Most Viewed

  • Published in last 1 year
  • In last 2 years
  • In last 3 years
  • All

Please wait a minute...
  • Select all
    |
  • Urban and Rural Development and Population Mobility
    FU Runde, YANG Zhenshan
    Acta Geographica Sinica. 2024, 79(4): 819-836. https://doi.org/10.11821/dlxb202404001

    The quality of development is crucial for China to comprehensively build a socialist modern country. Drawing on related concepts of development in quality, the paper conceptualizes a city in high-quality development and proposes a stylish framework with five dimensions to evaluate it, in line with the New Development Philosophy, which is composed of innovation, coordination, greenness, openness and sharing. Using the methods of spatial analysis, club convergence test and spatial Durbin model, the paper identified the spatial evolution of the quality of city development in China and associated determinants during 2005-2020. On average, the level of city development quality increased by 48.4% during the study period. The number of cities at low-level of quality in development decreased dramatically, accompanied by a profound transformation in the spatial pattern of city development quality, which presents significant spatial aggregation. The spatial imbalance remains for cities with different development qualities, and the challenge is still huge to narrow the gap. With significant role differentiation among cities, a "pioneering-catching up" pattern emerges, and the 11 pioneering cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen have become the pioneers of high-quality development in China. Key determinants for cities achieving high quality in development includes urbanization level, public investment, digital economy, environmental regulation and economic growth, while there is inverted U-shaped relationship between city size and development quality. To achieve the goal of high-quality city development in the new era, it is necessary to focus on the development of cities in the central and western regions, making full use of the demonstration role of pioneers, promoting quantitative growth, strengthening environmental regulations, cultivating the new forms of digital economy, and optimizing the city size hierarchy.

  • Theoretical and Methodological Exploration
    FANG Chuanglin, SUN Biao
    Acta Geographica Sinica. 2024, 79(6): 1357-1370. https://doi.org/10.11821/dlxb202406001

    New quality productive forces are advanced productivity that is freed from traditional economic growth mode and productivity development paths, features high-tech, high efficiency and high quality driven by technological innovation in the new era. From the geographical perspective, developing new quality productive forces is the ability to coordinate new human-earth relationships in the Anthropocene, where human activities dominate, promote the harmonious coexistence of humans and nature, transform green waters and mountains into gold and silver mines, drive high-quality development and layout, and comprehensively implement the construction of a beautiful China. Geography focuses on studying the emergence and development process, formation and evolution characteristics, spatial organization patterns, and regional differentiation laws of new quality productive forces driven by innovation, so as to promote the human-earth system to enter the ecological civilization stage of highly coupled and harmonious coexistence between humans and nature. Compared with traditional industries, the evolution of new quality productive forces has experienced a fluctuating process of evolution from low-quality productivity to medium-quality, medium-high-quality, and then to high-quality productivity, accompanying the emergence of continuous technological revolutions and industrial revolutions. They exhibit basic characteristics such as high coupling, deep integration, super correlation, rapid iteration, and spatial differentiation. The pivotal directions propelled by the drive of new quality productive forces for geographical research encompass the following: re-coordinating human-earth relationships to foster novel harmonious coexistence conducive to the realization of a beautiful China; restructuring industrial systems to align with the new quality productive forces, facilitating profound industrial transformation; reallocating geographical elements to establish a novel mechanism that harmonizes natural, humanistic, and data-driven components; reshaping spatial pattern to engender a fresh spatial paradigm wherein new quality productive forces and traditional industries are integrated deeply; rebuilding ecological environment to leverage them as green engines of productivity, thus enhancing the intrinsic value of ecological capital; revitalizing geographical science through the refinement and updating of theories and methods, thereby constructing a modern disciplinary landscape of geography.

  • Theoretical Exploration
    LI Yuhang, XU Zhiwei, LIU Yanhua, ZHANG Yuhu, SUN Fubao
    Acta Geographica Sinica. 2024, 79(10): 2409-2424. https://doi.org/10.11821/dlxb202410001

    With the rapid advancement of science and technology, artificial intelligence (AI) has become a significant force driving scientific development and social progress. In the field of geographical sciences, the application of AI technology is deepening, bringing revolutionary changes to the collection, analysis, and application of big data and spatio-temporal information, and demonstrating innovative and application potential in multiple aspects. This paper systematically reviews the development and application of AI in geographical sciences, providing a detailed introduction to the development trajectories of various AI fields such as machine learning, computer vision, natural language processing, planning systems, and large AI models, as well as their applications in geography. It discusses the problems and challenges of AI applications in geography and provides an outlook on the future development of interdisciplinary research between AI and geographical sciences.

  • Theory & Methodology and Discipline Development
    ZHANG Baiping, YAO Yonghui, LIU Junjie, LI Jiayu, JIANG Ya
    Acta Geographica Sinica. 2024, 79(7): 1631-1646. https://doi.org/10.11821/dlxb202407001

    Geographic environment has exerted profound effect on the origin and evolution of world civilizations. Chinese civilization budded and evolved on a vast and varied territory between Yellow and Yangtze rivers, and has been thus deeply affected by the local geographic conditions. But it has been hardly seen to explore the origin of Chinese civilization from the perspective of geography. On the basis of integrated scientific investigation in China's north-south transitional zone, geographic analysis of Neolithic culture distribution and interpretation of pre-Qin and Qin-Han ancient literature, the conclusions can be drawn as follows: (1) The early agriculture pattern of "Rice in the south and millet in the north" and the ancient astronomy formed before about 8000 years were the background for Chinese civilization. The geographic distribution of Neolithic Dadiwan, Yangshao, Majiayao and Longshan culture sites showed that the earliest civilization elements appeared in the upper reaches of West-Hanshui and Weihe rivers, with a spatial trend of spreading toward east. (2) The West Qinling Mts. region, located between the Tibetan Plateau and the Jialing River, especially its inner Chenghui and Xili basins, being characterized by superior natural conditions and resources, is closely related to the three major mysteries concerning the origin of Chinese civilization, i.e., the main areas of the ancient Di and Qiang ethnic groups, the location of ancient Kunlun Mts., and the site of Dayu water control. (3) The Qin ethnic group stepped onto the stage of history by assisting Dayu in water control, and in their history of multiple ups and downs, built the grand water control projects in ancient China, such as the Dujiangyan Irrigation Project, Zhengguo Canal, Lingqu Canal, etc., and pioneered the time of "Books with the same text" and "County system", forming the main line of the origin and early evolution of Chinese civilization. (4) The West Qinling areas are still basically a "blind zone" in archaeological and historical research. It is highly recommended to conduct systematic and in-depth archaeological and historical research in this region so as to realize the breakthrough in the exploration of the origin of Chinese civilization as soon as possible.

  • Population and Urban Studies
    DING Jinhong, CHANG Liang, CHEN Yihao, HUANG Xiaoli
    Acta Geographica Sinica. 2024, 79(8): 1883-1897. https://doi.org/10.11821/dlxb202408001

    The statistical definition of migration in China is attached with its unique household registration (hukou) system, the migrants so defined are also called the floating population. A new analytical paradigm is needed to deal with the complexity of sub-flows in the floating population. The paper classifies five types of the floating population in census context by referring the UN migration criteria, and constructs a new paradigm for analyzing the floating population in China. As a particular provincial-level region (hereafter province) is concerned, the inflow and outflow people belong to different hukou groups balanced by their own counter-flow, namely, inflow vs back-inflow (both have no hukou of the province), outflow vs back-outflow (both have hukou of the province). With the clue of inter-census migration cohort, a sub-flows model is constructed to identify the inter-provincial migration based on the retention rate. The annual retention rate of the inter-provincial migration cohort from 2010 to 2020 is 88.7%. Based on the provincial retention rates, an all-increment table of population change by province in China is made by modelling simulation. The paper surfaces new characteristics of population growth and inter-provincial migration: (1) Provincial population changes are divided into five types, among which the inflow-leading increase type is mainly found in municipalities and the eastern coastal areas, while the fertility-leading increase type and the fertility-overriding increase type are mainly in the western provinces and the agricultural provinces in the middle, and the outflow-overriding decrease type and the outflow-leading decrease type in Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Gansu and the northeastern provinces. (2) The mechanical growth of population can be divided into four types: rapid increase, equilibrium, outflow-overriding decrease and dual decrease (both hukou and non-hukou migration are negative). A "W"-shaped mechanical growth rate profile from northwest to southeast is found with the equilibrium belt standing in its middle. (3) Population floating is divided into three types. The counter-flows are highly-correlated: inflow rate and outflow rate are negatively correlated while the inflow-back-inflow and outflow-back-outflow are significant positively correlated. The analytical paradigm and model of floating population in China can be further extended to the study of "citizenship seeking migration" including international migration, and even further to identity migration including migrations with status changing such as enrollment, employment and marriage.

  • Spatial and Industrial Development
    LI Wei, YANG Wen, WANG Lucang, QI Jianwu, WANG Zongxiang
    Acta Geographica Sinica. 2024, 79(6): 1449-1463. https://doi.org/10.11821/dlxb202406006

    Identity and territorial stigmatizations have been studied extensively over a long period of time. However, the interaction between the two has been relatively underexplored. Aimed at retrospection and clarification of the connotations of stigmatization, this study attempts to explore the relationship between pers on-place stigmatization from a geographic perspective. This paper proposes the concept of spatial stigmatization and systematically interprets its geographic process and formation mechanism. The paper puts forward the following arguments. First, spatial stigmatization involves stigmatizers who devalue a place's perceived value and identity construction in a specific historical environment and at a particular cognitive level through incomplete, inaccurate, and non-objective perception of space and its dependent people and objects, resulting in symbolic stigmatization of the place. Second, spatial stigmatization entails imagery construction, separation of the subject, and group interaction in the context of heterogeneous geo-spatial pattern and spatial positioning and symbolization. This forms local or heterogeneous types of direct and indirect stigmatization in different directions and at varying distances on various scales. Third, spatial inequality, exploitation and the struggle for rights, fear and avoidance, and topophilia and social order, are the bases of spatial stigmatization. Additionally, the spatial concentration and internalization of stigmatization is facilitated by complex interactions between people and places through perception, identification, positioning, and marking. This creates a spatial stigmatization mechanism that generates, disseminates, reacts, and reproduces in a continuous cycle. In the face of widespread spatial stigmatization, the key to eliminating its adverse effects lies in rebuilding a place through a new narrative system, correctly understanding the relationship between people and the Earth, and ultimately realizing "de-stigmatization space" in the context of the universal value of the human destiny community.

  • Surface Process and Environmental Change
    LI Yifan, ZHANG Chendi, ZHANG Guotao
    Acta Geographica Sinica. 2024, 79(3): 600-616. https://doi.org/10.11821/dlxb202403004

    The Hengduan Mountains Region is one of the regions with the most densely distributed and severe flash flood disasters in China. It is also the key area for major engineering projects and beautiful countryside construction in southwest China. However, previous studies have not systematically summarized the development characteristics and formation modes of flash flood disasters in this region, which restricts the development and establishment of flood control theory and technical system in the southwestern mountains. This paper focuses on the physical processes of generation, movement and hazard-formation of flash flood disasters in the Hengduan Mountains. It clarifies the dominant disaster-inducing conditions (multiple humid monsoon circulation conditions, high potential energy conditions and high heterogenous underlying surface conditions) and disaster development characteristics (high spatio-temporal heterogeneity, highly concentrated energy, disaster chain and clustered occurrence) of flash floods in the Hengduan Mountains. Based on the entire processes of flash flood disasters, three major formation modes are summarized: the runoff generation of vegetation-hydrology-soil coupling dominated by high hydraulic gradient in mountainous areas, strong runoff-sediment coupled movement, and serious disaster losses due to high exposure of disaster bearing objects. Finally, based on the issues in previous research, four future research challenges for flash flood disasters in the Hengduan Mountains are proposed. Our work contributes to the development of disaster prevention and reduction research, including basic theoretical system, precise risk assessment of regional disasters, and fine early warning and forecasting of flash floods.

  • LUCC and Surface Process
    LIU Shiqi, WANG Ping, YU Jingjie, CAI Hongyan, YANG Linsheng, MU Cuicui, LIU Changming
    Acta Geographica Sinica. 2024, 79(7): 1751-1767. https://doi.org/10.11821/dlxb202407008

    Thermokarst lakes, as prominent thermokarst landscapes in permafrost regions, significantly influence ecological vegetation, hydrological processes, and carbon cycling in the Arctic. However, the current understanding of the distribution characteristics and change mechanisms of Arctic thermokarst lakes remains limited. To address this gap, this study employs meta-analysis and mathematical statistical methods to investigate the distribution patterns and dynamics of thermokarst lakes. The results reveal a pronounced spatio-temporal heterogeneity in the distribution and changes of Arctic thermokarst lakes. These variations are closely associated with permafrost conditions, lithology, soil types, subterranean ice content, and soil temperatures. Most Arctic thermokarst lakes are located in continuous permafrost area, where subterranean ice content exceeds 10%, average soil temperatures are above -4°C, and there are specific vertical soil temperature gradients. The change trends of thermokarst lakes differ under various environmental conditions. Generally, the development of thermokarst lakes follows three stages: initial formation, mid-term expansion, and late-stage contraction, all influenced by hydrological and thermohydrological balances. As critical indicators of permafrost degradation and climatic environmental changes, thermokarst lakes profoundly impact carbon cycling, hydrological processes, and ecological environmental changes within the Arctic ecosystem.

  • Population and Urban Studies
    SUN Pingjun, ZHANG Keqiu, CAO Naigang, LIU Ju
    Acta Geographica Sinica. 2024, 79(8): 1918-1939. https://doi.org/10.11821/dlxb202408003

    In the wake of unprecedented global urbanization, an alarming trend of shrinking cities has emerged worldwide, presenting a profound challenge to conventional urban-regional planning approaches, primarily centered on growth scenarios. This trend has also bestowed upon Chinese geographers and urban and rural planning practitioners a new mandate in this evolving era. One region that exemplifies this predicament is Northeast China, experiencing the most severe population decline and the highest concentration of shrinking cities in the country. How to rationally recognize and properly deal with this phenomenon (or problem) of regional urban shrinkage has become the core scientific issue to be focused on in the comprehensive implementation of regional coordinated high-quality development, Chinese-style modernization of common prosperity for all and all-round revitalization of Northeast China in the new era. This paper delves into a logical speculation and practical discussion to understand the underlying causes and implications of regional urban shrinkage in Northeast China: Initially, it examines the original concept of regional shrinking cities within the context of urbanization, critically evaluating the rationality of such shrinkage in light of the broader national strategic objectives. Subsequently, the generation logic of regional urban shrinkage in Northeast China is explored through three key factors: the "pull" effect of regional spatial correlation, the "extrusion" effect of urban shrinkage at a regional level, and the "catalyst" effect of transportation and communication technology development in reducing the cost of factor flow. Moreover, this study draws on the market-led shrewd contraction theory and the government-led vitality regeneration governance logic. It takes into account the governance objectives of achieving "regional coordinated high-quality development, people-oriented new urbanization, efficiency and fairness, and comprehensive security concept". With a systematic perspective that considers scale heterogeneity, development context relevance, factor differentiation, and multidisciplinary integration, the paper outlines a governance model and strategy for addressing regional urban shrinkage in Northeast China. By emphasizing the alignment of governance approaches with national development goals, this research underscores that regional urban shrinkage goes beyond a mere outcome of market-driven population migration. The presence of underlying "market failures" severely impacts the vision of the five major securities (national defense, food, ecology, energy, industry) advocated by Chinese President Xi Jinping for the Northeast China region. The findings of this study offer valuable insights to guide Northeast China's pursuit of high-quality development and contribute to the region's revitalization efforts.

  • Urban and Rural Development and Population Mobility
    WU Kang, ZHANG Jing, LI Dong
    Acta Geographica Sinica. 2024, 79(6): 1371-1390. https://doi.org/10.11821/dlxb202406002

    Research on urban health constitutes an important issue in the field of health geography and also a strong propeller of the Healthy China Initiative. As the main form that realizes new-type urbanization, urban agglomerations should become the primal sites for the construction of a "Healthy China". The evaluation of healthy cities' development in urban agglomerations has both theoretical and practical values. Based on the concept of urban health and its evaluation models, this paper developed an evaluation framework for healthy cities that involved multiple data sources. With 19 urban agglomerations in China as the research subjects, we used CRITIC weighting and geographical detectors to examine the spatial and temporal development patterns of healthy cities and their influencing factors in 2010 and 2020. The results were fourfold. Firstly, the urban health level of China significantly increased from 2010 to 2020, and the comprehensive health index developed towards a positive skewed distribution, along with a shift from "low in the hinterland - high in the coastal areas" to a "multipolar" pattern led by the coastal and southwest urban agglomerations. Secondly, among various dimensions of urban health, the healthy environment index became improved with narrowed regional differences; while the health services index was still polarized; health collaboration was upgraded with a strengthened intercity health networks; the healthy population index slightly declined and converged to the middle. Thirdly, urban health in China has initially demonstrated the characteristics of a H-H pattern in the Yangtze River Delta and Chengdu-Chongqing regions, as well as L-L clusters in the northern urban agglomerations, the narrowed regional differences, and increasing coordination within each urban agglomeration. Fourthly, the geographical detector found that economy, urbanization and the human capital were significant external factors that affected urban health development. The explanatory power of technological innovation and openness to the outside world were also increasing. The development of healthy cities is yet to be transformed into regional health integration.

  • National Spatial Optimization and Regional High-quality Development
    DENG Zongbing, XIAO Qinlin, WANG Ju, LI Liping
    Acta Geographica Sinica. 2024, 79(4): 971-990. https://doi.org/10.11821/dlxb202404009

    The mutual empowerment and coordination of digital economy and green development is an inherent requirement for high-quality development. On the basis of deconstructing the coupling coordination mechanism of digital economy and green development, this paper analyzes the spatio-temporal characteristics of the coupling coordination between digital economy and green development in China, as well as the driving mechanism of spatial differences from 2010 to 2019 by using the vertical and horizontal scatter degree method, coupling coordination degree model, and quadratic assignment procedure (QAP). The results show that: (1) In terms of temporal evolution, the coordination degree of China's digital economy and green development has experienced a process of "reluctant coordination - primary coordination - intermediate coordination" during the investigation period, but high-quality coordinated development is far from being achieved, and most provinces are in the primary coordination stage characterized by the lagging digital economy. (2) In terms of spatial change, the spatial differences of coordination are obvious, showing an overall pattern of "multi-core" radiation, a "concave" interregional pattern of "eastern leading, central collapsing, and western catching up", as well as an evolution pattern of coordination levels of "highly coordinated transformation in eastern China, and imbalanced separation in central and western China". (3) In terms of spatial correlation, the regional coordination has gradually changed from "polarization effect" to "diffusion effect", and the spatial characteristics have changed from agglomeration to equilibrium. (4) In terms of spatial differences and decomposition, regional differences are the main source of overall differences in coordination degree. (5) Analysis of driving mechanism shows that narrowing regional differences in digital economy is the fundamental driving force to promote the coupling and coordination of digital economy and green development, while the narrowing of external differences such as economic development, industrial structure and technological innovation fails to play a positive role.

  • Theoretical and Methodological Exploration
    LIAO Xiaohan, ZHANG Jie, HUANG Yaohuan
    Acta Geographica Sinica. 2024, 79(3): 551-564. https://doi.org/10.11821/dlxb202403001

    Geography, as part of earth science, is a complicated system composed of multiple disciplines. Interdisciplinary studies are the significant characters of geography. With the rapid development of low-altitude airspace exploitation such as the application of UAV, low-altitude airspace has become a subject of research field of geography. Recently, there are many interdisciplinary studies and integration between geography and aeronautics. However, it is a difficult and innovative task to take the low-altitude airspace as a fixed research object of geography and develop it into a branch of geography named low-altitude airspace geography. In this paper, we consider the low-altitude airspace as a complex giant system, which has two geographical characteristics of synthesis and regionalism. Herewith, low-altitude airspace is a research object of geography in theory, which is the basis of generation of low-altitude airspace geography. The development trend of low-altitude airspace geography is to deeply conduct interdisciplinary studies with aeronautics, physical geography, human geography, information geography. On the basis of analyzing the relationship between low-altitude airspace geography and the above-mentioned disciplines, we tentatively proposed the preliminary layout of the discipline system of low-altitude airspace geography, which is composed of integrated low-altitude airspace geography, departmental low-altitude airspace geography and low-altitude airspace information geography. This paper aims to promote the development of low-altitude geography as a new academic growth point of geography to some extent.

  • Population and Urban Studies
    DING Liang, HUANG Ziqian, XIAO Chaowei, ZHANG Junshen, ZHAO Hua
    Acta Geographica Sinica. 2024, 79(8): 1898-1917. https://doi.org/10.11821/dlxb202408002

    Understanding the spatial segregation and social integration of immigrants and local residents is highly significant in summarizing the historical experience of Chinese modernization. Additionally, it serves as a crucial foundation for promoting a people-centered new urbanization, fostering spatial fairness and justice, and achieving common prosperity. However, current research on residential spatial differentiation primarily focuses on analyzing the spatial distribution characteristics, differentiation patterns, and indicator calculations of various groups, and has limited investigation into social integration issues. This paper explores this social and spatial differentiation phenomenon in Hangzhou, usingthe initial residence registration information and mobile phone signalling data to analyze the characteristics and mechanisms of living space differentiation. Additionally, this article combines a small sample of questionnaires with a bottom-up exploration of social integration under spatial differentiation. From the research, four key findings emerge: (1) The majority of residents in the city are migrants. There is a clear difference in the distribution of living spaces between immigrants and local residents, with local residents mainly concentrated in the old city area, while the distribution of immigrants is more scattered. Compared to the typical "immigrant city" in the United States, Hangzhou has less spatial differentiation between immigrants and local residents. (2) The residential space differentiation between immigrants and local residents in the city presents a combination pattern of " multi-nuclei, sectoral, concentric zone". However, unlike the centrifugal diffusion trend of the local people in the United States, the local residents in Hangzhou tends to gather towards the center, while immigrants choose centrifugal diffusion and peripheral aggregation. (3) The spatial differentiation of living spaces is mainly caused by the competition for spatial resources between immigrants and local residents under urban expansion. However, behind the phenomenon of "local residents live in the old city", immigrants are no longer a disadvantaged group. Some intelligent new immigrants actively choose to live in high-quality peripheral areas. (4) The integration between immigrants and local residents is satisfactory, but it is more cautious about the issue of intermarriage. Additionally, residential spatial segregation has not had a negative impact on social integration. There are four main reasons for this. To begin with, the majority of the population consists of immigrants, and urban residents no longer pay attention to identity labels in their daily interactions. Besides, there is relatively little cultural difference within ethnic groups, and the assimilation between immigrants and local residents is increasing. And then, interactions between individuals in workplace and third place can alleviate the negative impacts caused by residential spatial segregation. Finally, China's coordinated development and people-oriented social system can also create favorable conditions for social integration.

  • Theory and Methodology Exploration
    ZHAO Wenwu, YIN Caichun, ZHANG Junze, FU Bojie
    Acta Geographica Sinica. 2024, 79(11): 2699-2720. https://doi.org/10.11821/dlxb202411001

    Sustainable development is a significant scientific issue of global concern. Geography, as a comprehensive discipline focusing on the coupled relationship between human activities and the natural environment, provides systematic research and solutions for achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, there is currently a lack of comprehensive reviews. This paper summarizes the theoretical framework and research progress of Geography supporting the SDGs and explores its future key research areas. This article indicates that: (1) Geography, in conducting integrated research on human-nature systems and serving regional and global sustainable development processes, has innovatively proposed and developed theoretical frameworks such as social-ecological systems, pattern-process-service-sustainability, metacoupling, and Classification-Coordination-Collaboration. These research frameworks include elements of human-environment system interconnections, process coupling, spatial coupling, and systematic regulation oriented towards SDGs, forming a comprehensive theoretical framework supporting sustainable development research in Geography, also referred to as "sustainable geography theoretical framework". (2) Geography has made positive progress in supporting the United Nations SDGs research in areas such as multi-source data acquisition, localization of indicator systems and multi-scale progress assessment, analysis of inter-target linkage mechanisms, and SDG achievement pathways. Geography provides important theoretical and methodological support for SDG research. (3) Geography and sustainable development-related research mainly focus on climate-ecological crisis response, sustainable utilization of food-energy-water resources, regional development and planning, human well-being and social governance, and the construction of SDG assessment indicators and databases. (4) In future research, there is a need to innovate and develop sub-disciplines of Sustainable Geography, optimize the construction of SDGs indicator systems, develop SDGs assessment and decision-making models, strengthen artificial intelligence geography, deepen research on human-nature system coupling, and promote regional and global sustainable development in the process of advancing innovation in the discipline of Geography.

  • Spatial and Industrial Development
    WANG Hua, ZHOU Guohua, ZHAO Wanmin, WU Guohua
    Acta Geographica Sinica. 2024, 79(6): 1478-1502. https://doi.org/10.11821/dlxb202406008

    In the course of urbanization in mountainous and hilly regions, the rapid and disorderly expansion of urban areas has led to environmental degradation of natural landscapes, the gradual erosion of cultural heritage inherent to landscapes, and an intensification of the conflict between human activities and environmental preservation. This dilemma has emerged as a prominent challenge confronting the sustainable development of cities. The integrated advancement of mountain management, water governance, and urban planning emerges not only as a pragmatic imperative for new urbanization and the realization of a visually appealing China, but also as a pivotal pillar supporting urban spatial restructuring and the pursuit of green, low-carbon transformations. This study advocates for a comprehensive exploration of the reciprocal influences and interactions between urban spatial expansion and natural landscapes, necessitating the adoption of an integrated research pattern. This pattern systematically scrutinizes the organizational dynamics and mechanisms of interaction among urban physical spatial configurations, natural ecological networks, and the structure of landscaping and cultural spaces. The spatial pattern termed "mountain-water-city" encapsulates the symbiotic relationships forged through the interplay and adaptation between urban artificial environments and natural landscape environment, with an emphasis on the holistic fusion of urban spaces, natural elements, and cultural components. Building upon this conceptual foundation, the present paper endeavors to elucidate the theoretical contexts and practical imperatives underlying the investigation of the "mountain-water-city" spatial pattern. It delves into the conceptual nuances of this spatial pattern, elucidating its constituent elements, hierarchical scales, and formation mechanisms from a comprehensive perspective integrating spatial, natural, and cultural interactions. Subsequently, it examines the analytical framework and future prospects for research on the "mountain-water-city" spatial pattern, which should center on analyzing its spatiotemporal processes, identifying key controlling factors, and discerning its evolutionary patterns. Furthermore, it should elucidate the driving mechanisms, organizational models, and holistic impacts shaping the formation and evolution of the "mountain-water-city" spatial pattern, as well as explore governance strategies and regulatory pathways conducive to fostering the symbiotic development of this spatial pattern.

  • Urban and Rural Development and Population Mobility
    ZHAO Ziyu, WANG Shijun, LI Zhuowei, HAN Zhonghui
    Acta Geographica Sinica. 2024, 79(4): 873-889. https://doi.org/10.11821/dlxb202404004

    Using Tencent population migration data in 2019 and Chinese language distribution data, the paper reveals the language ties effect of dialect similarity on Chinese population flow, and further explores its spatiotemporal heterogeneity, traffic mode heterogeneity, and the moderated role of spatial distance on its impact. The results show that: (1) Dialect similarity increases the path formation probability and the relationship strength of the inter-city population flow network in China, and forms the language ties effect in the population flow network. Geographic distance and language distance can be regarded as the explicit and implicit spatial costs of population flow, respectively. (2) There are spatiotemporal heterogeneity and traffic mode heterogeneity in the language ties effect. With each unit increase in dialect similarity, the path formation probability of China's population flow network will increase by 47.7% and 49.5%, respectively, and the flow intensity will increase by 17.1% and 9.9%, respectively, in the Spring Festival travel rush and the daily periods. At the same time, there are positive, negative, and degree differences in the influence of the language ties effect on population flow in different language regions and different modes of transportation, revealing the spatial differences and geographical implications of the language ties effect in the process of affecting China's population flow. (3) The effect of language ties is restricted by the law of spatial decay, and shows differences and complexity in different modes of transportation and periods. The paper expands the current research on the influencing factors of China's population flow from the perspective of economic, social and demographic characteristics, helps to understand the driving mechanism of China's population flow, and has practical significance for social governance and cultural diversity protection in multi-ethnic integrated China.

  • Theoretical and Methodological Exploration
    XIA Jun, ZHANG Shiyan, ZHANG Yongyong, SHE Dunxian, YANG Jun, WU Shengjun
    Acta Geographica Sinica. 2024, 79(9): 2163-2175. https://doi.org/10.11821/dlxb202409001

    Waterlogging, water pollution, black and odorous water, and riverine and lacustrine ecological degradation are the main water problems faced by China's cities, which have become one of the key obstacles to the green development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt. In-depth understanding of the evolution of the water system in the process of urban development and the mutual influences between the elements, clarifying the formation mechanism of the urban water problems, and constructing an integrated treatment technology system of the urban water system are the fundamental ways to solve the complex urban water problems. Aiming at the abovementioned urban water problems, this paper summarizes the concepts and characteristics of the urban water system from a systematic perspective of the multiple processes coupled with each other in the water cycle and proposes a key technology system for a systematic solution to the urban water problems, which are demonstrated with the treatment examples of the urban agglomeration in the Yangtze River Economic Belt in 2016-2022. The demonstrative applications show that the pumping stations and sponge measures can effectively reduce the severely inundated area of Wuhan city in extreme rainfall events and eliminate the waterlogging points in the Chengdu-Chongqing urban agglomeration; the proposed microbial-botanical-hydrodynamic integrated synergistic regulation and control technology can significantly enhance the removal efficiency of the nitrogen and phosphorus level in typical black and odorous water bodies of Wuhan city; the proposed source control-path dissipation-terminal regulation comprehensive ecological treatment system for urban rivers and lakes decreased the water eutrophication level significantly in the Lianghe River basin of Chongqing city; with the implementation of the abovementioned treatment technology system, the green development index of the urban agglomeration in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River increased by an average of 4.8%. This study provides theoretical and technical support of urban water system for the major strategies of the green development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt.

  • Urban and Rural Development and Population Mobility
    LI Simeng, YANG Ren, LONG Hualou
    Acta Geographica Sinica. 2024, 79(4): 854-872. https://doi.org/10.11821/dlxb202404003

    As an important part of Chinese modernization, rural modernization is the ultimate goal of rural development and comprehensive revitalization in China. The rural modernization in China has entered a new stage. Based on the connotation and logical relationship of rural development and rural modernization, this paper systematically sorts out the stages, paths, strategies and theoretical evolution of global rural development after World War II, summarizes the problems and challenges faced by rural modernization in China, and constructs the research framework of Chinese rural modernization. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) Rural development aims to promote rural revitalization and urban-rural integration by continuously optimizing the development elements of rural areas and reshaping rural functions and forms, while rural modernization is the process of realizing the modernization transformation of agriculture, rural areas and farmers by gradually changing rural traditional production and lifestyle through concepts, elements and mechanisms of modernization. (2) After World War II, the development focus of global countryside gradually shifted from agricultural revival, rural ecological environment protection and sustainable development to green, eco-friendly and intelligent development of rural areas in the new period, and the theoretical cognition has experienced the transformation from productivism, post-productivism, multi-functionalism to the paradigm of neo-productivism and sustainable development of the global countryside. (3) The rural modernization in China still faces problems and challenges such as backward conditions for agricultural production, insufficient integration of three rural industries, lagging construction of rural infrastructure, hidden dangers in rural social governance, dilemma of rural resources and environment, and shortfalls in rural human capital. (4) Facing the national strategic needs of Chinese modernization, rural revitalization and urban-rural integrated development, the focus is constructing the theoretical framework of Chinese rural modernization from the aspects of institutional system innovation, regulation and planning technical system of rural space, integration and activation path of resources and elements, and future scene construction of smart and green countryside and its scientific governance. Based on the systematic thinking of human-environment coupling, the future research of Chinese rural modernization should deepen the basic theories and scientific paths, development models and guarantee mechanisms, social collaborative governance and spatial regulation and planning to construct the discourse system of academic disciplines in rural geography associated with Chinese rural modernization transformation.

  • National Spatial Optimization and Regional High-quality Development
    QIAO Yibo, HE Canfei
    Acta Geographica Sinica. 2024, 79(4): 909-930. https://doi.org/10.11821/dlxb202404006

    County has long been the basic unit of national governance in China. Yet, only limited policy attention has been paid to counties. Recently, the central government proposed to carry out county-level urbanization to further deepen the people-centered new urbanization strategy. In this situation, counties need to provide enough jobs and decent income for rural emigrants. However, this is only the case for a small fraction of counties with prosperous local economies, and most of the rest counties need to enhance their industrial development to absorb the rural emigrants. Since China's industrialization process is largely influenced by the government, boundary adjustment, such as turning counties into urban districts, may also influence the local industrial development in various ways. Relying on the National Annual Survey of Industrial Firms Database (1998-2015), this paper constructs a county manufacturing industry dataset with 1110 counties and 376 four-digit level industries. With an Evolutionary Economic Geography approach, this paper explores the causal impacts of turning counties into districts on counties' manufacturing upgrading by employing difference in differences in differences method (DID). The empirical results show that, first, after turning counties into districts, counties have higher probabilities to enter more complex industries and exit less complex industries. And in both cases, the impacts of turning counties into districts has a time lag. Second, at the macro county level, turning counties into districts could benefit manufacturing upgrading through population agglomeration, economic development, infrastructure construction, and public service improvement; at the micro firm level, turning counties into districts could upgrade manufacturing industries by promoting output, intermediate inputs, profit, innovation, and tax reduction. Turning counties into districts has the largest impact on manufacturing upgrading in the eastern region and has negative impact in the central region. These findings could not only provide empirical support for the future implementation of turning counties into districts, but also enrich the institutional perspective of Evolutionary Economic Geography on regional industrial evolution.

  • Theoretical and Methodological Exploration
    LIU Wanzeng, CHEN Jun
    Acta Geographica Sinica. 2024, 79(5): 1099-1114. https://doi.org/10.11821/dlxb202405001

    The empowerment of spatio-temporal information fully releases and amplifies its value as a critical factor of production, meeting the need of the era to support the high-quality development across diverse economic and social sections. Currently, foundational research into the empowerment of spatio-temporal information remains undeveloped, predominantly constrained by the perception that empowerment is synonymous with application. The lack of comprehensive understanding and investigation into its mechanism results in ambiguity in both the connotation and extension of spatio-temporal information, as well as the intrinsic mechanism of its empowerment. Such vagueness restricts the empowerment in a scientific and efficient manner. There is an immediate necessity to delineate its fundamental essence, mechanisms of empowerment, and operational modes clearly. To address the aforementioned challenges, this paper defines the foundational concept, explores the rich connotation, and outlines the essential characteristics of spatio-temporal information. It posits that entropy serves as the physical foundation for the empowerment of spatio-temporal information, with entropy decrease acting as its inherent driving force. The empowerment of spatio-temporal information utilizes spatio-temporal information as the medium, driven by the negative entropy flow, marked by the transformation of inherent uncertainty. This process enhances both the system's structure and performance through the dynamic interplay among humans, machines and the external environment. This paper describes three empowerment modes of spatio-temporal information: taking spatio-temporal information as the in-itself information for direct empowerment, employing it as the being-itself information for indirect empowerment, and converting it into spatio-temporal knowledge for enhanced empowerment. Lastly, this paper investigates the pathways through which the empowerment of spatio-temporal information contributes to the high-quality development of natural resources.

  • Land Use and Ecosystem
    LI Shuang, ZHANG Xiaohong
    Acta Geographica Sinica. 2024, 79(5): 1286-1302. https://doi.org/10.11821/dlxb202405012

    Shanghai is one of the most significantly urbanized cities in modern China, and its urban spatial pattern and urban area have changed dramatically since its opening up (1843-2020). Reconstructing and analyzing the expansion process of Shanghai has great importance toward attaining a deeper understanding of China's urbanization. This study collected multi-source and multi-precision urban spatial data such as old urban maps, topographic maps of the Republic of China (1912-1949), declassified images from the U.S. military (KeyHole), and remote sensing data (Landsat), and reconstructed a long time series of urban built-up areas, and finally examined the evolution process and driving forces of the spatial structure of Shanghai. The results show that: (1) Since 1843, the area of urban built-up areas increased tremendously, with a total expansion of about 1453 times, and the expansion rate and expansion intensity also changed drastically. (2) The overall change trend of compactness is decreasing, and the fractal dimension shows a certain cycle. (3) The center of gravity of the built-up area in different periods showed a trend of developing first to the north and then to the south, and the most important direction of expansion was southwest and west by south. (4) The urban change was complicated by multiple driving factors: the natural location established the prerequisite for the development of Shanghai as a port city; as the most fundamental driving force, social change and policy determined the main direction of urban development at different stages; the spatial agglomeration of industry and trade is the direct cause of the formation and expansion of cities; population migration also injected new impetus into the urbanization; transportation, as an urban infrastructure, has been used to strengthen the connection between the city's external and internal regions. This study clarifies the processes and mechanisms of urban expansion in Shanghai and provides historical knowledge and scientific support for a deeper understanding of urban change and the evolution of the human-land relationship. Moreover, the ways in which a set of general data with a wide coverage and high resolution can be used for the study of the spatial and temporal processes of urban expansion on a centennial scale are discussed, which is quite instructive for understanding the pre-remote sensing era and developing longer time series.

  • Surface Process and Environmental Change
    YAN Yuqiang, LI Xiangying, LIU Sha, YANG Rui, SU Xirui, YI Tong
    Acta Geographica Sinica. 2024, 79(5): 1129-1145. https://doi.org/10.11821/dlxb202405003

    Glacial meltwater is a major carrier of nutrients and bioactive compounds, and meltwater chemistry is an important way to study the glacier drainage system and its dynamic characteristics to gain insights into the biogeochemical cycling process and explore the relationship between deglaciation and climate change. With accelerated melting of glaciers and increases in erosion and weathering, meltwater chemistry has undergone significant changes, which may have significant impacts on downstream water quality, the water environment, and ecosystems. In this study, the contents of inorganic chemical components and their spatial and temporal variations, solute sources and their proportions, and the relationship between chemical weathering and carbon cycling in global glacial meltwater were reviewed. The results indicated that meltwater chemistry is affected by various factors, such as the nature of the bedrock, the drainage system, the physical chemistry, and the topography and geomorphology. To provide references for future research on the relationships among the cryosphere, carbon cycle, and climate change, it is essential to strengthen simultaneous and continuous monitoring of hydrometeorological parameters and inorganic and organic chemical components in meltwater, evaluate the ecological and environmental effects of solutes sourced from glaciers, and examine the relationships among the coupled mechanisms of chemical weathering in glacial regions, solute mobilisation, and atmospheric CO2 balance.

  • Geopolitical Relations and Tourism Geography
    YU Zhenxin, HU Zhiding, ZHANG Zhe
    Acta Geographica Sinica. 2024, 79(4): 991-1006. https://doi.org/10.11821/dlxb202404010

    The border issue holds significant importance in China-India relations, persistently hampering their development. Existing scholarship tends to interpret the causes of China-India border disputes through lenses of colonization, history, security and third-party involvement. However, these approaches overlook the complex power dynamics within the state which regards the border as the tools. To comprehensively explore the new-round China-India border dispute since May 2020, this paper cites the thought and methods of critical geopolitics, applies discourse analysis of geopolitical imaginations, and proposes a novel perspective that analyzes the border dispute in terms of the synergetic role of multiple actors. The findings indicate that: (1) The border dispute can be considered as tools or resources for multiple actors to achieve their goals or interests through jointly constructing geopolitical discourses and imaginations related to border disputes; (2) Based on Indian mainstream media news from April 2020 to March 2021, the Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress Party, the military, Ministry of External Affairs and the business and social elites in India have utilized the border conflicts as tools and resources to pursue political and economic interests through three forms of geopolitical imagination: paranoid style, intimate metaphor and moral resistance, thereby exacerbating the dispute; (3) The border dispute from May 2020 to February 2021 is regarded as a continuous process exploited by Indian multi-actors, which means that the conflicts, like the confrontation in Pangong Lake, occurred when the multi-actors' interests were not yet secured, but tend to subside once their interests are largely met. In this regard, China should rationally understand the periodic and persistent nature of China-India border disputes and actively build complementary and cooperative structures between the two countries through positive methods like "appreciative inquiry" which may effectively mitigate or resolve border disputes.

  • Urban and Rural Development and Population Mobility
    LIN Jinping, WU Kangmin, YANG Shan
    Acta Geographica Sinica. 2024, 79(6): 1391-1411. https://doi.org/10.11821/dlxb202406003

    This paper aims to examine the characteristics and patterns of the spatial linkage networks of urban economic efficiency so as to provide new policy insights into the regional integration process. The study builds a theoretical framework to analyze the spatial linkage of urban economic efficiency among cities from the perspective of scaling law. It constructs an analytical paradigm to reflect the network externalities. The Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration (YRDUA) is selected as a case study, and the improved gravity model and social network analysis are applied to measure the urban economic efficiency from 2000 to 2020, analyze the strength of inter-city linkages, and construct a spatial linkage matrix. The results reveal that: (1) the high economic efficiency zone of the YRDUA is gradually shifted from the high-grade cities in the east to the low-grade cities in the northwest; (2) the high-grade cities occupy a central position in the network, forming solid links and "small groups" with the neighboring cities; (3) in the linkage pattern of the urban agglomeration, the Shanghai-Suzhou, Hangzhou-Ningbo, and Hefei clusters show a dual-center, radiation-type and siphon-type coexistence. In contrast, the Nanjing cluster shows a single-center radiation pattern. The linkage paths of the cities in these four clusters are relatively fixed, and the linkage patterns evolve slowly. These findings coincide with the theory of city "quality" in urban geography and the theory of city links in economic geography, and provide empirical support for the integrated and coordinated development of the YRDUA, as well as emphasize the importance of the coordinated development pattern of the "wild goose" echelon structure, which is essential for the understanding of the development of the YRDUA.

  • Theoretical and Methodological Exploration
    SUN Wenchao, WANG Xingcan, XU Zongxue
    Acta Geographica Sinica. 2024, 79(3): 565-583. https://doi.org/10.11821/dlxb202403002

    Streamflow data provide vital information for research on hydrology and water resources, as well as for the design of water conservancy and hydropower projects. The lack of streamflow data is an important limiting factor that researchers in the field of hydrology have tried to address in the past decades. Streamflow estimation based on satellite data is an effective way to solve this problem, and it is an important topic for interdisciplinary research on quantitative remote sensing and hydrology. This paper summarizes the current research status of remote sensing inversion methods for hydraulic variables closely related to streamflow, including water surface width and water surface elevation. The research progress of mathematical methods of streamflow estimation based on satellite observations, such as establishing empirical relationships and integrating information with hydrological or hydrodynamic models, is described. The error evaluation of streamflow estimates, increasing observation frequency by multi-satellite collaboration, and the applicability of inversion method are discussed, are the factors that have hindered research into streamflow estimation based on remote sensing. Trends for future studies are elaborated and potential applications for streamflow estimation based on remote sensing are proposed.

  • Territory Resources and Carbon Peak & Neutrality
    CHEN Shiliang, LI Xia, QIAN Zhaohui, WANG Shaoqiang, WANG Miaomiao, LIU Zhenhai, LI Hui, XIA Ye, ZHAO Ziqi, LI Tingyu, ZHU Tongtong, CHEN Xuan, JIANG Yunhao, GU Peng
    Acta Geographica Sinica. 2024, 79(3): 747-764. https://doi.org/10.11821/dlxb202403012

    Global warming leads to increased frequency and severity of droughts, profoundly affecting the carbon budget of terrestrial ecosystems. We conducted a comprehensive assessment of drought trends within the Lancang-Mekong River Basin (LMRB) and quantified the impacts of standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI), potential evapotranspiration (PET), vapor pressure deficit (VPD) and soil moisture (Soilw) on net ecosystem productivity (NEP) using geographically weighted regression (GWR) method. The GWR analysis demonstrated that drought indices have a significant impact on NEP. From 2000 to 2019, with the decrease of precipitation, LMRB experienced a rise in temperature and a drop in humidity, leading to moderate or extreme drought in around 25% of the LMRB, especially between 2009 and 2016. Drought hotspots were identified in the upper reaches of the Lancang River and the middle and lower reaches of the Mekong River. Drought events in 2005, 2010, and 2019 altered the carbon source/sink of the Mekong River Basin ecosystem by decreasing plant photosynthesis and increasing ecosystem respiration. In 2010, for example, drought reduced GPP by 5.68% and increased ecosystem respiration by 3.15%, resulting the anomalies of NEP. The impact of drought on NEP in the LMRB often exhibited a lag effect, with an overall lag duration of 1 to 4 months, covering approximately 57.82% of the area. Spatial differences of the influence of different hydroclimatic factors on NEP were observed. NEP was negatively correlated with VPD in the LMRB, and positively correlated with SPEI in China's Yunnan province, western Myanmar, Cambodia and southern Vietnam. The NEP in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau was mainly affected by soil drought. This study highlights the significant spatial heterogeneity in the impact of drought on ecosystem carbon sequestration within the LMRB, providing essential insights for ecological management in drought-affected areas.

  • Geopolitical Relations and World Geography
    XIA Qifan, DU Debin
    Acta Geographica Sinica. 2024, 79(6): 1612-1628. https://doi.org/10.11821/dlxb202406015

    Strategic critical minerals are essential materials that will dominate the energy transition and technological revolution. In the context of global climate change and industrial transformation, the geopolitical phenomenon of major powers competing for critical minerals has rapidly emerged, yet relevant research remains relatively limited. Therefore, this paper aims to summarize the geopolitical research on critical minerals, elucidate the geopolitical logic behind them, and reveal the geopolitical patterns of critical minerals. Geopolitical research on critical minerals continues to be dominated by the West, while the domestic research is still in its initial stage. The geopolitical issues on critical minerals are driven by the demand consciousness raised by climate change and energy transition, the competition consciousness intensified by technological revolution and military-industrial innovation, as well as the crisis consciousness generated by the high concentration of supply chain. Technological complexity and application frontiers have determined that industrial and technological competition will lead the geopolitical future of strategic critical minerals, and thus the major powers have always been the absolute protagonists on the world stage. The United States holds the center stage in global competition, and despite its resource endowment, China faces significant security challenges. China should be acutely aware of this reality and formulate appropriate plans. The focus should be on strengthening geopolitical research on critical minerals based on theoretical foundations, enhancing geo-economic deployment of critical minerals with a focus on key areas, and constructing geo-security strategy for critical minerals guided by national demand.

  • Theoretical Exploration
    YANG Yongchun, JIAN Yuting
    Acta Geographica Sinica. 2024, 79(10): 2425-2441. https://doi.org/10.11821/dlxb202410002

    The new wave of technological revolution driven by artificial intelligence (AI) has become a competitive advantage pursued by countries worldwide, and it is also expected to bring about significant innovations in urban geography. This paper reviews the development trajectory of AI and proposes a conceptual model of the urban human-environment system oriented towards AI. It systematically outlines and summarizes the involvement of AI in urban geography research from four perspectives: data representation, scenario applications, spatial transformations, and urban development. Additionally, it identifies the challenges, contexts, exploration paths, and future prospects faced in the intelligent transformation of academic disciplines. The study finds that: (1) The interactions between elements within the urban human-environment system oriented towards AI are becoming increasingly complex. (2) The trend of AI becoming a primary tool in urban geography research is increasingly evident, offering high efficiency, low cost, and strong learning capabilities in data processing. This has significant implications for spatial perception and intelligent decision-making. AI has sparked spatial transformations, not only creating complex virtual spaces but also reconstructing social spaces. Additionally, AI supports the development of smart cities and the establishment of cutting-edge urban application platforms. (3) Urban geography research in the context of intelligent transformation faces challenges related to data and technology, as well as the broader contexts of global and local changes, technological ethics, and the development of humanistic values. Future development paths could explore overcoming technical barriers, focusing on urban spatial construction and governance, and emphasizing the research on the effects of multiple intelligence shifts. The discipline urgently needs comprehensive transformation and upgrading.

  • Urban and Rural Development and Population Mobility
    ZHAO Yicai, WANG Kaiyong, ZHAO Biao, WANG Fuyuan
    Acta Geographica Sinica. 2024, 79(4): 890-908. https://doi.org/10.11821/dlxb202404005

    The historical evolution of administrative divisions is an important part of historical geography and political geography. The research of the change process of administrative units is the basis of the history of administrative divisions, and the restoration and analysis of the whole process of the evolution of administrative divisions over a long period of time in history is the basic support for exploring the law and governance ability of local administrative system change. Based on the original historical documents such as the official history and geographical records of past dynasties, this paper combs the characteristics of the long-term evolution process and spatial pattern change of China's county-level administrative units in the past 2200 years (221BC-2021). The research results show that: (1) The number of county-level administrative units in Chinese history generally shows an increasing trend, but the total number is basically stable. The Tang and the Qing dynasties had a large number of counties, reaching two peaks. Since the Ming and Qing dynasties, especially since modern times, the number of county-level administrative units has continued to increase, which reflects the historical process of border development and county system expansion. (2) In the historical period, the scope of jurisdiction (the number of counties under the jurisdiction of administrative units that govern county) mainly shows a shrinking trend. The average number of counties under the jurisdiction of the administrative units that govern county decreased from 21.3 in the Qin Dynasty to 8.5 in 2021. (3) In the past 2200 years, the establishment of county-level administrative divisions shows a trend of spatial expansion, but there was partially inward contraction in the Xijin, Liao, Song and Jin dynasties. The counties in the historical periods mainly started from the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River and gradually expanded outward. The density of counties within each region continued to increase. (4) The middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River (Henan, Southern Hebei, Shandong and other places) have long been high-density regions with counties. The density of counties in the Chengdu Plain, Guanzhong Basin and Fenhe River Basin is also relatively high. (5) In the past 2200 years, the center of gravity of county-level administrative divisions has changed by about 3° in the north-south and east-west directions, both of which are located to the southeast of the current geometric center of China. The changes in the center of gravity of the county-level administrative divisions in Chinese history is of great geographical significance, which is basically consistent with the migration process of the population / economic center of gravity in the historical periods.

  • Surface Process and Environmental Change
    HUANG Lei
    Acta Geographica Sinica. 2024, 79(5): 1192-1210. https://doi.org/10.11821/dlxb202405007

    As a crucial ecological service provider and a key regional growth pole, the upper reaches of the Yangtze River faces significant environmental pressure due to enormous resource consumption during rapid economic development, posing a threat to the stability of its ecosystem. Based on the panel data from 47 prefecture-level and above cities in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River from 1998 to 2021, this paper comprehensively used Dagum Gini Coefficient, kernel density estimation, Markov Chain, spatial convergence model and other methods to deeply analyze the spatiotemporal pattern of environmental pressure. The results are as follows: (1) During the sample period, the overall pressure showed a slight upward trend in an inverted "V"-shaped pattern. The environmental cost of economic growth was high in the early stages, but the environmental risk was effectively controlled in the later stages. (2) The pressure demonstrated a pattern of "high in the east and low in the west" and "high-pressure areas contracted and low-pressure areas expanded". The three urbanized areas in the east, especially Chengdu-Chongqing region, were the pressure centers. However, due to the implementation of the environmental protection policies in the Yangtze River Basin, the scope of high-pressure cities significantly decreased. (3) The overall difference of the pressure exhibited a gently periodic fluctuating trend, with regional difference, net inter-regional difference, and hypervariable density tending towards a state of equilibrium. There were a few stable high-pressure cities in Yunnan-Guizhou region. (4) The evolution of the pressure shifted from a "multi-polar differentiation" trend to a "low-pressure concentration" trend. Initially, there were significant gradients in environmental pressure among cities, but in the later stages, most cities tended to converge towards lower pressure levels. (5) The relative situation of the pressure showed strong stability, but gradually decayed over time, and there existed spatial infiltration effect on the pressure changes. (6) The convergence trend of the pressure was robust, and the spatial proximity accelerated the convergence of environmental pressure. The tightening of environmental policies in the later stages further accelerated the convergence process. This study could provide decision-making support for strengthening ecological security barrier in the study area.