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In the era of the urban economy and service economy, the decoupling of service industry land expansion from economic growth has always been a key measure to evaluate sustainable and healthy development. Based on the decoupling model and GIS spatial analysis method, this paper conducted an empirical study of Chinese cities from 2012 to 2019. Results: (1) Increasing spatial heterogeneity, correlation and agglomeration of land expansion were found in China's urban service industry and its economic growth; (2) Most cities were in weak decoupling, with evolved, degraded and unchanged cities accounting for one-third each, and the number of cities in negative decoupling was increasing, leading to increasingly diverse and complex decoupling relationships; (3) From the perspective of changes in the urban service industry land and its decoupling from economic growth, HH cities were clustered in the Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei and Chengdu–Chongqing urban agglomerations in a continuous belt pattern, while LL and HL cities were mostly in the north, especially in the northeast, creating many cluster-like agglomerations that have become problematic spaces; (4) A significant synergistic effect was identified between the factors of urban permanent population, value added of the secondary industry, per capita GDP, government financial expenditure, international trade, foreign direct investment, total retail of commodities, and authorized patents, with factor pairs formed showing nonlinear enhancement. The factor value added of the secondary industry had the largest direct impact, while urban permanent population and foreign direct investment led in terms of net synergies; (5) It is recommended to introduce classified and differentiated urban service industry land use policies, plan and build a number of national, provincial and municipal modern service industry clusters, demonstrate changes in land supply and use, build a scientific and efficient land resource allocation and management system, guard against and prevent recoupling and effectively improve the ability of cities to achieve high-quality economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China is attaching increasing importance to the creation of regional integration, high-quality economic development and ecological civilization. An accurate grasp of the traction effect of the increased level of integration of urban agglomerations on the eco-efficiency (EE) of cities in the region will help to promote the steady improvement of urban economic development and the ecological environment. This paper constructs an index system to measure the level of integration of the Chengdu–Chongqing urban agglomeration (CCUA) and the EE of each city within it from 2011 to 2020 and explores the impact of regional integration on urban EE and its mechanism of action. The study presents the follow findings: (1) The level of integration of the CCUA increased nearly 10 times from 2011 to 2020, with the government playing a significant leading role. (2) The positive and negative effects of the level of integration of the CCUA on urban EE depend on factors such as the level of economic development, the stage of development and the location. There are several relationships between the level of intra-regional integration and urban EE: first, a nearly linear increase, as in Chongqing and Chengdu; second, an increase in fluctuation, as in Dazhou, Guang'an and Leshan; and third, a fluctuation, decrease, flat or even no real increase, as in Luzhou, Ya'an and Zigong. (3) Based on this, this paper considers the mechanism of the level of integration within the region on urban EE in terms of both economic and eco-environmental effects, with a view to exploring the future green development path of the CCUA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB), an important industrial belt for food security for China, is facing the challenge of decreasing cultivated land in the process of rapid urbanization. In this case, how to improve the cultivated land use efficiency (CLUE) has become the top priority. Based on data from 108 cities of YREB from 2001 to 2019, we measured CLUE using a slack-based measure with undesirable output (SBM-Undesirable). The high-value area of CLUE shows a trend from multi-core agglomeration to two-core agglomeration, mainly concentrated in Chengdu-Chongqing urban agglomeration and the northern part of the YREB. Then the paper examines the spatial effect of urbanization on CLUE using the Spatial Error Model (SEM). The result shows that population urbanization has significantly promoted the improvement of CLUE in YREB during the sample period. With each percentage point increase in population urbanization, CLUE will increase by 2.99%. Land urbanization has a negative impact on CLUE, for each percent increase in the expansion of urban spatial scope, CLUE will decrease by 0.06%. The spatial heterogeneity analysis shows that population urbanization in the lower reaches has significantly promoted CLUE, with a coefficient of 1.053. The population urbanization level in the middle and lower reaches of the region has no obvious effect on CLUE. The coefficient of land urbanization in the downstream region is 0.35, which significantly promotes CLUE. The coefficient in the middle is −0.26, which implies the CLUE decreases by 0.26% for every one percentage point increase in land urbanization. Land urbanization in the upper has no significant impact on the CLUE. Policy implications include improving the quality of the three major urban clusters along the YREB, building an ecologic protective screen in the upper, encouraging a new agricultural management system and detailed regulations related to the cultivated land protection in YREB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Attaining optimal eco-efficiency is of paramount importance in promoting the sustainable and harmonious development of the economy and environment within urban agglomerations. Firstly, this paper utilizes the Super-SBM model with undesirable output to measure the eco-efficiency (EE) of 64 cities in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei metropolitan region (BTHMR), the Yangtze River Delta (YRD), the Pearl River Delta (PRD), and the Chengdu–Chongqing Economic Zone (CCEZ) from 2006 to 2019. Secondly, this study puts forth a novel and comprehensive index system aimed at evaluating the urbanization efficiency and sheds light on the spatiotemporal changes in EE and urbanization efficiency. Finally, the STIRPAT model is used to examine the influencing factors of EE and to investigate the correlation between EE and urbanization efficiency. The study found that the overall EE of the four typical urban agglomerations is high, but the trend varies with a decrease of about 12.9% from 2006 to 2019. The mean EE is in the order of CCEZ > PRD > BTHMR > YRD, with mean values of 0.941, 0.909, 0.842, and 0.732, respectively. The level of science and technology and the urbanization efficiency have a significant positive impact on EE, while population, industrial structure, FDI, and greening level have an inhibitory effect on urban eco-efficiency. Based on the results, policy suggestions such as paying attention to regional heterogeneity and giving full play to the government's macro-regulatory role in shaping the economic and industrial structure are proposed to serve as a guide for the coordinated development of urban agglomerations under the Dual Carbon Target. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scientific and technological innovation and the sustainable development of new urbanization are the key factors to promote national economic growth, and have a very important role in promoting regional development and international competitiveness. Based on the panel data of 16 cities in Chengdu-Chongqing dual-city economic circle from 2015 to 2022, this paper uses entropy weight method to determine the weight of each index and constructs a coupling coordination model to explore the sustainable development of scientific and technological innovation and new urbanization, the Panel Vector Autoregression (PVAR) model was used to further verify the interaction between the two. The empirical results show that the coupling coordination degree of scientific and technological innovation and new urbanization in Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle is increasing year by year. There is a balanced relationship between scientific and technological innovation and new urbanization, and the two are two-way Granger causality. Therefore, the conclusion puts forward the practical enlightenment of increasing investment in scientific and technological innovation, guiding enterprises to carry out scientific and technological innovation to feedback new urbanization and accelerate the construction of new urbanization, and actively integrating with urban development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To clarify the connotations and extensions of urban resilience, this study focuses on the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle with 16 cities as research subjects. A comprehensive evaluation index system was constructed to measure the resilience of each city from 2003 to 2020. The spatial-temporal evolution characteristics were analyzed using Kernel density estimation, standard deviation ellipse, and spatial Markov chain analysis, and the spatial Tobit model was introduced to discover the influencing factors. The results indicate the following: Urban resilience in the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle displays an upward trend, with the center of gravity moving to the southwest, and the polarization phenomenon intensifying. The urban resilience level in a region has certain spatial and geographical dependence, while the probability of urban resilience transfer differs in adjacent cities with different resilience levels. Urban centrality, economic scale, openness level, and financial development promote urban resilience, whereas government scale significantly inhibits it. Finally, this paper proposes countermeasures and suggestions to improve the urban resilience of the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chengdu has experienced a rapid urbanization in the past two decades, and its land spatial pattern has undergone severe changes. It's meaningful to investigate the tempo-spatial evolution of land spatial pattern and then contribute to high-quality development in Chengdu. Based on the Landsat-series satellite imagery and land use/cover datasets, this paper investigates Chengdu's land function change concerning Production, Living and Ecological (PLE) land. The methods of land dynamics degree, landscape pattern index and Pearson correlation were be employed to analyzes the tempo-spatial evolution of landscape pattern in Chengdu, and some suggestions were finally made. We found that there were severe dynamic degree of PLE land in Chengdu and the production and ecological land were decrease obviously before 2015. Contrastingly, the dynamic degree is decrease after 2015, high dynamic degree regions are move to the northeast from 2000–2019. In addition, the change of production land is the main factor affecting the landscape pattern of Chengdu. In general, we put forward the macroscopic strategy and suggestions of "one core, two belts, four regions, and one direction" to support the high-quality development of Chengdu. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rural China is experiencing rapid socioeconomic transformations, including suburbanisation and rural gentrification. In this paper, we argue that to understand these processes, we have to take into account the changes in rural land rights. Based on an analysis of a pilot case for China's rural collective commercial construction land (RCCCL) reform policy at the edge of Chengdu City, we demonstrate how state-led rural land reform paves the way for stealthy land dispossession and rural gentrification. Our argument in this paper is threefold. First, given the entrenched collective land use rights of rural villagers in China, state-led land commodification, is a necessary condition for rural gentrification in China. Secondly, the prospect of capital accumulation through rural gentrification motivates entrepreneurial public and private actors to promote such reforms in ways that dispossess rural peasants and peasant collectives of their land (use) rights. Thirdly, the particularities of dispossession through state-led land reform result in particular experiences of displacement and displacement pressure on the side of affected rural communities. Our findings contribute to the decentring of rural gentrification theory, in that they underline the necessity to include the particular histories of land commodification and dispossession in our understanding of rural gentrification in contexts where rural land is partly or wholly shielded from market influences. In the case of China, dynamics of rural gentrification are blurring the rural-urban boundary on three dimensions: political economy (land use governance), material infrastructure (landscape and residential architecture), and socio-cultural practices (rural livelihoods and identity). • Rural land regimes structure peri-urban development in China. • Land commodification is a precondition for rural gentrification in China. • Original villagers are dispossessed and displaced. • Rural gentrification blurs the rural-urban boundary in terms of land use (rights), landscape and social relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil easily oxidizable organic carbon (EOC) is directly related to CO2 density; dynamics in subsurface EOC have been observed globally in relation to rapid urbanization. However, in the context of rapid urbanization, the factors related to EOC and the response of the EOC pool to urbanization down the profile remain elusive. The aim of the current paper is to investigate possible changes in the distribution of EOC over the soil profile and the impact of land use, socioeconomic, and natural factors on these. The study used samples from 182 soil profiles (0–100 cm) taken in the peri‐urban areas of the megacity Chengdu (a typical megacity with rapid urbanization). Main drivers of changes in soil EOC were analyzed by using spatial and regression analyses. Closer to the centre of the city, soil EOC levels were lower and land‐use factors and socioeconomic factors contributed more to explaining variation in EOC levels in the 0–40‐cm layer, whereas natural factors were most important at larger distance from the city. The effect of land‐use factors and socioeconomic factors on EOC reached down to 60‐cm depths. Moreover, an estimated 20% loss of EOC stock was observed close to the city in comparison with the surroundings, suggesting that the rapid process of urbanization was accompanied by a loss of EOC stock down the profile to depths of 60 cm, and the negative effects on EOC stock became more intensive as the distance to the city decreased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the cross-sectional data of 2000 and 2015, this paper quantitatively analyzes several indicators of the Chengdu-Chongqing Urban Agglomeration, including the permanent population, urban population, GDP, and total industrial output value, to explore the overall situation of the spatial development of urban agglomeration at this stage. The study finds that the permanent population and GDP maintain the trend of concentrating to higher-level cities, and the central cities of Chengdu and Chongqing have an obvious status of polarization. The main city of Chongqing is relatively dependent on industry, while the main city of Chengdu is driven by service economy and has a stronger capacity of urban population concentration. Different from the traditional understanding, Chongqing's regional central cities have realized rapid industry-driven growth, and their development is faster than that of Sichuan's prefecture-level cities. Despite of a large outflow of population, county-level units have achieved high growth rate of urban population, and the in-situ urbanization is obvious. The spatial pattern shows an "eastward inclination," in which the development of western Chongqing is the most outstanding, while that of Chengdu Plain and southern Sichuan region with a better basis has slowed down, and the originally backward areas, such as northeastern Chongqing, southeastern Chongqing, and eastern Sichuan, have a prominent development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ensuring the harmonization between urbanization and water environment systems is imperative for fostering sustainable regional development in the future. With urban agglomerations and metropolitan areas increasingly dominating urbanization trends in China, it is crucial to explore the interdependent relationship between urbanization and the water environment. Such exploration holds significant implications for water resource management and the formulation of urbanization policies. This study utilizes a comprehensive index system encompassing urbanization and the water environment. It examines the coupled and coordinated spatial and temporal dynamics of these systems within the Chengdu-Chongqing Urban Agglomeration from 2011 to 2019. This analysis employs the Coupled Coordination Degree model alongside the spatial autocorrelation model. The results show that there is still much room for improving the urbanization development level and the water environment quality. During the study period, a nonlinear and nearly U-shaped evolutionary trajectory was observed between the two systems. The results suggest that there is a progression from basic to more advanced coordination between urbanization and water environment at the city cluster scale. Urbanization appears to generally lag behind the water environment in terms of coordination. At the municipal scale, there is a gradient in which some cities show better coordination compared to others. Spatially, the coupling and coordination of this region exhibited dual-core development characteristics centered around Chengdu and Chongqing. The region is in the transition stage towards a core-type networked and decentralized development mode, which has not yet formed an integrated pattern. This offers a theoretical and technical framework for harmonizing water environments and urbanization in similar regions globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The study area is typical, and has instructive and significant. • Compared with RSEI, the useful data of IRSEI for analysis increased by 3.26%. • We use GDP sub-industry spatialization model to represent the urbanization process. • Our study is important to know how urbanization affects the environment. As the fourth pole of China's economic growth, the Chengdu-Chongqing urban agglomeration plays a significant role in reinforcing the ecological barrier in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, and is crucial for ecological and environmental protection strategies. In this paper, Google Earth Engine (GEE) and the MODIS images from 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2022 were utilized to construct the Improved Remote Sensing Ecological Index (IRSEI) to characterize the ecological quality more accurately than RSEI. Additionally, combined with nighttime light remote sensing data, land use data and socio-economic data, the GDP sub-industry spatialization model was utilized to analyze the urbanization process in depth. To dynamically monitor and evaluate the interaction between urbanization and ecological environment quality, a coupling coordination model incorporating the above methods was developed. The results show that (1) The effective information of the IRSEI in ecological quality analysis increased by 3.26% compared to RSEI, and the correlation with each ecological index was higher; (2) The ecological environment quality of the Chengdu-Chongqing urban agglomeration peaked in 2005 and has been declining since then, with the rate of decline gradually slowing down from 2005 to 2022; (3) The GDP sub-industry spatialization model is more suitable for characterizing the scattered villages, and can effectively exhibit the urbanization process. From 2000 to 2022, urbanization was rapidly developed, and the level of core cities such as Chengdu and Chongqing far exceeded those of neighboring cities; (4) The coupling coordination level between IRSEI and GDP spatialization model generally increased, indicating ongoing improvements in the synergy between ecological environment and urbanization in the Chengdu-Chongqing urban agglomeration. This study developed a method for quickly monitoring and assessing the relationship between ecological environment quality and urbanization by using IRSEI and GDP sub-industry spatialization model, and provides scientific analytical methods and data support for monitoring and governing the ecological environment in emerging urban agglomerations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Present a methodology for investigating ring road investment and cordon tolling problems in a congested ring-radial city. • Establish a two-dimensional urban system equilibrium for a ring-radial city. • Develop two social welfare maximization models (a short-sighted decision and a far-sighted decision) to optimize ring road investment and cordon tolling schemes. • Carry out a case study on the city network of Chengdu China. Ring roads, as candidate cordons, provide a convenient condition for implementing cordon tolling schemes. This paper presents a methodology for investigating the ring road investment and cordon tolling problems in a congested ring-radial city. A two-dimensional urban system equilibrium for a ring-radial city is first formulated, in which interrelated equilibria among stakeholders, including the authorities, property developers, households and commuters, are explicitly considered. Two social welfare maximization models for optimizing the ring road investment and cordon tolling schemes, a short-sighted and a far-sighted one, are then proposed. In the short-sighted model, the ring road investment decision is first made, and then the cordon tolling scheme is optimized based on the determined ring road locations as candidate cordons. However, in the far-sighted model, a simultaneous decision of the ring road investment and cordon tolling is made. The proposed models explicitly incorporate the estimation of the intra-area travel. A case study applied to the city network of Chengdu China shows that ring road investment and cordon tolling can reshape the urban spatial structure as a result of the tug-of-war between the dispersion effects due to ring road investment and the concentration effects due to cordon tolling. The far-sighted solution entails building more ring roads than the short-sighted solution, and is closer to the social optimum solution. Whether all ring roads are tolled, or just one, the far-sighted solution yields an appreciably higher welfare gain. The optimal single-cordon tolling scheme performs nearly as well as the optimal multi-cordon tolling scheme in terms of the social welfare. Ignoring the household residential relocation behavior leads to underestimates of total cordon toll revenue and welfare gain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aging and the urban development bring a great challenge to the residential facilities of the elderly community. By exploring the layout and current situation of the elderly residential facilities in Chengdu City, this paper stressed the key points in the layout of various facilities at the macro scale. Through the deep investigation of residential districts, the paper explored the community endowment mode that is between the organisation support and home-based for the aged, and proposed 3 modes on the basis of "visiting, day care and short-stay''. Considering the specific needs of the aged and the compound modes, compound community endowment mode was put forward as the future development direction of community endowment to contribute to the construction of the overall social endowment system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In investigating the spatiotemporal patterns and spatial attributes of carbon storage across terrestrial ecosystems, there is a significant focus on improving regional carbon sequestration capabilities. Such endeavors are crucial for balancing land development with ecological preservation and promoting sustainable, low-carbon urban growth. This study employs the integrated InVEST-PLUS model to assess and predict changes in ecosystem carbon storage under various land use scenarios within the Chengdu urban cluster, a vital region in Central and Western China, by 2050. The results indicate the following. (1) A linkage between land use dynamics and ecosystem carbon storage changes: over two decades, a 7.5% decrease in arable land was observed alongside a 12.3% increase in urban areas, leading to an 8.2% net reduction in ecosystem carbon storage, equating to a loss of 1.6 million tons of carbon. (2) Carbon storage variations under four scenarios—natural development (NDS), urban development (UDS), farmland protection (FPS), and ecological protection (EPS)—highlight the impact of differing developmental and conservation policies on Chengdu's carbon reserves. Projections until 2050 suggest a further 5% reduction in carbon storage under NDS without intervention, while EPS could potentially decrease carbon storage loss by 3%, emphasizing the importance of strategic land use planning and policy. This research provides a solid theoretical foundation for exploring the relationship between land use and carbon storage dynamics further. In summary, the findings highlight the necessity of incorporating ecological considerations into urban planning strategies. The InVEST-PLUS model not only sheds light on current challenges but also presents a method for forecasting and mitigating urbanization effects on ecosystem services, thus supporting sustainable development goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban green space (UGS) is increasingly recognized as a nature-based solution to achieving urban sustainable development. Under rapid urbanization, greening policies are often the main driving factor behind the restoration or even growth of UGS. In this study, Chengdu, the pioneering "park city" in China, is chosen as a representative region. Based on land use/land cover (LULC) and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) data, indicators that can reflect both UGS quantity and quality are constructed and the spatio-temporal characteristics of UGS in original and expanding urban areas are also explored at different greening policy stages. The findings show that, from 2000 to 2022, the basic trend of UGS reduction during urbanization remained unchanged, despite the greening policies implemented in Chengdu. However, the original urban area has evolved into a new urban area. This has been achieved by integrating the expanded urban area with higher greening rates, resulting in the greening rate in 2022 (44.61%) being restored to the 2000 level (44.21%). The implementation of green policies in Chengdu is primarily reflected in improved UGS quality, especially in the stage of the ecological garden city construction (2008–2018). Specifically, the UGS quality in the original urban area has been improved by 25.25%. Overall, the UGS quality in Chengdu Urban Center has improved, changing from a medium level in 2000 to a medium-high level in 2022. The construction of a national demonstration zone of the park city provides an opportunity for the UGS quantity to increase and quality to improve in Chengdu in the future. However, effectively considering the development positioning of the Tianfu Granary to coordinate the relationship between UGS and high-quality farmland is a huge challenge for urban sustainable development in Chengdu. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Chengdu-Ya'an section of Sichuan-Tibet Railway (STR), which has already started operation, is taken as an example. First, we apply the weighted average travel time and gravity model to analyze the accessibility of the site cities and the economic link intensity among them, with visualization by ArcGIS. Then, we use the difference-in-differences model with panel data of three cities from 2018 to 2019 to test the impact of the Chengdu-Ya'an section on regional urbanization along the route. The results show that the opening of the Chengdu-Ya'an section has significantly improved the accessibility and economic link of areas along the line and promoted regional economic development and urbanization. It is expected that the opening of the entire line of STR will have more significant impacts, which requires continuous research and attention in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of urbanization and the protection of the ecological environment are important aspects of sustainable development in urban agglomerations; thus, their coordination and synergy are crucial. Scholars in both China and other countries have conducted extensive research on the relationship between urbanization and the ecological environment from the perspective of coordinated development. However, there is a lack of research on the synergistic effects of urbanization and the ecological environment. Taking the Chengdu–Chongqing urban agglomeration as an example, this study uses the Haken model to analyze the synergistic evolution mechanism, development patterns, and future trends of urbanization and the ecological environment. This study draws the following conclusions: (1) while a synergistic development mechanism has been established between urbanization and the ecological environment, the current system is still in a stage of low-level synergy, and the control system's parameter for the direction and path of evolution is urbanization. (2) From 2001 to 2020, the level of synergistic development between urbanization and the ecological environment was relatively low, mainly moving from low-level synergy to medium–low-level synergy to medium-level synergy. (3) There is a significant spatial disparity in the levels of synergistic development, for which the leading region centers on Chengdu and Chongqing in the northwest and southeast, respectively, and the lagging region comprises the eastern part of the urban agglomeration, mainly represented by Dazhou, Kaizhou, and Yunyang. (4) The future trend of synergistic development between urbanization and the ecological environment in the Chengdu–Chongqing urban agglomeration is promising but requires increased infrastructure construction in mountainous urban areas, enhanced cooperation and circulation in transportation, logistics, information and other aspects, and balanced improvements in the level of synergistic development between urbanization and the ecological environment. The study of the synergistic development effect of urbanization and the ecological environment in urban agglomerations is of great significance for reducing the negative impact of urbanization on the ecological environment, increasing the positive interaction between the two, and promoting sustainable development in urban agglomerations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-quality urban parks are considered an integral part of health resources as they can deliver diverse ecosystem services. However, the quality of parks is not always similar, resulting in different levels and values of the services provided. A systematic and complete assessment frame of urban park quality is limited. From the perspective of landscape architecture and design, this study aims to propose a comprehensive assessment framework of urban park quality based on six dimensions (planning and design, cultural services, complete and various facilities, landscape planting, landscape management, and landscape ecology), consisting of 27 indicators with different weights by using the objective and subjective weighting method. Taking the city of Chengdu, China as a case study, 100 urban parks are studied via field investigation and scored using methods that consist of a category count, existence score, field measurement, experts score, and photo review and recheck (13,589 images). The results reveal the spatial distribution and differences in park quality, including six quality dimensions and five districts, and the proportion of the existing quality elements in 100 parks. Based on the results, the spatial areas (Barren area, Low-quality area, Medium-quality area, and High-quality area) are identified, which leads to the establishment of the improvement strategies of spatial equity regarding multi-quality parks. The results can help improve the assessment index system of urban parks, guide the landscape planning and design of urban parks for sustainability, as well as provide a reference for future environmental and social equity development, so as to provide insight and reference for decision-makers and designers considering the landscape planning and design of parks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

TOptimization of regional landscape pattern is significant for improving function and value of ecosystem, and restraining the expansion of urban layout. Taking Chengdu City for example, this paper applied RS and GIS techniques, landscape indexes and ecological service function evaluation to further analyze the temporal and spatial characteristics of landscape pattern and spatial differences of regional ecologjcal functions, and on this basis, identified the spatial distribution of ecological source lands. Based on the long-term objective of building Chengdu into a modern garden city, this paper applied the accumulative cost distance model and introduced garden city theory to construct regional ecological corridors and ecological nodes, and explored the approaches of optimizing landscape pattern of modern garden city. The results showed that a great deal of arable land has been transferred to construction land in the urbanization; intensity of regional ecological functions showed obvious spatial differences; ecological source lands were mainly distributed in the Longmen Mountain, the Qionglai Mountain, the Changqiu Mountain and the Longquan Mountain; according to actual conditions of the study area, the road ecologjcal corridors, river corridors and agricultural corridors in the layout of "four rings and six radial corridors" were constructed; ecological nodes dominated by intersection, wetland and forest park were formed. This research method and results are significant references for building Chengdu into a modern garden city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Changes in land-use, caused by rapid urbanization, lead to changes in the supply and demand for ecosystem services. Significant research has been conducted to investigate the impact of changes in the physical supply of ecosystem services on their value. However, quantifying the effects of simultaneous changes in supply and demand on the scarcity value of ecosystem services can provides a more reasonable assessment of ecosystem services, guiding their sustainable use. Therefore, this paper analyzed the changing trend of ecosystem services value in Chengdu in southwestern China from 1995 to 2015 by adjusting the value coefficients with relative changes in scarcity value. Naïve assessment, without considering the supply and demand effect on scarcity value, quantified a decline in the total value of the physical supply of ecosystem services from 1995 to 2015, with a reduction in the areas of cultivated land and woodland. However, the scarcity value of ecosystem services increased from US$ 6.04 billion in 1995 to US$ 12.03 billion (+99.17%) in 2015, when the effects of changes in supply and demand were considered. In addition, the demand for all the public-good ecosystem services increased during the study period, consistenting with Maslow's hierarchy of need and indicating that the demand structure of residents had changed during the process of urbanization. • The value of physical supply of ecosystem services declines along with the development of urbanization. • The scarcity value of ecosystem services has experienced a dramatically increase. • People's demand structure has changed with the increasing value of all the public-good ecosystem services. • The price elasticity of different ecosystem services is a key factor of scarcity value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The quick and reliable quantification of the relationship between ecosystem and economic system is important in policymaking for sustainable urban agglomerations facing enormous pressure from high population density and development intensity. This is especially true in China, where urban agglomeration has been part of the country's strategy for reform, modernization, and urbanization. This study applied the coupling coordination degree (CCD) model to assess the coupling coordination relationships between the ecosystem and economic system at the county level for the Chengdu–Chongqing agglomeration for the period of 2005–2019, and then, the local indicator of spatial association analysis (LISA) was used to illustrate the spatial distribution of CCDs further, hoping to capture the spatiotemporal dynamics of CCDs. The results found that (1) fringe counties and districts in the urban agglomeration were on the brink of ecological–economic disorder with low CCDs, (2) urbanized areas near Chongqing coordinated well with high CCDs, and (3) sound spatial governance and territorial planning may be better achieved by using the county-level unit than the city-level unit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper, based on the literature review and field investigation, studied the status quo of maker spaces in main urban district of Chengdu at a time when the development of the maker spaces has received strong support from national and local governments. In addition to introducing the related concepts and policy support of the maker space, it summarized its distribution characteristics, audience characteristics and status quo as well as problems and presented the direction for the development of the maker space in main urban area of Chengdu grounded on a survey of the status quo of national maker spaces in main urban area of Chengdu. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, with die rapid development of urbanization in our country, academic circles have paid more attentions to and made fruitful achievements on the research of vernacular settlement On this basis, this paper took Chengdu Plain's traditional town spatial morphology as the research object to interpret its spatial form through its composition elements and characteristics which are influenced by nature, history, culture and other factors. And then, it took Jiezi ancient town as an example to analyze the renewal of its spatial form so as to inherit the vernacular culture and promote the conservation of cultural heritage and sustainable development of traditional town in the course of constructing urban cities with Chinese characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The urbanization of China is changing from incremental growth to urban intensification, and urban compactness is a significant attribute for measuring the intensified degree of regional space and societal frameworks. We carefully outline the inadequacies of compactness measuring methodologies and associated research, and argue that compact cities and metro systems contribute to urban sustainable development in tandem. Thereby, this paper investigated 27 strategic region of metro stations on Chengdu Metro Line 1 and proposed a novel urban compactness model in three-dimensions. The result demonstrates that the old urban area before the development of the metro system and the new town thereafter have extreme compactness outcomes, resulting in significant contrasts in morphology and intensification indices. This study investigates the correlation and interaction processes among compactness, morphology, and intensive multiple variables in order to give theoretical and practical support for the intensification design of these two regions in Chengdu. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urbanization has become a prominent anthropogenic activity globally, resulting in the substantial modification of temperature and rainfall in and around urban areas. Studies also indicate that rainfall exhibits an asymmetrical shift from light to extreme rainfall, causing both floods and droughts over different parts of the globe. However, to what extent urbanization influences the asymmetrical changes in rainfall and urban drought remains understudied. Accordingly, we provided an investigation of the urbanization effects on both rainfall and drought events from both statistical and model‐based perspectives. Results showed that urbanization generally increased heavy rainfall and decreased light rainfall in the rainy season over five urban agglomerations (i.e., Yangtze River Delta [YRD], Middle Region of Yangtze River [MRYR], Chengdu‐Chongqing, Guizhou, and Yunnan) in the Yangtze River Basin during 1981–2020. Specifically, urbanization contributed 42.7% and 30.8% of the increases of heavy rainfall in MRYR and YRD while 30.6% contribution to the decrease of light rainfall. Interestingly, results suggested that the urban regions were more prone to drought due to urbanization. Nevertheless, we also found that the urbanization effects showed some variabilities across different areas due to the interactions with complex terrains and climate patterns. Further model‐based simulations using the Weather Research and Forecasting model confirmed our findings and helped understand the potential underlying mechanism. The current research is expected to provide scientific knowledge for better urban planning and preparedness for urbanization‐induced hazards. Plain Language Summary: The Yangtze River Basin (YRB) has experienced rapid urbanization in recent decades, accompanied with increases in heavy rainfall, decreases in light rainfall, and prolonged dry days. However, how urbanization modifies the asymmetrical changes of rainfall and urban drought remains unknown. Here we investigate the changes of rainfall and drought over five urban agglomerations in YRB and quantify the effects and relative contribution of urbanization to these changes. Over the period of 1981–2019, urbanization tends to increase heavy rainfall, suppress light rainfall, and exacerbate drought. Results show that urbanization contributes 42.7% and 30.8% of the increases of heavy rainfall in the Middle Region of Yangtze River and the Yangtze River Delta while 30.6% contribution to the decrease of light rainfall over five urban agglomerations. Key Points: The urbanization effects on rainfall and drought were investigated over five urban agglomerations in the Yangtze River Basin, ChinaUrbanization tended to increase heavy rainfall, suppress light rainfall, and exacerbate droughtStatistical methods and Weather Research and Forecasting‐based simulations further confirmed the urbanization effects on rainfall and drought [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid expansion of urbanization has promoted the prosperity of the economy and society but has also caused rural ecological problems. This study takes the Dujiangyan Irrigation District as an example, to construct ecological and recreation patterns, and it breaks through the pattern construction mode of using a single ecological factor that has been used in previous studies. We analyzed the impact of landscape connectivity and area thresholds at different scales on the selection of source areas, and integrated urban construction and human disturbance factors into resistance surface construction. Finally, a comprehensive landscape network combining "ecology and recreation" was determined through the minimum cumulative resistance model. Multiscale landscape connectivity analysis and area threshold setting greatly promoted the results of source identification. After optimization, we identified four ecological corridors and twenty-seven recreational corridors, and the regional landscape security pattern was significantly improved compared with the previous upper planning content. Therefore, this study provides a reference for regional long-term planning and has reference significance for the spatial protection and utilization of rapidly urbanizing areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globalization and informatization have significantly reshaped the map of the global economy. Mega cities and regions have become the battlegrounds in the interplay between globalization and localization, with megaregions becoming the most globally significant spatial configurations in this regard. However, academics and government departments disagree on how to define the spatial boundaries of megaregions. In this study, on the basis of highway traffic flow data between cities, we integrate the community detection and core-periphery profile algorithms to characterize the city networks in China and identify the city groups and delineate the core structures of city groups, which are the underlying megaregional structures in China. Based on this, we identify 21 megaregions among city groups in China, including the Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, and Chengdu-Chongqing megaregions, and preliminarily delineate their spatial boundaries. On the whole, there are spatial differences among China's megaregions to a certain extent. Central and eastern China have numerous, large, and a high density of megaregions, while the western region has relatively few megaregions. The latter also differs notably from mature megaregions in terms of rank sizes, urban systems, and functional divisions of labor. Generally, this study develops a novel analytical framework for identifying the functional regions of megaregional space in China from a perspective of relational geography, with methodological implications for other fields of inquiry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To analyze the anthropogenic activities on water-environment conditions, sampling campaigns and isotope measurement for precipitation, river water and groundwater were conducted in Jinjiang River System, Chengdu, China for one year. The results show that runoff is the main factor affecting the isotopic composition in natural-state rivers, while in rivers affected by human activities, the isotopic composition varies greatly due to the influence of impermeable surface and municipal pipe networks on water evaporation and mixing. The warm-and-humid moisture source and "heat island" effect lead to high slope and intercept of local meteoric water line (LMWL), and the characteristics of surface water line (SWL) are closely related to land types. Isotope changes along the flow path indicate significant evaporation effect in wet season, while the operation of municipal pipe networks partially conceals the evaporation effect in dry season. The intensity of river evaporation is positively correlated with the urbanization level along the river. Isotope mixing model shows that precipitation and river water are the recharge sources of groundwater in rain and dry seasons, respectively, and the mixing ratios between Jiangan River and Fuhe River shows significant seasonal variation. The combination of isotopic analysis and pollutant data reveals that the seasonal water contribution is the main factor influencing the water quality. Risks for water safety and environmental health in Chengdu and cities along lower Minjiang River were assessed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cities are faced with booming populations, limited resources, and intensified pollution. To remain its sustainability and resilience against the varying environment, a city has to tackle the challenges from both the nature and human ourselves. This paper aims at evaluating the sustainability and resilience of cities in terms of their capabilities for maintaining, in face of potential threats in the future. Five subsystems, i.e. economy, environment, population, resource, science & technology are incorporated in the conceptual framework of linked urban sustainability and resilience. Through scenario simulations, we measure the performance of system elements and evaluate the resilience process with water resources trial when disturbance occurs. With Chengdu, China as the case, we have found that: (1) Limited water resources could not meet the basic demand well, and the quality could not be significantly improved till 2035 under the current path, and the modifications could be done with ongoing strategies. (2) Impacts of disturbances could be largely expanded in resource-dependent period, for which improving resource use efficiency and conducting industry structural adjustment could make cities more resilient. (3) The greater the presence of resilience system elements, the more developed the sustainability system. • A dynamic hybrid framework system of urban sustainability and resilience is constructed. • The performance of sustainability system elements is measured through scenario simulations. • Disturbance is introduced in for evaluating urban resilience. • The greater the presence of resilience system elements, the more developed the sustainability system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on the service values of urban ecosystems is a hot topic of ecological studies in the current era of rapid urbanization. To quantitatively estimate the ecosystem service value in Chengdu, China from the perspectives of natural ecology and social ecology, the technologies of remote sensing (RS) and geographic information system (GIS) are utilized in this study to extract the land use type information from RS images of Chengdu in 2003, 2007, 2013 and 2018. Subsequently, a driver analysis of the ecosystem services of Chengdu was performed based on socioeconomic data from the last 16 years. The results indicated that: (1) from 2003 to 2018, the land utilization in Chengdu changed significantly, with the area of cultivated lands, forest lands and water decreasing remarkably, while the area of construction lands dramatically increased. (2) The ecosystem services value (ESV) of Chengdu decreased by 30.92% in the last 16 years, from CNY 2.4078 × 1010 in 2003 to CNY 1.6632 × 1010 in 2018. Based on a future simulation, the ESV is further predicted to be reduced to CNY 1.4261 × 1010 by 2033. (3) The ESV of Chengdu showed a negative correlation with the total population, the urbanization rate and the per capita GDP of the region, indicating that the ESV of the studied region was inter-coupled with the socioeconomic development and can be maintained at a high level through rationally regulating the socioeconomic structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]