This study analyzes the development of the discipline of human geography in China over the past 40 years, based on projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) from 1986 to 2023. The analysis focuses on research directions and themes, the hosting institutions and their spatial distribution, as well as the structure of high-level talents. This paper primarily employs methods such as keyword cloud analysis, probability density distribution analysis, and spatial analysis. The findings are as follows: (1) Although the number and financial volume of funded projects have grown rapidly, human geography remains at a disadvantage in terms of scholarly influence and the magnitude of funding support. (2) The majority of approved projects and funds are concentrated under the application codes for Urban and Rural Geography (D0109) and Economic Geography (D0108), though growth in these areas has been limited in recent years. Promising areas of focus include cultural geography, political geography, and behavioral geography. (3) New research topics have emerged, such as spatiotemporal behavior and quality of life, social space and mobility, innovation networks, city networks, rural revitalization, geopolitics, and carbon reduction. (4) The distribution of approved NSFC projects in human geography generally follows a Pareto distribution and is predominantly located east of the Hu Line. (5) There are relatively few high-level talents in human geography in China, with an unbalanced gender ratio. To advance the field, we propose to raise human geography's profile in interdisciplinary dialogue, to consolidate disciplinary consensus, to articulate key research priorities and assessment frameworks, address developmental disparities among subfields, and prioritize groundbreaking research agendas. The study underscores key unresolved issues in the discipline's governance and financing, including the generality-specificity spectrum in knowledge generation, and reconciling inter-direction competition with distributive justice in resource allocation. The research advances scholarly understanding by documenting funding-driven development patterns in Chinese human geography while addressing dual challenges of international disciplinary recognition and domestic academic consensus-building.

The administrative hierarchy of the city in China determines its ability of mobilizing resources and the direction of migrations, and it is also the direct subjects of policy implementation. Previous literature has rarely analyzed migrations from the perspective of urban administrative hierarchy. Using data from the 2017 China Migrants Dynamic Survey, this study explores the patterns of migration across urban administrative hierarchy and the influencing factors of destination choice. The results show that according to the urban administrative hierarchy, upward migrations are dominant. Spatially, inter-regional migration to the eastern region is a prominent feature. For the population that has migrated multiple times, subsequent migrations are dominated by horizontal and intra-regional migrations, with the proportion of downward migrations increasing and exceeding that of upward migrations. In the first migration, ordinary prefecture cities and provincial capital cities are preferred. In the subsequent migrations, the proportions of county-level cities (counties), separately planned cities and directly-administered municipalities have increased, which reflect repositioning of population after the first migration. Economic profits are the main driving force of migration, the socio-economic attributes and hukou-registered places affect the choice of destinations, which reflect the migrants' employment competitiveness, employment preferences, life cycle and path dependence on hukou-registered places. The choice of destination is also related to the migration scope, provincial capital cities are being preferred in intra-provincial migrations, while directly-administered municipalities are most likely to be chosen in inter-provincial migrations. This paper provides evidence for the theory of population migration that urban administrative hierarchy works, which shows a different pattern from Ravenstein's laws of step migration, and deepens the connotation of push-pull theory. The findings of the study are of revelatory value for the implementation of the new urbanization policy with counties as important carriers.

Existing studies on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) mainly focused on institutional features, macro-economic impacts and trade-network structures, while its geographic attributes and their implications remain underexplored. Taking the RCEP as a case, this paper examines how the FTA reshapes China's trade geography and validates these effects with an enhanced GTAP model, providing an empirical basis for advancing trade-geography theory. Key findings include: (1) RCEP significantly reduces regional trade costs. After full implementation of the agreement, the average tariffs among member countries will decrease to 40.5% of the pre-implementation level, while import and export trade facilitation levels improve by 34.3% and 29.6%, respectively. However, these improvements exhibit marked regional disparities. (2) RCEP asymmetrically promotes China's foreign trade growth, with stronger import stimulation than export expansion, alongside significant commodity-specific variations. (3) The agreement reshapes China's trade geography, driving a 7.66% increase in intra-RCEP trade while reducing extra-RCEP trade by 0.80%. (4) The restructuring of China's trade patterns under RCEP emerges from the complex interplay of trade creation, diversion, and displacement effects. Accordingly, China should further harmonize regional tariff schedules, enhance trade-facilitation mechanisms, strengthen industrial competitiveness and expand multilateral partnerships.

The spatial restructuring of large Chinese cities has exacerbated internal spatial differentiation and social segregation, resulting in disparities in the distribution of environmental risks across social groups and regions. This has negatively impacted the health and well-being of urban residents. This study analyzes the socio-spatial disparities in environmental risk distribution in Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Chengdu using pollution discharge permit data and census data, with ArcGIS spatial analysis methods. Principal component analysis is then applied for dimensionality reduction to capture the characteristics of urban spatial restructuring. Interaction term models are applied to analyze the intrinsic connections between environmental inequality and the urban spatial restructuring process. The findings reveal that individuals with lower education levels and migrant populations are exposed to greater environmental risks, with environmental inequality increasing from the city center to the periphery. The spatial variations in environmental inequality across the three cities can be attributed to their respective urban spatial restructuring processes and development trajectories, resulting in three distinct patterns of environmental inequality: minimal impact, localized improvement, and environmental deprivation. The study draws on Spatial Production Theory and Rawls' Theory of Justice to elucidate the evolution of environmental inequality in spatial differentiation within the context of urban spatial restructuring, emphasizing the shift from capital-driven spatial production to government-led social justice practices. It is suggested that when formulating and implementing strategies to promote environmental justice and sustainable urban development, the global and dynamic nature of urban space development should be considered to ensure equitable sharing of environmental benefits across all regions and social groups.

Emerged as a cutting-edge research agenda in urban studies more than half a century ago, gentrification remains an evergreen and debatable topic in the practices and research of urban and rural governance in contemporary China. In response to the lasting and heated debates within the international and domestic academic communities, it is of vital significance to examine and clarify the prevalent discourse of "Chinese-style gentrification" and conduct in-depth exploration and reflections on its historical evolution, conceptual boundaries, research approaches, and theoretical value. This paper situates Chinese-style gentrification into the broader context of the Global East by highlighting its unique features to be distinguished from the Western contexts. We dissect the historical evolution and contemporary identity of the "gentry" class in China under the framework of state-society relationship. The research contends that studies on Chinese gentrification should grasp three fundamental elements: "dynamism", "scale", and "process", namely, to understand the spatiotemporal variations of "the right to the city" conjuncturally, to develop a multi-faceted comprehension of the multi-scalar relationships in urban and rural governance, and to systematically examine the historical evolution of local experiences. Grounded in the specific "state-market-society" interactions in the Global East and China, the inherent complexity and diversity of Chinese-style gentrification will transcend the paradigms of Western gentrification research and make distinctive contributions to international debates. Currently, the processes of gentrification in China have engendered more profound social and spatial ramifications compared to that in the Global North. Balancing efficiency and equity will be a key task for promoting effective governance in urban and rural communities in China. In this new era, exploring innovative approaches to enhancing urban and rural governance and residents' well-being, engaging in comparative studies and constructive dialogues with international researchers should be our utmost tasks. In light of this, researchers should re-examine Chinese-style gentrification in an open-minded yet rigorous, critical yet scientific manner, drawing on but not being constrained by local experiences to make significant contributions to this ever-green and ever-evolving research field.

The Horqin Sandy Land is one of the four major sandy lands in China, and is located in the western part of the Northeast China Plain and the southeastern part of Inner Mongolia. The research on the spatio-temporal variation patterns and driving factors of land desertification is an important foundation for scientificly carrying out the sand prevention and control work. In this study, soil desertification indicators were retrieved from Landsat remote sensing imagery, and the soil wind erosion intensity was modeled using data including meteorological conditions, NDVI, DEM and soil texture. The spatio-temporal distribution pattern of soil desertification and its response to soil wind erosion in the Horqin Sandy Land from 1991 to 2020 were revealed by using methods such as slope trend analysis and Pearson correlation analysis. The results showed that: (1) From 1991 to 2020, the land desertification in the study area exhibited a reversal trend, and the area of the reversal region accounted for 71.27% of the total, whereas the area experiencing intensified desertification accounted for 17.54% and was sporadically distributed. (2) From 1991 to 2020, the changes in land desertification were basically consistent with the changes in soil wind erosion intensity, showing a trend of first increasing and then decreasing. (3) In the regions where wind erosion played a dominant role in the desertification, the area affected by human activities accounted for 66.36%. In the regions where wind erosion weakened and desertification reversed, the positive impact of human activities was significant, accounting for 78.34%; however, in the regions where wind erosion increased and desertification intensified, the contribution of climate change (57.69%) was greater than that of human activities (42.31%), and these two regions were adjacent in distribution, mainly located in Horqin Right Wing Middle Banner in the north, the western part of Tongyu county and Horqin district. This research investigated the spatio-temporal evolution of desertification in the study area over a 30-year period and examined its response to wind erosion intensity. These results provided theoretical basis and scientific guidance for the prevention and control of desertification, and contributed to the continuous restoration and improvement of the ecological environment in the Horqin Sandy Land.

Reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from crop production is essential for mitigating climate change and achieving sustainable agricultural development. Using micro-level data from the Fixed Observation Rural Survey (FORS) spanning 1993-2020 and the China Rural Development Survey (CRDS), we calculate the agricultural total factor productivity (ATFP) and GHG emission intensity from crop production among farmers based on the Cobb-Douglas production function and life cycle assessment, respectively. A two-way fixed effects model was employed to examine their relationship. The results show that ATFP has a rebound effect on GHG emission intensity under current technological and managerial conditions, with the optimal ATFP level below the sample mean. This suggests that continuous improvements in ATFP may initially reduce but eventually increase emission intensity. These findings remain robust across a series of tests. Moderating effect analysis indicated that higher education levels, per capita income, and labor input significantly strengthened the impact of ATFP on emission intensity. Heterogeneity across nine agricultural zones also indicates consistent rebound effects but with varying turning points. The results suggest that policies should focus on farmer education and training, optimize the agricultural planting structure, and adopt region-specific mitigation strategies to enhance ATFP while avoiding rebound effects in GHG emission intensity.

The construction of multiple heterogeneous relationships among tourism destinations is considered from a relational space perspective, which emphasizes the dynamic generation of spaces. This spatial generation is considered to be the product of mutual relations reflecting the fluidity of emerging markets, which provides new philosophical theories and methods for human geography studies. An analytical framework for the evolution logic of "glocalization" in tourism destinations is constructed from a relational space perspective in this paper, which systematically explores the evolution logic of glocalization on Gulangyu Island in Xiamen city. The results show that, when considering the evolution logic, the relational space perspective provides a grand spatiotemporal scale for analyzing Gulangyu Island's glocalization. Spatially, Gulangyu Island has experienced the construction of a diversified and heterogeneous relationship between the global and the local scale, which has shaped a physical landscape with glocalization characteristics. Over time, Gulangyu Island has experienced several rounds of globalization with multiple pathways, including trade and production. These pathways followed an evolutionary logic in the construction of relationships among the historical international community, relationship deconstruction among scenic resorts, and relationship reconstructions among national scenic and world cultural heritage sites. In terms of their evolution mechanism, the struggle for power between global and local governments and the heterogeneous construction of multiple subjects produce the internal and external mechanisms for the glocalization of Gulangyu Island. As a world cultural heritage site, Gulangyu Island has followed a unique realistic path toward glocalization. Studying its evolution provides theoretical and empirical references for a broader study of tourist destinations from a relational space perspective.

Rural construction, encompassing infrastructure, public services, and human settlement improvement, serves as a critical pathway to harmonize human-environment relationships in rural areas and a pivotal endeavor for advancing the comprehensive rural revitalization strategy. Integrated geographical research on rural construction offers a new opportunity for geography to serve national strategies. Despite substantial investments in rural construction in China, persistent gaps and underdeveloped regions remain, necessitating deeper theoretical and practical research to address these challenges. This study, based on a systematic review of the progress in rural construction research, elucidates the scientific connotations and practical requirements of rural construction from a geographical perspective. It further outlines the key areas for geographical research and innovative practical pathways to advance rural construction in the new era. Rural construction is a comprehensive, systematic undertaking that builds on current conditions while being geared toward the future. Against the backdrop of climate change, population mobility, and prominent sustainability challenges, it exhibits multidimensional, multilevel, and differentiated demands. In terms of the research, it is imperative to integrate interdisciplinary knowledge and construct a multi-objective, multilevel, and multi-stakeholder collaborative framework to distill differentiated regional models and optimization strategies based on comprehensive effects, implementation mechanisms, and problem diagnosis. From the perspective of practice, it is essential to actively explore more effective mechanisms for supply-demand matching, planning guidance, funding mobilization, subsequent operation and maintenance, and performance evaluation, thereby promoting a more inclusive, equitable, efficient, and sustainable approach to rural construction that effectively contributes to comprehensive rural revitalization.

Population aging has become a major issue affecting the socio-economic sustainable development worldwide. In response to China's national situation of "getting old before getting rich", comprehensively improving the level of home-based elderly care services is an inevitable way to meet the multi-level elderly care needs. Based on the public or quasi-public characteristics of elderly care service facilities, a basic framework has been constructed from the perspectives of demand and supply. It takes into account the heterogeneity of elderly care needs and the balance between fairness and efficiency with the core of service facilities accessibility. The data of home-based elderly care needs came from questionnaire surveys and interviews with 545 elderly people aged 60 and above from 2021 to 2023 in Beijing, which included the needs for daily dining, cultural and sports activities, medical and health services and daytime care. The other data included 1 km population grid, permanent population and population ratio of different age groups, and POI of elderly care service facilities. By using SPSS statistical analysis and two-step floating catchment area method, the heterogeneity of home-based elderly care needs were analyzed and applied in evaluating accessibility of different elderly care service facilities. Dagum Gini coefficient and bivariate spatial autocorrelation method were used to analyze the spatial fairness and efficiency of comprehensive accessibility. The study found that (1) the individual attributes of elderly people certainly determine the heterogeneity of elderly care needs. Retirement status, census register, educational level, occupation (before retirement) and age are the important factors. (2) When the heterogeneity of elderly care needs was taken into account, the positive correlation between the accessibility and the satisfaction survey results is more significant. Compared to neglecting the heterogeneity, the result better revealed the matching relationship between service facilities and elderly care needs as well as significant spatial differences. (3) The comprehensive accessibility of home-based elderly care service facilities shows spatial unfairness with a gradually decreasing regional difference from the city center to the suburbs. However, the allocation of service facilities in most areas has taken into account utilization efficiency.

The operation and impact of gentrification vary significantly across nations/regions. As global scholars increasingly advocate for a governance-oriented approach to gentrification studies, reexamining these disparities becomes urgent. Although Western theories have been extensively cited, the contextual specificities of gentrification in China remain insufficiently explored. This article examines gentrification in peri-urban communities, aiming to bridge the theoretical gap between urban and rural studies by adopting a governance perspective that fosters a comprehensive analytical framework. The case study of Xiaozhou village in Guangzhou provides the empirical evidence for this research. We found that (1) Government, market, and social actors collectively influence the trajectory of gentrification. When the existing state of the community deviates from desired conditions, governance interventions actively reshape the gentrification trajectory. (2) The government's obstruction of local livelihoods and lenient oversight of informal activities set the stage for gentrification. Conversely, administrative measures rooted in laws and planning documents fundamentally suppress the gentrification trend. (3) The market agents, particularly the gentrifiers, propel gentrification through their preferences for cultural or natural landscapes, creating exclusive class environments. However, their respect for local culture, compliance with institutional norms, and involvement in consultative governance mitigate the effects of displacement. (4) Social actors such as villagers may actively support gentrification when it brings them economic benefits. At the same time, place-making actions driven by a strong attachment to their homeland counteract gentrification. China's institutional environment facilitates the acceptable gentrification process, underscoring the urgency for scholars to pay attention to the emerging practices of proactive community-making. Such attention is crucial for informing geographical research that aspires to promote social justice.

The global value chain (GVC) is a key force shaping the international division of labor and an important perspective for understanding global economic dynamics. This paper constructs a long-term global value chain network dataset based on multi-regional input-output tables and input-output analysis techniques. By integrating advanced network analysis algorithms such as core-periphery profile, disparity filter, and simulation attacks, this study characterizes the macrostructure and spatiotemporal evolution of the GVC network. The paper analyzes the topological structure features of the GVC network and measures its structural resilience and evolutionary characteristics in multiple dimensions. The research findings are as follows: (1) The value flow scale of major global economies forms a hierarchical structure, and value distribution exhibits a highly spatially uneven characteristic. The global value chain network has been expanding and densifying, with the value flow scale in East Asia increasing, evolving from a "dual-center" structure of Europe and North America to a "tri-polar" structure of Europe, North America, and East Asia. (2) The core-periphery structure of the GVC network is significant, and the network position of a node is determined by both the scale of its participation in the global value chain and the degree of diversification of its value links. Countries such as the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain remain at the core, while Asian countries such as China, Japan, India, and the Republic of Korea are gradually rising. (3) The backbone structure of the GVC network has shifted from a single convergence core centered on the United States to a dual-core system driven by China and the United States, with Europe and Japan playing a stabilizing role in the network structure. Over time, the backbone structure has evolved with a trend of eastward shift and increasing globalization characteristics. (4) The resilience level of the global value chain network is generally limited, shows a four-stage evolutionary characteristic taking international impact events as turning points, and key economies such as the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Russia, Japan, China, and India have strong influences on network resilience. Based on the research conclusions, this paper discusses the node and structural characteristics of the global value chain network and proposes potential measures to enhance China's resilience and position within the network, aiming to provide insights for understanding the dynamics of economic globalization in the new era and optimizing China's global value chain participation strategy.

Gridded meteorological data obtained by spatial interpolation play a crucial role in ecological, hydrological, and land surface process models. The key challenge in current spatial interpolation is to effectively match the physical behavior of meteorological variables with the mechanistic properties of interpolation methods to maximize accuracy. This study constructed 12 interpolation models using thin plate spline (TPS) and random forest (RF) with six combinations of covariates including elevation, slope, aspect, and reanalysis data. These models were applied to daily interpolation and comparative analysis of eight meteorological variables (maximum temperature, minimum temperature, precipitation, skin temperature, wind speed, relative humidity, surface pressure, and sunshine duration) across China from 2000 to 2020. The results indicated that: (1) TPS with elevation as a covariate was optimal for maximum temperature, minimum temperature, skin temperature, relative humidity, and sunshine duration; RF with elevation as a covariate performed best for precipitation and wind speed; RF with elevation, slope, and aspect as covariates was the best for surface pressure. (2) Minimum temperature and skin temperature were better interpolated using TPS with elevation, slope, and aspect in winter, while surface pressure was better interpolated using TPS with elevation in spring. The optimal interpolation methods for the other variables remained consistent across seasons. (3) The interpolation accuracy of maximum temperature showed an interval-dependent preference, with RF performing better for daily maximum temperature below 15 °C, whereas TPS was more accurate above this threshold.

The future industry serves as a critical platform for cultivating new quality productivity forces. Based on panel data of 284 prefecture-level and above cities in China, this study analyzes the spatio-temporal characteristics of future industry enterprise entry. On this basis, the impact effects and mechanisms of the national new generation artificial intelligence innovation and development pilot zones on such entry are empirically explored. The findings are as follows: (1) From 2011 to 2022, the number of future industry enterprises entering the market in China shows an upward trend, with future information industry and future manufacturing industry dominating the landscape. The spatial distribution of future industry enterprise entries gradually evolves from a pattern of "high in the east and west, with a collapse in the central part" in 2011 to a “two-tier echelon structure of east and central-west regions" by 2022. (2) The pilot zone policy can significantly promote the entry of future industry enterprises. (3) Heterogeneity analysis shows that pilot zone policy exerts a stronger promotional effect on future industry enterprise entry in the central and western regions, normal-grade cities and low-policy-intensity cities compared to the eastern region, higher-grade cities, and high-policy-intensity cities. (4) Mechanism tests indicate that the pilot zone policy promotes future industry enterprise entry mainly by facilitating the clustering of breakthrough technologies, attracting inflows of venture capital, and promoting the clustering of talents. (5) The spillover range of the pilot zone policy in attracting future industry enterprises is approximately 100 km. Compared to pilot zones in the central and western regions, normal-grade cities, and low-policy-intensity cities, those in the eastern region, higher-grade cities and high-policy-intensity cities exhibit a broader spillover range of policy. The study provides empirical supports for optimizing future industry layouts and advancing new quality productive forces, as well as enriching the research perspectives of economic geography on enterprise location decisions.

At present, the contradiction of unbalanced and inadequate development between urban and rural areas in China has become prominent. It is of great significance to accurately judge and understand the characteristics and changes of this contradiction for coordinating urban-rural integrated development and promoting the land use equity between urban and rural areas. Based on the perspective of urban and rural comparison, this paper established the theoretical analysis framework of land use relative equity, explored the temporal and spatial characteristics, obstacle factors and optimization paths of land use equity between urban and rural areas by using data from 291 municipal units in China from 2004 to 2021. The results showed that: (1) From 2004 to 2021, the comprehensive index of land use equity between urban and rural areas in China showed a trend of "first decreasing and then increasing", with spatial characteristics of "global dispersion and local agglomeration" and gradually showing a trend of "economic dependence". (2) The length of LISA time path from 2004 to 2021 showed that the spatial structure of land use equity between urban and rural areas fluctuated greatly in some regions, the curvature indicated that land use equity between urban and rural areas had strong temporal and spatial dependence and regional differences, and the moving direction revealed that the change of land use equity between urban and rural areas showed strong spatial integration. The temporal and spatial transition of LISA reflected that the land use equity between urban and rural areas was both inert and active. (3) From 2004 to 2021, due to the rapid urbanization and industrialization, the widening income gap between urban and rural residents, the unbalanced supply of public services, and the expansion of urban areas and the decline of rural areas in industrial restructuring are the key factors leading to the land use inequity between urban and rural areas. (4) The optimization of land use equity between urban and rural areas should take the balanced flow of resources and elements and the complementarity of structural and functional advantages as the key breakthrough points, adopt the path of "establishing a sound system and optimizing the mechanisms, filling in the gaps and strengthening the weaknesses", and promote the free flow and equal exchange of resources and elements in the multi-decision-making process, multi-stakeholder and multi-scale space.

Gentrification has emerged as a pervasive phenomenon and driver of urban socio-spatial restructuring globally. Existing studies, however, often rely on a rigid production-consumption dichotomy. While scholars have emphasized the need to integrate both perspectives to fully reveal the mechanisms of gentrification, few have examined the interaction between producers and consumers from a unified rather than simultaneous analytical standpoint. Moreover, despite the centrality of media and communication systems in capitalist societies since the beginning of the 20th century, their role remains underexplored in gentrification research. Despite increasing acknowledgment of social media's impact on urban change, little empirical attention has been paid to its operational role in driving gentrification. Through the theoretical lens of prosumption, a concept blending production and consumption, this paper argues that social media platforms play a distinctive role in promoting and amplifying gentrification. Users of digital platforms effectively become prosumers, actors who simultaneously produce and consume content. This study draws on a case study of a renovated commercial street, Nantaixiang, located in Nanjing's core business district, which has gained popularity through online attention. Findings indicate that social media, particularly Xiaohongshu, one of China's most influential lifestyle platforms that enhances the visibility of these areas and generates rent gaps by reshaping local image and consumer tastes. This process encourages investment and draws consumers back, ultimately accelerating the commodification of urban space. The dynamic interplay between users' offline experiences and their online sharing not only reconstructs the identity of place but also accelerates its physical and symbolic transformation. Consequently, production and consumption practices led by young middle-classes contribute to the territorialization of place, further displacing grassroots businesses and marginalizing long-term elderly residents. This paper contends that, through digital prosumption labor, social media users become embedded in the restructuring of urban space, performing dual roles as both consumers and co-producers. The study contributes to gentrification theory by introducing prosumption as a mechanism that transcends the conventional production-consumption binary. It highlights social media's capacity to reconfigure urban space in the absence of large-scale capital investment or direct state intervention, and calls for greater scholarly attention to digitally mediated urban restructuring and its implications for spatial injustice.

Urban expansion, as a key driving force in the evolution of the Earth's surface human-environment system, profoundly influences land resource allocation and the stability of ecosystems. The horizontal expansion patterns and impacts of urban construction land are well-established at the global, national, and city scales. However, the expansion types, spatial characteristics, and driving mechanisms on the three-dimensional terrain gradient remain inadequately understood. Therefore, this study focuses on analyzing the slope variation characteristics and spatial interaction relationships of construction land, ecological land, and arable land in 2754 counties across China. By systematically categorizing gradient expansion types and employing a combination of random forest model and geodetector, this study delves into the driving factors of spatial differentiation of various expansion types. The results indicate that: (1) The rapid urbanization in China, with stringent arable land protection policies, has driven urban construction land to expand into areas with steeper slopes. In 78.18% of counties, the dominant gradient expansion type of construction land is characterized by an increase in slope. Meanwhile, the expansion type featuring increased slopes for arable land or ecological land is primarily concentrated in the northeast, northwest, and southwest regions. (2) The gradient expansion of construction land is closely linked to the gradient evolution of arable land, as the development of sloping arable land provides new space for urban construction land. In regions where the slope of arable land is notably steeper, the rate of expansion in construction land area is twice as high as that in areas where the slope is decreasing. Furthermore, the cultivation of sloping arable land serves as a major source for supplementing arable land resources. (3) The complexity of regional topography and the intensity of agricultural production are the main constraints and driving factors for the significant differences in the gradient expansion of China's urban areas. The interaction of topographical factors, including elevation, slope, and the proportion of flat land, accounts for 30% of the explanatory power in elucidating the spatial differentiation of slope changes in construction land. Quantitatively characterizing the spatial patterns, processes, and driving mechanisms of construction land expansion along gradients holds significant importance for mitigating construction land pressures in mountainous urban areas, protecting arable land, and promoting regional sustainable development.

Climate change significantly affects the arid/humid processes and patterns in China, directly impacting management decisions related to adaptive agriculture and water resources management, desertification control, and spatial ecological restoration. However, current studies primarily focus on changes in arid/humid climate variables, lacking quantitative characterization of the dynamic evolution of areal systems and their nonlinear responses. Based on the data of national meteorological stations from 1961 to 2020, we systematically quantified the nonlinear response of arid/humid patterns to climate change. The results revealed that 6.98% of eco-geographical arid/humid regions underwent type shifts over the past six decades, with 4.95% transitioning toward wetter conditions. Humid and semi-arid regions expanded significantly while sub-humid and arid regions contracted significantly. In the late 1990s, trends of the humid and sub-humid region shifted. Humid region contraction in northern China was driven primarily by precipitation decline, whereas the Tibetan Plateau responded to increasing potential evapotranspiration. During the same period, the retreat rate of the arid region slowed, linked to intensified aridification in the west part of northern China and a decelerating wetting trend in northwest China, both primarily driven by precipitation trends. Our study reveals the nonlinear response of the arid/humid patterns under climate change, providing a scientific basis for the improvement of regional climate resilience.

Online traffic-driven tourism activities, which diffuse from scenic spots to the entire urban area, serve as important objects intervening in the social space of life circles. Taking residents in the Old City of Beijing as the research object, this study empirically tests the nonlinear relationship, mediating mechanism, and spatiotemporal heterogeneity between online traffic, tourism activities, and residents' 15-minute life circle behavior. Using the average dwell time per capita in each subdivided grid within the 15-minute life circle to characterize residents' daily behavior as the dependent variable, a machine learning-based nonlinear regression model is constructed, incorporating explanatory variables including online traffic and tourism activities, as well as control variables including locational characteristics, resident attributes, and built environment. Interpretable machine learning algorithms are used for model analysis. The study finds that: (1) Online traffic and tourism activities have a higher explanatory power for residents' dwell time in 15-minute life circles than the quantity of public service facilities. (2) Online traffic exhibits a mutually exclusive relationship with outbound tourism, accompanied by a diminishing marginal effect, while the impact of local leisure tourism presents a peak effect that first increases and then decreases. (3) Online traffic constrains the positive effect of appropriately quantitated local leisure tourism, and its co-occurrence with high-value outbound tourism is a necessary condition for extremely low resident dwell time. (4) Online traffic indirectly constrains residents' dwell time by boosting outbound tourism and large-scale local leisure tourism. (5) The effect size of online traffic and tourism activities in historical and cultural blocks is smaller than that in other areas, and the effect size on weekends is larger than on weekdays. Collectively, it is determined that there is a certain degree of overtourism in the study area.

Over sixty years of global research on gentrification geography have revealed that there is a "planetary" gentrification phenomenon with diverse forms and regional characteristics. This necessitates local theoretical discussions on gentrification in academic and practical contexts. In China, gentrification research has evolved from an initial concept introduction to empirical analysis. It urgently needs to transition from the stage of phenomenon explanation and Sino-Western comparison to the stage of theorizing Chinese-style gentrification patterns. Addressing the current gaps or inadequacies in discussions about gentrification in the Chinese context, this study undertakes a review and rational reflection on the phenomenon of Chinese-style gentrification from various perspectives, including concept description, phenomenon definition, type classification, driving mechanisms, effect assessment, and guiding strategies. It proposes that gentrification is a phenomenon of class upward replacement and socio-spatial renewal within a certain district. Gentrification processes should be understood from a spatiotemporal dynamic perspective. The complex and intertwined types of contemporary gentrification should be classified based on the spatial resource attributes that act as "attractions" for gentrifiers. The core driving force of the gentrification process is the exploration of the potential rent gap of high-quality and scarce spatial resources. Furthermore, the understanding of gentrification effects, dominated by the critical tone from Anglo-Saxon studies, should be reevaluated. Instead, aligned with China's realities, guiding gentrification should adhere to the principles of not exploiting the interests of the displaced, not encroaching on public resources, and not reducing the comprehensive value of space. This approach aims to achieve a win-win displacement, making gentrification an effective tool for promoting urban renewal, rural revitalization, common prosperity, and high-quality development, which are national strategic implementations. Gentrification is an inevitable product and an insurmountable developmental process at a certain stage of China's economic and social development. Chinese scholars should regard it as an important topic that benefits the implementation of national strategies and delve deeper into it. This study hopes to advance the construction and improvement of the gentrification theoretical system and research paradigm through academic reflection in the context of China. Additionally, it aims to actively guide and expand the social recognition and application fields of Chinese-style gentrification.

Revealing the adaptive relationship between public cultural service supply and people's well-being constitutes an important issue in building a cultural power and enhancing people's quality of life. It is also a crucial link in promoting common prosperity. Based on the panel data of 26 cities at or above the prefecture level within the Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration from 2012 to 2022, this study examines the adaptation mechanism between public cultural service supply and people's well-being, constructs the evaluation index systems of the two, and employs kernel density estimation, trend surface analysis, and other methods to depict the spatio-temporal evolution characteristics. The spatio-temporal adaptation relationship and interaction characteristics between the two systems is explored through a comprehensive fit model, spatial center of gravity model, and exploratory spatio-temporal data analysis. The results show that: (1) During the study period, public cultural service supply and the people's well-being index of the Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration rose dynamically. The development level differed significantly between the east and the west, and the inter-city disparity of the public cultural service supply index tended to converge, while the disparity of the people's well-being index continued to expand. (2) The distance between the center of gravity of public cultural service supply and people's livelihood initially increased and then decreased. The overall adaptation level of the study area rose amid fluctuations, presenting an evolution process of "low-level coupling - run-in adjustment period - high-level adaptation". The public cultural service supply has not formed a benign adaptation relationship with social well-being and health well-being. (3) The spatial correlation pattern between the public cultural service supply and people's well-being shows a certain transfer inertia, featuring strong path dependence and spatial locking characteristics, and the regional synergy effect is not prominent. The study can offer a geographical interpretation for public cultural service to enhance people's well-being and provide a scientific reference for formulating differentiated cultural development plans during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030).

The domestic and international dual-circulation strategy is not only an application and summary of China's participation in the global production network (GPN) for regional development, but also opens up new perspectives and practical opportunities for GPN research. This paper focuses on Huawei, a company most profoundly affected by the Sino-US geopolitical crisis. By using the data from global suppliers of key components of Huawei's typical models, the P30 Pro in 2020 and the Mate 60 Pro in 2023, it explores the reconstruction characteristics and driving mechanisms of the GPN of these suppliers. The findings are as follows: (1) Based on the classification of GPN 2.0 enterprise actor types, the GPN of Huawei mobile phones can be divided into high-value R&D, medium-value specialized, low-value standardized, and OEM assembly networks. These networks exhibit distinct hierarchical features and significant spatial differences. (2) Sino-US trade frictions have drastically altered the pattern of Huawei's global suppliers, which has shifted from being spread across East Asia, Western Europe, and North America to being highly concentrated in East Asia. The structure and organization of the global production network constructed by Huawei have also been profoundly reconfigured. (3) Under the GPN 2.0 framework, there are three main dynamic factors affecting the reconstruction of Huawei's global production network. The first is the cost-capacity ratio. Relying on local comparative advantages and increased R&D investment helps optimize production efficiency. The second is environmental risks. In the face of geopolitical risks, Huawei has made important strategic adjustments, establishing a new industrial ecosystem with more domestic enterprises. The third is market motivation. The plan for the domestic substitution of components, combined with local government incentives, provides vital support for Huawei to gain a leading position in the global market.

The Baihetan Reservoir area is the region with the highest sediment yield and transportation intensity in the lower Jinsha River. Multiple tributaries flowing into the reservoir carry high sediment concentrations, and the sediment deposition in the estuary and main stream reservoir areas caused by the inflow of sediment from tributaries has significant impacts on the operation of the reservoir and local aquatic ecosystems. This study focuses on the Heishui River, currently the tributary with the highest sediment concentration in the Jinsha River Basin. Based on complete time-series observations of rainfall, runoff, and sediment across the watershed, the characteristics and main influencing factors of water and sediment transport and their changes in the basin are analyzed in detail. A high-precision distributed erosion and sediment yield model is established, and the simulation of the process of runoff and sediment yield are carried out. The results show that the trend of increasing rainfall runoff in the Heishui River Basin (HRB) is not significant. Due to soil and water conservation projects, the average annual sediment transport during 2001-2020 decreased by approximately 2.14 million tons compared to 1981-2000, representing a 34.5% reduction; Rainfall is the primary driver of sediment yield in the basin. Rainfall amount, spatial distribution, intensity, and duration all affect sediment yield and transport. Heavy rainfall in the middle-lower reaches (Puge to Ningnan section) is more likely to cause high sediment transport at the Ningnan hydrological station. Calculations show that during 2021-2023, the HRB experienced relatively low runoff, with average annual runoff of 1.68 billion m³ and average annual sediment transport of 1.64 million tons. The reduced runoff caused a 65.3% decrease in sediment transport compared to the multi-year average.

The total amount of infrastructure investment in China currently accounts for one-third of the global total, and its scale and speed of construction have reshaped the national spatial layout and traditional concepts of time and space, providing a key perspective for understanding the evolution of human-environment relationships in China. Compared to the rapid development of infrastructure, the systematic and localized progress of geography research on infrastructure in China has been relatively lagging. As an emerging branch of human geography, infrastructure geography provides a key perspective for analyzing the transformation of human-environment relationships. This paper compares domestic and international research and finds that, internationally, the shift toward a sociocultural approach has led to comprehensive studies on infrastructure across multiple elements, scales, and mechanisms. However, in China, the functionalist paradigm still dominates, and although there has been preliminary attention to sociocultural factors, the transformation of theoretical paradigms has not yet been completed. Based on the reality of China's massive-scale infrastructure and the characteristics of the socialist state system, this paper proposes three dimensions for localized research: diversity ("scale-category-context"), subjectivity ("state-society-people"), and centrality ("inclusion-fair-welfare"). Building on this, the paper emphasizes the necessity of exploring the sociocultural nature of infrastructure in the context of China's national conditions and the importance of promoting theoretical and practical innovation. The aim is to break through Western theoretical hegemony with local knowledge production, respond to the global trend in geography to "eastward-looking", and provide valuable exploratory suggestions for the localization of research on the sociocultural geography of infrastructure. Finally, this paper emphasizes that future innovations in the theory and practice of infrastructure geography should be promoted through collaborative research, contributing to deep dialogues between Chinese geography and the international academic community and showcasing the unique value of Chinese infrastructure and infrastructure research on the global stage.

Clarifying the spatio-temporal development gap and the endogenous contributions of China's new quality productive forces provides a solid foundation for decision-making aimed at accelerating the formation and developing new quality productive forces according to local conditions. Drawing on the theoretical framework of the "Element-Structure-Function" of the new quality productive forces system, this study measured the cultivation and development degree of new quality productive forces across 282 cities in China from 2011 to 2021, utilizing multi-source data and double-improved coupling coordination degree model. Through machine learning regression prediction and SHAP visualization methods, this study analyzed the spatio-temporal dynamics and development gaps of new quality productive forces in Chinese cities, while identifying the contributions of various subsystems and variables. The findings of this study are as follows: (1) The absolute level of cultivation and development of new quality productive forces in Chinese cities has continued to rise, exhibiting a spatial distribution pattern of "cluster strengthening" and "hinterland improvement". Some cities have achieved breakthrough progress in "stage transition", though overall, the cities remained in a transitional phase from "cultivation and formation" to "coordinated improvement". (2) A clear "block segmentation" pattern has emerged in the cultivation and development of new quality productive forces across Chinese cities. The high-value areas in the north are concentrated in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and Shandong Peninsula regions. The development momentum of the Central China Plains urban agglomeration is prominent, while the northeast region demonstrates a north-south differentiation pattern. The northwest region is predicted to exhibit a "hammer-shaped" low-value area. The high-value areas in the south are primarily distributed in the Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, Guangdong-Fujian-Zhejiang coastal areas, and the Chengdu-Chongqing region. The Guangdong-Fujian-Zhejiang coastal areas, along with their adjacent regions, are predicted to show significant development momentum, while a "belt-shaped" low-value area will emerge from the middle reaches of the Yangtze River to the Beibu Gulf region. (3) The development process of new quality productive forces in Chinese cities has shifted from being predominantly driven by "factor enhancement" to a more balanced model involving both "factor enhancement" and "structural optimization". The construction of digital new infrastructure has made the most substantial positive contribution to the new quality productive forces. Optimizing the policy support framework and productivity distribution structure represents an effective lever for promoting the advancement of new quality productive forces.

As Minsu (homestay inn) is the industrial grip for promoting rural revitalization and entrepreneurship is the key driver of economic growth, it is of great theoretical and practical importance to give attention to the synergistic evolution of Minsu entrepreneurship and rural areas. This article proposes a framework for analysing the process of the rural Minsu entrepreneurship ecosystem on the basis of the concept of a strict distinction between Minsu enterprises and Minsu entrepreneurship. It analyses the characteristics of the Minsu entrepreneurship ecosystem resource structure using Moganshan as an example, depicts the entrepreneurial resource flow and production process, and explicates the core mechanism of the synergistic evolution of the system and the region. This study revealed that (1) Minsu is an important practical method to build an entrepreneurial ecosystem through entrepreneurial resource flow to compensate for the shortcomings of the countryside. The rural lifestyle attracts Minsu start-ups, and the value of business opportunities triggers the inflow and creation of entrepreneurial resources to form the entrepreneurial ecosystem, which outputs three types of entrepreneurial activities, namely, business upgrading and iteration, entrepreneurial intermediary services, and brand alliance diffusion. (2) The rural environment promotes the innovation and growth of Minsu lifestyle entrepreneurship, and the entrepreneurial ecosystem process is driven by entrepreneurs' identification and creation of opportunity value in a dynamic context. (3) The entrepreneurial ecosystem process evolves synergistically with the rural areas, which successively generates rural tourism and vacation opportunities, Minsu entrepreneurship incubation and green innovation entrepreneurship. Intermediary services, government regulation, and the cogovernance of the regional public brand by multiple networks are the key reasons for synergistic evolution. This study offers valuable insights for advancing rural policy innovation and entrepreneurial initiatives to achieve high-quality rural development in practice. At the theoretical level, it establishes meaningful connections between evolutionary research in entrepreneurship geography and tourism geography, while proposing a novel analytical framework to examine how emerging tourism elements like Minsu contribute to rural revitalization through their developmental pathways and underlying mechanisms.

Gentrification is a phenomenon characterized by the concentration of high socioeconomic status groups within specific spaces, leading to the upscale reconstruction of social spaces. Existing domestic studies have primarily focused on describing the characteristics and processes of gentrification and analyzing its mechanisms and effects. However, there has been limited research utilizing quantitative methods to identify gentrified spaces at a refined urban scale and to categorize them by type. Taking Beijing's central urban area as a case study for the period 2016-2023, this research employs socioeconomic data from a 100-m grid database provided by Baidu Map's spatiotemporal big data platform, Baidu Huiyan. Indicators related to income level, educational attainment, and occupational characteristics are selected. Using semi-supervised clustering and ensemble learning methods, urban spaces with typical gentrification features are quantitatively identified. The study then applies a genetic growth algorithm to analyze gentrification types and compare differences between types. Key findings include: (1) Gentrified spaces within Beijing's Fifth Ring Road account for approximately 16.8% of the total area, primarily concentrated between the second and fifth ring roads in the northwest, with scattered distribution in southern Fengtai and northern Daxing. These areas mainly consist of high-end gated communities and villa complexes near transit lines (subway stations, urban expressways, and highway exits). (2) By considering social attribute similarity and spatial connectivity, a spatial clustering analysis of nine dimensions and 64 indicators in typical gentrification spaces identifies 14 types without predefining the number of regions. (3) Based on resource dependency attributes, six types of gentrification are proposed for Beijing, including core location-oriented, rapid transit-oriented, landscape environment-oriented, institutional unit-oriented, employment-oriented, and high-quality education-oriented types. (4) An uneven distribution and even polarization trend exists in gentrification spaces, reflecting residential spatial differentiation in Beijing. This study aims to enhance the methodological approach to spatial identification and typological classification of gentrification, advancing the quantitative, standardized, and scientific transition of Chinese-style gentrification. It provides insights for guiding sustainable gentrification development and offers references for identifying and predicting gentrified spaces and their developmental stages.

The growing recognition of bidirectional urban-rural resource flows reveals the inadequacy of the traditional urbanization model, which conceptualizes development as a one-way rural-to-urban transition, in explaining the complex evolution of county-level rural-urban relations. This study proposes an "Urbanity vs. Rurality × Development" double pyramid framework that unifies villages and communities within a single assessment system, enabling a comprehensive analysis of rural-urban relations. Using villages and communities in Shanting district, Zaozhuang city as the basic evaluation units, this study draws on multi-source data, to develop a methodology for assessing individual and network indices through comprehensive evaluation and social network analysis; and then it conducts a three-level spatial structure analysis of the study area via a "grading-categorization-zoning" approach. The results are shown as follows. (1) Within the individual index of Shanting district, urbanity exhibits a multi-polar and scattered distribution, whereas rurality forms contiguous high-value clusters across the plains. Development is shaped by multiple interacting factors, resulting in an overall spatial equilibrium accompanied by localized dispersion. (2) After accounting for village-community network connections, the three-dimensional indices reveal a more pronounced spatial pattern: urbanity forms multi-polar linkages, rurality diffuses west to east, and development exhibits multi-directional diffusion. (3) In terms of grading, "middle development-high urbanity" areas account for the largest share; in terms of categorization, integrated development areas are the dominant type; and in terms of zoning, the pilot zones for urban-rural integration hold the highest proportion. A spatial system centered on factor linkage and functional agglomeration is thus initially established. The study concludes by proposing context-specific strategies, providing theoretical and practical insights into urban-rural restructuring, especially in evaluating unified villages and communities and analyzing their multidimensional interactions.

To optimize territorial spatial patterns and promote coordinated regional development, it is critical to understand territorial functions and their coordination with social, economic, resource, and environmental dimensions. Taking China's land border areas as a case, this study constructed an evaluation framework to assess five dimensions of territorial functions: security-stability, opening-up, urban-rural development, agricultural production, and ecological protection. Based on the Bayesian random effects regression model, multidimensional coordination indices of territorial functions were developed to systematically examine their evolutionary patterns and spatial disparities. The results indicated that: (1) Functions of security-stability and ecological protection demonstrated overall enhancement, while those of opening-up and urban-rural development showed fluctuations, with agricultural production functions exhibiting regional divergence. (2) The coordination between territorial functions and social dimension improved progressively, while economic coordination declined, resource and environmental coordination slightly decreased. Based on the evolutionary patterns of territorial functions and regional characteristics, the border areas were categorized into five development types: industry transformation-function slowdown, ecological constraint-function moderate growth, resource driving-function fluctuation, ecological constraint-function slowdown, and openness driving-function rapid growth. (3) The intra-group differences in territorial function coordination showed increasing fluctuations, while inter-group differences gradually narrowed. Notably, the northeastern border areas demonstrated greater internal variation, whereas the southwestern border areas displayed relatively minor differences. Inter-group differences contributed more to the overall disparity, primarily driven by imbalances across economic, social, and environmental dimensions. This study reveals the differentiated development pathways of territorial functions and provides strategic support for the sustainable development of border areas, including industrial transformation, resource-ecology synergy, infrastructure enhancement, and multilateral cooperation.

The study enriches the dimensions of social infrastructure research by introducing the concept of "marginalized social infrastructure", deepening the understanding and interpretation of the role of social infrastructure within the framework of urban governance. Taking the Jingle North and South Areas of Longhua district in Shenzhen as an example, the research focuses on the formation of marginalized groups driven by social infrastructure and the transformation of urban governance strategies. The study finds that the marginalized social infrastructure centered around the original Sanhe Talent Market and its surrounding low-cost living facilities not only provides a low-cost living space for the "Sanhe group" but also shapes its unique social ecology, lifestyle, and group identity, becoming a grassroots practice through which the group distances itself from mainstream social norms, while simultaneously reinforcing their self-marginalization. In urban governance practice, the government gradually regulates and improves these marginalized facilities through a multi-stakeholder collaborative model, promoting the enhancement of spatial quality and social order in the Sanhe area. The research points out that while acknowledging the positive functions of social infrastructure in serving the public, it is also essential to recognize the role of marginalized social infrastructure within the traditional urban governance system. The social infrastructure relied upon by marginalized groups can also become an important medium for pluralistic urban governance by reshaping the governance process in reverse.