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.
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.
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.
Urban shrinkage has gradually become a global economic and social phenomenon, and housing vacancy is an important concomitant effect of urban shrinkage. Housing vacancy in shrinking cities is a key issue that needs to be studied urgently. Taking Northeast China, a concentrated area of shrinking cities in the country, as the research object, this study uses multiple types of remote sensing imagery data and spatio-temporal big data to construct a shrinking city system based on the perspective of physical urban areas, estimate the housing vacancy rate, analyze the spatio-temporal variation characteristics of housing vacancy in shrinking cities, and explore the influence of housing vacancy in shrinking cities of different scales. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) During the study period, the urban shrinkage phenomenon in Northeast China is significant and the housing vacancy rate is on the rise. The housing vacancy rate is generally higher in severe shrinking cities. (2) The configuration of property facilities and the characteristics of the surrounding environment are the main influencing factors of housing vacancy. The level of urban economic development, regional transportation conditions and natural resource conditions have gradually increased their influence on housing vacancy. (3) Improving economic efficiency and increasing residents' income can help alleviate vacancy in slight shrinking cities, while severe shrinking cities need to adjust the level of property facilities and optimize the layout of transportation facilities to reduce vacancy rates.
This study explored spatial characteristics of and spatial relationships between "townization" and transportation advantages in 2460 small towns in the Yangtze River Delta. Bivariate spatial autocorrelation was used to reveal how transportation has impacts on "townization". It is found that: (1) The overall development of "townization" in the study region is in the early to mid-term stages, with over 50% of towns having a "townization" level of less than 30%. There was significant spatial differentiation in transportation advantage, with advantages decreasing from a central point outwards: Shanghai acted as the primary center, Suzhou-Wuxi-Changzhou, Hangzhou, Ningbo, and Hefei were secondary centers, and underdeveloped city outskirts and the border area of Anhui acted as the peripheral layer. (2) The level of "townization" showed a general coordination with transportation advantage, whereas simultaneous low levels of both predominated and coordination decreased with increasing distance from central urban areas. Developed areas, such as Shanghai and Suzhou-Wuxi-Changzhou, contained small towns with developed transportation but relatively low "townization" level. In contrast, underdeveloped areas, such as Northern Jiangsu and Anhui, contained small towns with high population densities despite low transportation advantage. (3) Transportation had a significant positive impact on "townization". (4) While location factors generally promoted "townization", some specific factors had negative impacts. Both positive and negative effects of location factors were more pronounced in more developed areas. Transportation accessibility primarily promotes the transfer of goods and services and technologies between core cities and surrounding towns through spatial spillover, thereby reshaping the economic advantage of small towns and increasing population density. The concentration degree of the road network mainly affects the population density of towns by influencing travel costs and the speed and scale of movement of goods and services.
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.
The "New Northeast China Phenomenon", marked by a sharp drop in economic growth, has gained prominence as a matter of uneven development in China since 2010. Based on theories of spatial political economy and industrial geography, this study develops a theoretical and empirical analytical framework for the causes of uneven development and the "New Northeast China Phenomenon". The study finds that: The uneven development is the result of capital movement in space, and the sharp decline in economic growth in Northeast China is closely related to spatial shifts in production networks. From 2002 to 2007, the Northeast region quickly participated in the vertical division of labor in the industrial chain of "international circulation" and "national circulation", enabling coordinated and balanced development between the Northeast region and other domestic regions. From 2007 to 2010, the Northeast region's involvement in both "international circulation" and "national circulation" was severely damaged by external demand shocks, while "regional circulation" was enhanced by government stimulus programs, sustaining high economic growth. From 2010 to 2017, the industrial chain correlation effect and trade substitution effect caused by external demand shocks began to emerge. The participation of the manufacturing industry in the Northeast region in the "ternary circulation" has decreased due to intensified competition and precipitating the "New Northeast China Phenomenon". This paper aims to offer fresh perspectives on the causal factors and empirical research strategies regarding China's uneven development, as well as policy recommendations to facilitate the Northeast region's deeper integration into the new development paradigm for economic revitalization.
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.
Technology transfer is pivotal in narrowing regional disparities, optimizing resource allocation, and fostering collaborative innovation. While existing literature predominantly explores the factors influencing technology transfer based on theories of technology disparity, technology demand, technology absorption, and proximity, this study introduces new insights from the perspective of network symbiotic evolution, with a focus on endogenous structures and micro mechanisms. By analyzing data on invention patent transfers obtained from the China National Intellectual Property Administration, this study constructs spatial linkage networks of technology transfer in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area for six time points spanning 2007 to 2018. It then examines the evolutionary characteristics of the spatial patterns and explores the underlying mechanisms through temporal exponential random graph models. The findings reveal the following: (1) The technology transfer network in the Greater Bay Area has evolved from loose and homogeneous linkages to a dual-core pattern and subsequently to a polycentric structure. Shenzhen and Guangzhou are regional technology trade centers, while Dongguan, Foshan, Zhongshan, and Huizhou are second-tier cities. Together, they form a Shenzhen-Dongguan-Huizhou-Guangzhou-Foshan-Zhongshan community characterized by multi-dimensional proximity. Hong Kong and Macao are relatively marginalized cities within the Greater Bay Area urban agglomeration, primarily engaged in one-way technology transfer due to institutional differences and regional division. (2) The scale and structure of the technology transfer network in the Greater Bay Area have significantly improved. The technology transfer path has undergone steady changes and gradual optimization, demonstrating increasing reciprocity. The hierarchical structure of the network tends to converge, exhibiting enhanced connectivity and cohesion as it develops into a balanced, clustering, and polycentric network. (3) Both endogenous and exogenous forces drive the evolution of the technology transfer network in the Greater Bay Area. Endogenous factors can reduce cities' reliance on exogenous factors. The level of economic development, R&D investment, and the ability to transform technological and scientific outputs within a city can promote technology transfer. Moreover, there are sender effects and receiver effects. Institutional proximity facilitates technology transfer, followed by spatial contiguity and technological proximity. Structural dependence and time dependence are crucial endogenous driving forces for the evolution of the technology transfer network in the Greater Bay Area, as evidenced by delayed reciprocity, transfer closure, stability, and innovation.
The perfection of the cross-border regional innovation system of the Pearl River Delta (PRD) and Hong Kong remarkably underpins the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) towards an international technological innovation hub. This paper focuses on the relational characteristics of the usage of technological innovation functions and elements including labor force, technology, and producer services from Hong Kong by high-technology firms in the PRD, and probes into the influencing factors by integrating the objective perspective on the impact of firm-level socioeconomic attributes and subjective perspective on the open interpretations on the reasons by using or not using technological innovation functions and elements from Hong Kong by various stakeholders in high-technology domains in the PRD. Key research findings are fourfold. First, Hong Kong's technological innovation functions primarily ride on its institutional advantages under the "One Country, Two Systems" framework to empower high-technology firms in the PRD by expanding their international market, international business operation, and financing, but cross-border investment and entrepreneurship has retrieved to a relatively marginalized position. The degree of supply-demand relations of producer services is the highest, followed by labor force and technology. Second, Hong Kong-invested, large-sized, and long-standing high-technology firms in the PRD are more inclined to use technological innovation elements from Hong Kong, while domestic, small-and-medium-sized, and start-up high-technology firms in the PRD are in turn gradually unhooked from the supply of technological innovation elements from Hong Kong. Third, Hong Kong enjoys both advantages and disadvantages in supplying labor forces, technologies, and producer services to high-technology firms in the PRD, with advantages in competitiveness, international linkages and visions, and disadvantages in high cost, lack of deeper mutual understanding between Hong Kong and the PRD, and the imperfect cooperation mechanisms. Fourth, interactions among the transitioning role of Hong Kong in the macro-level global and national economic development landscape, meso-level cross-border regional specificities under the "One Country, Two Systems" framework, and micro-level heterogenous practices and capabilities of firms influence the usage of technological innovation functions and elements from Hong Kong by high-technology firms in the PRD.
Airport cluster has become an emerging field of research in air transport geography. Using the social network analysis method, we analyzed the spatiotemporal evolution of the world-class airport cluster's aviation network in the Northeast Corridor of the United States from 1993 to 2018. This paper found that in this region the aviation network has undergone the transformation from the formative period to the mature period. The results are as follows: (1) The "core-edge" structural characteristics tended to be more significant, more flights concentrated in the core airports while the flights between the edge airports and core airports decreased. The core airports grew rapidly, and connectivity among core airports enhanced. Meanwhile the domestic and international transit function of some core hubs was strengthened. (2) The structural characteristic of the hub and spoke was gradually obvious, while the number of hub airports connected by spoke airports reduced. This means that the spoke airports focused the flights to the hub airports in the nearby multi-airport system. (3) The small-world characteristic and node hetero compatibility of the aviation network became obvious, nevertheless, the reduction of hub airports connected by the spoke airports resulted in the decrease of cluster coefficient. The formation of the hub-and-spoke structure weakened the small-world characteristic of the aviation network. Based on the empirical analysis, this paper constructed an aviation network evolution model of airport cluster in small and medium scales, which can provide an empirical basis for the development of aviation network evolution theory, as well as theoretical and empirical reference for the planning and construction of world-class airport clusters in China.
Focusing on "heterogeneous spanning space" of human and non-human elements and "post-relational ontology" with the process logic, assemblage provides a new philosophical perspective for geographical research, as it considers the interactions between heterogeneous components and their dynamic relations. From the assemblage perspective, this paper attempts to construct an analytical framework for the geographical process of international corridor construction, which means that, the process can be analysed through the component dimension of material/expressive, or the changing dimension of territorialization/deterritorialization and coding/decoding. Using the China-Myanmar Indian Ocean New Channel as a case study, this paper analyses its geographical process assembled by heterogeneous elements and their interrelations over the past century. The main finding is that, based on geographical advantages of Lincang's side as material components, the corridor's opening is assembled jointly by the historical trauma and century-old dream resulted from the Yunnan-Myanmar Railway, the leadership of the Chinese government and positive practices of local actors in the 21st century. The sudden termination of the Yunnan-Burma Railway due to the Japan's invasion in the Second World War, has coded the painful memory for local actors, which became the affective power to force the subsequent assembling. The cross-scale power coupling of the corridor's assemblage in the 21st century is achieved through the Chinese government's initiative and the railway infrastructure construction, as well as Lincang's positive cooperation with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Myanmar's actors, and China's other provinces, cities and enterprises. However, the corridor construction still faces assembling risks and challenges currently, such as the low-level construction of transborder infrastructure, the insufficient coding of bilateral agreements, and ongoing conflicts in northern Myanmar, which all need to be coped with in the future. This paper not only contributes to the understanding of the process and integrity of assemblage, complements the recognition of geo-relations and actors' functions, but also inspires the discussion and innovation of geography's research paradigms, and the corridor construction and development in the future.
Geopolitics is increasingly a focus in ethnography and social networks research, with an urgent need for China to address international criticism regarding the persistent conflicts of ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) in northern Myanmar. These critiques suggest that EAOs maintain "killed but not extinguished" and conflict persistence, drawing sustenance from a complex cross-border network with China, gaining essential resources like food and shelter. Employing long-term ethnographic tracking and social network analysis, this study examines the intricate relationship between the China-Myanmar cross-border complex social networks and the conflict in northern Myanmar. It starts with the "survival decision-making mechanism," which decomposes the survivability data obtained by EAOs in northern Myanmar into three stages: data acquisition, the extent of complex social network data obtained, and the volume of such data. The survivability data linked to these cross-border networks is empirically tested using the Triple-Hurdle model. The discussion emphasizes ethnography's novel contributions to geopolitical research, showcasing its growing relevance and validity in this domain. The findings reveal that: (1) Under the influence of transaction costs or not, the impact of cross-border complex networks on the conflict's sustainability and the EAOs' resource acquisition is marked by uncertainty, negative and weak positive influences, indicating no direct and inevitable link to the conflict's persistence in northern Myanmar. (2) Transaction costs serve as a mediating factor, with their reduction not directly correlated with the data acquired by EAOs. However, the primary role of cross-border networks is to "expand" cross-border complex social networks, increase transaction frequency, and reduce uncertainty, thereby lowering transaction costs. (3) Control variables like education level, age, and livelihood status have varying impacts on data acquisition stages, showing characteristics of coexistence of positive and negative, significant differences in levels, etc. This study's integration of ethnography with complex network analysis provides a comprehensive geopolitical analysis, enriching the ethnographic geopolitical narrative of the continuous conflict in northern Myanmar.
The shatter belt is the main region of global conflict and great power competition, and it has the basic characteristics of external compression, internal fragmentation and dynamic process, and it is a geographical region formed under the action of both internal and external scales. The basic characteristics and development mode of the shatter belt are consistent with the core concept of geo-setting research. From the perspective of geo-setting, the shatter belt is a constantly evolving geographical region with the interactive practice of multiple actors inside and outside the region as the core. Through interactive practice, the decision information generated by the shatter belt is integrated into the material and conceptual factors of the action of the geo-actors. Under such constraints, the arrangement and correlation of these decision behaviors in time series constitute the core content of its historical evolution. We selected the South Caucasus region at the junction of Asia and Europe as the research region. Since the independence of the three South Caucasus countries in 1991, this region has experienced a complex process of internal conflicts and external games, which can be used as a typical case for the analysis of the shatter belt. This paper establishes an analytical framework for the historical evolution of the shatter belt from the perspective of geo-setting, examines the historical evolution process and stage characteristics of the three countries after their independence from 1991 to 2020 from the perspectives of background factors, correlation factors and structural factors, and analyzes the internal ways to promote their historical evolution from the three aspects of cross-domain interaction, cross-scale coupling and multi-actor game. From the perspective of geo-political theory, it presents the historical evolution process of the shatter belt in a multi-dimensional way, and is committed to regionality, comprehensiveness and scale of geographical research into the research of history and international relations, so as to achieve interdisciplinary dialogue.
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.
