This study constructed an urban resilience evaluation index system that included four dimensions: economy, society, ecological environment, and infrastructure. Based on the entropy method, the resilience comprehensive evaluation index of 11 cities in the Guanzhong Plain urban agglomeration, northwest China from 2011 to 2020 was measured, and the spatiotemporal evolution characteristics of their resilience were analyzed, and moreover, the social network analysis method was used to analyze the structural and functional connections between cities in the resilience network of the Guanzhong Plain urban agglomeration. Furthermore, the quadratic assignment procedure was used to explore the comprehensive factors that affected the resilience network structure of the Guanzhong Plain urban agglomeration. The results indicated the following. (1) The overall resilience of each city in the Guanzhong Plain urban agglomeration was on the rise, and the resilience level showed a decreasing trend from provincial capital to the periphery. (2) The resilience network structure of urban agglomerations had become more complex and robust; however, the resilience connections between regions exhibited strong hierarchical characteristics and cities had not yet fully achieved interconnectivity. (3) Xi’an, Xianyang, and Tongchuan had strong centrality and could generate significant resource spillovers to surrounding or peripheral cities. The “core-edge” structure of urban agglomerations was obvious. (4) The level of economic development, openness, government financial support, scientific and technological development, differences in transport infrastructure, and geographical proximity all significantly affected changes in the resilient spatial network structure of the urban agglomeration. Therefore, to enhance the resilience of the Guanzhong Plain urban agglomeration and the connection between cities, one must first build an intercity digital management and exchange platform and promote the diffusion of resource elements from high- to low-agglomeration areas. Second, the construction of transportation networks must be strengthened, investment in scientific and technological innovation must be increased, and foreign trade and economic cooperation must be strengthened in the construction of “the Belt and Road”. This study reveals the position and role of each city in the resilience development process in the spatial association network of the Guanzhong Plain urban agglomeration, analyzes the spatial spillover effect of resilience development in the Guanzhong Plain urban agglomeration, and provides a new perspective on the study of urban resilience development from a geographically spatial perspective.

Urban development boundaries and high-quality development policies can be scientifically practiced by exploring the characteristics of urban spatial expansion and recognizing the efficiency of urban land use. Based on data on urban space, population, and economy, the spatiotemporal characteristics of the quantity and quality of spatial expansion of eight central cities in the Yellow River Basin from 1992 to 2020 were analyzed using the urban expansion intensity index, urban expansion intensity differentiation index, and coupling degree model. The results show that: (1) The average expansion area of central cities is 315 km² and expansion scale of downstream cities is larger than those of cities in the middle and upper reaches，and the expansion intensity of Jinan, Zhengzhou, Xi’an and Yinchuan is higher. (2) The coupling relationship between spatial expansion, population and economy in each city showed a decreasing distribution from the downstream to the middle and upper reaches. The average value of the coupling relationships between spatial expansion and population and economy increased from 0.42 and 0.19 in 1992 to 0.89 and 0.81 in 2020, respectively, indicating that the overall expansion quality was improving. (3) The differentiation of urban spatial expansion results from multiple factors, such as natural location, economic development, and policy conditions. (4) The crucial approaches for the central cities in the Yellow River Basin to achieve high-quality development include strictly implementing high-quality development policy regarding the Yellow River Basin, scientifically practicing urban development boundary, coordinating and optimizing the relationship between urban land expansion and population and economy, and rationally planning urban development.

A vegetable market is a crucial element of an urban landscape, and its well-planned layout is essential for implementing the “vegetable basket” project. This study focuses on vegetable markets in the main urban area of the Lanzhou City using POI were obtained by AmAP and socioeconomic data in the statistical yearbook from 2020. This study uses various analytical methods such as kernel density analysis, exploratory spatial data analysis, two-step mobile search method, and geographic detector, and others through big data analysis from a geographical perspective to explore the spatial distribution characteristics and factors influencing vegetable markets in Lanzhou City. The findings indicate that vegetable markets in Lanzhou City are mainly distributed in a “northwest to southeast” direction. Meanwhile, comprehensive hypermarkets in the main urban area of the Lanzhou City exhibits a more balanced and dispersed distribution than other market types. By contrast, large- and medium-sized farmers’ markets and vegetable retail stores are more concentrated. Regarding quantity scale, vegetable market shows a distribution pattern of being sparse in the east, west, and north and dense in the south. The distribution of comprehensive large supermarkets is patchy, the overall distribution of large and medium-sized farmers’ markets is island distribution and multi-center pattern, and the spatial distribution of vegetable retail stores is spotty distribution. The spatial distribution of vegetable markets exhibits a strong clustering trend. Although the accessibility of vegetable markets in Lanzhou City is generally good, some streets in the Anning and Xigu Districts have low accessibility. This study identifies multiple factors influencing the spatial distribution of vegetable markets in Lanzhou City, with population and traffic being the main factors. Additionally, the study highlights the unreasonable spatial distribution of vegetable markets and provides relevant suggestions for strengthening the rational spatial distribution and coordinated development of vegetable markets in Lanzhou City.

Research on travel mode choice is essential for efficient, sustainable, and safe urban traffic planning. This study selected the main urban area of Lanzhou City, Gansu Province, China as the study area, and based on the distributed cognitive theory, questionnaire data, road network data, and Point of Interest (POI) data. The structural equation model was used to explore the impact of nonrandom heterogeneity of the built environment on selecting the commuting mode under the influence of the residential self-selection effect. The study found that: (1) Residents chose residential quarters with different built-environment characteristics according to their socioeconomic attributes and attitude preferences. Subsequently, they formed a specific commuting pattern, indicating preference heterogeneity in residential self-selection and the existence of the residential self-selection effect. (2) The built environment continued to have a considerable impact on the choice of commuting mode even after avoiding the self-selection effect of residence. Specifically, population density, road network density, and the number of parking spaces directly affected the choice of commuting mode. Road network density, bus station accessibility, subway station accessibility, and the number of parking spaces indirectly influenced the choice of commuting mode through mediating variables, such as commuting distance and car ownership. (3) High-population density, dense road network, and high-accessibility of the built environment increased the active and public transportation commuting modes. This was achieved by improving the connectivity of road networks, connection between walking and public transit, and pedestrian-friendly environment and by guiding residents to a shift in the travel structure, led by active commuting patterns.

This study examined variations in housing affordability in 27 large- and medium-sized Chinese cities during 2001—2019 with the methods of house price-to-income ratio, moving T test, and Sen’s slope estimator. The relationships between housing affordability variations in major cities and policies aimed at regulating the real estate market in China were also discussed. The results showed the following: (1) A decreasing trend in housing affordability in major cities was generally present in China during 2001—2019. A “persisting decrease” and “leapfrog decrease” in housing affordability ratings were clearly observed. Moreover, an “accelerating decrease” in housing affordability was observed in 18.52% of the studied cities. (2) Differences between cities in terms of three aspects were observed, namely the dynamics of the housing affordability ratings, the stages of variation in house price-to-income ratio and the corresponding trends. (3) In general, the aforementioned variation stages related to the adjustment of policies aimed at regulating the real estate market in China and the passing of important housing price-control measures by local authorities. Housing affordability trends were generally consistent with the development of the real estate market in China. The study suggests a framework for assessing and monitoring housing affordability to promote its timely estimation and provide insight into its dynamics. A package of policies aimed at regulating the real estate market and projects aimed at improving housing affordability in cities of particular regions were also advocated, in line with the “non-speculative housing” and “stable housing price” strategies.

Flexible transportation is conducive to enhancing urban vitality and thus drives the high-quality development of cities. In order to characterize urban vitality in a more practical way, the impact of its influencing factors such as road network morphology, the spatial heterogeneity of these factors, and its mechanisms of change must be explored to provide a basis for future planning and lay a theoretical foundation for further urban vitality improvement. This paper uses the raster calculator in ArcGIS to quantify the city of Baidu’s population heat map and characterize its urban vitality. Based on road network morphology and geographic big data, sDNA is used to calculate the topological structure index of the road network, and the GWR model is used to analyze the spatial heterogeneity of the impact of road network morphology and other factors on urban vitality. sDNA emphasizes the integration and coordination of the urban transportation network. It can better reflect actual traffic location and has advantages in the analysis of multi-level traffic networks. The GWR model can explore the spatial heterogeneity of the impact of urban vitality influencing factors. The results demonstrate the following. (1) Urban vitality gradually decreases as the road network spreads outward, and the change rule is highly consistent with the network quantity penalized by euclidean distace (NQPDE). (2) Two phase betweenness has little effect on improving the urban vitality of Lanzhou City, but it plays a key node and connectivity role in the Lanzhou-Xining urban agglomeration. (3) The NQPDE value of the intersection and edge of the street and the city are high, but the urban vitality values on both sides of the Yellow River are markedly different due to geographical restrictions. For areas with relatively low urban vitality, the key to enhancing vitality lies in the establishment of basic service facilities and the rational allocation of branches. The rational planning of the bridges connecting the two sides will bring new changes to the urban vitality of Lanzhou City. In summary, areas with rational network layouts tend to attract more business and service activities, have greater market potential, and more economic opportunities. The research results can help clarify the influence of road network form on urban vitality, provide a reference for improving urban vitality in the main urban area of Lanzhou City, and help promote and improve urban vitality in general.

Based on the time section data of 2010, 2015 and 2019, the modified gravitational model and social network method were used to analyze the temporal and spatial evolution characteristics of tourism economic links among 89 cities in the Yellow River Basin, and the influencing factors of tourism economic connection changes in the Yellow River Basin were analyzed by combining geographical detectors. The results show that: (1) The east-west multi-core network structure of the tourism economic network in the Yellow River Basin gradually formed, and the characteristics of regional differentiation and inter-provincial barrier effect between cities are significant. (2) The tourism economic linkage network has gone through the initial stage of polarization and large barriers, the transitional stage of organic connection and enhanced interaction, and the consolidation stage of balanced and cluster development. (3) A small number of core cities represented by Xi’an City and Zhengzhou City play a strong intermediary role in the tourism economic connection network. (4) The level of industrial structure, tourism resource endowment and environmental quality are the main influencing factors of tourism economic linkages, and the interaction between various factors can enhance the explanatory power of tourism economic linkages. The research results can provide effective optimization suggestions for the high-quality development of tourism economy in the Yellow River Basin.