With the advancement of urbanization and the profound transformation of socio-economic development in China, land use transition has become a complex research field involving multiple disciplines and dimensions. This paper comprehensively uses bibliometric analysis and systematic review methods to systematically sort out the research progress of land use transition in China from following dimensions: development context, theoretical framework, model and methodology, effect and mechanism, and regulation path. The study finds that: (1) Since the introduction of land use transition research to China in 2001, the field has flourished in the aspects of project funding, publication of monographs, and talent cultivation. Through hotspot analysis, it is found that research has shifted from being technology-driven to policy and economic-driven, and finally focused on multi-functional synergy and sustainable development. (2) Theoretical research can be divided into three levels: description-explanation, process characterization and diagnosis, and mutual feedback mechanism and regulation, forming a research paradigm of "dominant morphology-recessive morphology" coupling. The transition measurement method presents a three-dimensional characteristic of integration of 3S technology, mathematical model simulation, and field investigation. (3) Driven by the dual strategies of rural vitalization and food security, the socio-economic effects of land use transitions are manifested as a cascading response of farmers' livelihoods, factor flow, and industrial upgrading; related ecological and environmental effects show the bidirectional characteristics of negative effects and positive synergistic effects. (4) The driving mechanism of land use transitions is analyzed from the "element-structure-system" perspective, and its regulation system is discussed from multiple dimensions such as engineering technology innovation, institutional innovation, policy intervention, and multi-dimensional collaborative governance. (5) Future research needs to focus on breakthroughs in multi-scale transition threshold identification, complex system feedback simulation, regional model extraction, and optimization and regulation of transition through theoretical and methodological innovations. This study provides not only knowledge support for the construction of a land use transition research theoretical system with Chinese characteristics, but also decision-making support for the modernization of national territorial space governance and urban-rural integrated development.

Main function zoning (MFZ) is the fundamental system of China's territorial development and protection. Through differentiated functional orientation, the core objectives of MFZ are to guide the orderly flow of resources across regions and optimize the spatial pattern of national development. This study evaluates the impacts, their heterogeneities among four types of zones, and underlying mechanisms of MFZ planning on China's population redistribution using county-level data from the three latest national population censuses and causal inference tests through difference-in-differences models. The results show that: The MFZ effects generally align with policy orientation. Post-implementation, optimized development zones, prioritized development zones, main agricultural zones and key ecological zones experienced declining population growth rates, accelerated population agglomeration, accelerated population decline, and growth-to-decline transition, respectively. Using main agricultural zones as reference, the planning reinforced the population concentration advantages of prioritized development zones. The policy effect exhibits dual heterogeneity across regions and hierarchical levels. Population changes in agricultural and ecological zones mostly complied with planning guidance, whereas only 40% of county-level units within prioritized development zones achieved the policy goal of accelerated agglomeration. National-level prioritized development zones demonstrated approximately twice the impact of provincial-level counterparts. Population migration from restricted development zones to urbanized areas predominantly occurred through cross-regional migration rather than intra-prefecture movements, making the policy goal of "concentrated equilibrium" within prefecture-level cities difficult to achieve. The planning promoted shifts in influencing factors of population redistribution within each type of MFZ. The diminished role of secondary industries and enhanced influence of tertiary sectors in optimized zones, along with weakened economic drivers in ecological zones, aligned with planning objectives. However, industrialization in prioritized development zones failed to significantly boost population agglomeration, while agricultural zones remained profoundly influenced by industrialization and economic development, both deviating from intended planning orientations. The findings suggest that the new-round planning could moderately concentrate urbanized area layouts, clarify development sequences for prioritized development zones, and implement more targeted differentiated governance requirements for restricted development zones.

Developing new quality productive forces is a significant proposition emphasized at the meeting on promoting the full revitalization of Northeast China in the new era. Subsequently, research on the spatiotemporal evolution and spatial differentiation of new quality productive forces has become a cutting-edge and hot topic in geographic science. Based on the theory of productivity layout in economic geography, this paper introduces a spatial perspective from geography into the study of new quality productive forces and systematically examines the locational conditions and spatial layout of new quality productive forces from two dimensions: policy-side and factor-side. The paper constructs a three-dimensional evaluation indicator system for new quality productive forces, consisting of "new laborer-new labor materials-new labor object", and employs threshold regression model and coupling coordination degree model to explore the dynamic relationship and spatial characteristics between local government attention and the level of new quality productive forces from 2009 to 2022. The results show that: (1) From the perspective of policy-side, there is a growing trend of following the crowd and repetitive competition in the development of new quality productive forces among provinces. (2) From the perspective of factor-side, there is spatial heterogeneity in the level of new quality productive forces across different regions, presenting a gradient pattern of "high in the east and low in the west", and the spatial distribution of new quality productive forces is more imbalanced than regional development. (3) From the perspective of dynamic analysis, there is a U-shaped threshold characteristic for the role of government attention in developing new quality productive forces, and there is a positive coupling relationship between the two. Therefore, it is necessary to focus on the matching and connection between policy-side and factor-side of regional new quality productive forces. The conclusions of this study fill the research gap in the relevant fields of geography and provide policy inspiration for optimizing productivity layout, developing new quality productive forces according to local conditions, and promoting high-quality regional development.

The urban-rural integration in the new era requires the coupled and coordinated development of new urbanization and comprehensive rural revitalization. This paper constructs an evaluation index system for new urbanization and comprehensive rural revitalization, and uses the modified coupling coordination degree model, spatial Markov chain, random forest model and other methods to quantitatively analyze the spatio-temporal evolution characteristics and influencing factors of coupling coordination types of new urbanization and comprehensive rural revitalization in Central China from 2007 to 2022. The results show that: (1) From 2007 to 2022, the coupling coordination type in the study area experienced a transition from moderate imbalance to minimal coordination, with regions of severe imbalance gradually disappearing and high-quality coordinated areas emerging, and the coupling coordination relationship has continuously improved. In terms of spatial distribution, high-value zones of coupling coordination level have remained concentrated in provincial capitals, while low-value zones have shifted toward western edge and the junction of Henan-Anhui-Hubei provinces, with boundary effects gradually emerging. (2) Regardless of the neighborhood conditions, the transition of the coupling coordination state exhibits "path dependence" and "self-locking" effects, while displaying "club convergence" phenomena, there is the possibility of transition to higher level but it is difficult to achieve leapfrog development. The geographical background plays an important role in the evolution of the coupling coordination state, which has an obvious spatial spillover effect, and the Markov prediction results also prove that spatial spillover effect will exist for a long time, the long-term evolution trend of the coupling coordination state is relatively good. (3) In the process of coupling and coordinated development, the level of industrial development plays a core leading role, the level of regional investment, the level of scientific and technological innovation, the level of human capital, and the employment structure of the population offer guarantees in terms of essential factors, and the geographical distance plays a restrictive role. Finally, this paper puts forward specific countermeasures and suggestions to provide scientific basis for the coordinated development of new urbanization and comprehensive rural revitalization in Central China.

The spatiotemporal evolution of settlements during historical periods is of great significance for a better understanding of past environment changes, land use, and the dynamics of human-land relationships. Chinese historical documents contain abundant information on settlements, serving as an important proxy for the study on the evolution settlements over the past century. Historical documents typically employ place names to record the spatial location of settlements, but the existing historical place names spatial databases often fall short in automating the precise localization of micro-scale place names, such as settlements, which in turn impedes the advancement of research on the spatial reconstruction and spatiotemporal evolution of these historical settlements. This study focuses on the automated matching method of historical settlement place names, utilizing Suzhou Prefecture during the late Qing Dynasty (1820-1911) as the research area. It selected 11340 settlement place names and their associated primary-level division data extracted from local chronicles, and combined contemporary place names matching techniques to construct a conceptual model for correlating ancient and modern place names. The study identifies characteristics of place names evolution, establishes rules for place names matching, and proposes an algorithm for the aggregation and matching of settlement names predicated on similarity metrics, thereby accomplish the spatial reconstruction of historical settlements within the research area. On this basis, the spatial distribution and urban-rural relationships of the reconstruction results were analyzed. The results indicated that approximately 98% of the settlements, relative to the total number documented in the literature, were reconstructed using an automated place names matching method. The spatial resolution of the reconstruction was approximately 1.4 km × 1.4 km, and the consistency between the automatic matching outcomes and the manually verified results was about 96%. During the late Qing Dynasty, the distribution of settlements in the study area exhibited agglomerative characteristics, with a hierarchical structure of settlement networks centered on the western suburbs of Suzhou city. However, urban-rural connections within the network were sparse. The findings from this study have enhanced the technical methods for the spatial reconstruction of historical settlement space and deepened the scientific understanding of the characteristics and influencing factors of long-term settlement evolution.

Promoting social green transformation is an inherent requirement and a key task in the national strategy for a comprehensive green transformation of the economy and society. However, research on the quantitative characterization and spatiotemporal patterns of social green transformation remains relatively lacking. To address this gap, this paper introduces social psychology theory to construct a quantitative characterization framework for social green transformation. Using 19 urban agglomerations in China as the study area and following the "pattern-process-effect" research logic, the study integrates methods such as entropy-weighted TOPSIS, spatial Markov chains, and Random Forest model to sequentially reveal the spatiotemporal evolution patterns, spatiotemporal transformation, and dynamic impacts of the social green transformation on the economic green transformation. Finally, a comprehensive quantitative framework for regional green transformation is proposed. The results show that: (1) During the study period, the level of social green transformation in China's urban agglomerations showed a fluctuating upward trend, with the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Yangtze River Delta, and Pearl River Delta urban agglomerations leading in social green transformation, while those along the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, the northern slope of Tianshan Mountains, Lanzhou-Xi'an region, and Ningxia along the Yellow River were relatively lagging. (2) There is a phenomenon of club convergence and spatial spillover effects in the social green transformation of urban agglomerations, and the transformation exhibits path dependence and spatial dependence, with low probabilities of cross-level and cross-regional transitions. (3) Social green transformation serves as a significant driving force for the green transformation of urban economies, and this driving effect has been strengthening over time. The role of social green transformation in advancing the strategy of ecological prioritization and green development is increasingly profound. Furthermore, this study helps to improve existing research on regional green transformation evaluation, providing new methods and ideas that better align with and respond to the current comprehensive green transformation strategy.

To realize the "dual carbon" goals, it is necessary to actively explore the "dual carbon" response strategy in the national spaces and innovate the research on carbon emission reduction and carbon sink enhancement pathways within the existing Chinese national conditions and institutional framework. Currently, discussions centered around supporting carbon neutrality predominantly emphasize the carbon reduction dimensions of a single space or department, lacking comprehensive coordination and specific pathways demonstration research across multiple spaces and departments. This has led to unclear goal positioning and accountability relationships for carbon emission reduction and carbon sequestration in different national spaces, making it challenging to decompose the overall tasks and implement them concretely. On the basis of considering the spatial functional attributes and interactions of ecological space, agricultural space, and urban space, this study first establishes a cognitive framework for carbon balance effects of three types of space (ecological, agricultural, and urban spaces) and proposes design principles for carbon emission reduction and carbon sink enhancement pathways. Then, based on the share of carbon reduction undertaken by the three types of space, as well as the current application status, historical contributions, scope of application, and future potential of each pathway, this study further summarizes and proposes a multi-spatial coordinated pathway for enhancing carbon sinks within ecological spaces, reducing carbon emissions and increasing sinks in agricultural spaces, and decreasing emissions in urban spaces. This initiative not only contributes to achieving sustainable ecological restoration, efficient cropland management, and effective urban control, but also fosters the formation of climate mitigation optimization strategies and green transformation response methods under the integration of future national space.

A series of regional major strategies has continuously been implemented since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (2012). The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, and Chengdu-Chongqing urban agglomerations are the core spatial carriers of regional major strategies. In the new situation of decreasing and aging population, the growth of employment and the changes in employment structure in the four major urban agglomerations will have a profound impact on the regional sustainable development. Based on the location quotient model, and spatial autocorrelation analysis, the spatial and temporal patterns of employment size and employment industrial structure in the four major urban agglomerations were examined by using the sectoral population data from the 2000, 2010 and 2020 national population censuses. Comparative analysis was conducted in the context of regional major strategies to explore the regularities of urban agglomeration employment growth and structural transformation. The study finds that: (1) The scale of employment in the four major urban agglomerations continues to grow, but the overall growth rate slows down. The overall pattern of employment distribution remains stable, and the high-value areas of employment growth rate have shifted from the central cities to the surrounding cities of the urban agglomerations, forming a trend of balanced distribution and multi-point support within the urban agglomerations. (2) The trend of advanced and high-tech development in employment structure is obvious, and the distribution of employment types within urban agglomerations presents a clear "core-periphery" pattern. The central city always maintains a structure of "high-tech manufacturing and high-tech service industry", while the employment structure of the cities near the central city of the urban agglomeration is characterized by an alternating distribution of "low-tech manufacturing and high-tech service industry" and "high-tech manufacturing and low-tech service industry". The majority of employment in peripheral cities of urban agglomerations belongs to the structural type of "low-tech manufacturing and low-tech service industry". (3) The continuous growth of the employed population and the advanced and high-tech employment structure have created conditions for the four major urban agglomerations to carry out regional major strategies and participate in global competition. However, urban agglomerations face different challenges. It is essential to strengthen the multiplier effect of high-tech employment, promote the qualitative transformation of non-high-tech employment, and implement differentiated employment attraction policies to foster coordinated development among urban agglomerations and ensure the effective implementation of regional major strategy.

The population problem has always been an overall, long-term, and strategic issue facing China; the fertility rate can reflect the population problem, and the identification of the temporal and spatial evolution characteristics and driving factors of fertility rate is of great significance to the long-term balanced development of population and the coordination of human-land relationship. Based on the census data of 2000, 2010, and 2020, the Theil index, spatial autocorrelation analysis, and geographically weighted regression models were used to explore the spatiotemporal evolution characteristics and influencing factors of city fertility in China from 2000 to 2020. The results showed that: (1) Based on the perspective of time series characteristics, from 2000 to 2020, China's fertility rate presented a downward trend, the degree of distribution first increased and then decreased with the passage of time, the discrete trend between cities decreased, and the regional differences in fertility rate have narrowed. (2) Based on the perspective of spatial pattern, the fertility rate is high in the south and west and low in the north and east, whereas heterogeneity is obvious. Specifically, the west side of the Hu Line is higher than that of the east side, but the fertility rate fluctuation on the east side is higher than that on the west side. China's four major economic regions are in the order of Western > the Central> the Eastern > the Northeast, with fertility rates still declining in the Western and Northeast regions. Focusing on the five major urban agglomerations, the urban agglomeration in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River has the highest fertility rate, followed by the Chengdu-Chongqing urban agglomeration, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration, and the Pearl River Delta urban agglomeration, with the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration having the lowest fertility rate. Overall, the H-H cluster agglomeration areas are mainly distributed in the southern and western regions of China, while the L-L cluster agglomeration areas are concentrated in the northern and eastern regions. (3) Based on the perspective of influencing factors, economic, policy, demographic, and social factors are always the key factors affecting fertility, with economic and policy factors generally having a greater impact on China's fertility rate. The spatial heterogeneity of economic factors represented by per capita GDP and urbanization rate is significant, the positive impact of policy factors in northern and eastern China is significant, the population quality and fertility rate in the west of the Hu Line are strongly negatively correlated, the population number and fertility rate in southeast China are positively correlated, the negative impact of marriage and childbearing on fertility on the east side of the Hu Line is greater than that on the west side, and the influence of the concept of raising children and preventing old age in some areas in the east is still greater.

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

With the rapid growth of the digital economy, integrating the cultural and tourism industries has become a key driver of regional economic development and industrial upgrading. As a vital component of the cultural and digital sectors, the gaming industry facilitates integration through digital innovation and creative design. While existing research on cultural-tourism integration is extensive, little attention has been paid to how virtual cultural symbols transform and drive this process in the digital era. Recent advancements in gaming have blurred the boundaries between virtual and real experiences through virtual scene construction, cultural symbol reproduction, immersive interactions, and social media dissemination, accelerating the transformation of cultural resources into tourism assets. Understanding how the gaming industry promotes cultural-tourism integration enhances existing research frameworks, deepens insights into the dissemination and reproduction of cultural symbols in the digital economy, and offers new regional cultural tourism development strategies. Using Black Myth: Wukong as a case study, this research applies the field conversion theory to examine the flow and transformation of cultural symbols between virtual and real-world tourism contexts. It explores two key questions: (1) How does the gaming industry reconstruct traditional cultural symbols through digitalization and integrate them into real-world tourism using field conversion mechanisms? and (2) How does the participation and feedback of different groups influence the effectiveness of this integration, shaping the gaming industry's role in regional cultural tourism development? The findings indicate that digital technologies not only overcome spatial constraints on cultural resources but also enhance interactivity and dissemination, promoting the transformation of symbolic capital into cultural, social, and economic capital. However, engagement levels varied across groups. Players deeply immersed in virtual cultural symbols strengthened the connection between gaming and real-world tourism through social media, offline activities, and digital communities. In contrast, non-players rely on traditional tourism information sources and respond passively and indirectly to game-driven cultural symbols. This study identifies capital accumulation, habit migration, and stakeholder collaboration as the core mechanisms facilitating cultural-tourism integration. While gaming fosters cultural identity, tourism consumption, and economic diversification, it also presents challenges, such as infrastructure strain and tourism industry homogenization due to sudden visitor influxes. This research expands the scope of the theory's application by integrating the field conversion theory into the study of gaming and cultural-tourism integration. It examines how cultural symbols gain value through cross-field transformations. Furthermore, it highlights how digital games that leverage virtual reality, short videos, and social media facilitate cultural symbols' cross-regional flow and reproduction. Moving beyond static cultural transmission models, this study reveals the dynamic evolution of virtual culture and offers fresh perspectives on the development of the cultural industry in the digital economy.

As part of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China has actively participated in global port construction over the past decade. This study aims to evaluate the outcomes of these efforts and enrich the theoretical framework of BRI development. We constructed a port vitality index (PVI) using shipping big data. The PVI was calculated across four key dimensions (production, maritime, service, and radiation) using 17 fundamental indicators based on the port transportation chain model. This study evaluated the vitality of port development over the past decade. The results were as follows. (1) There was significant growth from 2013 to 2022 in the overall vitality index of ports invested in China, with Asia and Europe being the primary hubs of port vitality, and Africa emerging as a major center of growth. (2) There was higher vitality growth among ports where China was involved in both investment and operations, compared to ports where China's role was limited to construction. (3) Chinese port construction companies held global power by helping developing countries or regions lacking transportation capacity quickly establish international transportation capabilities. (4) Terminal operators and shipping companies invested in ports with strong underlying conditions, located on key shipping routes with minimal economic risks, to ensure effective investment outcomes. (5) Some small and medium-sized ports gained rapid production vitality through investment, yet lacked maritime vitality, as insufficient urban market growth hinders the increase in maritime vitality. The port vitality evaluation method proposed in this study provides insights for adjusting China's future port investment strategies and optimizing location choices for enterprise investments. It also enriches the theoretical framework of the BRI development and provides practical evidence of China's commitment to fostering shared prosperity with the Global South through port infrastructure development.

As an important economic form for the innovation and development of human society, since the 21st century, the low-altitude economy has become one of the key ways to promote China's modern industrial development, with its unique charm and broad application prospects. Research on the low-altitude economy of manned vehicles has a long history. However, this research is still growing; and there are many ambiguities within the human-cultural research of low-altitude economies. Therefore, it is necessary to review the existing results so as to promote the development of a theoretical and methodological system for low-altitude economic research. Based on data from the Web of Science (WOS), Scoups, and CNKI databases with the low-altitude economy as the research theme, the CiteSpace software was used to comprehensively sort out the publication status, research content, and research lineage of domestic and foreign low-altitude economy research. This study analyzes and summarizes the characteristics of the publication, subject matter, and characteristics and trends of the various phases. The results show that: (1) Although the leading figures and research teams of domestic and foreign low-altitude economy research have initially appeared, there are fewer cross-institutional academic contacts and a broad academic consensus is yet to be formed. (2) There are also differences in the development history and research characteristics of domestic and foreign low-altitude economy research, but in the early stage of the research, the focus is mainly on general aviation. It then moves to a new era of drone dominance that is centered on the low-altitude economy after 2010. (3) As is, foreign studies have focused on, for example, the exploration of UAV models and their engineering technology, UAV traffic management systems, UAV application scenarios. On the contrary, Chinese studies focus on the reflection and summary of the reform of low-altitude airspace, construction of UAV systems and their industrial development, etc. (4) The directional shift of the low-altitude economy from the natural space to the human-cultural space is an important feature in this growth period but the current low-altitude economy research on human culture is still in the trial phase. Therefore, it is recommended that scholars establish a scientific system suitable for the development of low-altitude economies in China, expand research perspectives and interdisciplinary cooperation, and strengthen extensive communication and exchanges among scholars, which helps construct a diversified inter-institutional, interdisciplinary, and inter-geographical cooperation network. In addition, it will deeply excavate the human-earth relations and spatial organization concepts in the study of low-altitude economies and integrate natural-social-economic-humanities perspectives on intelligent, synergistic, and sustainable development of UAVs, as well as systematically expose the UAV industry chain, UAV-related supporting facilities, market consumption, and public attitudes. This study aims to accelerate the high-quality development of China's low-altitude economy and comprehensively promote its modern development.

Geomorphologic regionalization is the division of geomorphologic regions based on geomorphologic similarities and differences. The study of Martian geomorphic regionalization is of great significance to the understanding of Martian geomorphic evolution history as well as the rational development and utilization of Martian resources. However, there is currently a gap in the study of Martian geomorphologic regionalization. Conventional Martian location names lack clear boundaries. Additionally, the boundaries of force modification landscapes have not been clarified. On the basis of these situations, the "senior region, sub-senior region, region" Martian three-grade geomorphologic regionalization scheme was proposed using multi-source data, including bouguer gravity, topographic data, optical image data, and geological maps. Firstly, the boundaries of the Martian geotectonic domain were mapped based on data from geophysical and topographic features, which were used as the boundaries of the senior region. Secondly, the geologic units clustered by geomorphic similarity were used as the boundaries of the sub-senior region based on different terrain factors using random forests combined with the SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) model. Thirdly, the data on volcanic, glacial, wind-sand, and fluvial landforms were collected and the results from adaptive optimal bandwidth kernel density estimation method were used as the boundaries of the region. Finally, the three boundaries were integrated. The geomorphic regionalization units were named in an order from senior region to region. The semi-automatic methods reduced the workload and subjectivity of global mapping. The problem of high fragmentation results from traditional clustering was solved in this scheme. The geomorphic regionalization scheme coupled geomorphic morphology and genesis and took into account the influence of different elements on the boundaries of tectonic domains, which is of high reference value for future research on the geomorphic evolution of Mars.

The co-occurrence of droughts at multiple time scales in the water source area (Upper Hanjiang River, UH) and receiving area (northern North China, NNC) of the Middle Route of the South-to-North Water Diversion project highlights the need to identify common climatic drivers for these concurrent phenomena. Using reconstructed drought/flood grade data and sunspot series from 1700 to 2023, this study analyzed the correlations of droughts/floods in the Upper Hanjiang River and northern North China with sunspots at 11-, 30- and 50-year scales. The results show that the correlation between sunspots and droughts/floods in these two areas varied in stages over time. During high sunspot periods, the frequency of extreme drought events increased in both areas. The phase change of the correlation between sunspots and droughts/floods in the Upper Hanjiang River and northern North China significantly influenced the shift in the drought-flood correspondence between the two areas. When droughts/floods in the Upper Hanjiang River and northern North China align with or oppose sunspot variations, the droughts/floods in the two areas are predominantly positively or negatively correlated. Both droughts/floods in the Upper Hanjiang River and northern North China as well as sunspots share inter-annual cycles of about 2-4 years, inter-decadal cycles of about 11-12 years, and multi-decadal cycles of about 20-30 years and 50 years. Sunspot variations may influence the droughts and floods in these two areas across multiple time scales. Additionally, when sunspots increase significantly and abruptly, the Upper Hanjiang River and northern North China tend to be more drought-prone.

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

Ecological resilience refers to an urban agglomeration's ability to resist, adapt, and recover from external disturbances. Enhancing ecological resilience is crucial for promoting high-quality development in the modern era. However, few studies have evaluated the ecological resilience of urban agglomerations from the perspective of human-land interactions or explored its evolutionary mechanism. This study assesses the interannual variation of ecological resilience in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River urban agglomeration, focusing on resistance, adaptation, and recovery. The Least Squares Structural Equation Model is employed to analyze the impact degree and pathways through which human-land interactions affect ecological resilience. The results indicate that from 2000 to 2020, resistance, adaptability, and recoverability exhibited fluctuating trends over time and an unbalanced spatial distribution. Ecological resilience initially decreased but later improved, with significant spatial heterogeneity, forming a "higher in the southeast and lower in the northwest" pattern. Natural environment improvement (coefficient: 0.42) and regional policies (coefficient: 0.18) had significant positive direct effects on ecological resilience, while urbanization exerted a significant negative effect (coefficient: -0.26). Although green innovation had no significant direct effect, it exhibited significant indirect influence, with the most significant pathway being green innovation→regional policy→natural environment→ecological resilience (coefficient: 0.18). This study enhances our understanding of how the natural environment, green innovation, and regional policies shape ecological resilience, providing a scientific reference for urban agglomeration development that fosters harmony between humans and nature.

As the pace of life accelerates and the demand for tourism quality increases, slow tourism, which emphasizes experiences, relaxation, and sustainability, has emerged. However, slow-tourism behaviors and perceptions differ widely across different urban contexts. We applied the basic framework of landscape perception theory to popular Citywalk routes in Chengdu, Wuhan, and Shanghai, which were obtained from the Xiaohongshu platform. By integrating spatial, multimodal data, and content analyses, as well as other methods, we explored the spatial behavioral patterns, perceptual differences, and the associated mechanisms of tourists during Citywalk activities in different urban contexts. The findings indicate that Citywalk activities mainly occurred within the second rings of cities, representing small-scale urban exploration that emphasizes experiential feelings over conventional mobile tourism. Tourists preferred culturally and artistically vibrant urban destinations. Citywalks are generally free, thereby embodying a subcultural phenomenon that contrasts with the stressful rhythm of life emitomized by "involution" and "996" work culture. Notable differences in cognitive imagery, emotional imagery, and cultural perception were present among the tourists in different cities, which shaped unique urban Citywalk tourism experiences. Based on different models and perceptual differences, Chengdu's Citywalk was defined as "a slow city tour centered around creative cultural districts that blends creative spaces and gourmet exploration," whereas those in Wuhan and Shanghai were defined as "a slow city tour centered around historical architecture, that blends cultural spaces and natural scenery" and "a slow city tour centered around urban landscapes that blends humanities, arts, and modern fashion," respectively. Differing geographical locations, planning concepts, development orientations, and historical backgrounds affected the Citywalk tourism experiences by influencing aspects such as the natural environment, spatial layout, developmental direction, and cultural characteristics of each city, which created different place perceptions. Geographical location affects the natural environment, tourism facilities, and cultural atmosphere of a city, whereas planning concepts influence urban spatial layouts, functional zoning, and the mode of tourism resource development, which affect the form and experiences in slow tourism. Development orientation determines the development direction of a city, thereby crafting unique attractions. Differing historical backgrounds create distinct urban cultural features, lifestyles, and tourism resources, which affect the direction of slow-tourism development. The findings of this study present the differences in Citywalk behaviors and perceptions in various urban contexts, filling a gap in comparative studies of cities within slow-tourism scenes. The findings also provide a new theoretical perspective for understanding the interactions between tourism behavior and urban spaces and offers reference experiences for other cities to develop slow tourism, enhance urban cultural tourism competitiveness, and promote sustainable urban tourism development.

The rapid and intricate evolution of socio-culture poses critical challenges to the development of cultural geography. Currently, tourism has emerged as a crucial cultural phenomenon; however, it has long been neglected by the academic community. This paper, grounded in the tension between reality and theory, addresses the necessity of tourism research within cultural geography and the specific nature of such research required. Its aim is to stimulate the development of cultural geography through interdisciplinary dialogue. This study reviews the current status and trends of tourism-related research within the realm of cultural geography, both domestically and internationally. It then examines the "newness" of tourism culture from two approaches: the spatial study of culture and the cultural study of space. At the ontological and epistemological levels, the paper discusses the following aspects: (1) Tourism has become an omnipresent cultural fact, providing a continuous and vivid empirical foundation for cultural geography research; (2) As a distinctive phenomenon, tourism has opened up frontier topics that facilitate the contextual application and perspective shift of theories; (3) Tourism, functioning as an intersecting "interface", links multidisciplinary thinking and offers platforms and experiences for interdisciplinary integration; (4) Tourism, as a "metaphor", indicates a new cultural perspective that transcends traditional cultural geography research, presenting a dynamic of integration, development, and anti-structuralism. This paper advocates for the cultural geography community to re-evaluate tourism, reversing the past neglect of tourism-related research and thereby fostering equitable interdisciplinary communication and academic innovation.

This study utilizes emerging hotspot analysis to explore the spatio-temporal trends of vegetation optical depth (VOD) observed in Ku, X, and C microwave bands over China from 2002 to 2017. Furthermore, it analyzes the impacts of anthropogenic activities, represented by land use change, on the spatial and temporal changes in VOD, and employs Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Model to quantitatively assess the climatic effects on VOD changes. Overall, VOD exhibits a southeast-to-northwest gradient over China, with central and southern regions identified as VOD hotspots, while Xinjiang and the central Inner Mongolia Plateau are identified as VOD cold spots. Regions with consistent emerging hotspot analysis results across the three bands demonstrate a "greening" phenomenon in sparsely-vegetated regions nationwide. Additionally, the association between land use change and emerging hotspots reveals strong impacts of human activities on VOD variations. Specifically, persistent and intensified VOD hotspots predominantly correspond to scenarios where grassland is converted to forest. Attribution of VOD changes using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling indicates that, in the humid zone, where hydrothermal conditions are favorable and soil moisture is abundant, further increases in temperature and precipitation may inhibit vegetation growth. In contrast, in the arid zone, the inhibitory effect of temperature is less prominent. In the Tibetan Plateau, increases in both temperature and precipitation will promote vegetation growth. The insights from this study are expected to provide scientific support for monitoring ecosystem changes, uncovering their driving forces, and assessing the effectiveness of ecological measures.

Cultivating new quality agricultural productive forces (NQAPFs) is an intrinsic requirement for promoting the construction of a strong agricultural country. It is of great practical significance to explain the scientific connotation of NQAPFs in China, analyze their spatial and temporal characteristics, and examine their impact on strengthening China's agriculture. This paper constructs an index system for measuring NQAPFs from four dimensions: agricultural science and technology, labor factors, industrial upgrading and agroecology, based on panel data from 30 provincial-level areas in China from 2012 to 2022. The Theil index, Markov chain and double machine learning methods are used to analyze the spatial and temporal patterns of NQAPFs, identify lagging regions, and empirically test the impact of NQAPFs on agricultural labor productivity and farmers' income. The research found that: China's NQAPFs increased steadily, with industrial upgrading contributing the most and the contributions of the labor factor and agroecology relatively weak; the current development presents a pattern of "high in the east and low in the west", with the eastern region>northeast region>central region>western region, and regional development is unbalanced. However, the NQAPFs converged towards higher levels, and the distribution dynamics are internally stable. Except for the northeast region, there is a converging trend of rapid growth in low-value areas in the eastern, central and western regions of the country. Econometric analysis shows that NQAPFs have significant positive impact on both agricultural labor productivity and farmers' income; 17 provincial-level areas with weak NQAPFs have been identified, mainly in the western and northeast regions. In the future, the focus of efforts to improve China's NQAPFs should be on increasing investment in agricultural science and technology, continuing to promote industrial upgrading, improving the quality of the workforce, strengthening the protection of agricultural ecosystems, and accelerating the improvement of the comprehensive development level of NQAPFs in central and western China.