The evolution of China’s traditional village protection policies reflects established processes of systemic change, from initial exploration and gradual construction to continuous optimization and deepening. Currently, within a critical period of economic transition from high-speed growth to high-quality development, China is seeking to define rules and internal logic regarding its policy evolution for the protection of traditional villages. This is important for promoting high-quality protection and sustainable development of traditional villages. Based on the theory of “attention allocation,” this study analyzed 107 laws, regulations, departmental rules, and other important policy documents formulated, promulgated, and implemented by the national legislative body (Central Committee of the Communist Party of China) or the highest state administrative organs from 1950 to 2023. By applying the three-dimensional analytical framework of “situation–attention–behavior,” this study investigated the stage characteristics and internal mechanisms of the evolution of China’s traditional village protection policies, which are jointly driven by policy situation, government attention allocation and policy behavior. The results showed that: (1) policy evolution is driven by specific situations and attention allocation, while the external manifestations of policy evolution include alterations in policy subjects, effectiveness levels, and policy tools triggered by policy behavior choices; (2) China’s traditional village protection policies have gone through four stages: (i) the policy incipience stage (1950-2001), (ii) the initial institutionalization stage (2002-2011), (iii) the upscaling and integration stage (2012-2019), and (iv) the paradigm transformation stage (2020-present). In the policy incipience stage, policy as a concept was primarily materialistic, with government attention focused on protecting cultural relics within villages. During the initial institutionalization stage, this concept remained materialistic, but government attention shifted to mainly focus on the preservation of cultural relics, historic and cultural villages, and intangible cultural heritage. As policies entered the upscaling and integration stage, the concept shifted to humanism, with government attention prioritizing both the protection of cultural relics and the preservation and utilization of traditional villages. In the paradigm transformation stage, policy evolved further into ecologism, where government attention expanded to include the protection of cultural relics, the preservation and utilization of traditional villages, and the demonstration of concentrated and contiguous preservation and utilization of traditional villages. The intensity and scope of government attention allocation followed an inverted U-shaped trend that peaked during the upscaling and integration phases. Driven by policy concepts and government attention allocation, the scope of policy issues has continuously expanded, and the relationships among issues have shifted from simple to complex; (3) during the evolution of traditional village protection policies, the number of policy entities and the degree of their cooperation gradually increased, peaking during the upscaling and integration stages, before declining during the paradigm transformation stage. Concurrently, the level of policy effectiveness continuously decreased, while policy tools evolved from reliance on environmental-type tools toward a diversified mix that combined environmental, supply-side, and demand-side tools. These findings contribute to understanding the internal mechanisms of the formulation and evolution of traditional village protection policies, identify the characteristics and shortcomings of current policies, and provide valuable references for future policy formulation and improvement.

Cities, especially megacities, are the destinations for new urban residents and young people in rapidly developing China. They are also the main areas where the child population is growing against a backdrop of population decline. The concept of child-friendly is gradually being noticed and valued. In this study, Changsha was chosen as an example of one of the first child-friendly construction demonstration cities in China based on the Child-Friendly Cities Initiative (CFCI) jointly launched by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) in 1996. We constructed an evaluation index system for “child-friendly residential areas” using five aspects that meet the most basic needs of children: safety, accessibility, interest, growth, and sharing. The projection pursuit method, differentiation measure index, geographical detector, and other methods were used to calculate the child-friendliness of 1,131 residential communities in the urban area of Changsa, and the spatial differentiation characteristics of child-friendliness in these residential areas as well as their influencing factors were explored. The aim was to guide the planning and implementation of child-friendly cities in China at the residential space level, thereby forming a scientific and systematic local model. The following results were found: 1) The comprehensive child-friendliness of residential areas in Changsha varied significantly in different housing areas, showing an overall spatial pattern of “one center-multiple highland-low edge.” The central urban area in the eastern part of Changsha, the 2-kilometer area along the Xiangjiang River, and the newly developed urban subcenter had the highest child-friendliness, whereas the urban fringe areas and industrial zones were relatively less child-friendly. However, significant differences were observed within the central urban and old urban areas in the eastern part of Changsha, whereas new urban areas such as the Meixi Lake District showed a relatively balanced performance. 2) The spatial differentiation of each sub-dimension index of child-friendliness in residential areas had its own characteristics: safety was higher in the south and lower in the north; the distribution of interest was relatively balanced; the pattern of growth was obviously “high in the center and low at the edge”; and the sharing and accessibility aspects were positively correlated with the overall friendliness. The sub-dimensional indicators were closely related to the sequence of urban development, level of urban construction, supporting facilities of public services, and policy planning. 3) The child-friendliness of residential areas in Changsha was significantly influenced by both internal (e.g., housing prices, construction era, self-governance level, and property management grade) and external factors (e.g., demonstration effect and planning level). Additionally, an interaction enhancement effect among the factors was evident. High-quality housing and effective community management had a synergistic effect in improving child-friendliness. 4) Based on the analysis findings, the following policy suggestions are given: to build child-friendly living spaces, the top-level design of child-friendliness should be strengthened, child-friendly residential areas should be planned and constructed in accordance with local conditions, and the leading role of child-friendly demonstration communities must be enhanced.

National image represents the comprehensive power and influence of a country across multiple dimensions in the global arena. How a nation can simultaneously expand its overseas economic activities while gaining broad international recognition and cultivating a favorable national image has long been a central concern in both international political theory and practice. In this study, ten ASEAN countries were used in a regional case study of how China’s Outward Foreign Direct Investment (OFDI) affects its national image in the region. Using data from multiple sources, we constructed a 2003–2022 panel dataset covering China and the ten ASEAN countries and used a two-way fixed-effects model to empirically analyze the OFDI effects, underlying mechanisms, and nonlinear processes. The following results were found: 1) China’s OFDI significantly enhanced its national image in the ASEAN countries, indicating that Chinese firms abroad not only pursued economic gains but also played a crucial role in shaping evaluations of China by host countries. 2) The effect of China’s OFDI on national image varied with the host country income level, industrial structure, and religious-cultural context. The image-enhancing effect of OFDI was more pronounced in countries with lower–middle incomes. With regard to industrial structures, the positive effect diminished in highly industrialized economies. Culturally, Buddhist-majority countries generally exhibited a more favorable response to Chinese OFDI. 3) The mechanism through which China’s OFDI shaped national image operated at macro, meso, and micro levels. At the macro level, OFDI promoted green development and environmental improvement, enhancing institutional recognition of China’s development model. At the meso level, OFDI strengthened recognitions of China’s capabilities and cooperative value through technology diffusion, skills training, and industrial cooperation. At the micro level, OFDI directly affected individual-level perceptions and attributions by generating employment and alleviating poverty, thereby fostering positive emotional responses. Moreover, the positive image effect of OFDI became more pronounced when the number of inbound tourists from the host country exceeded a certain threshold. This study contributes to the literature in two main ways. First, it theoretically integrates essentialist and constructivist perspectives, addressing both the objective economic and social effects of OFDI and its role in cognitive construction through cross-national interactions, thereby systematically revealing the multidimensional mechanisms through which investment influences national image. Second, in terms of regional selection, the ten ASEAN countries constitute a distinctive “small yet comprehensive” setting for examining the impact of OFDI on national image. On the one hand, the region features a complex geopolitical landscape in which major powers such as China, the USA, and Japan interact and compete closely, providing a multifaceted real-world context for assessing how China’s OFDI contributes to building national image. On the other hand, ASEAN exhibits pronounced internal heterogeneity in levels of economic development, industrial structures, and cultural traditions, ranging from high-income service-oriented economies (e.g., Singapore) to low-income agriculture-based countries that retain strong traditional cultural characteristics (e.g., Laos). This diversity offers a rich empirical basis for investigating the heterogeneous effects of OFDI under different economic and cultural conditions and unpacking the macro-, meso-, and micro-level mechanisms through which these effects operate.

Rubber plantations in Southeast Asia and China’s Hainan Island face the threat of increasingly frequent compound drought and hot events (CDHEs). To overcome the biases of traditional meteorological indicators in reflecting ecological stress, we propose herein a method for quantifying environmental stress on the basis of the optimal growth threshold of gross primary productivity (GPP). By constructing three CDHE identification patterns for soil compound drought and hot events (SCDHEs), atmospheric compound drought and hot events (ACDHEs), and ecological compound drought and hot events (ECDHEs), we aimed to quantify the impact of such events on the GPP of rubber plantations on the basis of the degree of deviation from the optimal threshold. The following results were found: (1) The optimal growth threshold of rubber plantations exhibited significant latitudinal gradients and seasonality, with soil moisture thresholds throughout the year being higher and more stable in areas near the equator than in high-latitude regions, the latter of which showed obvious seasonal fluctuations. (2) Both the frequency and intensity of CDHEs showed increasing trends from 1982 to 2018, with ACDHEs exhibiting the highest growth rate (0.0216 events/year) and being mainly concentrated in the inland areas of the Indochina Peninsula. (3) The various CDHE identification patterns differed in their spatial applicability: the compound index of ACDHEs was applicable to the entire region, whereas those of SCDHEs and ECDHEs were primarily applicable to low-latitude regions, with their identification capabilities limited north of 10°N. (4) CDHEs caused significantly higher GPP losses in rubber plantations than did isolated drought or hot events (p < 0.001), with a damaged cell proportion of 70.64%, confirming the synergistic amplification effect of compound events. With regard to the significance of the individual factors, the inhibitory effect of drought stress on GPP was significantly stronger than that of hot stress (p < 0.001), and this difference was most pronounced in the SCDHE pattern. (5) The spatiotemporal differentiations of GPP loss were distinct and characterized by the most severe loss occurring from March to May in the 10°N–24°N region (daily average loss peaking at 1.469 g·C/m²). By contrast, within 10° of both the southern and northern latitudes, the loss peak occurred in August, reaching 48.763 and 55.862 g·C/m²), respectively. In conclusion, the method developed in this study for quantifying the impact of compound stress events on the basis of ecological thresholds can reveal regional variations in different indicators and provides a scientific basis for the climate-adaptive management of rubber plantations in Southeast Asia and China’s Hainan Island.

Coastal areas with dense populations and concentrated urban development face ecological and environmental issues such as pollution from emerging contaminants, with a large number of land-based pollutants being transported to the ocean via the land–sea interaction zone. Pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs), which are not easily degraded in groundwater, have bioaccumulative and chronic toxicity properties that pose a threat to the health of ecosystems in the land–sea interaction zone. Moreover, PPCPs in this zone may be transported to the ocean via submarine groundwater discharge and can thereby potentially harm coastal aquatic organisms and the marine environment. Therefore, given that the coastal zone is a key node for land–sea integration and a strategic location for the scientific coordination of development and protection, further attention to its pollution by PPCPs is urgently required. The purpose of this study was to explore the behavioral characteristics of PPCPs in groundwater bodies in the land–ocean interzone of South China. In total, 60 groundwater samples were collected from Tangjiawan Town in Zhuhai City in September 2021, October 2022, and March 2023, respectively. The samples and data were analyzed using experimental and mathematical statistical methods, respectively. The following results were found: 1) During the wet season (April–October), six types of PPCPs were detected in the study area: sulfamethoxazole, sulfamethazine, sulfadimidine, cimaterol, carbamazepine, and caffeine. During the dry season (November–March of the following year), five types of PPCPs were detected: sulfamethoxazole, sulfadimidine, carbamazepine, caffeine, and atrazine. The concentrations of sulfamethoxazole, sulfamethazine, carbamazepine, and caffeine exhibited significant seasonal variations (P < 0.05). The rainfall-facilitated leaching or dilution of PPCPs in groundwater was the main cause of the seasonal differences in PPCP mass concentration. 2) Caffeine was a potential PPCP pollutant that could be discharged into the sea. The spatial variation in caffeine showed a decreasing trend as it moved from upstream to downstream of the watershed, nearing the sea. The flux of caffeine from submarine groundwater discharge into the sea along the unit length of the Zhuhai coastline was estimated to be approximately 33.2 μg/d. 3) The quantification of tritium (³H) isotopes in the groundwater revealed that the values at most sampling points were below 2 TU, indicating that the age of the groundwater can reach approximately 30 years. This is due to the mixing effect of residual groundwater in the aquifer medium and precipitation recharge. Using ³H dating software, a preliminary analysis of the changes in carbamazepine and caffeine contents in the groundwater over the past three decades revealed that the concentration of carbamazepine exhibited a decreasing trend, whereas that of caffeine showed a fluctuating downward trend, which was significantly influenced by annual precipitation and generally followed the same variation trend as annual precipitation. The results of this study can help to inform strategies for the prevention and management of groundwater pollution in the South China land–ocean interzone and provide a theoretical basis for the protection and sustainable utilization of groundwater resources.

With the pervasive penetration of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, traditional paradigms of social space governance are undergoing a fundamental shift—from "digital governance" to "intelligent governance." In the governance space dimension, AI innovations such as AI-generated content (AIGC) and spatial intelligence have endowed digital twin spaces with unprecedented capabilities, transforming them from static reflections of physical reality into dynamic systems capable of proactive inference, simulation, and real-time optimization. This transition extends governance functions beyond mere representation to include predictive intervention and anticipatory regulation. On the dimension of governance subjects, algorithms have qualitatively mutated—from passive instruments of execution into "artificial agents" or "auxiliary governance actors" possessing autonomous learning, environmental adaptation, and predictive decision-making capacities. This mutation fosters an emergent symbiotic "human-machine collaboration," challenging established power structures and reconfiguring accountability boundaries. In this study, building upon this analysis of the data-to-intelligence governance transition, we examine—through case studies including Shanghai's "Quantum City" and Hangzhou's "City Brain"—the expansion logic and practical manifestations of multidimensional social space governance in the AI era. First, the governance space has expanded from a tripartite "physical-social-data" framework to a quadrilateral "physical-social-data-algorithm" structure. Spatial intelligence technologies and "real-world model" paradigms have positioned algorithms as the core of digital twin systems. Empowered by spatial intelligence, digital twin environments achieve heightened precision and synchronicity, enabling real-time and efficient interactions with physical spaces while demonstrating enhanced generative capacity and operational autonomy. These developments constitute the multidimensional spatial arena of public governance. Second, the governance subject has evolved from a "government-market-society" triadic relationship to a "government-market-society-intelligence" quadrilateral synergy. As AI agents gain greater autonomy, their subjectivity becomes increasingly manifested, elevating AI from a mere instrument to a co-constitutive governance actor that must operate in parallel with traditional subjects. This transformation necessitates fundamental theoretical and practical interpretations of the relationships among all governance stakeholders. This multidimensional expansion has engendered a series of novel challenges for public governance practices. First, AI and digital twin technologies have accelerated the convergence of the physical, social, and digital domains, yet this nascent "hybrid space" has precipitated profound normative conflicts in governance practices. Second, as AI transitions from a tool to an intelligent agent, algorithmic bias becomes more acute, and an "accountability vacuum" risk emerges within human-machine collaborative frameworks. Finally, persistent digital divides are metamorphosing into a new configuration—the "intelligence divide"—exacerbating social stratification. To address these emergent challenges, social space governance in the intelligence era requires innovative pathways. First, cross-spatial coordinative governance mechanisms must be constructed to enable the synergistic integration of virtual and physical domains, shifting from normative fragmentation to spatial order reconstruction. Second, a human-machine coordinative governance framework should be built upon technical foundations of "trustworthy AI" and institutional safeguards ensuring "ultimate human control." Third, governance must uphold a people-centered value orientation, ensuring that the benefits of intelligent governance are equally distributed across all citizens.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has profoundly reshaped human society and significantly impacted academic research. In the current era of intelligence, geography requires the development of new theoretical frameworks. By constructing and elaborating the theoretical framework of the "Poetics of Life," this study explores new pathways for geographical expression within the context of human-AI integration. The relationship between AI and humans manifests in four modes: tool, partner, friend, and soul. In the process of human-AI integration, place, body, and emotion emerge as three key vectors that are currently irreplaceable by AI. Drawing on existentialist philosophy, geographical poetics, and humanistic geography, and employing a digital autoethnographic approach, this article conducts an in-depth analysis of 122 songs co-created by Ye Chao(The first author) and AI and published on the personal WeChat Channel "Ye Shenxun." It compares the characteristics of individual writing with those of human-AI collaborative creation and summarizes their public communication effects. What distinguishes Poetics of Life in the new era from geographical poetics lies in three fundamental shifts: the creative subject has transformed from a solitary author to human-AI co-creation, the form of expression has expanded from single-text delivery to multisensory stimulation, and media dissemination has evolved from one-way output to multidimensional interaction. The song samples exhibited diverse styles and themes, reflecting the interplay of emotion, place, and AI, thereby highlighting the importance of new forms of geographical writing and expression in the intelligent age. In terms of communicative effects, a top-ten analysis of the texts revealed that audiences with a background in geography paid more attention to the mutual construction of place and everyday life, whereas other audiences focused more on emotional resonance. Surreal works, such as Chronicle of Light and Dust, demonstrate a cross-disciplinary, future-oriented dimension. The Poetics of Life in the intelligent age not only extends and deepens the humanistic tradition of geography but also provides new theoretical insights for interdisciplinary fields such as digital art and media geography. The expression, performance, and public communication of the Poetics of Life constitute key directions for future research.

Virtual cities and their built environments play a significant role in video games. Understanding their interactions with physical spaces and considering appropriate planning responses to this interaction are crucial for advancing digital twin technology and urban development in the digital age. Through qualitative and quantitative analyses of representative games such as Black Myth: Wukong, Genshin Impact, and SimCity, this study identifies a cyclical four-stage interaction pathway: (1) Perception: extraction of cultural symbols, (2) Re-organization: gaming-driven reconstruction, (3) Re-understanding: virtual urban areas understanding, and (4) Feedback: real-world application. Perception and Re-organization highlight that virtual space design does not merely replicate real-world spatial characteristics, but rather reorganizes them according to specific aesthetic and functional principles, thereby operationalizing Kevin Lynch's Image of the City theory. This design process is reflected in form and function perspectives. From a form-based perspective, games such as Genshin Impact exemplify how spatial distribution heterogeneity is evident, even in virtual environments. For example, an analysis of the in-game item distribution using the ht-index (value = 5) and log-log plots indicates that although the upper tail approximates a straight line, the lower tail exhibits a rapid decline, suggesting structured spatial heterogeneity. Similarly, a comparative analysis of Florence in video games versus its real-world counterpart supports the idea that virtual spaces selectively reinterpret, rather than mirror physical environments. From a functional perspective, city-building games, such as SimCity and Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom, deconstruct cities into core elements (housing, industry, service facilities, geographic surroundings, and natural resources) and integrate these components through distinct game mechanics. Re-understanding and Feedback emphasize the influence of virtual cities on urban planning education and tourism. In particular, city-building games have a substantial, yet often underestimated, impact on urban planning practices, public participation, and collaborative projects. By lowering the knowledge barriers associated with professional urban planning, virtual cities offer an accessible platform for the public to engage with urban dynamics and foster a more informed and participatory planning approach. Similarly, video games significantly shape place perception in tourism. The immersive experiences provided by virtual cities can inspire players to visit real-world counterparts of game locations, resulting in phenomena such as 'anime pilgrimages.' Notable examples include the Fate series in Japan and the recent Black Myth: Wukong in China, both of which stimulated tourism by reinforcing place attachment through interactive storytelling and visual aesthetics. Based on this interaction pathway, we propose two planning recommendations. First, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration between urban planners, architectural scholars, and game designers can facilitate the dissemination of architectural and urban cultures on digital platforms. Second, leveraging the interactive and participatory nature of video games can enhance the public's understanding of urban systems, paving the way for game-based participatory planning and promoting multi-stakeholder engagement in urban development. This study contributes to emerging theoretical frameworks such as Digital Twins by elucidating the bidirectional relationship between physical and virtual urban spaces, thereby offering new insights into the evolving role of digital environments in shaping real-world urban experiences.

In China, urban development is transitioning from "incremental expansion" to "stock optimization." Due to this transition, a considerable number of urban villages in the country have evolved into spatially and culturally fragmented enclaves within the modern urban fabric, while retaining their unique socio-cultural structures. Focusing on this phenomenon, this study integrated scene and spatial production theories to systematically deconstruct the cultural logic and transformation pathways that underlay the spatial production of urban islands in China, while considering Chebei Village in Guangzhou as the study area. This region is characterized by cultural preservation amidst rapid urbanization. A mixed-methods approach was employed, including participatory observation, in-depth interviews, and multi-source textual analysis. The results revealed a dynamic correspondence mechanism comprising two core systems: a "cultural elements-cultural scenes-cultural spaces" system that formed a tripartite cultural logic system and a "material authenticity-institutional performance-spiritual resilience" system that formed a concrete spatial transformation pathway. The "cultural elements-cultural scenes-cultural spaces" system comprised three aspects: 1) cultural identity spaces shaped by the authenticity of material culture (e.g., dragon boat practices and ancestral halls) and sustained through everyday spatial practices of residents; 2) cultural exhibition spaces produced through the theatricality of institutional culture, wherein power entities (e.g., local government) employed institutional labeling and festive performances to symbolically reconstruct and commodify cultural symbols; and 3) cultural resilience spaces generated through the legitimacy of spiritual culture, wherein community innovation, emotional solidarity, and inclusive mechanisms (e.g., youth alliances and "spiritual naturalization" for migrants) fostered cultural adaptation and regeneration. The "material authenticity-institutional performance-spiritual resilience" system highlighted the importance of preserving physical heritage and authentic daily practices, leveraging institutional empowerment and staged cultural events to enhance visibility and economic value, and strengthening community-based innovation and reconstructed identities to ensure cultural adaptability and sustainable regeneration. The three spatial types interacted dynamically, driven by the three dimensions of Scene Theory (authenticity, theatricality, and legitimacy) and the three moments of Spatial Production Theory (spatial practice, representations of space, and representational spaces). The novelty of this study lies in the integration of the Scene and Spatial Production theories, providing an analytical framework that captures both the symbolic construction of cultural values and the socio-spatial processes of space production. This study addresses the gaps in the understanding of the endogenous cultural dynamics of urban islands, while offering evidence-based insights into culture-led urban regeneration, demonstrating how culturally stagnant enclaves can transform into resilient and actively engaged cultural spaces. Notably, Chebei Village provides a replicable and expandable model for balancing heritage preservation, economic vitality, and social inclusion within the context of urban regeneration, while presenting valuable empirical and strategic references for enhanced cultural governance in contemporary urban China.

The persistent escalation of great power rivalries and regional conflicts has elevated military factors as increasingly critical variables that shape geopolitical relations and international power dynamics. Conducting an in-depth analysis of the spatial dynamics and formation pathways of geopolitical military influence is therefore of paramount importance for optimizing the allocation of military resources. Building upon the identified gaps in the existing literature on geopolitical military influence, this study employed an index system construction approach that integrated methodologies such as standard deviational ellipse analysis and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis. A preliminary evaluation framework for assessing geopolitical military influence was developed, and its spatial evolution patterns and multidimensional formation mechanisms were examined. The findings revealed the following: (1) Military capability—represented by military financing, personnel strength, and defense industrial production—constitutes the foundational prerequisite for the generation of geopolitical military influence. Military cooperation—encompassing defense collaboration, joint military exercises, and international arms trade—enables the expansion and outward projection of such influence through diverse operational modalities. Military deterrence mechanisms—including nuclear, air-based, and sea-based deterrence—serve as critical manifestations of a nation's strategic acumen and technological prowess, collectively projecting coercive power to deter adversarial states. (2) The global geomilitary landscape demonstrates a stable pattern of "one superpower, many strong powers," with the United States consistently maintaining its position as the most geopolitically influential military power. Concurrently, China and India exhibit significant upward trajectories, whereas Russia and the United Kingdom display declining trends. The dynamic shifts in national geomilitary powers have prompted a southeastward shift in the global power center, with China emerging as the principal driver of this movement. (3) The pathways to geomilitary power can be categorized into three types: synergistic pathways of military strength and cooperation, military cooperation-led pathways, and comprehensive pathways. The multi-condition configurational effects form a robust geomilitary power that cannot be achieved in the absence of core conditions or the presence of only auxiliary conditions. The evolutionary trajectory of a nation's geopolitical military influence progresses through distinct developmental stages—beginning with a military cooperation-led formation pathway, transitioning to a synergistic pathway combining military capability and cooperation, and ultimately ascending toward an integrated pathway. This escalating evolution maps the developmental trajectory through which states enhance their comprehensive national power and geopolitical military influence. This article's in-depth exploration of geopolitical and geomilitary power research not only enhances our understanding of the dynamic evolution of geomilitary power dynamics among different countries but also significantly enriches and expands the research scope of geopolitics and geopolitical military studies. This provides a crucial perspective for comprehending the transformation of the global geopolitical landscape.

Cross-border economic cooperation zones are vital platforms for China's economic and trade engagement with neighboring countries. It is imperative to clarify their spatial governance mechanisms to promote high-quality regional development and foster dual domestic–international circulation. Grounded in the theoretical perspective of new regionalism, this article constructs an analytical framework called the "Governance Magic Cube" to examine the governance mechanisms of cross-border economic cooperation zones. The framework explores four interrelated dimensions: spatial scale, governance evolution, multi-actor participation, and development effects. Taking the Mohan-Boten Cross-border Economic Cooperation Zone as a case study, this study conducted an empirical analysis of its spatial transformation, institutional restructuring, and actor interactions. Based on the policy milestones represented by the 2015 Joint Master Plan and the 2022 administrative transfer to Kunming, this study divides the Cooperation Zone's development trajectory into three stages: local, national, and international. Through semi-structured interviews, land-use data analysis, and multi-source documentary materials, the study provides an integrated interpretation of the zone's spatial dynamics and governance logic. The findings indicate that: 1) Spatial scale: The Mohan–Boten Cooperation Zone has undergone a substantive leap from a "marginal border port" to an "international node." Its spatial structure, initially characterized by a linear "corridor-style" pattern extending along the Kunming–Bangkok Highway, with the twin ports of Mohan and Boten as core anchors, is now evolving toward a more networked, accelerated spatial configuration. 2) Governance evolution: The cooperation zone has experienced a progressive shift from "locally led experimentation" to "national strategic coordination," and eventually toward "transnational nested collaboration." Through policy trial and error, institutional adjustment, and the consolidation of regulatory rules, a temporally nested governance mechanism has gradually emerged, facilitating a fundamental transformation in cross-border governance from administrative segmentation to institutional integration. 3) Multi-actor participation: The governance model has shifted from a single government-led approach to a more interactive configuration involving multiple actors, including national authorities, local governments, enterprises, and social organizations. This shift has led to an increasingly diverse and dynamic cross-border governance system, where inter-organizational collaboration has become more complex, fluid, and multidirectional. 4) Development effects: The cooperation zone has strengthened its role as a strategic hub within national and international networks by promoting the coordinated upgrading of industrial chains and efficient allocation of resources. As a result, it is steadily evolving into a key platform linking regional development with institutional innovation. Overall, the study argues that cross-border economic cooperation zones operate as open systems shaped by spatial proximity, institutional forces, and social networks. Their governance mechanisms exhibit phased transitions, structural reconfiguration, and actor collaboration emerging from the synergistic interaction of spatial expansion, institutional restructuring, and multi-actor engagement. This study enriches research on cross-border regional governance and offers new insights into the evolutionary pathways of such zones under multi-scale, multi-actor conditions. In practice, it highlights the need to strengthen coordination among spatial planning, institutional alignment, industrial organization, and social governance, and to promote a shift from infrastructure-driven growth to institutional synergy and functional deepening, thereby enhancing the strategic role of cooperation zones within China's broader opening-up framework.

Green technological innovation serves as the core driver for achieving economic green transformation and the strategic goals of the "dual carbon" initiative. Although its importance is widely recognized, previous research has predominantly focused on national- or macro-level analyses. There remains a lack of systematic and detailed characterization of the long-term spatial evolution of green technological innovation, including differences among subsectors and the heterogeneous effects of diverse driving factors. Therefore, this study aims to examine the long-term evolutionary characteristics of geographical agglomeration patterns of green technology innovation in China and to identify the key factors and mechanisms influencing their development, thereby providing empirical evidence for formulating differentiated and targeted regional innovation policies. Based on the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) International Patent Classification (IPC) Green Inventory, this study identifies and utilizes China's green invention patent authorization data from 2002 to 2021. Employing methods such as the locational Gini coefficient and spatial autocorrelation analysis, this study systematically depicts the spatiotemporal evolution of innovation activities in green technology as a whole and across its subsectors. Building on this foundation, a two-way fixed-effects model is used to empirically test the impact of factors across the four dimensions—resource input, market demand, policy support, and openness to the outside world—on the innovation levels of green technology overall and its subsectors. The study reveals several interesting results. 1) From a temporal perspective, China's green technology innovation exhibits a three-stage pattern of "steady growth–gradual enhancement–rapid development," with overall scale expanding rapidly. Spatially, a pronounced gradient emerges: eastern > central > western > northeastern regions, with the East maintaining absolute leadership in both total volume and growth rate. Based on development pace, the green technological subsectors have differentiated into a "three-tier" structure. Among these, alternative energy production, energy conservation, emission reduction, waste management, administrative regulation and design technology collectively, forming the "four pillars," which hold the largest share and exert the strongest pull on the industry. Among these, energy conservation and emission reduction technologies exhibit the fastest growth, becoming the focal point in recent years. 2) Spatially, green technology innovation exhibits a high degree of geographic concentration, increasingly clustering in the eastern coastal regions, particularly the Yangtze River Delta, and forming a distinct "southeast–northwest" spatial differentiation. Innovation activity is significantly higher south of the Hu Huanyong Line than north of it. High-high clusters are visibly contracting toward the Yangtze River Delta, whereas low-low clusters are spreading contiguously across western regions. However, overall regional disparities show a converging trend. 3) From the perspective of driving mechanisms, green technology innovation is influenced by a combination of resource inputs, market demand, policy support, and openness to the outside world. Among these factors, innovation funding support and human resource investment are universally recognized as key drivers. Nevertheless, other factors exhibit significant heterogeneity and unevenness in their impact across different technological domains. Policies should be tailored to leverage the synergistic effects of diverse policy tools based on the specific technological attributes and developmental characteristics of each field. The contributions of this study are as follows: First, by utilizing long-term green patent data, it dynamically reveals the complex spatial evolution of green technological innovation, from widespread clustering to high-value polarization and low-value contiguous clusters, thereby deepening theoretical understanding in innovation geography. Second, it overcomes the research limitation of treating green technology as a homogeneous entity, empirically revealing the heterogeneity of driving factors across different subfields and providing new evidence for understanding the logic of diversified green innovation development. Third, based on these findings, it explicitly proposes a policy shift toward tiered approaches and precision governance, emphasizing the need for differentiated policies tailored to regional resource endowments and technological field attributes. This provides critical decision-making references for building a coordinated and efficient green innovation governance system.

Recently, the integration of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) and tourism has generated new consumption hotspots that facilitate the transformation of cultural resources into cultural capital, producing notable economic and social benefits. Drawing on critical heritage studies, this research applies cultural capital theory and scale theory to examine Yingge Dance, a national-level ICH item originating from Chaoshan region (comprising 3 prefecture-level cities: Shantou, Jieyang and Chaozhou), China. Using participant observation and in-depth interviews, we explored the multi-scalar formation and scale transformation of cultural capital related to Yingge Dance. This study yielded three main findings. First, Yingge Dance embodies both cultural publicity and capital productivity. Its preservation and transmission depend on embodied practice, objectified transformation, and institutionalized support, reflecting a fusion of tradition and modernity as well as a symbiotic relationship between economy and culture. Second, at the individual scale, performers continually refine their bodily knowledge and skills in intergenerational practices, extending training and performance into broader community contexts. This process transforms Yingge Dance into cultural capital that fosters group cohesion and enhances community governance. At the regional scale, cultural tourism consumption and market participation accelerate the production of objectified cultural capital. Supported by local government initiatives, Yingge Dance becomes a form of urban cultural capital that stimulates tourism consumption and contributes to urban branding. At the national scale, China incorporates Yingge Dance into narratives of physical, moral, and aesthetic education, embedding it within cultural governance frameworks through top-down policy empowerment. This elevates Yingge Dance to national cultural capital that reflects cultural diversity and strengthens international competitiveness. Third, Yingge Dance has achieved the reproduction of the functions, values, and meanings by scaling up from group-level cultural capital to urban cultural capital and subsequently to national cultural capital. However, challenges emerge during this scaling-up process, including cognitive conflicts among stakeholders, blurred genre boundaries, uneven development, and diminishing authenticity. To address these issues, China promotes a scaling-down approach through policies and discursive frameworks to maintain the vitality of ICH transmission. This scaling down is reflected in the stewardship and empowerment of ICH bearers, incorporation of national ICH strategies into urban development agendas, and strengthening of local governments' narrative and discursive power. This study offers a critical perspective on understanding the practices and interactions of multiple actors in ICH inheritance. It also provides practical recommendations for cultural tourism development and the extraction of ICH value through the lens of cultural capital and scale theories.

Facilitating the social integration of the migrant population is a pivotal task in the comprehensive advancement of new urbanization. Nevertheless, this significant task is currently confronted with formidable challenges arising from the prevailing trend of unstable employment in the labor market. This paper introduces the concept of precarity, which has been the subject of extensive and in-depth discussion in the international academic community, constructs a comprehensive indicator system for assessing employment precarity, and reveals the intricate impact mechanism of employment precarity on the social integration of China's migrant population. Based on the China Migrants Dynamic Survey in 2017, the following primary conclusions were obtained through rigorous exploratory factor analysis and parallel multiple mediation effect models. Firstly, the overwhelming majority of the migrant population is in a state of varying degrees of unstable employment. When evaluating the comprehensive index of employment precarity for the migrant population from four key dimensions, employment status, contract nature, occupational industry type, and unit ownership, the value of 0.466 indicates an overall moderate level of precarity. The migrant population that fails to attain stable employment often finds itself in a disadvantaged position. These individuals typically seldom sign formal contracts, which means they lack the legal protection and stability that come with such contracts. They are concentrated in the secondary labor market, where low-threshold occupations and non-monopolistic industries prevail. Despite their arduous work, they can only earn meager wages, which severely restricts their standard of living and development opportunities. Secondly, the average level of social integration of the migrant population is 0.363. The integration levels of the economic, psychological, and behavioral dimensions are 0.102, 0.614, and 0.732, respectively. The low-level integration in the economic dimension is the primary bottleneck in the social integration process of the migrant population. Thirdly, the employment precarity of the migrant population has a significant direct negative impact on its level of social integration. It constrains social integration by influencing a series of material, social, and subjective psychological conditions. These include income stability, housing stability, social security level, local social network, local social participation, housing willingness, and settlement willingness. The indirect limiting effect accounts for 77.49% of the total limiting effect. Among the hypotheses proposed in this paper, the effect of the employment precarity–residence intention–social integration path is the most significant, and the effect of the employment precarity–income stability–social integration path is the weakest. However, the employment precarity–family migration–social integration path has not been verified and requires further in-depth exploration and elucidation. This paper enhances the indicator system for measuring employment instability, comprehensively demonstrating its characteristics such as high job-change frequency, lack of security, and disadvantaged position in the labor market. Simultaneously, it specifically reveals the impact path of employment instability on social integration. Finally, this paper introduces the concept of employment instability into domestic human geography research, offering a solid research foundation for understanding and addressing the challenges posed by instability to the social integration of the migrant population. At the practical level, in the context of employment instability becoming a trend of economic development, it is imperative to promote the social integration of the migrant population through policy and system linkages in employment, housing, social security, household registration, and other areas.

High-resolution records and fine structure comparisons between different climate proxies are invaluable for elucidating the detailed variations and mechanisms of the East Asian Summer Monsoon (EASM) intensity. Based on eight high-precision ²³⁰Th dates and 448 δ¹⁸O data from a stalagmite (YX53) collected from Yongxing Cave in the Shennongjia Forestry District, Hubei Province, China, this study reconstructed a high-resolution EASM evolution sequence spanning 52.45 to 64.44 ka BP. This sequence completely covers Dansgaard-Oeschger (DO) events 18 to 15, and partly covers DO14. This record not only reveals the rapid onset and gradual decline pattern of DO18 during the Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 4/3 transition but also delineates the sub-millennial-scale internal oscillations within DO17a and two sub-oscillations during DO16a that are comparable in duration and intensity. It also clearly documents two precursor events (PEs), namely PE17 and PE16. The results demonstrated that the EASM intensity exhibited a one-to-one correspondence with the Greenland ice core record throughout the DO18–15 events. However, in the YX53 δ ¹⁸O, Arabian Sea albedo, SCH02 δ ¹⁸O, and Cariaco Basin albedo records, the intensities of the PE17 and PE16 events are consistently lower than those of the subsequent DO17a and DO16a events. In contrast, the Greenland ice core record shows that the intensities of the PE17 and PE16 events are comparable to those of the DO17a and DO16a events, respectively. Furthermore, the evolution of EASM intensity during the DO events exhibited notable similarities to low-latitude climate processes. During the onset and termination phases of the DO events, changes in the EASM intensity resembled the more gradual transitions that are characteristic of low-latitude records. However, within the DO events themselves, the EASM exhibited internal structures analogous to those observed in low-latitude processes, such as the two sub-oscillations during DO16a that are comparable in duration and intensity, and the rapid-onset–slow-termination transition pattern of DO18. These consistencies indicate a significant modulating influence of low-latitude processes on EASM intensity during the MIS4/3 transition. We propose that the Western Pacific Warm Pool (WPWP) may have influenced the pace of EASM variability and contributed to centennial-scale oscillations within DO events through mechanisms such as air-sea interactions. Based on a stalagmite δ ¹⁸O record from Shennongjia, this study reconstructs EASM variability during DO events 18 to 15. Through detailed comparisons and analyses of transitional events, we reveal the modulating role of low-latitude processes on the EASM during the MIS4/3 transition. These results suggest that while high-latitude processes primarily drive the initiation and termination of millennial-scale EASM enhancement events, low-latitude processes, which are likely influenced by the WPWP, may shape the intensity and internal structure of these enhancements within DO events.

In the context of an accelerating society, young individuals in contemporary cities face mounting psychological pressures and existential anxiety. This has led to an increasing demand for environments that offer therapeutic relief and emotional refuge. This study takes the "Time-Farm," an urban green space, as a case study to explore the construction of urban therapeutic landscapes, the perception of young individuals, and the ontological and epistemological foundations of healing. Drawing on Tim Ingold's dwelling perspective, this study examines epistemologies of human-nature relations, embodied and enmined practices, and the temporality of landscapes to propose a multidimensional analytical framework. This framework serves to interpret how landscapes can be healing for youth and offers a new explanatory approach for reconstructing subjectivity in an accelerated society. The findings suggest that therapeutic landscapes are not simply the result of static natural environments but are co-constructed through a relational epistemology that views human and non-human life as interdependent, cohabiting participants. In the Time-Farm, the therapeutic effect of space emerges from its founders' intentional rejection of anthropocentrism. Plants are not regarded as decorative objects but as co-dwelling beings with agency. Through sustained interaction and affective care, caregivers' non-representational practices fostered a shared coexistence epistemology that resonated with urban youths. As youth began to participate in the maintenance and experience of the space, their involvement signaled bodily engagement and an epistemic transformation: therapeutic feeling required the recognition of human–nature interdependence. This shift in understanding is a necessary precondition of ecological connections and emotional resonance. Moreover, the therapeutic process is deeply embedded in the convergence of embodied and enmined practices and temporal rhythms of the landscape. The young participants engaged in sensory-rich, emotionally resonant activities that activated bodily awareness and relational connections to a place. The therapeutic effect does not occur as an immediate experience but rather unfolds over time through repeated interactions, seasonal cycles, and the slow growth of living organisms. The temporality of the landscape mirrors the rhythms of individual transformations and supports sustained therapeutic effects. Theoretically, this study challenges the reductive paradigm that equates therapeutic effects solely with environmental conditions. Instead, it proposes a relational and procedural approach integrating epistemology, embodiment, and temporality. By employing Ingold's dwelling perspective, this study provides an interpretive tool rooted in environmental anthropology for understanding therapeutic landscapes. Practically, it offers insights for designing urban green spaces: therapeutic environments must move beyond the mere presence of greenery to foster relational understanding, embodied participation, and long-term interaction.As an urban green space, the Time-Farm demonstrates how therapeutic landscapes can be cultivated through cohabitative epistemology, integrated mind-body practices, and sustained care. The model of a "human-environment-life community" provides an ecologically holistic perspective on landscape-making and offers a fertile direction for theoretical innovation in future therapeutic landscape research.

With rapid urbanization, urban safety has become a critical issue in city governance. Among the various approaches, Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) has gained increasing attention owing to its effectiveness in reducing crime risk through physical environment interventions. This study systematically reviewed the development trajectory of CPTED practices in South Korea over the past four decades, dividing them into three distinct stages: initial conceptual introduction and early experimentation, formulation of guidelines and pilot implementation, and legislative revision and full-scale institutionalization. Each stage was analyzed in detail in terms of policy background, implementation strategies, and governance arrangements. Based on this review, this study constructed a framework illustrating the operational mechanism of CPTED in South Korea, highlighting the collaboration among national agencies (particularly the National Police Agency), local governments, academic institutions, and communities. The model emphasizes the importance of a standardized design process and case-based feedback to form a dynamic and iterative practice system. To demonstrate the practical application of this framework, this paper presents a detailed case study of the Yeomni-dong neighborhood in Seoul, one of the earliest CPTED pilot projects in South Korea. Through onsite assessments, risk mapping, participatory planning, and post-implementation evaluations, the project significantly improved community safety, reduced specific types of crime (such as robbery), and enhanced residents' sense of belonging and security. This case underscores the adaptability and effectiveness of CPTED principles in densely built East Asian urban contexts.The study also provides a concise overview of how CPTED-related principles have been applied in China across different administrative sectors, including the Ministry of Public Security's "Skynet Project," the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development's "Complete Residential Community Guidelines," and grassroots governance initiatives such as Zhejiang's "Neighborhood Watch" and Beijing's "Fengqiao Experience." Despite these efforts, challenges remain in China's current CPTED practices, including the lack of a unified standard system, fragmented departmental responsibilities, and insufficient integration of digital and physical safety strategies.Drawing on South Korea's institutional and practical experience, this study proposes four strategies for constructing a localized CPTED framework in China: (1) improving the legal and regulatory system by incorporating CPTED principles into national and local standards; (2) fostering cross-sector collaboration among planning, security, and governance bodies; (3) embedding CPTED assessments into urban health-check mechanisms to identify spatial safety risks; and (4) integrating CPTED principles into the entire process of urban renewal projects to promote sustainable and resilient urban environments. This study aims to provide theoretical insights and practical guidance for improving urban crime prevention strategies in China, contributing to the development of a more integrated, adaptive, and locally tailored CPTED system. It also offers valuable lessons for the convergence of spatial planning and public safety governance in rapidly urbanizing contexts.

To enhance ecological civilization, establishing a governance framework that reconciles the principles of financial sustainability with those of urban green development has been identified as an effective pathway for urban sustainability. Land finance constitutes a distinctive government revenue model in China, providing crucial support for accelerated urbanization and urban construction. Without alternative large-scale revenue sources for local governments, land finance continues to be an important source of off-budget revenue. Therefore, optimizing the use of land finance and leveraging its positive impact on sustainable urban development are crucial. The positive role of land finance in promoting urban green development is an effective means of advancing ecological civilization construction and high-quality urban development. Urban green spaces are pivotal elements of the urban ecological environment. Investigating the influence of land finance on urban green spaces is an important research area. This study employed panel data from 273 prefecture-level cities in China from 2007 to 2019 to systematically assess the impact of land finance on urban green spaces by utilizing the fixed effects and spatial Durbin models. Furthermore, it assessed the moderating effect of environmental governance in promoting land finance to support the improvement of urban green spaces based on the moderation effect model. The findings indicate that the impact of land finance on urban green space exhibits an inverted U-shaped pattern with a negative overall effect. However, the positive impact of land finance on urban green spaces is limited. Local governments' environmental governance exerted a significant positive moderating effect on the impact of land finance on urban green spaces. As environmental governance strengthens, the impact of land finance on urban green space shifts from negative to positive. This suggests that land finance can promote improvements in urban green spaces through high-level environmental governance. The coverage level of urban green spaces displayed spatial agglomeration characteristics, and land finance had a negative spatial spillover effect on urban green spaces. In addition, the moderating effect of environmental governance presented a positive spatial spillover effect. Consequently, the impacts of land finance and environmental governance on urban green spaces in economically and geographically adjacent cities must be considered. Subgroup analysis showed that the impact of land finance on urban greenspaces is more pronounced in cities located in the central and western regions. This study makes a significant contribution to the discussion on whether land finance can support the improvement of urban green spaces and how to promote the positive role of land finance in urban green development, and the positive role of environmental governance in facilitating the supportive role of land finance in promoting urban green development. This paper proposes policy suggestions on how to use land finance to enhance urban green spaces and provides new ideas for sustainable and green urban development.

Based on the investment path data of the top 100 benchmark enterprises of new quality productivity in 2024, according to the three-stage hierarchical affiliation model, the spatial network structure of new quality productivity in Chinese cities and its influencing factors are studied by using social network analysis, spatial analysis through geographic information system, and QAP(Quadratic Assignment Procedure) analysis. The findings of the study are as follows: (1) The spatial network of new quality productivity in Chinese cities involves a wide range of cities with a certain degree of two-way interaction, medium-to-high connectivity, and strong agglomeration. A connection between any two cities is typically achieved through a few nodes. Simultaneously, the network exhibits a small-world effect, forming several independent small groups or circles with high-frequency interactions. (2) The network first forms a national core skeleton with a triangle with "Beijing-Shanghai-Shenzhen" as the vertex. Furthermore, it expands to a diamond network connection pattern with "Beijing-Shanghai-Shenzhen-Chengdu" as the vertex, forming an obvious "core-edge" structure. Beijing plays a core guiding role in the allocation of new quality production factors, and Shanghai is the largest core to attract investment inflows. (3) The network consists mainly of cross-level connections, with high-level cities having substantial external spillovers and closer internal connections that are mainly responsible for the undertaking, and the internal connections are relatively loose. Additionally, the characteristics of internal and external connections differ considerably across the three major regions—East, Middle, and West. The eastern region has the closest internal connections and stronger external attraction and interactivity, forming a ladder-like network pattern. The Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta urban agglomerations exhibit characteristics of cohesive development, whereas the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration shows characteristics of external development. (4) Economic scale, industrial structure, network popularization, institutional proximity, innovation output, and innovative industries were the most important factors affecting the spatial network structure of China's new urban quality productivity. They essentially reflect the spatial configuration logic and coordinated agglomeration law of new quality production factors, and embody the network construction logic of "spatial nesting-innovation drive-industrial collaboration." Spatial nesting provides the most basic geographical and institutional support for the flow of new quality production factors and interaction between cities. The innovation drive is the core driving force behind the construction of network structures, and the industrial collaboration mechanism promotes this network relationship based on space and innovation, moving towards a deeper level of functional integration and jointly shaping a multilevel, gradient, and efficient flow network pattern.

Exploring the new pattern of the integration of the digital economy, culture, and tourism industry is one way to promote the high-quality development of the cultural and tourism industry. This study takes Marx's theory of the industrial capital cycle as a guide and constructs an evaluation index system to integrate the digital economy and cultural and tourism industries, and infrastructure, social subjects, external environment, and effectiveness. It adopts the entropy value method, Dagum Gini coefficient, and Markov chain to measure and analyze the level of development of the integration of the digital economy and cultural and tourism industry in 31 Chinese provinces and cities from 2012 to 2022, the regional differences, and their spatiotemporal evolution patterns. The study found the following. The development level of digital cultural tourism integration in China showed a fluctuating upward trend during the study period; however, the overall level remained relatively low. Only four provinces and municipalities, namely Shanghai, Beijing, Sichuan, and Anhui, achieved a "high level–high speed" development status. Significant disparities in digital cultural tourism integration exist among the eight major comprehensive economic zones, although a regional catch-up effect has emerged. The eastern, northern, and southern coastal regions form the first-tier group; the Middle Yangtze, Southwest, and Middle Yellow River regions constitute the second tier; and the Northeast and Northwest regions fall into the third tier. The Eastern Coastal region leads the country in the transformation and upgrading stages, whereas the northern coastal, middle Yellow River, and northwest regions show the most evident catch-up momentum. The overall disparity in digital cultural tourism integration across China has gradually narrowed. However, the gap between the eastern coastal and northwestern regions remains the primary obstacle to the coordinated development of digital cultural tourism integration. Meanwhile, the northeast region faces internal imbalance, indicating the existence of a "digital cultural tourism integration divide" within the region. This highlights the need to address development shortcomings and promote coordinated development among provinces within the northeast. The development trend of digital cultural tourism integration in China has remained relatively stable, with the emergence of four types of convergence "clubs": low-level, lower-middle-level, upper-middle-level, and high-level. Among them, convergence is most significant in the low- and high-level groups, reflecting a pronounced "Matthew effect." Cross-club transitions are rare, with higher probabilities of shifts occurring between adjacent levels than nonadjacent ones, and upward transitions are more likely to occur than downward transitions. Notably, the eastern and southwestern regions show a clear trend of upward mobility in digital cultural tourism integration, whereas the northern coastal and northeastern regions display roughly equal probabilities of upward and downward transitions, indicating a lack of clear directional tendencies in their development. This study systematically reveals the spatial patterns and dynamic trends of the integration between the digital economy and the cultural tourism industry in China in three dimensions: theoretical logic, indicator system, and evolutionary mechanism. This study provides theoretical support and policy references for enhancing the quality of digital cultural tourism integration, narrowing regional disparities, and promoting high-quality tourism.

The contradiction between natural ecological environment protection and the diversification of human needs is increasing daily in the transition period from high-speed to high-quality development. Coordination of the benign and balanced development of ecosystem services and human well-being, with a view to deconstructing the complex interactions of human-land composite systems, is of great scientific and practical significance. To date, studies have mainly focused on the impact of ecosystem services on human well-being and the feedback of human well-being to ecosystems and have paid little attention to the deep coupling relationship between ecosystem services and human well-being. Therefore, it is necessary to clarify the complex coupling and coordination relationships between ecosystem services and human well-being to provide a scientific basis for achieving sustainable development. This study takes Guangdong Province, which has a developed economy, large population, and prominent human-land conflicts, as a typical example. This study comprehensively applied the InVEST model, the Revised Universal Soil Erosion Equation, and the Carnegie-Ames-Stanford Approach to quantify the four main ecosystem services; constructed an indicator system for human well-being; and combined the coupled coordination degree model with a geodetector to analyze the temporal and spatial characteristics of ecosystem services and human well-being and reveal the coupled and coordinated relationship between ecosystem services and human well-being during 2000–2020. The results showed that: (1) From 2000 to 2020, the ecosystem services in Guangdong Province showed an overall downward trend, with a significant decline in carbon sequestration service, with average carbon sequestration decreasing by 11.31%; the spatial heterogeneity showed a pattern of "high in the north and low in the south" with the green ecological barrier in the mountainous areas of northern Guangdong highlighted, and the ecosystem services of the Pearl River Delta urban agglomerations significantly degraded; the level of human well-being significantly improved, and innovation vitality and open environment promoted the high-quality development of the region; (2) from 2000 to 2020, the degree of coupling coordination has shifted from barely coordinated to well-coordinated; however, the core urban areas of the Guangzhou-Foshan region remain characterized by an "economic-ecological" imbalance; the ecosystem services level of the mountainous areas in northern Guangdong is high, and the human-land system shows the characteristics of benign resonance development in the process of economic development; (3) the influencing factors of the coupling and coordination relationship between ecosystem services and human well-being show a stage-by-stage evolutionary feature: during rapid urbanization, the development of urbanization level and the adjustment of industrial structure determine the relationship between the two; in the high-quality development period, the main influence shifted to land intensive use and public social services; none of the influencing factors are independent, and there is an enhanced effect of multi-factor interaction among the influencing factors, showing a complex relationship of nonlinear enhancement. This study provides a theoretical basis for solving the human-land system conflict and optimizing the spatial governance of land in economically developed regions.

In the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and a new wave of technological advancements, integrating technological innovation resources and accelerating strategic emerging industries have become crucial for promoting high-quality economic development. Industrial innovation networks are critical in this landscape, as they enable cities to participate in innovation networks that facilitate the absorption of external knowledge, technologies, and market information, which promotes regional technological innovation. In this study, we focused on the rare earth industry in China, which supports innovation within strategic emerging fields, particularly in technological breakthroughs. Patent collaboration data from three critical stages of the value chain (i.e., mining and smelting, material processing, and end-use applications) were used with social network analysis and Quadratic Assignment Procedure regression methods to explore the spatial characteristics and influencing factors of the innovation network at different stages. The primary goal of the study was to determine the structural differences in innovation networks within an industry and how these differences are influenced by the functional roles of the value chain. The findings indicate that the scale of the innovation network in China's rare earth industry expands progressively along the value chain, particularly in the end-use application stage, in which the density of connections among the participants increases considerably, resulting in a "small world" characteristic. Moreover, the innovation network in the mining and smelting stage exhibits a north-south differentiation pattern that is consistent with the geographical distribution of China's rare earth resources (i.e., light rare earths in the north and heavy rare earths in the south). In contrast, the material processing stage exhibits a radial pattern dominated by national innovation centers such as Beijing and Shanghai, whereas the end-use application stage exhibits a "triangular" pattern centered on cities with concentrated strategic emerging industries, highlighting the importance of regional innovation ecosystems. Analysis of the influencing factors indicates that the innovation network is primarily affected by social and institutional proximities, as well as the innovation output capacity. Notably, the impacts of resource agglomeration and openness to foreign markets vary among different stages of the value chain. For example, resource agglomeration is significant in the material processing stage but has a lower impact in the end-use application stage, where the level of openness to foreign markets is crucial for driving innovation. Building on existing research on industry-wide innovation networks, this study investigated the internal differences in innovation networks and mapped value-creation processes within the rare earth industry. The findings indicate that marked spatial differences exist among the mining and smelting, material processing, and end-use application stages, which are closely related to the value processes and resource endowments in each stage. In addition, the findings obtained herein provide theoretical and empirical support for understanding spatial innovation activities along the industrial value chain. We offer policy recommendations for optimizing the spatial configuration of the innovation network in China's rare earth industry, with the goal of enhancing its competitiveness in high value-added sectors and supporting the nation's transition to a more innovation-driven economy.

Counties in the Yangtze River Delta face considerable pressure from industrial transformation. In addition, an enclave economy has substantial value for enhancing county-level innovation capacity and advancing industrial upgrades. Enclave economies facilitate the flow of innovation resources into counties and strengthen collaborative innovations between counties and central cities. However, the effectiveness of these innovations is constrained by factors such as benefit-sharing mechanisms and each county's capacity to absorb innovation resources. Thus, systematic empirical research is urgently required to evaluate their impacts. This study focused on Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, where exploration of the enclave economy in the Yangtze River Delta region has been the most advanced. Using a multi-period Difference-In-Differences (DID) model, we examined how establishing enclave industrial parks from 2001 to 2022 influenced county-level innovation outputs, as well as the heterogeneity of these impacts across forward and reverse enclave models and different county types. The findings indicate that the enclave economy exerted an overall positive impact on county-level innovation, and a larger number of enclave parks corresponded to more pronounced increases in innovation. Multiple robustness tests confirmed the reliability of these results. In addition, nationally ranked top-100 counties demonstrated considerably higher susceptibilities to the positive effects of enclave economies compared with those of non-top-100 counties, likely because relatively developed counties have better environments to support innovation, which facilitates the absorption and transformation of innovation resource flows triggered by enclave park construction. Forward enclaves, which are characterized by earlier initiation and more mature mechanisms, had a markedly superior effect on enhancing county innovation compared with that of reverse enclaves, even though reverse enclaves theoretically exert a more direct and effective impact on county-level innovation. Enclave parks co-constructed by national ministries and local governments, by local governments alone, or between development zones were also more likely to positively influence county innovation than those involving other entities. This may occur because these actors primarily exist within the public sector and share homogenous policy agendas and preferences; thus, collaboration among them is more conducive to reducing communication and coordination costs, thereby enhancing their role in boosting county-level innovation. These results suggest that future efforts should prioritize enhancing the capacities of less-developed counties to absorb innovation resources and direct more policy support towards innovative models, such as reverse enclaves and university-satellite industrial parks. Less-developed counties should address their own developmental foundations and capacity to accommodate innovative resources in the construction of enclave economies, avoid impatience, and emphasize nurturing an environment conducive to innovation. However, compared with forward enclaves, which are characterized by industrial gradient transfer, reverse enclaves have stronger attributes for technological innovation, aiming to promote county-level industrial transformation by incubating innovative enterprises. Given reverse enclaves' shorter construction period and associated inadequate mechanism exploration, it is necessary to provide more policy support and assess their actual effects over a longer timescale. Similarly, because universities are a crucial component of the triple-helix model of innovation, enclave parks co-constructed with universities hold greater potential for boosting county-level innovation than those co-established with other actors. Therefore, barriers related to park management, technology transfer, and funding support for universities and research institutions should be addressed promptly to amplify their spillover effects on county-level innovation activities.

As psychological research has expanded, the hegemony of vision in landscape studies has become increasingly challenging. As the second most critical sensory system after vision, sound has emerged as a key focus of theoretical inquiry. This paper focuses on individuals who have left their rural hometowns (hometown leavers) and used their auditory experiences as an analytical context. Drawing on in-depth interviews and using qualitative research methods such as coding analysis and semiotics, we uncovered the Xiangchou signification system of rural soundscape symbols and their operational mechanisms. We found that the perception of rural soundscapes by hometown-leavers followed a four-stage cognitive model: experience accumulation, representamen triggering, symbol reception and recognition, and meaning interpretation. First, the rural life experiences of hometown leavers formed the foundational prerequisites for awakening their perceptions of Xiangchou-related soundscape symbols. Their accumulated rural upbringing, inherited memories, and other lived rural experiences endowed them with a heightened sensitivity to sound symbols, which enabled seamless perception and reception. Second, during the symbolization of the Xiangchou soundscape, the perceptual trigger for the subject played an equally vital role. The activation and interpretation of sound symbols requires specific triggers. When respondents encounter sounds from their past, the unique timbre, pitch, or loudness of these sounds manifested as representamina, which overlapped with the imagined rural sound symbols stored in their minds. This overlap evoked a vivid sense of "as if it was yesterday," which propelled the symbolization process forward. Third, within the traditional village spaces etched in the memories of hometown leavers, complex sound symbols intertwined to form a distinct rural soundscape system composed of animal calls, natural noises, and sounds of human activity. These concrete sounds in the physical world acted as triggers to bridge the spatiotemporal divide between the soundscape symbols accumulated in the subjects' rural memory, stirring a rich array of rural recollections. Fourth, soundscapes characterized by greater abstractness and associativity focus on awakening and engaging the auditory culture. Through cognitive processing, the subjects transcended mere auditory perception to form interpretive meanings, which elevated the auditory experiences of hometown leavers to the emotional realm of rural sentiments via specific sounds. Following reception and recognition, the meanings of these soundscape symbols gradually solidified and assumed symbolic weight. Receivers with rural experiences endowed sound symbols with interpretive intent, mirroring them into four categories of Xiangchou soundscape units: sentimental attachment, pastoral leisure, rustic amusement, and seasonal busyness, thereby generating emotional resonances such as nostalgia, relief from pressure, longing for the future, and a sense of belonging. Compared with visual landscapes, soundscapes have greater penetrative power, significantly deepening the sense of belonging and identity of the hometown leavers toward their rural roots. This indicates that, during modernization, the eroded intimate connections between people can find psychological compensatory fulfillment through Xiangchou soundscapes. Xiangchou sound symbols allowed the hometown leavers to project their perceptions of their past rural life based on their unique auditory cultural field. Amid fast-paced urban life, their wandering souls were temporarily disengaged, healed, and comforted, thereby achieving a brief return to their spiritual haven through sound. The seasonal busyness soundscape centers on land as its core symbol, carrying the emotional memories and cultural totems of hometown leavers and acting as a spiritual bond for identity affirmation and the reconstruction of belonging. The rustic amusement soundscape, which has childhood games and local rituals as its symbolic anchors, awakened joyful memories and cultural identity, which became an emotional solace for hometown leavers navigating spiritual displacement.

In the era of post-covid globalization, the integration of geography and country and region studies is becoming increasingly urgent. This study draws on the concept of the "epistemic domain" to explore the convergence and possible pathways for integrating these two disciplines at the level of knowledge construction, research paradigms, and methodologies, using Southeast Asia as a case study. The "epistemic domain" (domain of knowledge) refers to the "space of knowledge," which is the manifestation of knowledge in different contexts such as "academic knowledge" and "public knowledge." It emphasizes the integration of traditional geographical knowledge and regional studies. The "epistemic domain" is characterized by multi-scale, multi-domain, and relativity. The conclusions suggest that the perspective of the "epistemic domain" helps to break down disciplinary boundaries and promotes the organic integration of geography and country and region studies. Combining these two fields will give rise to a new knowledge system for regional studies. The holistic perspective of geography, combined with the diverse perspectives of country and region studies, will foster innovative interdisciplinary research paradigms; the quantitative analysis of geography and qualitative research methods in countries and regions can also achieve complementary integration. Using Southeast Asia as an example, the integration of these disciplines should focus on the interaction between resource environments and socio-economic factors, intrinsic mechanisms of spatial political economy, and coexistence of cultural diversity in the region. This should be approached through an interdisciplinary research pathway that combines holistic and diverse perspectives, resulting in a balanced quantitative and qualitative "epistemic domain" methodology. Although the "epistemic domain" concept provides a new perspective on interdisciplinary integration, issues such as operational inadequacies and the potential overshadowing of global knowledge universality by regional orientations need to be addressed. Future dialogues and exchanges between different "epistemic domain" backgrounds must be strengthened. In summary, the close integration of geography and country and region studies within the "epistemic domain" framework aligns with contemporary development trends and will contribute new cognitive intelligence to address the challenges of global integration and regional diversity.

Abstract: Continental Shelf Delimitation in Global Ocean Governance: Legal, geopolitical, and Resource Dimensions. Continental shelf delimitation constitutes a central issue in global ocean governance because it directly involves sovereignty claims, access to marine resources, and stability of the international geopolitical order. With the increasing assertion of maritime rights by late-developing coastal states, tension between traditional maritime powers and emerging maritime nations has become increasingly visible. Against this backdrop, continental shelf delimitation practices have become testing grounds and catalysts for the evolution of maritime boundary governance, reflecting a dynamic interplay between international law, resource politics, and technological advancements in marine science. Research Purpose and Methods: This study provides a systematic review of the literature on continental shelf delimitation, with an emphasis on states' claims concerning sovereignty, resource entitlements, and geopolitical order. Through a comparative analysis of legal texts, judicial precedents, and case studies of disputes in different maritime regions, this review highlights commonalities and divergences in state practice. It also identifies the key obstacles faced by coastal states when invoking the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the principle of natural prolongation. Methodologically, this study relies on a doctrinal legal analysis combined with geopolitical interpretation, which enables an integrated understanding of how law and politics jointly shape the delimitation process. Results Three major findings emerged from this review. 1) Resource-based conflicts: Continental shelf areas are often rich in hydrocarbons, fisheries, and other marine resources. However, the transboundary and mobile nature of these resources makes them frequent sources of interstate conflicts. Fishery disputes in the North Atlantic, hydrocarbon competition in the Eastern Mediterranean, and overlapping claims in the Arctic illustrate how cross-border resource flows challenge stable delimitation and lead to the complex interweaving of multilateral negotiations and contested ownership. 2) Multidimensional boundary perceptions: Delimitation cannot be reduced to the purely geological question of natural prolongation. Coastal states are increasingly invoking historical rights, security concerns, and geopolitical spatial strategies to construct composite claims. The integration of legal, historical, and political arguments reflects the multilayered nature of contemporary maritime governance and demonstrates that boundary-making is as much a political process as it is a legal-technical exercise. 3) Limitations of the UNCLOS: Although the UNCLOS provides the principal legal framework for delimitation, its practical application is limited. The insufficient operationalization of natural prolongation rules, coupled with the inconsistent reliance on judicial precedents by international courts and tribunals, creates significant uncertainty. These gaps hinder coastal states from asserting sovereignty and fairly distributing resources, particularly late-developing maritime nations that lack the technical and legal capacity to substantiate their claims. Conclusion and Research Contributions: In light of these findings, this study proposes three directions for future research and the normative development of global ocean governance. First, the principle of natural prolongation should be re-examined and strengthened as a natural legal basis for dispute resolution, ensuring that geological realities continue to inform legal outcomes. Second, the continuity of historical rights should be incorporated into interpretive logic consistent with customary international law, recognizing that long-standing practices form part of legitimate maritime entitlements. Third, the interpretive gaps in UNCLOS should be supplemented by documenting and theorizing coastal states' practices, thereby enabling a more inclusive process of consensus building in global maritime rule making. This study contributes to the literature by offering a structured synthesis of the key legal, political, and resource-related dimensions of continental shelf delimitation. It highlights the ways in which boundary disputes reflect competing national interests and shape the evolution of the international maritime order. By bridging doctrinal analysis with geopolitical perspectives, this study underscores the need for adaptive governance mechanisms that can accommodate established powers and rising coastal states in the rapidly changing global ocean governance seascape.

Accurately identifying the spatiotemporal characteristics of urban residents' travel carbon emissions is an important scientific issue in transportation geography and planning, and is also a prerequisite for formulating reasonable low-carbon transportation policies. Existing studies mostly use top-down methods for calculation, however, the lack of internal urban statistical data, difficulty in depicting the dynamic evolution and spatial distribution patterns of carbon emissions, and other factors, have restricted the further development of related research. Furthermore, problems such as small sample size, low accuracy, and the need to verify the effectiveness of bottom-up calculation methods have always been difficult to solve. Therefore, this study proposes a framework for measuring residents' travel carbon emissions using mobile phone signaling data to: 1) Overcome the reliance on traditional statistical data, innovatively integrating travel survey logs with mobile phone signaling data, and effectively verifying the trajectory information. 2) Extract factors influencing the travel mode choice, such as residents' social attributes, travel characteristics, public transportation service levels, and travel preferences, and uses the random forest algorithm to specifically identify five travel modes, balancing precision and accuracy. 3) Comprehensively consider factors such as travel mode, distance, speed, vehicle energy consumption type, and passenger load rate to accurately reflect carbon emissions from individual residents' single trips. 4) Aggregate by time, space, and population characteristics to multidimensionally reflect the carbon emission patterns of residents' travel. Taking Shenzhen as an example, based on the travel data of over 30 million residents, a technical application was conducted. The accuracy rate of individual travel mode identification was 77%. The aggregated carbon emission calculation results effectively revealed the highly concentrated distribution pattern of "two belts, three zones, and multiple points" and the functional spillover effect of the Shenzhen metropolitan area at the spatiotemporal level found that there were structural differentiations in traffic carbon emissions between working and non-working days, and between commuting peaks and general periods in different urban areas; at the population attribute level, the significant influence of age, gender, and other characteristics on residents' travel distances, travel modes, and travel carbon emissions were further confirmed. This framework is conducive to clearly and comprehensively revealing the spatiotemporal characteristics of urban residents' travel carbon emissions, providing new technology for high-precision monitoring of urban transportation carbon emissions and a basis for the formulation of urban transportation pollution reduction and emission reduction policies.

Rapid urbanization in China has significantly exacerbated light pollution, disrupted the ecological balance, and imposed constraints on both astronomical observations and public access to stargazing. Therefore, addressing light pollution has become a critical issue in ecological conservation and sustainable development. Shenzhen's Xichong Community achieved a landmark milestone in 2023 by becoming China's first International Dark Sky Community certified by the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA). This designation makes light pollution control practices of Xichong significant for similar regions. This study aimed to systematically evaluate the effectiveness of light pollution control measures in the Xichong Community, providing a scientific basis for balancing conservation and development in comparable areas. This study innovatively utilized high-resolution nighttime light (NTL) remote sensing data acquired using the Sustainable Development Goals Satellite-1 (SDGSAT-1), integrated with NASA's Black Marble products, to establish a refined monitoring and assessment framework for light pollution. To address the challenge of radiometric inconsistencies inherent to multitemporal SDGSAT-1 NTL imaging, this study proposed a novel radiometric consistency correction method based on Random Forest Regression (RFR). During the preprocessing phase, the images were subjected to salt-and-pepper noise removal and absolute radiometric calibration. Subsequently, the RFR model was applied to achieve a radiometric consistency correction. A comparative analysis with traditional linear brightness normalization confirmed the superior accuracy and effectiveness of RFR approach in enhancing image comparability. By leveraging corrected, high-quality, time-series NTL imagery, this study quantitatively assessed the effectiveness of light pollution control measures implemented in the Xichong Community over a three-year period. The key findings were as follows. (1) Significant reduction in light pollution: the Xichong Community exhibited a markedly greater decline in overall light pollution intensity compared to other areas within the Dapeng New District. Pixel-level analysis verified the widespread nature of this decreasing trend, with the brightness values showing a pervasive reduction. (2) Effective control across functional zones: the core stargazing beach area witnessed a substantial brightness reduction (57%) in September 2024 compared with that seen in September 2022. Road-lighting intensity also decreased significantly (56%-70%). Among the residential zones, Xinwu and Xiyangwei villages achieved reductions exceeding 69%, whereas brightness in Nanshe village decreased by 55.7%. Getian and Xigong villages experienced steady declines, while Hesou, Yashan, and Shagang Villages saw fluctuating but overall decreasing trends. (3) Effective management of light pollution sources: although accommodation facilities remain the primary contributors to light pollution, their brightness coefficients decreased significantly (46.11%). Points of Interest (POIs) related to tourism saw reductions exceeding 45% in brightness, with overall POI brightness coefficients declining by 27.68%-74.45%. These results demonstrate that the stringent lighting management policies implemented by the Xichong Community effectively mitigated the adverse impacts of tourism development on the dark sky environment. This study not only successfully applied high-resolution NTL data from SDGSAT-1, but also developed an RFR-based radiometric consistency correction technique, significantly improving the comparability of multi-temporal NTL data. The established methodological framework enables fine-scale monitoring of nighttime lighting at the community level, specifically for areas pursuing "dark-sky conservation + ecotourism" models. Furthermore, this study provides a foundation for establishing a dynamic monitoring and quantitative assessment system for light pollution within existing dark-sky reserves. These advancements offer critical scientific foundations and technical support for balancing the imperative of dark-sky conservation with sustainable tourism development goals.

City serves as a medium for communication and, in turn, reshapes the city. Since the 21^st century, social media has rapidly spread worldwide, providing users with a platform for self-presentation and channels for expression. This has greatly changed people's lives and exerted a substantial influence on the reconstruction and gentrification of urban social spaces. However, few studies have focused on the underlying mechanisms. To gain a deeper understanding of the role of social media in commercial gentrification, Nantai Alley, a renowned Internet-famous block in Nanjing, was selected as a case study, and Xiaohongshu (Red note), whose main active user group is young women, was chosen to represent social media. This study conducted an in-depth analysis of the occurrence process, formation mechanism, and comprehensive effects of commercial gentrification under social media intervention. The research found that social media is deeply involved in the commercial gentrification process and continuously promotes the gentrification process through media information dissemination. Social media involvement in commercial gentrification is mainly achieved through two types of entities: merchants and consumers. On the one hand, social media provides merchants with replicable Internet celebrity aesthetics and business models and serves as a platform for self-marketing, increasing the probability of occurrence and promoting a more simplified and rapidly evolving trend of gentrification. On the other hand, consumers, engage in trendy check-ins and act as "discourse investors," accelerating commercial gentrification. Social media's representation of urban space amplifies and reinforces commercial gentrification; the progression and outcomes of gentrification are magnified on social media, occupying its central discursive spaces, whereas the daily lives and consumption practices of local residents are marginalized and rendered invisible in these digital representations. Furthermore, the profit-driven behaviors of certain local residents have laid the groundwork for gentrification, and the government has further consolidated the achievements of gentrification through urban renewal plans. The comprehensive effects triggered by commercial gentrification present significant dual characteristics: it exerts positive effects, such as commercial revitalization and beautification of the built environment, while also generating negative impacts, such as commercial exclusion, displacement, and cultural distinction from the neighborhood. Therefore, in future urban renewal processes, it is imperative for the government to intervene in a timely manner to preserve the community's original public value orientation and sense of place. This study enriches research on gentrification in the digital age by incorporating the factor of social media, and provides references for the renewal and management of urban space in the context of stock development.

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 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 homestay industry, an essential component of rural tourism, plays a crucial role in promoting the rural industries and realizing rural revitalization strategies. Female homestay owners, as important participants in this industry, have driven the development of rural tourism and the homestay sector and benefited from it. Therefore, further research is necessary to explore how female homestay owners leverage their feminine traits to become rural tourism elites, thus becoming a significant force in developing and revitalizing rural homestays. This study considerd 30 female homestay owners in Guangdong Province as research subjects, combines the four core principles of life course theory, and employs interviews and thematic analysis to explore the bidirectional interaction mechanism between the growth of female homestay owners and the development of rural homestays. This study divides the driving forces of female homestay owner growth into personal agency, accumulation of past resources, socio-historical conditions, and social relationship networks, thereby analyzing the growth path of female homestay owners. The results indicate that female homestay owners are key in promoting rural tourism development. Under certain socio-historical conditions, they actively exercise personal agency; integrate accumulated resources with family, social, and governmental relationship networks; obtain elite status; respond to rural development needs at different stages; and contribute to developing rural tourism and the homestay industry while achieving personal growth. In the exploration phase, they rely on developing rural tourism, seizing opportunities using social relationship networks, promoting the number of homestays, improving rural living environments, and responding actively to rural homestay development needs. In the foundation-building phase, they use accumulated resources and business experience to weave social relationship networks, drive outstanding homestay practitioners, and meet the need for standardization and branding in rural homestays. In the formation phase, they return to rural tourism, shape social images, pursue social recognition, address homestay clustering and branding issues, and promote exemplary development in the rural homestay industry. The feminine traits of female homestay owners play a vital role in this process; they use traits such as affinity, delicacy, and sensitivity to enhance homestays' competitiveness and customer satisfaction, create a warm accommodation environment, and keenly capture market changes. The traditional role of women in family structures influences homestay owners' career choices. They achieved economic independence through homestay businesses, enhanced their say in the family, and supported their families. In terms of care ethics, they focus on women's development, improving the employment situation of rural women, offering training and support, promoting economic independence and self-development of rural women, and contributing to rural revitalization. This study, from the perspective of integrating micro-individuals with macro-society, provides a reference for clarifying the formation and evolution mechanism of the positive interaction between local elites and local development, offers a new perspective for understanding the role of female homestay owners in rural revitalization, and provides a rich set of empirical data and a theoretical framework for future research.

China's urban development is currently in the new stage of upgrading existing resources. In response to the insufficient innovation vitality of existing spaces in current urban renewal practices, major cities have successively implemented the "City Silicon Alley" project, attempting to explore new paths for the innovative development of existing spaces in old urban areas. This study used the Nanjing Jinchuan Silicon Alley as a typical case, combined with the Actor-network theory, through qualitative methods, such as on-site observation and in-depth interviews. The study analyzed the spatial evolution process of the Jinchuan Silicon Alley and conducted a dialectical assessment of its spatial effectiveness, summarizing the multidimensional promoting effects of urban renewal on material and social spaces, thereby providing experience references for the in-depth construction of urban silicon alleys. The research concludes the following: (1) The Jinchuan Silicon Alley realizes spatial innovation through the combined force of market capital and policy systems. As a key actor, the Silicon Alley operator takes on capital power and completes the identity transformation. Through various means, such as creating cultural landscapes and developing industrial chains, it promotes the reconfiguration of the action network and shapes a material space with a prominent innovative vitality atmosphere, significant scientific and technological clusters, and diverse social group integration. (2) The development mechanism of the Jinchuan Silicon Alley is based on the leading role of superior innovation policies, actively exploring potential key actors and practical places and requiring the government and operator to coordinate the diverse needs of internal action subjects, leveraging the feedback effect of human and non-human action subjects on the action network, while adopting community-based operation governance ideas to ensure the completion and long-term stable development of the Jinchuan Silicon Alley. (3) The success of the Jinchuan Silicon Alley relies on government guidance, emphasizing the use of market mechanisms to promote urban renewal. Through the "up and down linkage" role of the operator in innovation policies, capital markets, and community residents, it builds an operation model of "industry recruitment + diversified sharing," achieving old city industrial renewal and coexistence of diverse populations, and weakening the spatial isolation induced by gentrification. This study supplements the empirical research on the transformation of existing spaces into innovative spaces from a micro perspective, proving that as a type of alternative path for urban renewal, the internal operation logic of "City Silicon Alley" must possess the traditional renewal "government-market-society" operation mechanism, rely on the overall planning of the market operator, and actively consider the spatial rights of disadvantaged groups, such as community residents. Future research should focus on internal population differences and the social promotion paths of innovative space renovation, promoting the high-quality development of urban silicon alleys.

During the current critical stage in China's urbanization transition from rapid expansion to high-quality development, stock planning and renewal strategies have become important topics that drive urban sustainability. Urban villages, as remnants of rapid urbanization, pose major challenges to urban governance owing to their complex spatial forms, socioeconomic structures, and disconnection from the mainstream urban system. The government has implemented multidimensional measures such as policy guidance, environmental remediation, and industrial upgrading, which have achieved certain results in addressing urban villages. However, issues such as a lack of development momentum, insufficient self-renewal capabilities, and low integration with the city remain. The successful transformation of Gaopu Village in Xiamen City is a valuable example of an autonomous development path for urban villages. We focused on the transformation practices used in Gaopu Village to determine the underlying reasons behind the village transformation. An analytical model was constructed that comprehensively considered dynamic policy, market, and culture mechanisms, as well as exploring their impacts on the development of Gaopu Village and the changes in interactive relationships among the three factors. The benign development of Gaopu Village was found to have benefited from synergy between policy, market mechanisms, and local culture. Government policies, as external driving forces, provide directional guidance and resource support to Gaopu Village, injecting new vitality. Market mechanisms, particularly the establishment of the Xinglin Industrial Zone, increased tourism while industrial upgrading enhanced the economic level of Gaopu Village and facilitated the optimization of spatial functions. In addition, the profound local culture in Gaopu Village, including historical memory, community identity, and values, had an implicit stabilizing role in the transformation, which strengthened the villagers' sense of belonging and cohesion and promoted the coordination of multiple interests and consensus formation. When market driving forces weaken or the external environment changes, local culture transformed into an endogenous driving force that supported the sustained development of the village, which allowed it to achieve modern transformation while preserving its unique characteristics. The transformation of Gaopu Village offers important insights for other urban villages: to achieve benign and autonomous development, it is necessary to explore and fully utilize intrinsic resources, particularly cultural resources, and construct a transformation mechanism where internal and external dynamics mutually reinforce and synergize each other. This study not only enriches the theoretical framework of urban village transformation and development but also provides practical guidance for urban planners, policymakers, and community managers. The findings provide new perspectives for exploring the harmonious coexistence of cultural inheritance and modern governance in urban villages, emphasize the importance of self-renewal capabilities in urban villages, and offer valuable lessons for future urban governance.

Coastal nebkhas are an important component of coastal sand dune ecosystems, widely distributed at varying scales, and the key subject of coastal aeolian geomorphology research. This paper systematically reviewed the morphological characteristics, developmental evolution, and dynamic processes of coastal nebkhas, summarizing the major advancements in research and technical methods both domestically and internationally. Key findings include: the establishment of dune developmental stages based on the correlation of dune morphological parameters (horizontal scale and height); the volume of coastal nebkhas is related to wind and sand activity, ocean dynamics, and biological factors; the dune formation mechanism is a coupled process consisting of wind-driven dynamics, sand source supply, and vegetation stabilization, with coastal environments indirectly influencing dunes through vegetation and wind-sand interactions; the relative importance of different factors varies across regions during dune development; airflow and its interaction with shrub dunes exhibit significant differences in various dune parts, with windward slopes generating reflective eddies that enhance wind speed, and leeward slopes forming horizontal and vertical vortices. Vegetation species type, coverage, density, and distribution all affect near-surface wind-sand movement, with the highest sand deposition typically occurring near vegetation on the windward slopes, where sand transport decreases. A technical approach combining observational and simulation studies has shaped the research, especially with the recent application of new technologies, such as Unmanned Aerial Vehicle measurement systems and computer simulations, which have significantly advanced the study of coastal nebkha morphology, airflow structure, and sediment transport patterns. However, current research faces three main limitations: an incomplete understanding of the development mechanisms of coastal nebkhas, and a need for deeper exploration into their dynamic mechanisms. In the future, the focus should be on combining traditional observations with modern emerging technologies to strengthen the study of the main limiting factors and their interaction mechanisms during the formation and development of nebkhas and deepen the understanding of their formation and development mechanisms in China. Through comprehensive field surveys, typical investigations, and morphological measurements of key distribution areas of coastal shrub dunes, multi-scale, long-term, continuous dynamic monitoring should be conducted. It is important to analyze the formation and evolution mechanisms of coastal nebkhas in different regions, providing a scientific basis for cross-regional dune management and protection. A comprehensive study of the joint action mechanisms of wind dynamics, hydrodynamics, particle adhesion, and biological forces is essential to reveal the spatiotemporal dynamic evolution patterns of coastal nebkhas in China, both annually and inter-annually. Furthermore, the influence mechanisms of vegetation ecological processes, human activities, and climate change on coastal nebkhas should be emphasized, addressing the gaps in domestic research and improving the research framework for coastal aeolian geomorphology in China.