Low efficiency of earth kilns used in the carbonising process of wood to make charcoal has been reported as one of the sources of increasing charcoal wastes in the global south. However, the potential link and approaches of converting charcoal wastes-to-valuable energy and for the environmental health is not well known in Africa. Promoting local community capacity engagement in the production and reutilisation of recycled charcoal wastes at the households’ level is one of important measures to maintain environmental services for sustainability since households make decisions on the type of energy used. This paper, presents an approach of converting charcoal wastes to fuel energy for rural households and environmental health in Kilosa District, Tanzania. To achieve the objective of this research, the primary data were collected through interviews held with 298 randomly selected households, Focus Group Discussions and observations. IBM SPSS statistics version 20 Cross tab tools were used in the data analysis. Results revealed that the conversion of charcoal wastes-to-fuel energy approach used in this research demonstrates the ability of recyclable briquettes made from the locally available charcoal pollutants collected at different stages from earth kilns, to selling centers, improves tree harvest behaviour, adds another fuel energy source through reutilisation, and ultimate reduces pollution at the local level. Thus, the study provides a basis for policymakers to adopt charcoal wastes recycling strategies to address matters related to energy and ultimately enhances environmental health for sustainable development in Tanzania and beyond.

Urban trees are valuable resources for urban areas as they have the capacity to reduce ambient temperatures, mitigate urban heat island effects and reduce runoff of rainwater playing an important role in mitigating the impacts of climate change by reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2). It also helps to reduce aerial suspended particulate matter, add visual appeal to the urban landscape sequestrating a significant amount of carbon from ambient atmospheric CO2. Carbon storage by urban trees in the ring road area of the Kathmandu Valley was quantified to assess the magnitude and role of urban forests in relation to mitigate the impact of global climate change. A total of 40 sample plots were placed randomly for the detailed carbon assessment. Aboveground and belowground carbon pools were considered in the detailed assessment. Furthermore, quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) were maintained through regular monitoring and capacity building of the field crews while collecting the bio-physical data. The assessment recorded a total of 33 different species of plants in the avenue’s plantation sites in ring road. The mean seedling, sapling, and tree density was found to be 2149585 and 185 per hectare. The mean carbon stock per hectare in the avenue plantation of the ring road area was 24.03 tC ha1 and the existing total carbon stock was 7785.72 tC in 2021. Likewise, the total baseline carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) in the avenue plantation was found to be 28573.60 tCO2e. The carbon dioxide emission from the transport sector in the ring road area in a full movement scenario was 312888.00 tCO2e per annum, while the net emissions was 42547 tCO2e. There was a deficit of carbon dioxide in terms of stock by avenue plantations of 14000.8 tCO2e.This study indicates that the existing urban forest plantation is unable to sequestrate or offset the carbon dioxide that is emitted through the transportation sector. Consequently, open spaces like riverbanks and any other public lands, in which urban forests could be developed has to be planned for the green infrastructure and plantation of the multipurpose trees. The distinct values of forests in and around urban areas have to be recognized in the specific policies and plans for the sustainable management of urban and peri-urban forests to meet the adverse impact of global climate change. In addition, this study provides insights for decision-makers to better understand the role of urban forests and make sustainable management plans for urban forests in the cities like in Kathmandu Valley.

Delimiting ecological space scientifically and making reasonable predictions of the spatial-temporal trend of changes in the dominant ecosystem service functions (ESFs) are the basis of constructing an ecological protection pattern of territorial space, which has important theoretical significance and application value. At present, most research on the identification, functional partitioning and pattern reconstruction of ecological space refers to the current ESFs and their structural information, which ignores the spatial-temporal dynamic nature of the comprehensive and dominant ESFs, and does not seriously consider the change simulation in the dominant ESFs of the future ecological space. This affects the rationality of constructing an ecological space protection pattern to some extent. In this study, we propose an ecological space delimitation method based on the dynamic change characteristics of the ESFs, realize the identification of the ecological space range in Qionglai city and solve the problem of ignoring the spatial-temporal changes of ESFs in current research. On this basis, we also apply the Markov-CA model to integrate the spatial-temporal change characteristics of the dominant ESFs, successfully realize the simulation of the spatial-temporal changes in the dominant ESFs in Qionglai city’s ecological space in 2025, find a suitable method for simulating ecological spatial-temporal changes and also provide a basis for constructing a reasonable ecological space protection pattern. This study finds that the comprehensive quantity of ESF and its annual rate of change in Qionglai city show obvious dynamics, which confirms the necessity of considering the dynamic characteristics of ESFs when identifying ecological space. The areas of ecological space in Qionglai city represent 98307 ha by using the ecological space identification method proposed in this study, which is consistent with the ecological spatial distribution in the local ecological civilization construction plan. This confirms the reliability of the ecological space identification method based on the dynamic characteristics of the ESFs. The results also show that the dominant ESFs in Qionglai city represented strong non-stationary characteristics during 2003-2019, which showed that we should fully consider the influence of the dynamics in the dominant ESFs on the future ESF pattern during the process of constructing the ecological spatial protection pattern. The Markov-CA model realized the simulation of spatial-temporal changes in the dominant ESFs with a high precision Kappa coefficient of above 0.95, which illustrated the feasibility of using this model to simulate the future dominant ESF spatial pattern. The simulation results showed that the dominant ESFs in Qionglai will still undergo mutual conversions during 2019-2025 due to the effect of the their non-stationary nature. The ecological space will still maintain the three dominant ESFs of primary product production, climate regulation and hydrological regulation in 2025, but their areas will change to 32793 ha, 52490 ha and 13024 ha, respectively. This study can serve as a scientific reference for the delimitation of the ecological conservation redline, ecological function regionalization and the construction of an ecological spatial protection pattern.

Abstract: By studying the structural characteristics and carbon storage of the mangrove island ecosystem in the 
Beibu Gulf, this study provides a scientific basis for mangrove ecological compensation in the coastal areas of 
Guangxi, South China Sea. On the basis of the unmanned aerial vehicle remote sensing images and a sample plot 
survey, the object-oriented multi-scale segmentation algorithm is used to extract the mangrove community type information, and one-way analysis of variance is conducted to analyse the structural characteristics of the mangrove 
community. The carbon storage and carbon density of different mangrove ecosystems were obtained based on the 
allometric growth equation of mangrove plants. The analysis yielded four main results. (1) The island group covers 
about 27.10 ha, 41.32% (11.20 ha) of which represents mangrove areas. The mangrove forest is widely distributed 
in the tidal flats around the islands. (2) The main mangrove types were Aegiceras corniculatum, Kandelia obovata + 
Aegiceras corniculatum, Avicennia marina + Aegiceras corniculatum and Avicennia marina communities. (3) 
Amongst the mangrove plants, Avicennia marina had the highest biomass (18.52 kg plant–1), followed by Kandelia 
obovata (7.84 kg plant–1) and Aegiceras corniculatum (3.85 kg plant–1). (4) The mangrove carbon density difference 
was significant. Kandelia obovata had the highest carbon density (148.03 t ha–1), followed by Avicennia marina
(104.79 t ha–1) and Aegiceras corniculatum (99.24 t ha–1). The carbon storage of the mangrove island ecosystem 
was 1194.70 t, which was higher than in other areas with the same latitude. The carbon sequestration capacity of 
the mangrove was relatively strong.

Agricultural ecosystem accounting is an important support for understanding the sustainability of agricultural production, the health of the ecological environment, and the quality and safety of agricultural products. Currently, there are three international standards for agricultural ecosystem accounting: the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (SEEA-AFF), the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting-Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA-EA2021), and The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity for Agriculture & Food (TEEB-AgriFood). Based on these three international standards, some countries have carried out agricultural ecosystem accounting. This article first reviews the development process of the three international standards, and compares them from six aspects: theoretical basis, accounting perspective, accounting object, accounting scope, classification standard, and account expression. Secondly, the international practices of agricultural ecosystem accounting are summarized from the overall situation and practical experience. Finally, combined with the current situation of agricultural ecosystem accounting in China, policy recommendations for agricultural ecosystem accounting in China are proposed.

The institution of territorial spatial governance for 'integrated mountains, rivers, forests, fields, lakes, grassland and deserts' is a direction for exploring ecological civilisation and is crucial for China to modernise its governance systems and capacity. This paper analyses the core concepts and theoretical logic of territorial spatial governance and analyses its governance problems and realisation bases. It explores the appropriate ways forward for the specific institutional construction. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) The current governance problems are that the ecological feedback of the governance object needs to be taken seriously, the coordination and linkage of the governance subject is still a problem, along with the fact the synergy and empowerment of the governance system is not yet in place. (2) It is necessary to respond to the demand for modernisation of the national governance system and capacity in the context of China's natural ecology, taking into account fairness and efficiency, and integrating security and development, yet to define the basis of the realisation of the governance subject and the governance system. (3) We should carry out the construction of territorial spatial governance institutions for 'integrated mountains, rivers, forests, fields, lakes and grasses' in three aspects, namely, the governance object, governance subject and governance system.

The greater food approach sets forth elevated requisites and novel benchmarks for the advancement of conceptualization, expansion of connotations, transformation of objectives, and evolution of strategies in the governance of non-grain conversion of cultivated land. A reevaluation of "Non-grain Conversion" of cultivated land governance through the greater food approach not only aids in rectifying the imbalance in food supply and demand, but also establishes a fundamental underpinning for national security assurance. Findings reveal that: (1) The crux of "Non-grain Conversion" of cultivated land under the greater food approach lies not in the dichotomy of "grain" versus "non-grain" but rather in the judicious allocation of diverse food categories within the framework of the greater food approach. (2) The greater food approach and "Non-grain Conversion" of cultivated land governance in the theoretical logic of the fundamental goal and value orientation consistency, theoretical origin and practice to follow the same origin, determines the two in the practical logic of interaction and linkage, embracing the greater food approach serves as the guiding ethos for "Non-grain Conversion" of cultivated land governance, constituting the bedrock and avenue for enacting the greater food approach. (3) Governance of "Non-grain Conversion" of cultivated land under the greater food approach encounters challenges such as lagging adjustments in planting structures, an inverted significance of grain and income gradients, simultaneous existence of production bottlenecks and wastage, as well as incongruences between universally applicable rectification measures and localized idiosyncrasies. (4) Proposals encompass five overarching strategies for systematized governance of "Non-grain Conversion" of cultivated land oriented towards the greater food approach, focusing on the preservation of grain within land, crops, techniques, losses, and policies. Grounded in the multifaceted demands and holistic outlook of the greater food approach, the optimization of governance strategies proffers invaluable insights for the theoretical refinement and practical exploration of "Non-grain Conversion" of cultivated land governance amidst the backdrop of a multidimensional transformation in the agricultural and food system.

With the ongoing advancement of digital technology and its application in rural areas, "digital village" has become one of the focal points in the field of geography. This study provided a definition and connotation of "digital village" based on a summary and analysis of existing literature. It reviewed the frontiers of research in China and internationally and offered a comparison from the perspective of knowledge production. The findings include: 1) In China, research predominantly focuses on normative studies aimed at addressing real-world issues in rural development and promoting policy optimization. The construction of digital village is seen as a means to facilitate high-quality rural development, with a concentration on how to leverage digital village initiatives to support rural revitalization and the rural restructuring resulting from the development of digital village. 2) The international studies are primarily empirical and tend to explain micro social phenomena. By examining specific issues such as the digital divide between urban and rural areas, these studies highlight various dimensions of digitization in the rural transformation process, particularly focusing on the formation of the urban-rural digital divide and its impact on coordinated urban-rural development. From a geographical perspective, future research could further address the following aspects: Re-thinking of the concept of digital village from the perspective of human-environment relationship, quantitative measurement of the urban-rural digital divide from a multi-spatial scale perspective, examination of digital village from the micro-actor perspective, and investigation of the positive and negative externalities of digital village construction based on a comprehensive research paradigm in geography.

Rural areal system is a multidimensional object of rural revitalization in the new era, and its complexity and dynamics require a breakthrough in single-domain thinking. Through the in-depth fusion of system science theories, multi-source data-driven technical methods and sustainable transformation paths, the full-chain governance of system diagnosis-scenario simulation-precise policy implementation should be carried out. Based on the scientific theory of human-land system and the multi-scale analysis paradigm of geography, this paper explores the "element-structure-function" cascade analysis system of rural areal system, analyzes the scientific connotation of rural areal system and rural revitalization, clarifies the multi-scale evolution law and transformation mechanism of rural areal system, develops rural areal system development status assessment and scenario simulation technology, and sorts out and proposes a "three-device" (diagnostic device, detector, simulator) platform framework for the transformation mechanism and simulation of rural areal system. By innovating multimodal spatiotemporal data fusion and intelligent interpretation methods, it can break through the technical bottleneck of quantitative inversion of rural areal system elements, establish a multi-factor collaborative observation indicator system and a data sharing application platform, reveal the spatial pattern of rural transformation under different development paths, and explore and create "three major systems", including a theoretical system of rural areal system with multi-dimensional interaction of nature-society-technology, a technical system of cross-platform coordinated observation of rural areal system, and a system of standards and norms for the scientific path of rural revitalization and its management. The findings will help to achieve the systematization of coordinated observation and scenario simulation of multi-source heterogeneous data in rural areal system, and provide theoretical guidance and technical support for the scientific formulation of rural revitalization plans and the comprehensive promotion of rural revitalization strategic decisions. Additionally, focusing on the current trend of technological progress, modern geography should connect with the international scientific frontier and national strategic needs, and take the system integration of geographic science-technology-engineering-practice (Geo-STEP) as the core to promote the transition of rural areal system research from "problem explanation" to "future design" and "scientific governance".

Foreign aid is a tool of U.S. foreign policy and provides a window into U.S. national strategy. In the era marked by frequent local conflicts and global turmoil, delving the motives of U.S. aid can enhance our comprehension of U.S. national strategic objectives. Utilizing U.S. aid data from 2000 to 2019, this paper examines the spatial evolution patterns in U.S. aid and its driving paths, considering altruistic, egoistic, and utilitarian motives. This analysis is conducted using GIS spatial analysis and Fuzzy-Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA). The results show that: (1) Total U.S. aid exhibits a basic trend of initial growth followed by stabilization, with military security aid and economic development aid as the primary categories of U.S. aid. (2) There are significant spatial and temporal differences in the distribution of U.S. aid. The Middle East and North Africa region has been a long-standing aid priority but is trending downwards, with an emphasis on military security aid, economic development aid, and humanitarian assistance. Sub-Saharan African countries have emerged as new hubs for U.S. aid, with primary focuses on social sector aid, economic development aid, and humanitarian aid. Meanwhile, other regions have seen diminishing amounts of U.S. aid. (3) The key drivers of U.S. aid have expanded from the level of economic development and U.S. exports to geostrategic, political relations and institutional quality factors, with an overall trend of a gradual shift from being driven by economic interests to geopolitical interests. This may be related to the eastward shift of the U.S. strategic centre of gravity. In terms of specific types of aid, economic development aid, social sector aid and humanitarian aid are economic interest-driven, military security aid is geopolitical interest-driven, and democratic political aid is democratic value-driven. The different types of aid serve different foreign policy objectives and together constitute a tool for the U.S. to pursue its political and economic interests. This paper can provide some reference for China's foreign policy making.

As an important aspect of the notion that "spatial is special", spatial heterogeneity has been a central topic of geospatial analytics. It is also closely related to the methodological tradition of geography and replicability of geographic research. The emergence of fine-grained big geospatial data and the development of Geospatial Artificial Intelligence (GeoAI) have brought new opportunities and challenges to spatial heterogeneity modeling. Spatial heterogeneity may refer to (1) values of geographic variables; and (2) associations, or the generation process of geographic variables, which correspond to data and process heterogeneity, respectively. Moreover, the specification of spatial heterogeneity may be categorized as continuous and discrete. Based on the dichotomies above, we summarize the main scenarios of spatial heterogeneity modeling and review corresponding methods: (1) homogeneity-based regionalization; (2) local spatial regression; and (3) spatial regime regression. In particular, we discuss approaches to delineate spatial regimes in an endogenous manner. We also review related methodological advances in GeoAI, where the principle of spatial heterogeneity is reflected in the design of neural network models. Finally, we point out several potential directions for future research. As emerging directions in spatial heterogeneity modeling, spatial regime regression and GeoAI methods need more attention from researchers.

Alluvial fans are common fan-shaped depositional landforms that develop at the outlets of mountain rivers or gullies. Mature and stable alluvial fans are important areas for both human habitation and production in mountainous regions, but they also pose potential hazards associated with flash floods and debris flows. Research on alluvial fans enhances our understanding of regional environmental dynamics and geomorphic evolution, as well as contributes to the mitigation of flood and debris-flow hazards. Therefore, it holds significant scientific value and practical importance. Although considerable research has been conducted on alluvial fans, both domestically and internationally, in recent decades, much of it has focused on geomorphology (morphometry), sedimentary history and characteristics, and historical environmental reconstruction (or inversion). Investigations into the mechanisms of fan development and their geomorphic effects remain relatively underexplored. This review systematically summarizes the key advancements in the research on the dynamic processes, mechanisms, and morphodynamics of alluvial fan development. We first provide an overview of current technical approaches applied in the study of alluvial fans, including field investigations and model experiments. Then, we summarize four critical aspects of fan dynamics processes and development mechanisms: primary and secondary processes; mechanisms of flow channel avulsion; interactions between tributary and main rivers; and the impact of alluvial fan development on sediment production, transport, and geomorphic processes. Finally, we discuss several areas that require further attention in future research. Currently, field observations and monitoring of the dynamic processes of alluvial fan development are inadequate. As an essential complement to post-event field surveys and experimental model research, there is an urgent need to enhance field observations in order to expand and deepen our understanding of alluvial fan development mechanisms. This will promote scientific insights into sediment dynamics and geomorphic processes within regional river systems.

Continental chemical weathering is one of the key processes shaping the Earth's surface morphology, influencing the global material cycle and regulating the global climate. Effectively tracing surface weathering processes has consistently been a focal point within geosciences. Lithium and its isotopes, distinguished by their unique chemical properties, exhibit great potential in tracing continental silicate weathering. This article systematically reviewed the literature and analyzed the fractionation behavior and patterns of lithium isotopes during chemical weathering processes in experimental simulations, weathering profiles, and at the watershed scales. Based on this analysis, the following insights are obtained: 1) The continental weathering process in surface environments is complex, exhibiting a nonlinear relationship between chemical weathering intensity and the δ⁷Li value. 2) Integrative studies of published data indicate that the relationship between the δ⁷Li values of weathered materials and lithium content in highly weathered regions exhibits two patterns (The variation in Li content is limited, yet the δ⁷Li values exhibit significant differentiation; conversely, there is a certain degree of variation in Li content when the differentiation of δ⁷Li values is limited), with the underlying causes requiring further investigation. 3) The red earth region in southern China is an ideal area for weathering research, showing potential in exploring the mechanisms and patterns of lithium isotope fractionation. This article argues that there are still issues in using lithium isotopes as a tracer for chemical weathering, such as insufficient quantitative studies of complex processes, limited multi-scale integrated research, unclear mechanisms of lithium isotopes in highly weathered products, and the lack of a global weathering estimation model. Future efforts should focus on enhancing laboratory simulations, empirical studies, and multi-scale integrated research to further explore the potential of lithium isotope mechanisms in underexplored areas and validate the effectiveness of lithium isotope tracing in chemical weathering through the combined use of multi-isotope systems.

Based on the diverse nexus between humans and nature, exploring innovative pathways and regional models for rural revitalization stands as a strategic cornerstone and a cutting-edge focus within rural studies. Following a systematical review on the shift of rural development paradigms, we in this paper propose an innovative pathway of rural neo-endogenous development driven by knowledge through the integration of concepts such as social innovation and rural transformation. Essentially, "knowledge-driven" can be understood as a process-based innovation, wherein various stakeholders participate in the generation, dissemination, feedback, and regeneration of scientific knowledge and local wisdom. This process ultimately precipitates shifts in behaviors and attitudes of both local and extra-local actors, thereby giving rise to collective insights and solutions for rural development. Regarding the functioning mechanisms, "knowledge-driven" typically facilitates the iteration of technological paths for rural development via four interconnected means: constructing novel discourses for rural transformation, empowering local communities, forging connections between local and extra-localities, and innovating rural governance. In practice implementation, "knowledge-driven" engages multiple stakeholders and unfolds across three sequential stages, they are, knowledge/experimentation searching, diffusion and expression of interest, collective learning and co-ordination. In conclusion, we contend that transcending the urban-centric "core-periphery" mindset, broadening the initial impetus and the cohort of pioneer actors, and streamlining the channel from "niche innovation" to "collective learning" hold significant promise for expediting the comprehensive revitalization of rural areas.

A key approach to improving the predictive capability of territorial space planning is to effectively analyze the common challenges and governance experiences of pioneering countries. China serves as a notable example, with its increasing emphasis on integrating rational evolution of territories into spatial planning. In this study, we examined the spatiotemporal structure of Japan's territorial space, spatial transformation, and the spatial and temporal evolution of spatial conflicts from 1976 to 2021 on a national scale. We also simulated the future spatial evolution of Japan's territorial space based on the identification of the key driving factors. The results reveal the following: (1) Over the past 45 years, approximately one-quarter of Japan's territorial space has undergone structural transformation. Considerable urban space expansion and continuous ecological environment optimization have been accompanied by a marked decline in agricultural space and food production. This has created substantial food security challenges due to the degradation of agricultural production capacity. Concentration of the population in economically developed plains and topographically flat bay areas has exacerbated conflicts.(2) Japan's territorial space evolution exhibits distinct stages. Although national economic fluctuations and demographic changes do not substantially affect the overall trajectory of territorial space evolution, they can influence the rate and process of evolution. At the late stage of urbanization, the driving forces of spatial evolution are expected to be more concentrated on demographic, economic, and natural background factors. (3) Simulation results across various scenarios suggest no major structural changes in Japan's future territorial space pattern. Agricultural areas will continue to be encroached upon, exacerbating the national food security crisis as the challenges of rural depopulation and aging population deepen. In the next 10 to 15 years, Japan may form a world-class mega-aging urban agglomeration by linking the three major metropolitan areas of Tokyo, Nagoya, and Kansai.

With the rapid development of the digital economy, it is of great significance to explore the impact of digital technology innovation networks on regional economic resilience. Taking 41 cities in the Yangtze River Delta as the example, this study used the data of digital technology innovation cooperation patents and economic and social development from 2010 to 2021, and the social network analysis method and economic resilience measurement index, to describe the temporal and spatial change characteristics of digital technology innovation networks and economic resilience in cities in the Yangtze River Delta, and empirically test the influence of the structural characteristics of digital technology innovation networks on urban economic resilience. The results show that: 1) The cooperation degree of digital technology innovation in the Yangtze River Delta was constantly increasing, and it has gradually evolved into a core-periphery structure and a cohesive subgroup structure. The economic resilience of the cities in the Yangtze River Delta has been steadily increasing through the study period, but the spatial differences were gradually increasing. 2) Degree centrality and closeness centrality of digital technology innovation networks in Yangtze River Delta cities had a significant positive effect on the promotion of urban economic resilience, while betweenness centrality had a negative impact on economic resilience. Robustness test also showed that this conclusion is valid. 3) Compared with the central cities, the digital technology innovation network in peripheral cities had a greater impact on their economic resilience, and the degree of intermediary centrality was more significant, which was quite different from that in core cities. This study is useful for clarifying the relationship between digital technology innovation networks and economic resilience, and exploring the path to enhance regional economic resilience.

[Significance] As a representative of new-quality productivity, the low-altitude economy is gradually emerging as a new engine for economic growth. This economy is based on the development and utilization of low-altitude airspace resources. While bringing development opportunities to geospatial information technology, it also poses entirely new challenges. [Progress and Analysis] In this paper, we introduce the division of low-altitude airspace resources and highlight typical drone application scenarios in the context of the low-altitude economy. Subsequently, we analyze the broad application prospects of geospatial information technology in key areas of the low-altitude economy, including the refined utilization of airspace resources, the construction of low-altitude environments, the planning, construction, and operation of new air traffic infrastructure, as well as the safe and efficient operation and regulatory oversight of drones. We emphasize that the geospatial information industry will benefit from development opportunities such as the integration and innovation of emerging scientific and technological advancements, growing market demand, policy support, industrial guidance, and industrial upgrading and transformation. [Prospect] Finally, we briefly address the challenges geospatial information technology must overcome to meet the development needs of the low-altitude economy. These include advancements in spatio-temporal dimension elevation, map and location-based services, high-frequency and rapid data acquisition systems, all-time and all-domain capabilities, and ubiquitous intelligent technologies. These areas will also serve as future directions for development and breakthroughs in geospatial information technology.

[Objectives] To systematically review recent advancements in text-to-image generation technology driven by large-scale AI models and explore its potential applications in urban and rural planning. [Discussion] This study provides a comprehensive review of the development of text-to-image generation technology from the perspectives of training datasets, model architectures, and evaluation methods, highlighting the key factors contributing to its success. While this technology has achieved remarkable progress in general computer science, its application in urban and rural planning remains constrained by several critical challenges. These include the lack of high-quality domain-specific data, limited controllability and reliability of generated content, and the absence of constraints informed by geoscience expertise. To address these challenges, this paper proposes several research strategies, including domain-specific data augmentation techniques, text-to-image generation models enhanced with spatial information through instruction-based extensions, and locally editable models guided by induced layouts. Furthermore, through multiple case studies, the paper demonstrates the value and potential of text-to-image generation technology in facilitating innovative practices in urban and rural planning and design. [Prospect] With continued technological advancements and interdisciplinary integration, text-to-image generation technology holds promise as a significant driver of innovation in urban and rural planning and design. It is expected to support more efficient and intelligent design practices, paving the way for groundbreaking applications in this field.

[Objectives] All meaningful forms of human discourse are rhetorical, and the purpose of rhetoric is to enable communication and foster sympathy between parties with certain views. Narrative maps are essentially a discursive practice for communicating information and exchanging ideas, characterized by the strategic use of rhetoric to construct persuasive discourse and achieve the goal of "agreement" or "persuasion". In the current era, where visual dominance is increasingly prominent, rhetoric has garnered growing attention in cartography. This turn not only addresses core issues in narrative map research but also provides a realistic path for enriching and reconstructing the existing knowledge of modern cartography. However, the academic community has yet to establish a systematic framework, leaving three key issues unresolved: (1) How to conceptualize the rhetoric of narrative maps? (2) How to categorize the rhetoric of narrative maps? (3) What is the working mechanism of rhetoric in narrative maps? [Methods] To address these research gaps, this article, firstly, follows the research paradigm of rhetoric to clarify the essence of rhetoric in narrative maps, and defines it as: "During the design process of narrative maps, cartographers use certain visualization strategies to facilitate the representation of events, thereby weaving explicit narrative intentions into the mapping space in an implicit way to create persuasive discourse or emotional agreement for viewers." Secondly, a classification criterion is proposed based on the differences between content semantic representation and logical semantic representation. Two major categories, semantic rhetoric and structural rhetoric, along with 24 minor classes, are divided for rhetoric of narrative map. Semantic rhetoric mainly focuses on enhancing the understanding of content, expressing the connotation and imaginative tension of map "text". Structural rhetoric aims to emphasize the logic semantic relationships in narrative discourse, presenting the narrative logic of events. Semantic rhetoric often manifests as the design of visual symbols to describe events, serving as the "visual punctum" of narrative maps. Structural rhetoric typically involves adjusting the arrangement and structure of different event units, functioning as the "visual stadium" of narrative maps. Next, the mechanism of rhetoric in narrative maps is explored from four aspects: the dimensions of rhetoric, the hierarchy of rhetoric, the integrated use of rhetoric, and the applicability principles of rhetoric. Finally, this study demonstrates the applicability of the proposed theoretical framework through a case study of "Jiangnan Canal", illustrating how the framework can facilitate narrative map design. [Conclusions] This paper lays a theoretical foundation for narrative map research and contributes to the theoretical innovation of contemporary cartography.

[Objectives] The outdoor pedestrian navigation road network is a vital component of maps and a crucial basis for outdoor activity route planning and navigation. It plays a significant role in promoting outdoor travel development and ensuring safety management. However, existing research on road network generation mainly focuses on the construction of urban vehicular navigation networks, with relatively less emphasis on hiking navigation road networks in complex outdoor environments. Moreover, existing methods primarily emphasize the extraction of two-dimensional geometric information of roads, while the reconstruction of real three-dimensional geometric and topological structures remains underdeveloped. [Methods] To address these limitations, this study proposes a method for constructing the three-dimensional outdoor pedestrian navigation road network maps using crowdsourced trajectory data. This approach leverages a road network generation layer and an elevation extraction layer to extract the two-dimensional structure and three-dimensional elevation information of the road network. In the road network generation layer, a trajectory density stratification strategy is adopted to construct the two-dimensional vector road network. In the elevation extraction layer, elevation estimation and optimization are performed to generate an elevation grid raster map, which is then matched with the two-dimensional road network to produce the three-dimensional hiking navigation road network. [Results] To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach, experiments were conducted using 1 170 outdoor trajectories collected in 2021 from Yuelu Mountain Scenic Area in Changsha through an online outdoor website. The constructed outdoor three-dimensional hiking road network map achieved an average positional offset of 4.201 meters in two-dimensional space and an average elevation estimation error of 7.656 meters. The results demonstrate that the proposed method effectively handles outdoor trajectory data with high noise and varied trajectory density distribution differences, generating high-quality three-dimensional hiking road network maps. [Conclusions] Compared to traditional outdoor two-dimensional road networks, the three-dimensional navigation road networks constructed this study provide more comprehensive and accurate map information, facilitating improved pedestrian path planning and navigation services in complex outdoor environments.

Encryption serves as a safeguard against unauthorized access to data by unauthorized users. Reversible watermarking, on the other hand, can be employed to authenticate the integrity and origin of data, while enabling the lossless recovery of the original data. In light of the security requirements for vector map data protection, this study combines encryption and reversible watermarking techniques to present a novel reversible vector map watermarking algorithm within the asymmetric homomorphic encrypted domain. By capitalizing on the homomorphic characteristics of the encryption algorithm, the proposed approach devises a reversible watermark embedding mechanism grounded in an improved histogram shifting method, which is directly executed within the ciphertext domain. Upon decryption of the ciphertext map with a private key, the watermark can be retrieved from the resultant plaintext map. Subsequently, the original map can be restored through the implementation of inverse histogram shifting. The algorithm is implemented and evaluated using 3 distinct map datasets. The experimental results validate the feasibility and efficacy of the proposed algorithm. Through a comprehensive analysis of the watermarking performance on these 3 map datasets, along with a comparison with existing reversible watermarking algorithms in both the plaintext and ciphertext domains for vector maps, it is demonstrated that the proposed algorithm exhibits a larger payload capacity, higher imperceptibility, and a more secure encryption effect. Thus, it represents a practical and viable reversible watermarking solution in the asymmetric homomorphic encryption domain for vector maps.

As a leading area for the development of modern large-scale agriculture, northeast China needs to give consideration to enhancing both peasant household’s cultivated land management scale and cultivated land use efficiency, so it is necessary to research their relationship in depth. This study is based on the multi-objective collaborative perspective of economic, social and ecological benefits. Using the prefecture-level administrative regions in northeast China from 2010 to 2021 as samples, peasant household’s cultivated land management scale and cultivated land use efficiency were calculated, and their evolution characteristics and regional differences were analyzed. Then the relationship between peasant household’s cultivated land management scale and cultivated land use efficiency in northeast China was explored through regression analysis, and the moderate peasant household’s cultivated land management scale in northeast China at this stage was estimated. The results show that: 1) Both peasant household’s cultivated land management scale and cultivated land use efficiency in northeast China increased from 2010 to 2021, with larger peasant household’s cultivated land management scale and higher cultivated land use efficiency in Heilongjiang Province, smaller peasant household’s cultivated land management scale in Liaoning Province, and lower cultivated land use efficiency in Jilin Province and eastern Inner Mongolia. 2) During the period, regional differences in peasant household’s cultivated land management scale and cultivated land use efficiency in northeast China expanded and the dispersion was enhanced. Regions with smaller peasant household’s cultivated land management scale and lower cultivated land use efficiency still accounted for a large proportion. The polarization of peasant household’s cultivated land management scale was gradually obvious, and the polarization of cultivated land use efficiency was mitigated. 3) There is a significant inverted “U”-shaped relationship between peasant household’s cultivated land management scale and cultivated land use efficiency in northeast China. When peasant household’s cultivated land management scale is at a low level, its growth has a promoting effect on cultivated land use efficiency. However, after reaching a certain level, the effect of peasant household’s cultivated land management scale on cultivated land use efficiency changes from positive to negative. 4) Currently, the moderate peasant household’s cultivated land management scale in northeast China is 11.61-11.95 hm² without considering the interconnectivity of regions, while it is 10.04-10.10 hm² that considering the interconnectivity of regions.

This study defines and evaluates the level of urban economic high-quality development (UEHQD) under the goal of common prosperity, revealing its dynamic evolution and driving factors to foster spatial momentum for shared affluence. Using a longitudinal and transversal tiered evaluation method, we measure UEHQD levels and further analyze their distribution dynamics and driving forces. Key findings include: 1) The UEHQD level demonstrates an overall upward trend. Eastern high-performance cities in China exhibit “spillover effects” radiating to neighboring areas, central cities show significant “catch-up effects”, western cities remain in a fluctuating phase, while northeastern cities urgently require revitalization to reverse developmental stagnation. 2) The transfer probability of the whole country and the four major regions has changed from upward to downward within the relative UEHQD level [0.93,0.99]. Eastern cities demonstrate strong resilience against downward trends, western cities lag slightly in upward transition potential, and northeastern cities show weak upward momentum. The spatial imbalance pattern is projected to persist which is characterized by “eastern superiority over western regions, southern strength versus northern weakness”. 3) Innovation vitality directly drives UEHQD, with industrial coordination and service sharing serving as key channels. Ecological preservation and open connectivity play secondary roles, while income growth exerts indirect effects, with factor interactions collectively propelling development. Regionally, innovation vitality and industrial coordination dominate UEHQD dynamics: eastern and central regions prioritize innovation, western regions emphasize innovation vitality-service sharing synergy, and northeastern regions highlight industrial coordination’s positive impacts on ecological and service systems. Across city scales, innovation remains paramount: megacities rely on innovation-ecology-industry synergies, large cities on innovation-ecology collaboration, while small-medium cities depend on innovation-service-industry interactions.

Regional industrial renewal has been considered as an important factor for regional economic development. Currently, evolutionary economic geography has pay much attention to the role of technological relatedness in the entry of new industries in regional industrial renewal studies, while the role of technological relatedness in the exit of incumbent industries has often been neglected. One of the reasons for this neglection is the lack of method to identify related and unrelated industries which exit from regions. This paper develops a new method to identify related and unrelated exit industries. Based on this method, we first analyze the number and spatial distribution of related and unrelated exit industries and then further investigate the relationship between (un)related exit and the level of regional economic development. The findings are shown as follows. First, compared with related exit industries, the number of unrelated exit industries are much larger. The number of unrelated exit industries account for about 65% in the total number of exit industries from 1998 to 2012, while the figure for related exit industries is at about 35%. This means that technological relatedness play an important role in the exit of industries in regions. This finding is in line with the previous studies. Second, the spatial distribution of unrelated and related industries varies. Regions in eastern and central China has more related exit industries while the regions in western China has more unrelated exit industries. Third, technological related play a decreasing role in the economic development process. We find that the share of unrelated exit industries in regions is positively associated with the level of regional economic development while there is a negative relationship between the share of related exit industries in regions and the level of regional economic development. The findings of this paper have important implications for policymakers in pursuit of eliminating backward production capacity and promoting industrial renewal.

The supply-and-demand of urban industrial and residential spaces determines the commuting behaviors. With the emergence of the stock-renewal era, the dual pressure of industrial upgrading and rising housing prices pose severe challenges to achieving jobs-housing balance and high-quality commuting in megacities. By integrating theories and methodologies from spatiotemporal behavioral geography and evolutionary economic geography, this study utilizes mobile phone signaling data and micro-level enterprise data, and investigates the causal relationship between urban industrial dynamics and changes of commuting patterns with a sample of 164 subdistricts within exurban ring in Shanghai. The changing commuting patterns are measured through workers’ average commuting distance and entropy index of residential distribution, while industrial evolution dynamics (path-dependence vs. path-breaking) is characterized using industrial relatedness density metrics. The results reveal that: 1) From 2017 to 2023, commuting pattern changes exhibited distinct core-periphery differentiation in Shanghai, with subdistricts demonstrating path-dependent and path-breaking industrial evolution characteristics forming spatially interlocked mosaics. 2) Subdistricts with a path-dependent industrial evolution feature might experience a decrease of the average commuting distance and a more concentrated spatial distribution of employees’ residences. This is mainly because that the table industrial development in those subdistricts requires a consistent set of skills from employees, who in turn actively strive to improve their commuting conditions. 3) Subdistricts with a path-breaking industrial evolution feature might experience an increase of the average commuting distance and a more dispersed spatial distribution of employees’ residences. This is attributed to the significant changes of industrial development in those subdistricts lead to a demand for diverse skill sets, thereby attracting a wider range of worker and bridging the local labor gap. This study highlights the existence of conflicting tensions and potential reconciliations between urban industrial transition and improvements in commuting efficiency. To tackle this challenge, coordination, mutual support, and flexible management of the policy instruments such as urban planning, transportation planning, and industrial planning is urgently needed.

The rapid pace of urbanization and the continuous evolution of social attitudes underscore the importance of examining subjective well-being among migrants from a gender perspective. Based on the literature in the Web of Science Core Collection database, CiteSpace was used to analyze the related literature econometrically. The research on migrants' subjective well-being from the gender perspective is systematized in terms of relevant theories, temporal and spatial evolution characteristics, research hotspots, regional differences, and so on. The findings indicate that theories about subjective well-being are evolving at a rapid pace, with a research trend exhibiting a fluctuating upward trajectory. The research area has a strong localization. The main topics of interest in current research include: multidimensional characteristics, family well-being, social problems, and group differences. Concurrently, domestic and international research trends exhibit differentiation, which is reflected in the research theme, object, perspective, and other aspects. It is proposed that Chinese migrant women exhibit distinctive characteristics that warrant further investigation. In the future, academics should strive to enhance and expand the research on subjective well-being by focusing on themes such as the multifaceted effects and underlying mechanisms of subjective well-being, China's socio-cultural context, and geographic perspectives.

Based on a recent questionnaire survey in Nanjing, this paper explores the social integration level of rural migrant women and its influencing factors from the perspective of generational differences. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) The social integration level of rural floating women is not high, and the integration level of four sub-dimensions from high to low are economic integration, social adaptation, cultural integration, and psychological integration. (2) There are differences in the level of social integration among two generations of rural migrant women. The new generation of rural migrant women has a higher social integration level in general, but their integration in the sub-dimension shows different characteristics. (3) High-quality human capital, family migration patterns, and a good community environment can effectively promote the social integration of rural migrant women. (4) There are differences in influencing factors of social integration between the new and old generations. Individual factors play a more prominent role in promoting the social integration of the new generation of rural migrant women. The effect of family migration on the social integration of the older generation is stronger than that of the new generation. The new and old generations pay different attention to the community level. The old generation pays attention to community security and the surrounding shopping and medical facilities, whereas the new generation pays attention to the community activity space, education, and medical facilities.