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.

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.

The integration of large-scale Low Earth Orbit satellite constellations (hereinafter referred to as "LEO constellations") and artificial intelligence (AI) technology presents a historic opportunity for a paradigm shift in geography research, heralding a new era for geography to evolve from qualitative geography, quantitative geography, and digital geography into the "LEO constellation-AI-driven Geography". Under this framework, future geographic research can rely on the high spatio-temporal resolution monitoring data provided by LEO constellations to accurately capture the high-frequency dynamic changes of geographic elements at multiple scales, particularly at the global scale. By coupling physical models with AI, it becomes feasible to conduct simulation experiments on the complex interactions between natural and human elements, system states, and interface changes. This will facilitate a deeper understanding of core geographic issues such as variable coupling, multi-process cascading effects, and teleconnection mechanisms. To propel "LEO constellation-AI-driven Geography", there is an urgent need to establish a new-generation data acquisition and sharing platform relying on LEO constellation, seamlessly creating a "dynamic map" of global geographic resources and elements. Additionally, a geographic process simulator that couples physical models and AI needs to be developed to intelligently simulate and predict changes and impacts of geographic elements and landscapes.

[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.

Runoff observation uncertainty is one of the key unresolved issues in the field of hydrology. Current studies mainly focus on the uncertainty sources and their impacts, but the effects of observation uncertainty on changes of entire flow regime characteristics are still rare. This study collects daily runoff observation series from 1971 to 2020 at five hydrological stations in the water conservation zone of the Yellow River (Huangheyan, Tangnaihai, and Lanzhou stations in the Yellow River Source Region, Xianyang Station in the Weihe River, and Heishiguan Station in the Yiluo River). Changes in 16 metrics from five main flow regime characteristics (magnitude, frequency of events, variability, duration, and timing) are detected by the trend tests, and the effects of observation uncertainty on trends of flow regime metrics are evaluated by adopting a normal distribution error model and some metrics, i.e., the uncertainty width, significance change rate of slopes, coefficient of variation, and degree of deviation. Results showed that: (1) At all the stations, flow regimes showed significant increases in the low flow magnitude, and significant decreases in the high and average flow magnitude, variability and duration. At the Heishiguan Station, the magnitude, variability and duration metrics significantly decreased, while the frequency metrics significantly increased. At the Xianyang Station, the low flow magnitude and timing metrics significantly increased, while the high flow magnitude, frequency and variability metrics significantly decreased metrics. In the Yellow River Source Region, the low flow magnitude and high flow timing metrics significantly increased, while the low flow frequency, high flow magnitude and variability metrics significantly decreased. (2) Observation uncertainty considerably affected the trend changes of 28.75% of total flow regime metrics at all the five stations. Among these, the trends of 11.25% of total metrics changed from significance to insignificance, and those of 17.5% of total metrics changed from insignificance to significance. For the rest metrics, the trends remained the same, i.e., significant trends (18.75%) and insignificant trends (52.50%). (3) Observation uncertainty had the greatest impacts on frequency metrics, especially at the Xianyang Station, followed by the duration, variability and timing metrics. The magnitude metrics were impacted least.

[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.

Adhering to the principle of shaping tourism through culture and highlighting culture through tourism, we will promote the deep integration development of culture and tourism, providing clear direction for this development in the New Era. This study involved a systematic review of research on the integration of culture and tourism, and we summarized the conceptual connotations and research hotspots of this integration. The study findings revealed that: (1) Chinese-style modernization served as the value guide for promoting the deep integration of culture and tourism, which was an important path toward achieving Chinese-style modernization. The deep integration of culture and tourism leveraged and boosted Chinese-style modernization. A close internal logical relationship existed between them. (2) The deep integration of culture and tourism refered to the mutual intersection, integration, and optimization of cultural undertakings, cultural industries, and tourism at the resource, product, organizational, and technological levels. It involved innovating different types of tourism destination carriers in the common market. Through the process of resource integration to product integration, and product integration to industry integration, it continuously derived new formats, expanded the industrial scope, extended the industry chain, and shaped the value chain. This was a process of "1+1>2" wherein culture and tourism achieved broader, deeper, and higher levels of integrated development. The deep integration of culture and tourism was not a simple resource integration or "resource-product" integration but a comprehensive and deep "resource-product-industry" integration characterized by typical self-organization, adaptability, nonlinearity, and emergence. (3) In the context of Chinese-style modernization, focusing on research regarding the internal logic, evaluation, paths, mechanisms, and institutional supply of the deep integration of culture and tourism was important. By continuously deepening research content and innovating research themes, we could unleash the huge potential and strong vitality of the deep integration of culture and tourism, better promote the steady and long-term development of the tourism industry, and contribute to the realization of Chinese-style modernization through the power of culture and tourism.

Cities function as complex systems where subsystems interact to form higher-level urban complexes characterized by intricate nonlinear coupling relationships among various networks. Although a substantial amount of research on urban networks from the perspective of single-factor flow exists both domestically and internationally, such studies have limitations, as they do not fully capture the multifaceted nature of urban systems. Research on multi-city networks in China primarily examines the structural characteristics and dynamic mechanisms of networks with distinct attributes. While international studies have explored interactions and coupling effects among subsystems within complex systems, focusing on aspects like network robustness and cascading failures, relevant studies on urban networks remain relatively limited. This study proposes a comprehensive research framework called Correlation-Multiplex Coupling Networks-Coupling Linkage Effect Evaluation (CMC). Focusing on the coupling of enterprise and information networks in the Chengdu-Chongqing twin-city economic circle, this study further analyzes the coupling linkage effect between these networks. The results indicate that: First, there exists a complex nonlinear coupling relationship between information and enterprise networks, with a correlation coefficient exceeding 0.625 and different degrees of interactive coupling between nodes; second, from 2011 to 2020, there were notable differences in the core-edge structures of the three networks within the twin-city economic circle. Interactions between cities in core areas were more frequent than those in peripheral areas, displaying a prominent "rich man clubs" phenomenon and preferential links. The hierarchical structure and "Matthew effect" of the urban network were evident. The enterprise network evolved from a dual-core, single-strong link structure to a dual-core, multiple-strong-link structure, achieving a more balanced network over time. The information network transitioned from a single-centered structure around Chengdu to a weaker dual-core structure, with Chongqing as a secondary core. Third, from 2011 to 2020, differences in coupling and linkage effects between enterprises and information networks were significant, with node coupling and linkage primarily at medium to low levels. Link coupling and linkage were mainly at medium to high levels, and interactive linkage weakened over time. The "rich club" phenomenon in coupled networks was stronger than in information networks but weaker than in enterprise networks. Compared to enterprise networks, the "Matthew effect" of coupled networks was less pronounced. In 2020, due to COVID-19 impacts, coupling and linkage between enterprise networks and information networks were significantly weakened, and urban comprehensive capacity did not markedly improve. This study expands the research perspective on urban networks, enriching the field by using a multiplex network approach and coupling coordination model, providing a methodological reference for similar research in other regions and enhancing understanding of the linkage effects among urban subsystems.

New urbanization is an important for narrowing the urban-rural income gap and providing powerful support for promoting regional cooperative development. Based on panel data of 71 county units in the Wuling Mountain Area from 2014 to 2021, the spatial effect and influence mechanism of new urbanization on the urban-rural income gap were investigated using the spatial Durbin, mediation effect, and panel threshold models. The results revealed the following: 1) A positive spatial correlation existed between new urbanization and urban-rural income gap in the Wuling Mountain Area. The local spatial clustering was dominated by the "low-high", and new urbanization had a significant spatial spillover effect on the urban-rural income gap. 2) New urbanization in the Wuling Mountain Area reduced the urban-rural income gap by increasing the level of digitally inclusive financial development and promoting upgrading the industrial structure. 3) The impact of new urbanization on the urban-rural income gap in the Wuling Mountain Area was constrained by itself and the level of economic development, and there was a single-threshold effect, which showed the law of diminishing margins and the inverted "U"-shaped change trend, respectively. Based on the spatial perspective and non-linear perspective, it investigated the spatial effect and influence mechanism of the new urbanization on the urban-rural income gap in the Wuling Mountain Area, which not only made up for the limitations of the existing research in exploring the relationship between the two from the perspective of localization, but also expanded the existing theoretical research system, and provided the theoretical basis and practical guidance for the Wuling Mountain Area and other underdeveloped areas to accelerate the two-way flow of urban and rural factors, to promote the organic integration of new urbanization and rural revitalization strategy, and to promote the realization of common prosperity.

China imports more than 80% of its iron via sea. The spatiotemporal patterns of iron ore shipping, as well as its changes, are linked to the China's national economic security. The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly affected the spatiotemporal patterns of global shipping. By studying the changing trend of China's iron ore import pattern during the pandemic, this study attempts to provide a basis and experience to prevent similar crises and improve supply chain resilience in the future. This study employs Automatic Identification System data to estimate China's iron ore imports during the COVID-19 pandemic from January to June 2020. Furthermore, this study integrates the standard deviation ellipse and origin-destination, flow analysis methods to examine changes in the iron ore trade pattern. The findings reveal the following. 1) The import pattern of iron ore in China exhibits pronounced geographical concentration. In terms of port distribution, the Bohai Rim serves as a core hub, hosting the majority of the country's major ore-receiving ports. Among them, the Caofeidian Port, Zhoushan Port, and Jinggang Port constitute three strategic fulcrums. 2) From the perspective of trade source countries, China's iron ore imports face substantial market concentration risks. Australia (accounting for over 60%) and Brazil (accounting for over 20%) contributed more than 80% of the total import volume, forming a highly dependent supply system. The main ports for iron ore exports from Australia are located on the west coast, including Ports Hedland, Dampier, and Walcott, while Port Itaqui in Brazil is also a major source of China's iron ore imports. 3) COVID-19 had the greatest impact on China's iron ore imports in February 2020. Imports rebounded in March as production resumed in China. In May, a higher import share in the Yangtze and Pearl River Delta regions shifted the import center slightly southward, although it remained along the southern boundary of the Bohai Rim port cluster. Despite the pandemic, the Bohai Rim ports retained their status as the primary import hubs. 4) Compared with 2019, iron ore exports from major exporters, including Australia, Brazil, South Africa, India, and Ukraine, increased from January to June 2020. China's dependence on iron ore from Australia and Brazil has decreased annually, while its dependence on Ukraine and India has increased. This has led to a westward shift in overseas iron ore supply centers. 5) Among ports with a monthly throughput exceeding 5 million tons, the iron ore supply to China from Australia's Ports Hedland, Dampier, and Walcott generally increased, whereas Brazilian Itaqui Port experienced a continuous decline in its supply to China starting in February. Among significant ports with a monthly throughput below 5 million tons, Peru's San Nicolas Port and South Africa's Saldanha Bay Port were the most severely impacted by the pandemic, with a notable reduction in their iron ore supply to China.

Over the past 40 years, significant changes have occurred along the coastlines of Qinzhou Bay in China and Manila Bay in the Philippines. Understanding the patterns of these changes is important for the management and planning of coastal zones. This study is based on the Google Earth Engine platform, using the modified normalized difference water index, combined with the Otsu algorithm and the Digital Shoreline Analysis System, to extract the coastlines of Qinzhou Bay in China and Manila Bay in the Philippines over the past 40 years, and then analyze the spatiotemporal variation characteristics of the two coastlines and the situation of reclamation. The results show that in the past 40 years, the coastline of Qinzhou Bay has generally advanced towards the sea, with a coastline length increase of 44.78 km, an average End Point Rate(EPR)of 6.81 m/a, and average Linear Regression Rate(LRR)of 6.16 m/a. Natural coastline length continued to decrease, whereas the proportion of artificial coastlines continued to increase. The Index of Coastline Utilization degree (ICUD) values show an upward trend, whereas the Index of Coastline Type Diversity (ICTD) values show a continuously decreasing trend. The Manila Bay coastline first increased and then decreased, with an overall decrease of 1.05 km—a relatively small change. The coastline also shows a trend of advancing towards the sea with an average EPR of 2.36 m/a and average LRR of 2.32 m/a. The proportion of natural coastlines continued to decline, whereas that of artificial coastlines gradually increased. The ICUD values showed a steadily increasing trend, whereas the ICTD values showed a downward trend. The cumulative area of reclamation in Qinzhou Bay has reached 6,674.27 hm², with an average annual expansion rate of 196.30 hm²/a. Reclamation activities were significantly active and large-scale. However, the cumulative reclamation area of Manila Bay is only 1,718.59 hm², with an average annual expansion rate of 50.55 hm²/a, indicating relatively limited reclamation activities. The reclamation intensity index and annual spatial expansion rate of Qinzhou Bay were higher than those of Manila Bay. Overall, compared to Manila Bay, the Qinzhou Bay coastline exhibited more significant characteristics in terms of change amplitude, change speed, and reclamation intensity. Reclamation activities have a significant impact on coastline changes, and port and dock construction and aquaculture are the main driving factors for reclamation.

River terraces are important geomorphic indicators that reveal the evolution of rivers, and their climatic and tectonic responses. Dating is key to studying terrace evolution. In the past decade, electron spin resonance (ESR) dating has been widely applied in Quaternary geology and environmental research, and has solved a series of Quaternary chronology problems. This study selected well-exposed river terrace sections of the Zhenjiang River in the upper reaches of the Beijiang River as the research object and used ESR dating to analyze the ages and formation mechanisms of the terraces of the Zhenjiang River system. The experimental data show that the Ti-Li core dose-response curve of quartz in the sediment samples of the Zhenjiang River terraces fits well with the ESR signal strength, indicating that the terrace samples are stable and meet the requirements of ESR dating. Two age data were obtained from the bottom and the top of the ZJ-P₁ profile, with ages of 654 ± 79 ka and 231 ± 29 ka respectively; three age data (576 ± 38 ka, 523 ± 55 ka and 256 ± 26 ka) were obtained from the bottom to the top of the ZJ-P₂ profile, and three age data (392 ± 56 ka, 132 ± 15 ka and 41 ± 6 ka) were obtained from the bottom to the top of the ZJ-P₃ profile, being respectively. These results reflect the continuous sedimentation of the strata. Through the comparative analysis with the existing thermoluminescence age data of the Zhenjiang River and adjacent basins, it is determined that there are two distinct river terraces on the left bank of the Zhenjiang River in the upper reaches of the Beijiang River, and the final formation times of T₂ and T₁ are approximately 231 ± 29 and 41 ± 6 ka, respectively. Similarly, the ages of the river terraces in the main basins of northern Guangdong obtained by different dating methods were similar, indicating that the rivers in northern Guangdong were generally incised during the Middle and Late Middle Pleistocene and that the main rivers in northern Guangdong have synchronous evolution characteristics. On the basis of sedimentary characteristics of the river terraces in the Zhenjiang section of the upper reaches of the Beijiang River, terrace dating data, and previous research, it is shown that the formation of the second terrace in the Zhenjiang section was mainly influenced by tectonic uplift movements; the final formation time was in the Middle and Late Pleistocene, and the first terrace was formed under the combined action of climate change and tectonic activity during the late Pleistocene. Based on the ages of the samples at the top of the T₂ and T₁ gravel layers and the incision heights, the corresponding incision rates were calculated to be 0.056 and 0.524 mm/a, respectively. Finally, a comparison with the downcutting rates of other river terraces in neighboring areas showed that the Jinjiang and Zhenjiang Rivers exhibited higher downcutting rates since the Middle to Late Pleistocene, indicating the presence of tectonic uplift in northern Guangdong during this period. This study determined the ages and formation mechanisms of low-level river terraces in the Zhenjiang River section using ESR dating and provides an important reference for the study of climatic and tectonic responses in northern Guangdong.

Underdeveloped regions are an important manifestation of unbalanced and insufficient development, as well as an outstanding shortcoming facing the advancement of Chinese-style modernization. Based on the scientific understanding of underdeveloped regions, this study identified the spatial distribution and regional types of underdeveloped counties in China in 2022, and proposed development paths for underdeveloped counties, with a view to providing references for establishing and improving regularized support mechanisms for underdeveloped regions. Essentially, underdeveloped regions stem from the shortcomings of human-earth system and the incoordination and inadaptability among its elements, which include not only lagging economic development, but also shortcomings such as insufficient public service and lack of infrastructure. Therefore, it is it is appropriate to adopt the “1+N” program for the spatial identification of underdeveloped regions, i.e., to diagnose different sectoral underdeveloped regions based on the identification of economically underdeveloped areas, and then to designate the types of underdeveloped regions. Spatially, county economic development level in 2022 showed obvious clustering characteristics, in which high-value counties were mainly distributed in the Yangtze River Delta, the Pearl River Delta, the periphery of provincial capitals and the energy-resource-rich areas in the Northwest. The estimation results of SDM and Geodetector show that the proportion of land used for transportation, years of schooling, urbanization rate, and the proportion of added-value of primary industry in GDP were the dominant factors affecting the regional differentiation of county economic development level. Therefore, sectoral underdeveloped counties include transportation-underdeveloped counties, education-underdeveloped counties, urbanization-underdeveloped counties and industrialization-underdeveloped counties. In accordance with the dominant constraints, their negative effects on county socio-economic development should be scientifically analyzed to propose countermeasures for different types of sectoral underdeveloped counties. In addition, the study identifies 695 economically underdeveloped counties, mainly in the former concentrated and contiguous areas with special difficulties. Based on the identified dominant constraints, these counties can be classified into five categories, i.e., economically underdeveloped counties constrained by industrialization and urbanization, industrialization-constrained economically underdeveloped co-unties, economically underdeveloped counties constrained by education and urbanization, multi-factor relatively constrained economically underdeveloped counties, and multi-factor strictly constrained economically underdeveloped counties. The regularized support strategies for different types of underdeveloped counties should be based on the combination of their dominant constraints, should be implemented in accordance with local conditions, classified guidance, and regional implementation.

The impact of geopolitics on patterns of global flows of critical resources is an important issue for the economic geography. Many countries with high dependence on crude oil import regard crude oil as their key strategic resource, and give priority guarantee in national security strategy. As the most serious geopolitical conflict in Europe since the Cold War, the Russia-Ukraine conflict has exerted a significant influence on the global crude oil transportation pattern. This paper quantitatively analyzes the spatio-temporal characteristics of global oil transport pattern before and after the outbreak of the Russian-Ukraine conflict. Based on the global AIS ship track data from January to June 2019, 2020 and 2022, this paper presents a method of ship trajectory identification including data pre-processing, trajectory identification and flow calculation. By combining the time, speed, longitude and latitude coordinates and other constraints, the starting and ending points of the route can be determined, and the complete navigation trajectory can be identified. The crude oil transportation volume is calculated by the maximum weight ton of the ship, which includes the transportation volume, the transportation distance and the turnover volume. The results are: 1) Before and after the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the global crude oil shipping flow decreased significantly, and the global crude oil turnover fell by 24% in the short term. This negative effect has a one-month lag, which is related to the time of a single crude oil shipment. 2) There is spatial heterogeneity in global crude oil shipping flow. The variation of shipping flow occurs only in a few specific regions, and the trend is different. On the demand side, Western Europe increased crude imports from North America and the Middle East, while India and East Asia increased their imports from the Mediterranean. On the supply side, the Middle East have increased their crude exports to western Europe while reducing their crude exports to East Asia; and the Mediterranean region, crude oil exports increased both to Europe and to Asia. 3) The spatial distribution of global crude oil production and consumption level is extremely unbalanced, forming 21 major global crude oil shipping routes, where Russia to Europe route traffic reduced, Russia to India route and the Middle East, the United States to Europe route traffic grew. The pattern of global oil transportation shows a trend of restructuring, showing a “Trans-Atlantic route” dominated by Western Europe and the United States, and a “Asian route” dominated by Russia. This pattern will have an impact on energy security, energy industry and related industries in countries with high dependence on oil imports. This paper helps to enrich the study of the relationship between geopolitics and global resource flow patterns and deepen the theoretical understanding of the impact of geopolitics on global resource flow patterns.

Using the Mann-Kendall method, the growth rate of China’s urbanization since the reform and opening up was divided into 2 stages, 1978—1994 and 1995—2020, and the pattern of China’s provincial urbanization in different stages was analyzed. Using panel data, the dynamic mechanism of this pattern was discussed from the intra-regional and inter-regional levels. The results show that: 1) The spatial and temporal dynamic differences of China’s provincial urbanization are significant. In 1978, China’s regional urbanization pattern showed a pattern of high in the north and low in the south, and high in the east and low in the west. In 1994, the pattern of urbanization presented the urbanization rate of the provinces in the north and southeast coasts is relatively high, and southwestern provinces are relatively low. The urbanization level in 2020 has formed a pattern of gradual decline from east to west. 2) The estimation results of spatial Durbin model show that labor demand as a pulling force has a stronger effect on the urbanization rate between regions than within regions; The effect of the income gap between urban and rural areas on urbanization rate is firstly suppressed and then promoted, and the intensity of the effect between regions is always stronger than that within regions. The regional economic development disparities, acting as an inter-regional push factor, have a significant positive effect on urbanization only in the initial phase; the income gap between urban areas, serving as an inter-regional pull factor, overall shows an effect that initially suppresses and then promotes urbanization rates, with the impact shifting from being stronger inter-regionally to being stronger intra-regionally. 3) The results of Geographically Weighted Regression model show that, in economically developed regions, labor demand and urban-rural income gap, as regional push and pull forces, have a positive driving effect on the urbanization of each province. The positive effect of regional economic development differences and inter-regional urban income gaps on urbanization has obvious fluctuations in space. But the change has become stronger over time, indicating that the development gaps between regions and between urban and rural areas are constantly promoting the urbanization development of various provinces as a push and pull force between regions.