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The development of rural area in suburban (RAS) is comprehensively influenced by the mixed processes of non-farming, local urbanization and rural industrialization and has distinctive multifunctional features on the socioeconomic and resource utilization. Multifunctional reconstruction in the RAS is mainly manifested by changes in the quantity and structure of the construction land use (CLU). We took Tongshan District of Jiangsu Province as the study case. Following the logic of identifying, clustering, and diagnosing, we assessed the functional features of CLU and analyzed the differentiation of the scale and structure of CLU in RAS, with the aim of identifying the types and characteristics of multifunctional development in these regions. This study found that: 1) typical RAS were experiencing multifunctional space reconstruction, and their multifunctional value was emerging and highlighted. The CLU was rapidly expanding, and the types of CLU were evolving from single to multiple uses; 2) based on the dominant function of diverse rural CLU, we classified RAS into five types, dominated by the following functions, respectively: commercial services, industrial production, residential living, basic support and public service; 3) according to the dominant function and spatial pattern, the development types of RAS were classified into agricultural service, comprehensive services, and integrated industries service, showing a circular spatial pattern from the suburbs to distant suburbs. The results can provide policy implication by creating new development impetus from rural multifunction perspective to promote the RAS revitalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Cities need to build on their resilience to cope with a broad range of natural and manmade hazards that threaten their competitiveness, livability, and functionality. Recognizing this need, the resilience concept is increasingly used as an organizing principle to guide research design and facilitate a more informed decision-making process. However, despite the abundance of studies on urban resilience, research on the link between urban form and resilience is limited and fragmented. This study sheds more light on this issue by reviewing and synthesizing theoretical and empirical evidence on how physical structure of cities can facilitate or hinder urban resilience. Acknowledging that each city is located within a nested hierarchy of scales that is characterized by cross-scale dynamics, only the macro-level aspects and elements of urban form are analyzed in this paper. These are namely 'scale hierarchy', 'city size', 'development type', 'degree of clustering', and 'landscape/habitat connectivity'. Key criteria and indicators for analyzing resilience of each element/aspect are specified and used to discuss how macro-scale urban form is related to various resilience properties such as robustness, redundancy, resourcefulness, modularity, flexibility, adaptability, and efficiency. Findings indicate that urban form has major implications for social, ecological, and economic functionality of cities and can play a key role in enhancing their resilience and sustainability. Highlights • The relationship between urban form and resilience is explored. • Macro-level urban form elements have significant bearing on resilience of cities. • Compact and poly-centric urban development improves resilience various threats. • Landscape connectivity enhances capacities like adaptability, diversity and redundancy. • Further empirical evidence on the link between urban form and resilience is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]