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Analysis of the spatial patterns and dynamics of tourism services and facilities is crucial for tourism and land use planning. However, most studies in the spatial analysis of tourism rely on the city- or regional-level data; limited research has used POI (point of interest) data to accurately uncover the spatial distribution of tourism, especially its interactive and coupling relationship with the local economy and population. Based on POI data, this paper, therefore, investigates the spatial patterns and driving forces of tourism services distribution and how tourism space is coupled with the local economy and population in the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) of China. The results show the following: (1) Different categories of tourism services (catering, shopping, scenic spots, leisure, and sports) exhibit diverse spatial patterns and agglomerations, but they tend to align with the variables of economic level and population in a grid of 1 km2. (2) The spatial econometric models further reveal that population density, transportation, and hospitality facilities are positively correlated with the spatial distribution of tourism services, but GDP in a grid of 1 km2 shows a weak negative correlation with the POI of tourism services, which may be attributed to the incoordination between GDP and tourism in some areas. (3) The analysis of coupling degree further identifies the areas where tourism services have good interaction/coupling with the local GDP and population density, such that these areas can be viewed as hotspots suitable for tourism promotion. This paper thus offers meaningful policy implications by calling for an optimization of the coupling of tourism services with local social–economic factors in the GBA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the economic development within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area from two perspectives--spatial pattern and influencing factors--to promote coordinated development across the area. This paper employs Moran's I test and local Getis-Ord G statistic from spatial statistics. Furthermore, it constructs a hierarchical spatial econometric model to facilitate empirical investigation. It is found that the overall economic development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area exhibits a "mountain-shaped" spatial pattern of the high-level homogeneous regions with "high-high correlation" and the low-level homogeneous regions with "low-low correlation." The internal difference in economic density is moderate, with an obvious trend of decrease year by year. Economic density shows a significant spatial positive correlation, with the expansion of the scope of areas exhibiting "high-high correlation." The differences in economic density between hotspots and sub-hotspots have decreased, but the economic density of cold spots has failed to keep up with the development of other regions. The difference in factor input density among the influencing factors explains most of the differences in economic density among different regions. The results from the R&D capital investment coefficient indicate that in recent years, the effect of investments in urban scientific and technological innovation factors has been more extensive and uniform among the regions under its jurisdiction, but the spatial spillover effect of innovation factors at both layers is not significantly positive. Apart from the city's location within the Greater Bay Area, the relative location of the jurisdictions within the city equally influences the economic development configuration of the Greater Bay Area. Although economic density in regions adjacent to cities outside the Greater Bay Area is notably lower than in other regions, their growth rate and production efficiency remain on par with other regions. T-test and model results underscore the rapid development of the areas encircling the bay. The coefficient of location dummy variables in areas adjacent to cities in the Greater Bay Area varies among cities. At a particular factor input density, some cities have higher output efficiency in areas contiguous to cities in the Greater Bay Area. This study uniquely adopts low-level city jurisdictions and high-level cities to shape a two-tiered hierarchical dataset with nested geographic units. This innovative approach fully leverages insights from distinct layers, delving into spatial interdependence and interplay across layers. This paper aims to explore the spatial pattern and influencing factors steering economic development in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. In doing so, it aims to identify problems and present pertinent policy recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This special issue sets out to revisit major bilingual and multilingual education policy and planning issues in key cities across the dynamic Greater Bay Area (GBA) of China (including Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macau), as informed by the emerging insights from translanguaging theory (Li in Appl Linguist 39(1):9–30, 2018). Specifically, contributions are invited from the GBA and beyond to trace the milestone developments of relevant language policy and planning (LPP) initiatives featuring governmental policies on the language of instruction (e.g., English as Medium of Instruction, Chinese as Medium of Instruction) and the daily use of multiple linguistic resources or repertoires (e.g., language learner's L1 or mother tongue) in foreign/second language classrooms and/or in content-based classroom instruction. As such, major papers in the special issue not only set out to provide historical and analytical reviews of these related LPP issues across Hong Kong, Macau, and Guangdong Province but also reflect upon the language use and behaviors of the residents, showcasing their identity and attitudes and ideological stance toward the multiple languages that are being taught or used in daily life. Toward the end, we outline our research agendas for future endeavors in broader domains in the GBA and beyond through the translanguaging analytical tools. Overall, our position is that the GBA presents itself as an evolving, complex, and superdiverse zone of "Translanguaging Spaces" within which key LPP issues may need to be reconceptualized and implemented in such a way so as to fully reflect the dynamic and fluid multilingual, multicultural, and multisemiotic lived reality of the residents in this megapolis region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As one of the four major bay areas in the world, the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) is a highly integrated mega urban agglomeration and its unparalleled urbanization has induced prominent land contradictions between humans and nature, which hinders its sustainability and has become the primary concern in this region. In this paper, we probed the historical characteristics of land use and land cover change (LUCC) in the GBA from 2005 to 2015, and forecasted its future land use pattern for 2030, 2050, and 2070, using a cellular automata–Markov (CA–Markov) model, under three typical tailored scenarios, i.e., urban development (UD), cropland protection (CP), and ecology security (ES), for land use optimization. The major findings are as follows: (1) The encroachments of build-up land on the other land uses under rapid urbanization accounted for the leading forces of LUCCs in the past decade. Accordingly, the urban sprawl was up to 1441.73 km2 (23.47%), with cropland, forest land, and water areas reduced by 570.77 km2 (4.38%), 526.05 km2 (1.76%), and 429.89 km2 (10.88%), respectively. (2) Based on the validated CA–Markov model, significant differences are found in future land use patterns under multiple scenarios, with the discrepancy magnified over time and driven by different orientations. (3) Through comprehensive comparisons and tradeoffs, the ES scenario mode seems optimal for the GBA in the next decades, which optimizes the balance between socio-economic development and ecological protection. These results serve as an early warning for future land problems and can be applied to land use management and policy formulation to promote the sustainable development of the GBA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the face of an increasingly complex and unstable external development environment, enhancing economic resilience has become a key task in the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. This paper analyzes the changes in the economic resilience of the Guangdong-Hong Kong- Macao Greater Bay Area and its constituent cities after the 2008 global financial crisis by virtue of the regional economic resilience assessment method proposed by Martin et al. It constructs an economic connection network for the Guangdong-Hong Kong- Macao Greater Bay Area using the data from corporate headquarters and branches of A-share listed companies to analyze its impact on the economic resilience of the Area. The study reveals the three following conclusions. Firstly, the economic resilience of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area generally outperforms the national average level, seeing a rapid boost over the recent years and exceeding the level witnessed during the 2008 financial crisis. However, there are marked disparities in the economic resilience of various cities within the Greater Bay Area, with Shenzhen, Guangzhou, and Dongguan emerging as the most robust in this regard. Secondly, the economic connection network has a positive impact on the economic resilience of the cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Specifically, there is a positive correlation between a city's economic resilience and its centrality in the economic connection network. Such centrality exerts a positive spillover effect on the economic resilience of surrounding cities. Thirdly, from the perspective of industry-specific networks, circulation and service industry networks are more conducive to improving the economic resilience of a city. Given the significant role of the economic connection network in shaping regional and urban economic resilience, it is imperative for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to prioritize ensuring economic development security and enhancing economic resilience, promote the development of the economic connection network, and enhance the network centrality of its constituent cities. This can improve the economic resilience of itself and its constituent cities in an effective manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area comprises a regional economy encompassing nine cities located in the Pearl River Delta region, in addition to the two special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macao. The process of regional economic integration within the Guangdong-Hong Kong- Macao Greater Bay Area traces its origins back to the commencement of China's reform and opening up policies in 1978. It evolves from an initially spontaneous collaborative model, where front-end commercial activities are paired with rear-end manufacturing facilities, to a deliberate form of collaboration underpinned by institutional interventions. This paper examines the fundamental characteristics of the regional economic integration within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. It specifically delves into an extensive analysis of the construction and development of this area. The discussion encompasses four significant theoretical and practical facets that shape the progress of the Greater Bay Area's construction. These aspects include the synchronization of market integration within the Greater Bay Area, the harmonization of institutional frameworks, the convergence of the eastern and western sections of the Pearl River Estuary, and the amalgamation of regional innovations. Furthermore, the paper engages in an exploration of strategies designed to propel the advancement of the Greater Bay Area's development. These strategies encompass collaborative initiatives, such as the joint development of the Shenzhen-Hong Kong adjacent region, the cooperative advancement of Hengqin Island by Zhuhai and Macao, the approach to integrating adjacent areas, and the interlock strategy aiming to connect the two pivotal urban centers of Guangzhou and Shenzhen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (the Greater Bay Area, the GBA) aims to facilitate in-depth cooperation among the Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao regions to create a world-class bay area-based urban agglomeration. This endeavor seeks to guide China's economy toward high-quality development and comprehensive opening-up. This paper examines the challenges and obstacles faced by Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao regarding regional coordinated development, thus putting forward the following standpoints. It proposes enhancing infrastructure interconnectivity to establish the GBA 1-hour Express Traffic Circle, thereby driving the construction of a world-class international shipping and logistics hub. Furthermore, the paper advocates for establishing an industrial collaborative development system in the GBA, jointly creating a pilot zone for industrial transformation and upgrading, and further advancing market integration. Creating an international innovation corridor and innovation center for science and technology (S&T) industry is also essential. This initiative would center around critical sectors, improving S&T innovation chain, and building a talent cooperation demonstration zone. The paper also emphasizes the establishment of a transport and logistics hub for the Belt and Road Initiative, along with the joint development of a cultural, economic, and trade exchange platform under the "Belt and Road" framework. Leveraging the comparative advantages of the three regions, the paper underscores the importance of innovative collaboration models, fostering a mutually beneficial and complementary mechanism for synergistic development. These approaches aim to realize the integrated and innovative development of the GBA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Severe Typhoon Koinu passed south of Hong Kong on 8 and 9 October 2023, triggering the issuance of the Increasing Gale or Storm Signal No. 9, the second highest tropical cyclone (TC) warning signal in Hong Kong. Koinu was a difficult case for TC warning service due to its compact size and rather erratic movement over the coastal waters of Guangdong. To monitor Koinu's movement and wind structure, the Hong Kong Observatory utilized various observational platforms, including meteorological aircraft, ocean radar, and synthetic aperture radar on polar orbiting satellites. The paper presents major observations derived from these measurements. The aircraft probe and dropsonde data suggested boundary layer inflow, warm core structure, eyewall updraft, and high turbulence in the eyewall of the typhoon. The weather radar observations indicated the occurrence of a waterspout in the vicinity of the typhoon. Additionally, the study highlights the forecasting performance of the AI‐based Pangu‐Weather model, which could outperform the conventional global numerical weather prediction models in forecasting TC track in the region. The documentation of these observations aims to provide valuable references for weather forecasters and stimulate further research on forecasting this type of tropical cyclone. Key Points: Observations from meteorological aircraft, ocean radar, and synthetic aperture radar show the structure of Severe Typhoon KoinuWeather radar observations suggest the occurrence of a waterspout in the vicinity of KoinuAI‐based Pangu‐Weather model could outperform the conventional global numerical weather prediction models in forecasting Koinu's track [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to improve the analysis effect of traditional arts and crafts, this paper analyzes traditional arts and crafts combined with digital technology, builds an intelligent analysis system to improve the digital processing effect of traditional arts and crafts, and takes the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area as an example to verify the system effect. In order to improve the accuracy of subsequent image alignment and defect detection, this paper compares the effects of the pixel-level edge detection algorithm and the subpixel-level edge detection algorithm and finally selects the subpixel-based edge detection algorithm to extract the edge of the image. In addition, this paper compares the traditional defect detection algorithm through research and experiment and proposes an improved image phase difference method according to the actual situation. The experimental research shows that the traditional arts and crafts intelligent analysis system based on digital technology proposed in this paper has a very good effect. At the same time, with the support of this system, the intelligent analysis of traditional arts and crafts in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area can be carried out efficiently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies financing constraints of small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area from the perspective of supply chain finance and examines how the supply chain finance affects the financing of SMEs. First, based on the cash‐cash flow sensitivity model, a multiple regression model is constructed. The results show that the supply chain finance could alleviate the financing constraints of SMEs. Second, a multi‐objective programming model is established, and an optimal solution is found by the genetic algorithm. It is concluded that the enterprise should allocate the appropriate amount of funds to obtain the optimal financing effect; to obtain the maximum financing benefit, the optimal strategy should be 65.2% of the supply chain finance capital. Finally, some suggestions are proposed forward to promote the development of SMEs in the bay area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (the Greater Bay Area) has injected new impetus into the development of the tourism economy and created new emerging tourism industries. Therefore, many tourism planning needs to be formulated, which generates new requirements for tourism planners in terms of quantity and quality of tourism planning. Different stakeholders have different views on the needs of tourism planners. From the perspective of different stakeholders, what are the factors affecting the training needs of tourism planners? There is little research on the training needs of tourism planners from the perspective of stakeholders. Most of the existing research on the training needs of tourism planners derive only from the perspective of students or the ones from supply and demand, rather than from multiple stakeholders. This paper aims to construct a conceptual framework identifying factors affecting the training needs of tourism planners from stakeholders' perspective. A qualitative method (semi-structured interviews) is applied in this study to investigate the factors affecting the supply and demand of tourism planners in the Great Bay Area. The results show educators focus on market demand, working competence and teacher resources. Enterprises are concerned about the tourism policy, market demand, educational requirements and working competence. Students focus on employment motivation and working competence. Market demand is a common concern of educators and enterprises. Working competence is a factor of common interest to all stakeholders. This paper also proposes theoretical and practical implications for the government, tourism planning companies, and tourism universities and students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper took the social exchange and social cognitive perspectives to examine the effects between job values and organizational socialization and how to play a mediation in career exploration and moderating effect in demographic characteristics. The research collected 700 valid samples of the youth of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area for statistical analysis and then subjected them to job value scale, career exploration, and organizational socialization scale. With structural equation model and correlation analysis, it verified that the proposed scale had demonstrated acceptable reliability and validity, a theoretical model of a good overall fit. In the final part, this paper used hierarchical regression analysis and path analysis. The results indicated that career exploration plays a mediation role between job value and organizational socialization, demographic characteristics are moderating effect between job value and career exploration, and demographic characteristics make a moderating effect between career exploration and organizational socialization, but demographic characteristics are not moderated on work value and organizational socialization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Guangdong‐Hong Kong‐Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), a cluster of world‐class cities, is undergoing rapid urbanization. However, the heterogeneity of the urban thermal environment resulting from the diversity of urban forms is not yet fully understood. This paper assesses the heterogeneity of the urban heat island (UHI) effect in the GBA using the coupled Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model/multi‐layer urban canopy and building energy model (BEP/BEM), with high‐resolution local climate zone (LCZ) map as urban land use/land cover data. The average UHI intensity is found to peak at 1.8 ± 0.4°C in the evening, when the average UHI intensity of LCZ 2 can reach a maximum of 2.4 ± 0.58°C. Properly setting air‐conditioning temperatures can effectively prevent the enhancement of the UHI phenomenon at night by the anthropogenic heat (AH) released from air‐conditioning. The UHI‐induced local circulations and enhanced surface roughness inhibit the penetration of sea breezes inland, and surface wind speed decreases in all LCZs, with a maximum change of more than 0.8 m s−1. However, the increased thermal difference between land and sea leads to enhanced sea breezes offshore, especially in the Pearl River estuary. In addition, a series of sensitivity experiments have been conducted in this paper on initial and boundary conditions, building drag coefficients and urban fractions, which paves the way for further analyzing urban climate in GBA using WRF model and LCZs. Plain Language Summary: With the rapid urbanization of the world, the demand for functional buildings has increased. Along with the diversification of urban forms, the differences in the thermal environment within cities are becoming more and more significant. This study therefore provides an in‐depth study of the urban thermal environment in the Guangdong‐Hong Kong‐Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) based on numerical simulation and local climate zones (LCZs). It was found that the urban heat island (UHI) intensity in different urban forms has obvious differences, and may vary by 1°C. However, the daily variation trends are similar, all showing a stronger UHI intensity at night than during the day, and reasonable setting of air‐conditioning temperature can effectively mitigate the UHI intensity at night. The UHI‐induced local circulations and enhanced surface roughness weaken the surface wind speed and inhibit the penetration of sea breeze inland, but enhance the sea breezes offshore, especially in the Pearl River estuary. This study provides references for urban planning and future sustainable development, especially for areas located along the coast that are undergoing rapid development. In addition, a series of sensitivity experiments on initial and boundary conditions, building drag coefficients and urban fractions provide useful suggestions for numerical model configuration in the GBA. Key Points: Tests of initial and boundary conditions, building drag coefficient and urban fractions provide recommendations for Weather Research and Forecasting configurationUrban heat island (UHI) varies between different local climate zones, but all peak in evening, and proper setting of air‐conditioning temperatures can mitigate UHI at nightUrbanization weakens surface wind speeds and inhibits the penetration of sea breezes inland, but strengthens the sea breezes offshore [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Synergistic development is the only way which must be passed and a key point to achieve high-quality economic development. This paper regards regional synergetic development as a composite system, builds up the evaluation indicator system, and calculates the level of economic synergetic development of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Urban Agglomeration, by using the collaborative degree model of composite system. The results show that each subsystem of the composite system has a high degree of order from 2007 to 2019, but compared with Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration and Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration, the level of economic collaborative development of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area urban agglomeration in 2008–2019 is relatively low and has large spatial differences. The main reason is that under the background of "one country, two systems" policy, the institutional differences between Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao have not been effectively linked up and synergetic, Greater Bay Area urban agglomeration has not yet formed an organic whole, and the synergy effect of mutual support and promotion is relatively weak. Based on this, we should seize the great historical opportunity of the construction of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, accelerate the construction of the mechanism for the synergetic economic development of the three areas, accelerate the establishment of an integrated market, build a reasonable division of labor system and collaborative innovation system, and jointly promote the synergetic economic development of Greater Bay Area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collaborative innovation can promote scientific productivity and the development of clean technology and thus has a great potential in constraining the ecological footprint. However, current studies on the impact of collaborative innovation on ecological footprint are insufficient, and results remain controversial. To better understand these impacts, this paper took Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area of China as a case, estimated the ecological footprint at the municipal level from 2008 to 2018, measured collaborative innovation both from four dimensions and from a composite approach, then applied threshold regression models to compare the impact of collaborative innovation on the ecological footprint across different economic intervals. The findings showed that: the ecological footprint of the Greater Bay Area displayed an overall upward trend with prominent spatial heterogeneity. The impact of collaborative innovation on the ecological footprint presented a double-threshold effect when examined with different indicators. Among which, the flow of scientific personnel and capital boosted the ecological footprint, which intensified with economic development, while collaboration in technology exerted significant inhibitory effects on ecological footprint, and the influence of inter-city knowledge collaboration was limited. Overall, collaborative innovation inhibited ecological footprint when measured by a composite index. This might inspire policymakers to adopt sustainable strategies depending on the type of collaborative innovation and the economic status of the city to constrain growth of the ecological footprint, thus minimizing the pressures of human activities on the environment and moving towards a more carbon neutral society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the continuous development of the economy, the trade volume of customs clearance by land transportation between Guangdong and Hong Kong is increasing, but there are many problems in customs clearance by land transportation between Guangdong and Hong Kong. Therefore, it is necessary to start with the logistics mode of land transportation between Guangdong and Hong Kong, reduce the cost of customs clearance by land transportation between Guangdong and Hong Kong, and increase the trade volume by land transportation between the two places. This paper systematically analyzes the present situation of customs clearance efficiency in China and introduces BPNN (BP neural network) algorithm to optimize customs clearance. The detailed idea and process of the algorithm are introduced, and the BPNN trained by the algorithm is applied to function approximation. The simulation results show that this scheme can not only improve the convergence speed of the algorithm in the training process but also the trained BPNN has strong adaptive and self-learning ability. Comparing the customs clearance efficiency before and after the improvement, the results show that the improved customs clearance efficiency is higher and can save a lot of time, thus verifying the effectiveness and applicability of the model-solving algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. To carry out the research on the vulnerability evaluation and influencing factors of the tourism economic system is the objective requirement of formulating the scientific development strategy of the tourism economy and improving the quality of regional tourism development. Methods. Based on the vulnerability analysis of tourism economic system based on BP neural network (BPNN), this paper takes the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) as the research object and selects 14 index data. The mean and standard deviation of the calculated weight values are used to formulate evaluation criteria for the tourism system. Results. The BP neural network (BPNN) model was used to predict the distribution law of vulnerability data within the standard range of the Greater Bay Area after 2020, obtained the spatial distribution law of vulnerability in the geographic structure distribution of the Greater Bay Area, and determined the vulnerability analysis framework and evaluation method. Conclusion. The cities in the Greater Bay Area should first pay attention to the industrial structure; increase financial investment; enhance the attractiveness of tourist destinations, in-depth development of tourism resources, and rational design of tourism products; help reduce the vulnerability of the tourism economic system; and improve regional self-recovery capabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regional tourism with urban agglomeration as the spatial carrier has become one of the flow characteristics of many tourists. Tourists visiting multiple cities at one time will certainly gain more value than visiting one city, but they will also pay more costs, thus affecting their emotions and willingness to travel. But the mechanism and theoretical boundaries have not been clarified. Based on the cognitive–affective–behavioral attitude model and the customer-delivered-value model, this paper takes the tourism destination tourists of the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area urban agglomeration as samples to explore the influence mechanism of tourists' perceived functional value, social value and knowledge value on positive emotion and travel intention, and to test the moderating mediating effect of monetary cost, energy cost and psychological cost on positive emotion. Social value and knowledge value positively affect travel intention. Functional value, knowledge value and social value positively affect positive emotion, and positive emotion positively affect travel intention. Positive emotion plays a complete mediating role between functional value, social value and travel intention, and plays a partial mediating role between knowledge value and travel intention. Monetary cost, energy cost and psychological cost respectively moderate the mediating effect of positive emotion between functional value and travel intention. Psychological cost moderates the mediating effect of positive emotion between social value and travel intention. Monetary cost and psychological cost respectively moderate the mediating effect of positive emotion between knowledge value and travel intention. Differences in the impact of consumers' perceived value at different levels on positive emotion and travel intentions. It opens up the differences in the effects of the interaction of different levels of perceived value and different types of perceived cost on positive emotion. From an empirical point of view, it is proved that the tourism boutique line design based on multicity destination combination in China is feasible as a method to promote tourism integration and regional tourism brand building. It also puts forward the management enlightenment of regional tourism integration and regional tourism brand building from the perspectives of enterprises, front-line service personnel, residents and government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area urban agglomeration, one of the world's four largest bay area urban agglomerations, occupies an important position in China's national development. In this paper, the expansion hotspot model, an urbanization index, a gravitation model, and a socioeconomic location model are used to explore changes in the characteristics of the urban agglomeration in the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area. The research results can provide decision support for government urban agglomeration planning. The research reveals the following. (1) In the skeleton maps of the expansion hotspots in the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area, Jiangmen shows an irregular shape, Shenzhen shows an irregular H-shape, Dongguan and Hong Kong show a shape somewhat between a circle and a star, Zhongshan shows a gourd-shape, and Guangzhou, Foshan, Huizhou, Zhaoqing, and Zhuhai show a polygon shape. (2) In 2000, 2010, and 2018, the urbanization index for the urban agglomerations were 41.78%, 50.87%, and 54.41%, respectively. The level of economic development, household registration policy, and urban planning are important factors affecting the development of urbanization. (3) The city quality and spatial connection strength of urban agglomeration have significant spatial nonequilibrium distribution characteristics. The total city quality of Shenzhen, Hong Kong, and Guangzhou accounted for more than 41.5% of the total city quality of the city cluster at the same time, and that of the east coast of the Pearl River is much stronger than the west coast. (4) There are "faults" in the socioeconomic location of the 11 cities in the urban agglomeration, with significant polarization. The socioeconomic locations of Jiangmen, Huizhou, and Zhaoqing have been below the reasonable socioeconomic location range in the past 20 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transmitting traditional music for sustainability has been a common theme in global music education. Recently, the school systems of Hong Kong and Guangdong have been encouraged by governmental authorities to teach Cantonese opera aiming at enhancing the sustainability of the genre and promote a Chinese cultural identity within students. This paper details a survey of school music teachers working in Hong Kong and Guangdong examining the current state of Cantonese opera teaching in the schools of both regions and investigate how it is affected by teacher variables including their interest in Chinese opera, the confidence in teaching the subject, and their perceptions of their Chinese cultural identities. A total of 1,974 valid questionnaires were received and examined. Descriptive and inferential statistics including MANOVA and chi-square tests were used to analyze the data. Findings reveal that Cantonese opera teaching is limited in both regions. While teachers are modestly interested, confident, and knowledgeable about teaching the genre, there is a significant relationship between the music backgrounds of teachers and their interest in Cantonese opera. The article discusses the findings within the context of a historical predominance of Western music within music education curricula and wider societies. Implications for policy makers are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Catalyzed by global change and human activities, social and ecosystems are constantly under increasingly dynamic transformations. The Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macau Greater Bay Area (GBA), bordering the South China Sea and located in the Pearl River Delta Plain, is a typical region of complex SESs with rapid socioeconomic development but severe ecosystem degradation. Therefore, based on the relevant data of 11 GBA cities from 2010–2020, this paper constructs an indicator system for assessing land–sea SESs by extracting from three aspects: exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity. Through the construction of a vulnerability assessment indicator system, via the explicit spatial vulnerability indicator calculation model, and vulnerability factor diagnostic model, this study comprehensively analyzes vulnerability levels, spatiotemporal evolution, and SES vulnerability factors. The study found that, since 2010, the SES vulnerability of the GBA has shown an overall trend of alleviation, and the overall geographical distribution of classified vulnerability levels is rather concentrated, with cities around the Pearl River Estuary relatively less vulnerable. The augmentation of per-capita fiscal expenditure, per-capita gross regional product, and decent air quality rate are the critical ingredients to remedy the vulnerability in the GBA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coastal areas are usually considered as pioneering areas for economic development and reform due to their unique geographical locations and ecological conditions. Correspondingly, rapid urbanization in coastal urban agglomerations has resulted in population concentration and land use/cover change (LUCC), leading to the decline of habitat quality and biodiversity. However, few studies have quantitatively explored the impacts of urban agglomeration expansion in coastal zones on habitat quality. Taking the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao-Great Bay Area (GBA) as a case study, we applied the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Trade-offs (InVEST) model to assess the habitat quality based on land use data obtained from remote sensing images from 1980 to 2020 and developed a geographically weighted regression model to quantitatively analyze the response of habitat quality to urbanization. The results showed that (1) LUCC in the GBA was dramatic from 1980 to 2020, dominated by the shift from various land use types to construction land, which led to increased fragmentation; (2) the overall habitat quality showed a decreasing trend, characterized by low values in the central part and high values in the surrounding area; (3) population and construction land such urbanization elements had a more significantly negative effect on habitat quality changes, while the relationships among slope, road distance, and habitat quality changes were complex. Based on above analysis, this paper suggests that future land management in the GBA should develop in the direction of intensification, refinement, and regional integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ozone (O3) pollution has negative impacts on human health and property. The Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) is facing severe O3 pollution problems due to rapid economic development. In this paper, we used sensitivity experiments and GeoDetector to analyze the effects of meteorological factors, anthropogenic emissions, and landscape patterns on O3 concentrations as well as the contributions of NOx and NMVOC (non-methane volatile organic compounds) to the variation of O3 concentrations and the causes of sectoral emissions in the GBA in 2017. The results revealed that, in GBA, the contribution of meteorology to the variation of O3 concentration was dominant both in terms of region and extent, and the contribution of emissions was relatively weak. The contribution of meteorology and emissions to O3 production was mainly contributory. Meteorology contributed significantly to O3, and its non-linear interaction with anthropogenic emissions and surface landscape affected O3 concentration changes. The degree of contribution of NOx and NMVOC varied widely among seasons, and the variation of their relative contribution areas was related to residential sector emissions and agricultural sector emissions. This article enriches the exploration of the O3 formation mechanism in the GBA and provides theoretical support for the implementation of differentiated regional and seasonal mitigation strategies for O3 concentration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The notion of “agent bookkeeping” was proposed when the “Accounting Law of the People’s Republic of China” was updated in 1993. Since their business is specialized in serving small and micro-enterprises, this has created the industry characteristic of generally small in the size of company and low in the salary of employees in Chinese agent bookkeeping companies. Such characteristic results in a series of problems including negative work attitude of employees in the development process, which seriously limit the development of Chinese agent bookkeeping companies. However, issues occurred in the development of agent bookkeeping, such as negative employee attitudes, which severely hampered the growth of Chinese agent bookkeeping companies. Therefore, a model of three dimensions of work attitude has been set up in this paper to demonstrate the working attitude of the staff of the agent bookkeeping companies in China’s Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, including emotional dimension, behavioral dimension, and cognitive dimension which consists of eight factors: work environment, career satisfaction, interpersonal relationship, role engagement, work vitality, responsibility attitude, emotional identity, and retention attitude. The result indicates that (1) female employees outnumber male ones in agent bookkeeping companies, (2) most employees have a low sense of belonging to the company, (3) limited career development affects employees’ enthusiasm for work, (4) work attitudes are influenced by mediocre work performance among employees with a graduate degree or higher. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) is one of the most active innovation areas in China, but the complex institutional and cultural environment makes innovation cooperation among the cities challenging. Based on 2001–2019 data, this study analyses the spatial pattern and externalities of GBA's knowledge innovation network using a social network method and spatial econometric model. Results show that Guangzhou and Hong Kong have always been the cores of knowledge innovation in network. Shenzhen emerged as an innovation centre after 2012, and other cities have become peripheral areas in the network. Small- and medium-sized cities do not benefit from the innovative development of core cities but are trapped in their agglomeration shadow. Institutional and cultural differences are the main obstacles hindering innovation cooperation between cities. In comparison, distance has fewer limitations on innovation cooperation. The negative externality of knowledge innovation network indicates that this region should narrow the gap of spatial differences, optimise the innovation network pattern to improve the network externalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the background of "one belt, one road initiative" and the "Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area," Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao port group development is facing new opportunities. The port group has a large throughput, covering the hinterland with dense population and high economic density, excellent transportation infrastructure, and broad consumption market. However, the port group internal competition is fierce, and the development level is different in space. Based on this, this paper uses the HHI index and spatial economics as research method and aims to study the spatial evolution characteristics and influencing factors of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao port group. Firstly, the HHI index is used to describe the aggregation status. Secondly, the development level index according to port throughput and container throughput is constructed. The spatial development and evolution process of the port group of Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao is analyzed by combining with spatial econometrics and economic geography. In summary, the influencing factor "diamond model" is constructed and took empirical research to verify its rationality and scientificity. The empirical results show a strong spatial correlation between the development of the Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao port group. The government intervention and the development of port industry have a negative correlation, and this impact will be weakened over time. There is a negative relationship between the level of marketization and the development of the port industry. There is a multiple and complex relationship between the port auxiliary industry and the development of the port industry, and it shows the short-term influence is smaller than the long-term impact. The level of port transportation infrastructure, the port industry competition, and the economic openness have significant and positive effects on the development of the port group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A multiple-airport system (MAS) consists of more than two airports in a metropolitan area under a large block of terminal airspace that is managed by one or two air traffic control units. When the capacity of an airport or of the terminal airspace drops, flight delays occur in the MAS system. A quick estimation and predication of traffic congestion in the MAS is important yet challenging. This paper aims to develop a queuing network model of MAS using point-wise stationary queues. The model analyzes the changes of non-stationary queues under the principle of flow conservation to capture flight delay propagation in the system. Regression analyses are performed to examine the relationship between the arrival and departure efficiencies of different airports. The model is validated with the data of Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area airports. Simulation results show that the model can effectively estimate flight delays in the MAS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the equivalent factor table of terrestrial ESV in China in 2010, this paper proposes a regionalized and interannual ESV correction method. Taking southern Guangzhou as the study area, which is located in the geometric center of the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area (GHM GBA), this study evaluated the ecosystem service equivalent value (ESEV) and ecosystem service value (ESV) and their changes in 2004, 2010 and 2016 and carried out grid processing, trend analysis and global/local spatial autocorrelation of the ecosystem service density (ESD) in the study area by using the Natural Resources Integrated Database of Guangdong Province (NRIDB). The results of data processing and spatial analysis computed in this study were published as Web services through the NRIDB and displayed in the visualization front-end. The results showed that (1) during 2004–2016, the urbanization process in the study area led to the expansion of built-up land, which occupied a large amount of ecological land and resulted in a decreasing trend of ESV. (2) Benefiting from socioeconomic development, the standard value volume of the ESEV (D value) kept increasing, which resulted in an increasing trend for the total ESV. (3) The spatial autocorrelation analysis results of ESD indicated that the spatial distribution of ESD in the study area had strong spatial agglomeration and positive spatial correlation. With the progress of urbanization and increases in research scale and interval distance, the spatial difference in ESD became larger over time. The research results provide a reference for the coordinated allocation of natural resources and environmental protection in the GHM GBA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present era, people are facing enough challenges, either personally or technically, and some people do suffer from having to keep up with the current technological improvements. The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GHKMGBA) is one of the areas that has been highly managed for tourism with economic networks in it. Here, the exploitation results in underground spacing management automate the alleviation process using various methods. Apart from the characterization, it is one such mandatory consideration to create a master plan with the rise of utilization and urban underground spacing planned to be placed among large cities for tourism is considered. This paper focuses on the strategy to understand the concepts and popularisation of urban underground spacing. This matter is followed by a complementary approach with a supportive technical system. This research focuses on economic development in the cities of GHKMGBA, and the analysis is carried out with the implementation of the backpropagation neural network (BPNN). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to summarize the conditions under which participatory art museums and local commercial traditions can have positive and sustained interactions. Design/methodology/approach: The methods include studying the quantity and content of exhibitions in the four cities of the Bay Area, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Shunde, to compare their academic positioning and influence on local commercial production. Through interviewing curators, artists and university scholars who are active in the Bay Area and are invited by the museums on a regular basis, it will let us understand the attitudes from the government, public and capital towards the regional art museums and how these attitudes influence the choice of theme in the participatory art museum practice. Findings: To summarize the findings, the author concludes that a participatory art gallery with commercial production in the Bay Area requires the following: a long tradition of local business and wealth accumulation; a local area is of a size where the community of acquaintances can interact on a regular basis; continued interest of a diverse local elite, including a mix of businessmen and gentry, government officials and various sectors of the public; and museums serving as intermediaries to coordinate the effective integration of the commercial and traditional resources. Originality/value: Participatory approaches and their impacts are a shared area of interest across urban planning, heritage studies and the creative arts. Crucially, solely relying on either the Latin bottom-up community-oriented approach (Barnes, 2003) or the British top-down policy-oriented approach (Heijnen, 2010) did not maximize benefits, though these distinctive two approaches were convinced that museums should play a larger role in becoming agents of contemporary social change. By contrast, in focusing on Chinese Art Museums, this study will explore participatory practice in the Asian context. In doing so, it will not only diversify the emerging literature on the social and economic impacts of arts and heritage organizations but also challenge the Western lens through which participatory approaches are viewed in the interdisciplinary literature. As Lefebvre acknowledged his lack of non-Western regions in his research, this study will offer new perspectives on museology and its contributions to the Production of Space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coordinated development of urban quality and technology innovation is an important element of China's technology innovation development strategy in the new era. Based on entropy TOPSIS, coupling coordination models, the gravity center and standard deviation ellipse method, the geographic probe, the GWR, and other methods, we explore the spatial variation and influencing factors of the coupling coordination relationship between urban quality and technology innovation in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area from 2011 to 2020. It is found that: (1) the spatial distribution of the coupling coordination shows a characteristic of "high in the middle and low in the surroundings," and (2) the level of benign interaction in the central region is becoming more prominent. The center of gravity of coupling coordination moves toward the northeast, and the standard deviation ellipse shows a contraction trend away from the southwest. (3) Agglomeration capacity, human capital, cultural development, and infrastructure can significantly drive the improvement of the coupling coordination of urban quality and technology innovation, and the two-factor influence is significantly increased after the interaction. (4) The feedback effects of the coupling and coordination states of different cities on each factor have significant spatial differences and show the characteristics of hierarchical band distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid development of economy, China's urbanization process is accelerated. As major urban cluster center, Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area is regarded as one of the most representative areas with the highest openness and the strongest economic vitality. Under the background of new era, main purpose of making development strategy of the Greater Bay Area is to build a world-class city cluster with great vitality, and establish a world-class science and technology innovation center with great influence. It also lays a good foundation for strengthening the construction of the belt and road initiative in China, and improves quality of life in the cooperation zone between the mainland and Hong Kong and Macao. Under the background, the tourism industry has new challenges, and the tourism spatial structure should be more closely linked. In this paper, tourism spatial structure of 9+2 urban agglomeration in the Greater Bay Area is taken as core research objective, and tourism resource of the urban agglomeration, and development of tourism economy and perfect transportation network in each city are analyzed. According to research results, the targeted suggestions and optimization methods are obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area is one of the regions with the highest degree of openness and the strongest economic vitality in China. In this paper, the remote sensing ecological index (RSEI) model is used to calculate the Ecological Traffic footprint of the Greater Bay area of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao, and the remote sensing data of the Greater Bay area of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao is used to analyse and evaluate the development and evolution of Ecological Traffic in the Greater Bay area of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao. The results show that the ecological traffic environment of the Greater Bay area of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao is good, and it is getting better. The poor areas are mainly concentrated in the central region, which is also improving. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The urbanization impacts on surface air temperature (SAT) change in the Guangdong‐Hong Kong‐Macau region (GHMR) from 1979 to 2018 are examined using homogeneous surface observations, reanalysis, and remote sensing. Results show that the warming due to urbanization tends to be smaller or insignificant as the spatial scale increases. The urbanization contribution to the local warming can reach as high as 50% in the center of each metropolis, remains high (~25%) in the Greater Bay Area (GBA), and decreases to about 10% in the whole GHMR. The warming in GHMR is nearly uniform throughout the day, and therefore, the observed trend of the diurnal temperature range (DTR) is not statistically significant. However, the urbanization contribution exhibits distinct seasonal variations, large in summer and autumn while smaller in winter and spring. Plain Language Summary: The Guangdong‐Hong Kong‐Macau region (GHMR), especially the Greater Bay Area (GBA), is a region typical of China's economic development and rapid urbanization. To precisely assess how much the urbanization contributes to the regional warming, we comprehensively evaluate the urbanization warming and its uncertainties in GHMR by using more careful processed and assessed data (observations, reanalysis, and remote sensing) and different analysis methods. The results show that the warming due to urbanization tends to be smaller as the spatial scale increases: The contribution to the local warming can reach as high as 50% in the metropolis, remains high (~25%) in GBA, and decreases to about 10% in GHMR. In addition, this paper systematically discusses the uncertainty in urbanization contribution detection, which was often neglected in the past detection. Based on the significance tests, urbanization warming is nearly uniform throughout the day, while it exhibits distinct seasonal variation. Our study also has important implications for understanding the influences of human activities on regional climate change for other regions experiencing rapid urbanization processes. Key Points: The contribution of urbanization to regional warming is robust in homogenized SAT data and ERA5 reanalysis using different methodsThe spatial scale dependence of urbanization warming is investigated; the contribution of urbanization warming decreases when the scale increasesUrbanization contribution exhibits distinct seasonal variation based on the uncertainty assessment [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sci-tech innovation is an important measure for the Guangdong– Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area to achieve high-quality economic development. theoretically, there is a coupling coordination relationship between sci-tech innovation and high-quality economic development, and coordinating the relationship between the two is beneficial to building the Guangdong– Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area into an international innovation and technology hub and promoting high-quality economic development. At present, the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area has seen a year-on-year increase in both the level of sci-tech innovation and the level of high-quality economic development, with a sound development trend. Its coupling coordination degree between sci-tech innovation and high-quality economic development has steadily improved from a slightly uncoordinated stage to a primarily coordinated stage, but the overall degree of coordination is still not high, with some gaps from realizing the excellently coordinated stage. From the perspective of spatial distribution, the internal development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area is unbalanced, with obvious differences in development level and coupling coordination degree among cities. e convergence analysis shows that the differences in the coupling coordination degree among the cities in the Guangdong Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area have stabilized after narrowing during the study period. However, the difference among the cities with higher coupling coordination degrees tends to widen in recent years. therefore, necessary measures should be taken to promote the coordination between sci-tech innovation and high-quality economic development in the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nearly 40 years of reform and opening up witnesses the remarkable achievements of economic cooperation among Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao. The economic relations among Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao have evolved from a unitary pattern of "front shop and back factory" orienting at regional labor division at an earlier stage to a combination of multiple patterns including the "factory and shop combined" pattern. The regional scope has been expanded and the connotation of cooperation has been enriched. After entering into the 21st century, Hong Kong, who is experiencing its economic transformation, faces the challenges brought about by the thriving of service industry in Guangdong Province. The three areas have been fighting over the hinterland through infrastructures connection and optimization, in order to realize an expansion of economic development space that can break through the restriction of land resources. In addition, under the background of strategies of the "Belt & Road Initiative" and "internationalization of the RMB," financial cooperation becomes the development emphasis at the third stage of economic cooperation among the three regions. When their economic relations change, the spatial pattern among Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao gradually shifts from "concentrating on a small scale and dispersing on a large scale" toward "dispersing on a small scale and concentrating on a large scale." Based on an analysis on the development direction of the economic relations among Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao in the future, the paper points out that the regional cooperation will transit from disperse development to border breaking, the region will develop from a livable bay area to a world-level bay area, and the spatial pattern will develop from center-hinterland to hub-network, which ultimately realizes a spatial response to the transition of economic relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

City-regionalism plays an increasingly important role in China's economic development. This paper analyses new forms of institutional arrangements that promote city-regional governance in the case of Hong Kong and Guangdong. Focusing on implementing the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA), we examine two research questions: Why are Guangdong and cities in the PRD strategically selected to implement CEPA and embed Hong Kong-based circulatory capital? How do governments at different scales build coordinated relationships to implement CEPA? Building upon the literature on state rescaling, we argue that governments have engaged in a scalar division of administration – a form of institutional infrastructure that aims to design and implement state strategies of urban and regional development. Within this division, the national government plays a role in steering and decision-making, Guangdong provincial government in coordination and facilitation, and urban governments in Shenzhen, Guangzhou, and Zhuhai in actual implementation. CEPA implementation is built upon vertical linkages between governments at different levels in the Mainland and HKSAR government, and horizontal linkages between three free trade subzones (Qianhai, Nansha, and Hengqin) and Hong Kong-based firms and entrepreneurs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has undergone massive economic development over the last several decades, but at the cost of serious environmental degradation, including to coastal and marine ecosystems.This paper describes the governance arrangements for management of coastal and marine areas of southern, mainland China and Hong Kong, especially marine protected areas (MPAs).Although not widely recognized internationally, there are 123 designated MPAs spread across the South China Sea coast. However, the effectiveness of these MPAs in conservation of ecosystem goods and services is seriously limited by a familiar range of pressures, including limited resources, insufficient enforcement and massive coastal development.Recent developments in national policy include integration of all protected areas (including marine) under a single agency, a range of limits on coastal development and water pollution, and the strategy of 'eco‐civilization' to balance environmental management with economic development. If successfully implemented, these policies would profoundly change the course of marine environments in China, with globally significant consequences.Recommendations for improving MPA performance in China include: ensuring that marine systems are not overwhelmed within the new national jurisdiction, and maintaining and enhancing marine capacity;increased resourcing, supported by comprehensive and systematic economic valuations of ecosystem goods and services and natural capital;upgraded enforcement of existing environmental laws and regulations, combined with further refinement and development, especially around cumulative impact management;a particular focus on major reduction in water pollution in all forms;integration of marine management between Hong Kong SAR and surrounding Guangdong Province; andenhanced community engagement, participation and education.Finally, much greater, collaborative engagement by the international community with Chinese marine management and conservation would bring major, and very mutual, benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Applying InVEST model to determine ecological sources. • Building ecological resistance surfaces for highly urbanized region. • Proposing a local evaluation model for ecological networks. • Summarizing the ecological network development suggestions. Metropolitan regions usually encounter sustainability difficulties such as overexploitation of resources, severe land scarcity, and ecological degradation, resulting in the progressive collapse of ecological networks (ENs). It is therefore essential to strengthen the construction and protection of ENs by integrating various resources, improving the quality of the urban ecological environment and creating a favourable living environment. Using the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area as a case study, in this paper, the ecological resistance indicator system that balances natural condition and human disturbance is rebuilt. In doing so, a construction scheme (applicable to highly urbanised areas) is established to simulate ENs at a more precise scale. Moreover, a local evaluation model of ENs is proposed and the spatial patterns of multiple indicators are fully summarised. The findings show that the ENs of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area exhibit apparent spatial disparity. Disturbance through human activities seriously affects the spatial pattern of ENs, leading to structural imbalance and quality impairment of ecological corridors. Based on our assessment, the construction of complementary ecological corridors in the "two green belts" planning of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area will improve structural problems. The findings of this paper can provide a reference to the harmonisation of urban development and ecological protection, by guiding the scientific management of ecological spaces in highly urbanised regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The national strategy of "Guangdong - Hong Kong - Macao Greater Bay Area" has replaced the original Pearl River Delta economic circle. As one of them, the economic development of Zhaoqing City ushered in a historic opportunity. Other cities in Greater Bay Area provide sufficient tourist resources for the development of Zhaoqing's tourism industry. Under the new situation, Seven Star Cave, the leading scenic spot in Zhaoqing, should firmly grasp the national strategic dividend of the "Guangdong - Hong Kong - Macao Greater Bay Area", accelerate the transformation and upgrading, and enhance the market competitiveness. In this paper, the data are collected by nominal group technique, and are integrated into SWOT matrix for analysis. The development strategy of Zhaoqing Seven Star Cave Scenic Area is obtained by matching internal and external factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The construction of an ecological security pattern (ESP) is an important undertaking in ensuring the stability of the ecosystem and the long-term growth of humanity. Existing research, However, existing research often overlooks the quantification of policy implications in ESP development. The objective of this paper was to bridge this gap by integrating policy quantification analysis (PQA) with nature, society and into ESP construction and providing targeted ecological management recommendations. The policy texts were quantified into reusable research data, which served as a foundation for the selection of indicators and the optimization of ecological security patterns, by using machine learning techniques. The methodology "Patch-matrix-corridor" was used to create a spatially correlated ecological security pattern. Through factor analysis and Random Forest (RF), the impact of each indicator on ecological security was thoroughly examined, offering substantial support for policy development and ESP construction planning. The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area(GBA) was selected as the study area, the study found that: (1) The proposed framework PQA based-ESP could provide a useful eco-management tools. (2) Policy adaptability had a substantial impact on environmental security in the GBA, but the ecosystem service index has the highest impact. (3) Applying the framework, we identified a total of 1,993 km2 of ecological sources, 23 key ecological corridors, 58 general ecological corridors, and 31 ecological nodes. An improved ESP, characterized as "one circle, two bays, three rivers, multiple areas, corridors, and nodes," was constructed in the GBA. (4) Given the multi-scale analysis, tailored ecological management policy recommendations were proposed for each city in the GBA. The study's findings offer actionable solutions for the international community facing growing ecological challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When considering the economic growth of the Greater Bay Area, digital transformation stands out as a crucial catalyst. Given its significance, it is imperative to delve into both the theoretical and empirical aspects of how digital transformation affects the region's position in the global value chain. Theoretical hypotheses are put forward regarding the impact and mechanisms of digital transformation on the global value chain position of the Greater Bay Area based on a global value chain perspective. A three-tier nested input–output table that incorporates the Greater Bay Area is constructed, and trade decomposition and global value chain position measurement models specific to the area are developed for analyzing its current state in terms of global value chain position. Empirical testing was conducted to examine how digital transformation impacts this position. Digital transformation will significantly enhance the position of the Greater Bay Area in the division of global value chains, mainly through enhancing technological innovation transformation capabilities and value added by exports from the Greater Bay Area. Digital transformation within the Greater Bay Area has had a more substantial positive impact than the digital transformation in other provinces in China and digital transformation from foreign sources. In terms of city heterogeneity, it is evident that the global value chain from Hong Kong and Macao has experienced a more significant impact from digital transformation compared to cities in the Pearl River Delta. Therefore, the Greater Bay Area should increase the use of both digital transformation and differentiated use of digital transformation. PRD cities should actively learn from Hong Kong and Macao's forms of digital construction and promote the Greater Bay Area's global value chain status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy consumption is an important indicator for measuring economic development and is closely related to the atmospheric environment. As a demonstration zone for China's high-quality development, the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area imposes higher requirements on ecological environment and sustainable development. Therefore, accurate data on energy consumption is crucial for high-quality green development. However, the statistical data on local energy consumption in China is insufficient, and the lack of data is severe, which hinders the analysis of energy consumption at the metropolitan level and the precise implementation of energy policies. Nighttime light data have been widely used in the inversion of energy consumption, but they can only reflect socio-economic activities at night with certain limitations. In this study, a random forest model was developed to estimate metropolitan-level energy consumption in the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area from 2000 to 2020 based on nighttime light data, population data, and urban impervious surface data. The estimation results show that our model shows good performance with an R2 greater than 0.9783 and MAPE less than 9%. A long time series dataset from 2000 to 2020 on energy consumption distribution at a resolution of 500 m in the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area was built using our model with a top-down weight allocation method. The spatial and temporal dynamics of energy consumption in the Greater Bay Area were assessed at both the metropolitan and grid levels. The results show a significant increase in energy consumption in the Greater Bay Area with a clear clustering, and approximately 90% of energy consumption is concentrated in 22% of the area. This study established an energy consumption estimation model that comprehensively considers population, urban distribution, and nighttime light data, which effectively solves the problem of missing statistical data and accurately reflects the spatial distribution of energy consumption of the whole Bay Area. This study provides a reference for spatial pattern analysis and refined urban management and energy allocation for regions lacking statistical data on energy consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of the digital information era, the impact of "The Internet Plus," "Big Data," and other technologies on urban social development has been far beyond any preceding era, under the influence of information technology, urban agglomeration space exhibits a new layout. Based on the search engine data of eleven cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area from 2012 to 2021, this research constructs the inter-city information network strength linkage matrix to examine the evolution characteristics of city network structure and its driving causes. The results reveal that (1) the overall information linkage strength exhibits a pattern of steadily growing the radiating effect from the leading cities of Guangdong, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong to the surrounding cities, and a closer and more balanced information linkage network is gradually built. (2) Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area information linkage absolute control advantage, four cities Foshan, Dongguan, Zhuhai, Macao regional hub position steadily highlighted. The entire information connection network of the urban agglomerations tends to be flat and polycentric at the same time. (3) The regional core-edge hierarchy is well established, with the four cities of Guangzhou, Dongguan, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong creating a northwest-southeast orientation. The core metropolis regions of Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao in the Greater Bay Area increasingly exert a radiation spreading effect to the northeast and southwest. (4) The urban economy, transportation distance, and information infrastructure have substantial effects on the information connection intensity network of urban clusters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, a great number of studies have convincingly shown that diffusion influences states' probability to democratise. The primary interest of most of these studies has been on how diffusion influences democracy at the national level. The effect of democratic diffusion on the local level has largely been neglected. This paper thus investigates how and to what extent diffusion influ- ences the density and conflict orientation of non-governmental labour organisations (LNGOs), comprising a typical case of civil society groups channelling democratic freedoms, in China's Guangdong province. Since the province is close to the relatively liberal city of Hong Kong, there is reason to believe that support from international civil society groups based in Hong Kong may be critical for the survival and growth of conflict-oriented LNGOs in Guangdong. In the article, the research question is studied by both comparative analysis of cross-regional data and qualitative analysis of interview data. Both methods confirm that diffusion -- or, more precisely, diffusion through international civil society networks -- is a prominent factor for explaining the density and conflict orientation of LNGOs in Guangdong. The study demonstrates that democratic diffusion not only has an impact at the state level but also on the regional, intrastate level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In practical engineering projects, overconsolidation plays an irreplaceable role in the calculation of silt consolidation settlement. Based on a series of systematic consolidation tests conducted on reconstituted soft clay in different cities of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the overconsolidation behavior of soft clay under different depths was studied. According to these tests, the shape of the curves of the overconsolidation ratio with depth was similar to that of the compression curves. Moreover, the deeper the silt depth is, the smaller the overconsolidation ratio is. Hence, the overconsolidation state eventually changes to the underconsolidation state. On this basis, the depths of normal consolidation were calculated through the fitting curves of the overconsolidation ratio with depth by CurveExpert1.4, which is strongly dependent on both the average thickness of the overfill and the range of water level. Based on the results, a polynomial relationship between overconsolidation ratio (OCR) and sampling depth (h) is established. This study can serve as a basis for predicting the consolidation settlement of the silt layer more accurately in practical engineering applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A method based on Neural Network is proposed for provincial-level CO 2 emissions estimation. • An autoencoder is proposed to downscale the provincial-level CO 2 emissions to city-level. • A complete city-level CO 2 emissions inventory of GBA and surrounding cities is complied. • Spatial dependence and agglomeration characteristics of CO 2 emissions are analyzed. • Spatio-temporal heterogeneity of factors affecting CO 2 emissions is investigated. Significant attention has been given to the issue of CO 2 emissions worldwide, especially for China as the largest emitter. Cities, as the main carriers of China's economic development, account for up to 85 % of CO 2 emissions from energy use in the country. The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) and surrounding cities play important leading roles in low-carbon development. However, compiling city-level CO 2 emissions is challenging due to the limited availability of data. In this paper, a new idea is proposed by using SSA-BP for estimating provincial-level CO 2 emissions and downscaling provincial-level CO 2 emissions to city-level CO 2 emissions by reconstructing missing values of city-level CO 2 emissions with an autoencoder. This study compiles a city-level CO 2 emissions inventory and conducts a spatio-temporal analysis of CO 2 emissions in the GBA and surrounding cities. The results show that CO 2 emissions exhibit a spatial distribution pattern with spatial dependence. Furthermore, according to the analysis of spatio-temporal heterogeneity, GDP influenced CO 2 emissions the most within the five influencing factors, and the influences of GDP, population, and energy intensity were mainly positive, while the influence of patents was mainly negative, and that of trade was both positive and negative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tracking long-term tidal flat dynamics is crucial for coastal restoration decision making. Accurately capturing the loss and gain of tidal flats due to human-induced disturbances is challenging in the micro-tidal areas. In this study, we developed an automated method for mapping the annual tidal flat changes in the micro-tidal areas under intense human activities, by integrating spectral harmonization, time series segmentation from dual spectral indices, and the tide-independent hierarchical classification strategy. Our method has two key novelties. First, we adopt flexible temporal segments for each pixel based on the dual full-time series spectral indices, instead of solely using a fixed period window, to help obtain more reliable inundation frequency features. Second, a tide-independent hierarchical classification strategy based on the inundation features and the Otsu algorithm capture the tidal flat changes well. Our method performed well in Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao (GHKM), a typical area with micro-tidal range and intense human activities, with overall accuracies of 89% and 92% for conversion types and turning years, respectively. The tidal flats in GHKM decreased by 24% from 1986 to 2021, resulting from the loss of 504.45 km2, partially offset by an accretion of 179.88 km2. Further, 70.9% of the total loss was in the Great Bay Area, concentrated in 1991–1998 and 2001–2016. The historical trajectories of tidal flat loss were driven by various policies implemented by the national, provincial, and local governments. Our method is promising for extension to other micro-tidal areas to provide more scientific support for coastal resource management and restoration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to comprehensively evaluate the economic network patterns and their influencing factors of the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area (GHMGBA) in China, considering population scale, economic development level, and land-resource endowment. By employing a modified gravity model and a social-network method, we quantitatively analyzed urban agglomeration integrity indices, such as network density, edge–core structure, cohesive-subgroup index, and urban individual index (e.g., centrality degree) of this region, encompassing nine cities in Guangdong Province and two special administrative regions. The results revealed significant changes in the economic network patterns within the GHMGBA over time. Furthermore, the quadratic assignment procedure correlation analysis index was used to identify the various factors affecting the strength of the economic interaction. The findings demonstrated an annual increase in the strength of economic interaction between cities and regions within the GHMGBA over the past 20 years, along with the emergence of a polycentric economic development pattern. The results also suggest that the spatial location and level of economic development are key determinants influencing the strength of economic linkages in this area. This study supports the conclusion that deepening exchanges and cooperation among core cities, bolstering economic development in sub-core cities, and facilitating the construction of an integrated regional transportation network will expedite the process of economic integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a major carbon emitter, the power sector plays a crucial role in realizing the goal of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality. This study constructed a low-carbon power system based on the LEAP model (LEAP-GBA) with 2020 as a statistic base aiming of exploring the low-carbon transformation pathway of the power sector in the Guangdong–Hong Kong, and Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA). Five scenarios are set up to simulate the demand, power generation structure, carbon emissions, and power generation costs in the power sector under different scenarios. The results indicate that total electricity demand will peak after 2050, with 80% of it coming from industry, buildings and residential use. To achieve net-zero emissions from the power sector in the GBA, a future power generation mix dominated by nuclear and renewable energy generation and supplemented by fossil energy generation equipped with CCUS technologies. BECCS technology and nuclear power are the key to realize zero carbon emissions from the power sector in the GBA, so it should be the first to promote BECCS technology testing and commercial application, improve the deployment of nuclear power sites, and push forward the construction of nuclear power and technology improvement in the next 40 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]