how urban social events take part in the relevant geopolitical agenda; (3) urban geopolitics focuses on the discussion of spatial imagination and discourse related to geopolitics or cities derived from the linkage between geopolitical elements and cities. The results of systematic literature analysis show that although the current study of urban geopolitics is increasingly systematic, there are still shortcomings such as insufficient theoretical construction, relatively single-case categories, and obvious Euro-American centrism trend in research perspective. Therefore, this paper proposes that the future study of urban geopolitics can be expanded from the deep construction of theories, the diversification of research cases, and the adding of research perspective from Global South, so as to supplement and perfect its theory, concept, and method system. This paper also proposes a broader agenda to re-examine existing theories and concepts through the increasing attention to China's rich case studies, which will be an important agenda for future urban geopolitics studies.

Optimizing the spatial structure of urban agglomerations in the Yellow River Basin and enhancing the overall development level of urban agglomerations have an important impact on the high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin supported by urban agglomerations. Based on the nighttime light data from 1992 to 2021, this paper uses spatial autocorrelation, modified gravity model and rank-scale method to explore the correlation between the scale structure characteristics, spatial structure characteristics and internal economic network of urban agglomerations in the Yellow River Basin. The results show that: the spatial structure evolution of urban agglomerations in the study area is in line with the pattern of diffusion from the center to the periphery, and there are differences between the two types of urban agglomerations in terms of expansion mode, scale structure and degree of synergy. In general, the spatial structure development degree of the developing and expanding urban agglomerations is better than that of the cultivating and developing urban agglomerations. The developing and expanding urban agglomerations are characterized by the scale structure of “multi-center and network”, and the evolution trend from center agglomeration to multi-center network is stronger than that of cultivating and developing urban agglomerations. Urban agglomerations expand outwards with the mode of “center overflow-peripheral enhancement”, and gradually form the spatial network of urban agglomerations. The cultivating and developing urban agglomerations are featured by the scale structure of “single center-strong first” and the spatial pattern of “center enhancement”, which is in the early stage of the formation of the spatial network of urban agglomerations. After sorting out the spatial structure characteristics and evolution rules of the seven major urban agglomerations, we propose to build a high-quality development pattern supported by urban agglomerations in the Yellow River Basin. Cultivating and developing urban agglomerations should enhance central hub functions and linkages, while developing and expanding urban agglomerations should improve development levels in a comprehensive way. Finally, relevant strategies are put forward for optimizing the spatial structure of the seven major urban agglomerations.

To achieve the national and urban “carbon neutrality” goals, it is imperative to establish regional greenhouse gas monitoring networks to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of carbon neutrality actions. The complex dynamics of areas with intricate terrain pose a challenge for the scientific siting of high-precision greenhouse gas monitoring networks. This study takes Chongqing, a city with complex terrain, as an example. It comprehensively considers factors such as topography, land cover and use, atmospheric dynamics, carbon emissions/sinks, and the distribution characteristics of carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentrations to design a greenhouse gas monitoring network for Chongqing. Using models such as WRF-CHEM, HYSPLIT, FLEXPART, SAFE-C, and the Regional Carbon Assimilation Inversion System (RCAS), the study analyzes the meteorological dynamics of the area, simulates the source areas of monitoring data, and evaluates the sensitivity of the monitoring network sites to assimilate and invert carbon flux at high-resolution kilometer resolution. A technical method and plan for selecting high-precision greenhouse gas monitoring sites and evaluating their representativeness in complex terrain were proposed. Through an integrated analysis of the dynamic field and the source areas of monitoring site information, the study effectively derived an operational plan for the scientific design of urban greenhouse gas monitoring sites (towers) under complex wind field scenarios. Sensitivity experiments using the RCAS indicate that the high-precision greenhouse gas monitoring network designed in this study achieves a sensitivity of 93.05% for monitoring greenhouse gas emissions in the built-up area of Chongqing, verifying its high spatial representativeness and comprehensive coverage of carbon source and sink dynamics in Chongqing's built-up area. The high-precision CO₂ concentration data obtained from this network can drive the RCAS for near-real-time accounting of carbon emissions and sinks at high-resolution kilometer grids. The scientific evaluation method proposed in this study provides significant reference value and guidance for the design and construction of high-precision greenhouse gas monitoring networks in complex terrain areas.

The resource use, costs and benefits of tourism activities in protected areas present unique characteristics. Revealing the distribution logic and the power mechanism is the key to breaking the conflict spiral to achieve the effective governance. Political ecology interprets ecological contradictions through political and economic linkages, providing a theory mean to integrate discrete and fluxes research works of nature conservation and tourism. The paper first compiles works related to tourism activities in protected areas from different disciplines, and then discusses the nature of political-ecology relation and internal unity of conflict-governance research in the governance process. Secondly, based on the epistemology of political ecology, the paper constructs a research framework for the conflict and governance of protected area tourism based on the practical logic of “conflict→governance”, which is based on the structure of the conflict, the causality of the structure, the mechanism of the causality, and the governance for the mechanisms. The framework starts with the social conflict events, and extends to the historical practice of nature and society interactions based on the dialectical and unified relationship of conflict and governance. Integrating the corresponding classical theories of political ecology, four main research topics emerge, i.e. ecological distribution, practical action, power structure and environmental governance. These topics are interconnected and causal with each other forming the paradigm of ecological distribution and in-depth power structure as a holistic theoretical manner to conduct research on the governance of conflicts over protected area tourism. Finally, the paper simulates the application of the research framework to analyze the causes of conflict by taking the example of the conflict over “sky-high priced homestay” in a protected area. The paper synthesizes, compares and evaluates interdisciplinary research on protected area tourism, bridging fragmented findings to reveal its political ecology dimensions. The proposed research framework bridges a conceptual gap in political ecology, focusing on the intrinsic links between conservation and tourism in protected areas. Last but not least, the study offers practical contributions to China's tecological civilization construction through technical support, theoretical guidance and discourse dissemination.

The seasonal fluctuations in tourist flow caused by plant phenology observation in the context of global climate change are a hotspot in tourism geography research. The paper takes 9 large-scale tourism destinations of Populus Euphratica in China as the research area. Based on meteorological data, Weibo data, statistical data, and field research data, the paper uses LOWESS, PLS-SEM to extract the leaf-yellow ornamental period of Populus Euphratica and explore the spatio-temporal response characteristics and influencing factors of tourist flows from 2016 to 2020. Results show that: (1) The average duration of leaf-yellow ornamental period of Populus Euphratica is 27 days and suitable ornamental period covers 21 days. The leaf-yellow period is concentrated in mid-late September to mid-late October, or mid-early October to mid-early November, showing a spatial pattern of gradually extending from Haixi to southern Xinjiang. (2) After 2018, the tourist flow of Populus Euphratica increased rapidly, with Alxa and Bayingolin being the main concentration areas for tourist flows. The peak structure of tourist flows during the viewing period shows a single peak, double peaks, or three peaks. Tourist flow is more dependent on the regular dates of suitable viewing periods, rather than adapting to the actual natural viewing time. Legal holidays and tourism festivals can significantly advance the arrival of peak tourist periods, which is out of sync with the actual viewing period. (3) The tourist flow response during the leaf-yellow ornamental period is influenced by factors such as the viewing duration, meteorological conditions, product types, infrastructure, and economic support. Product types and economic support are significant positive factors for Populus Euphratica tourism. The research content and framework in this article can enrich the study of the relationship between plant phenology and tourism, and provide scientific references for adjusting phenological tourism service strategies in response to climate change.

Within the field of tourism geography, the evolution of tourist destinations is one of the conventional topics. The tourism area life cycle (TALC) model, introduced by Butler as a cornerstone theoretical framework for understanding the evolution of destinations, has gained significant international influence and authority. Despite its extensive application, the TALC model remains limited in its capacity to elucidate the underlying mechanisms driving the rise and decline of tourist destinations, nor does it provide a basis for predicting the next stage of the destination's life cycle. Consequently, this study addresses this gap by integrating theoretical and empirical paradigms. Drawing upon product life cycle theory and innovation diffusion theory, and utilizing the U.S. Grand Canyon National Park (1919-2023) as a primary case study, this research employs multiple regression analysis to extend and empirically validate the classic TALC theory. The principal findings are as follows: (1) A TALC framework characterized by a triple-curve structure, plotting cumulative tourist numbers, annual tourist arrivals, and annual tourism growth rate, provides a more intuitive representation of the evolutionary process. The mathematical relationships between these three curves establish a quantitative basis for demarcating stage boundaries (e.g., inception, key development points, turning points, and saturation points) within the TALC. (2) The proximate driver of change in the TALC's characteristic “S-shaped” curve (measured by cumulative tourists) is the cyclical fluctuation observed in annual tourist arrivals and annual growth rates. The psychological motivations behind the evolution of TALC are that each stage attracts different types of tourist groups, including early explorers, early minority tourists, early majority tourists, late majority tourists, and lagging tourists. The fundamental driver of TALC evolution lies in the dynamic interaction between destination-specific (supply-side) factors and tourist-related (demand-side) factors, compounded by the influence of external environmental factors. (3) The proposed TALC dynamic prediction model, which comprehensively incorporates internal and external drivers of destination evolution alongside the dynamic nature of carrying capacity, demonstrates predictive accuracy and robustness. The contribution of this study lies in enriching the theoretical understanding of TALC's evolutionary mechanisms. It offers novel conceptual approaches and quantitative methodologies for delineating TALC stages and forecasting their developmental trajectories, thereby providing actionable insights for fostering the high-quality development of tourism destinations in the new era.

The revitalization of historical blocks through tourism development has become crucial in promoting urban renewal due to their unique value. The texture of streets plays a significant role in interpreting the connection between tourism development and new urbanization. Taking the historical block of Zhongshan Road in Qingdao as a case study, this research delves into the spatiotemporal narrative process of three distinct stages of historical blocks. Through the lens of street morphology narratology and employing spatial syntax, the study uncovers the laws of spatial production updates in the context of tourism. The research finds that the evolution of a block from a traditional recreation area to a commercial entertainment center to a tourism commercial complex is in essence a process of gradual construction, dependence, deconstruction and reconstruction of space in the evolution process of “commercial entertainment space under power discourse, functional homogeneity space under path dependence, tourism transformation space under commercial decline, and tourism complex space under mass recreation”. This process is influenced by power dynamics and can lead to a decline in street patterns as a result of the creation of uniform, institutionalized social spaces. Tourism development promotes the restructuring of district organizations through the entry of tourists and merchants, and the influence of power capital. The rejuvenation of local culture and the reproduction of collective memory drive the revival of spatial vitality. The research expands on the quantitative analysis of spatial production theory in the context of tourism. It provides a reference value for revitalizing and sustainably developing historical blocks.

Leveraging red culture to develop formats is crucial to the revitalization and development of the historical hometowns of revolution, and it has significant research value. This study takes Jinggangshan City as the study case, making use of multi-source data (mainly POI data from 2012, 2017, and 2022) and applies methods like geographic grid analysis and geographical detector. The findings are as follows: (1) The spatio-temporal evolution of format density is characterized by a trend of simultaneous expansion and agglomeration. On one hand, the number of formats has increased, and their coverage has expanded. On the other hand, the spatial expansion and agglomeration show complex, asynchronous, and multi-directional changes. The evolution of format density presents seven types: continuous growth, growth followed by stability, stability followed by growth, decline followed by growth, decline followed by stability, growth followed by decline, and remain stable. The spatial structure of formats has evolved from “points and clusters” to “one circle, one axis, and three poles”. (2) The structure and typology of formats evolve from simplicity to complexity. For one thing, the diversity of formats has significantly improved. For the other, in terms of dominant structures: the single-type still accounts for the highest proportion but shows a decreasing trend; the single-dominant type has a high proportion and shows an increasing trend; the proportions of twin-type, dual-dominant type, multi-dominant type, and mixed-type are relatively stable, with complex changes, small variations, and uncertain directions. (3) The natural, social, economic, and cultural environments all have different degrees of influence on the spatial distribution of formats, among which the richness of red culture and population size are the main influencing factors.