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The Tarim River Basin (TRB) is situated in the hinterland of northwest China, which is an extremely arid and fragile ecological zone. In recent years, the region's ecological civilization construction has been facing huge challenges that are exacerbated by climate change and human activities. In order to verify the current ecological status of TRB, this paper explores the spatial and temporal variation in ecosystem service value (ESV) and the impact mechanism based on LUCC data from 2000 to 2020, using the adjusted unit area value equivalent method, the elasticity index method and the geo-probe analysis method. The results show that: (1) the ESV of the TRB has fluctuated since 2000, increasing by CNY 14.02 billion, especially in the Hotan River region. Among the individual ecosystem services, the increase in regulatory services is the largest, rising to CNY 8.842 billion. The growth of ESV mostly occurred in the mountains and oases. (2) The rise in ESV is mainly due to the conversion of barren land to water and grassland; ESV loss is mainly affected by the conversion of water to cropland and barren land and grassland to cropland and barren land. (3) Human activity impact or intensity (HAI) is the key driving factor for the spatial stratified heterogeneity of ESV, followed by elevation (DEM). In the interaction analysis, HAI∩DEM interaction is the primary reason for ESV's spatial differentiation. The study's findings show that the combined effects of human activities, DEM, and hydrothermal conditions underlie the spatial stratified heterogeneity of ESV in the TRB. This conclusion provides a scientific basis for future ecological civilization construction planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As China's railways continue to expand into the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, the number of deep-buried long tunnels is increasing. Tunnel-damaging geothermal disasters have become a common problem in underground engineering. Predicting the potential geothermal disaster areas along the Yunnan–Tibet railway project is conducive to its planning and construction and the realization of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)—specifically, the industry, innovation and infrastructure goal (SDG 9). In this paper, the Yunnan–Tibet railway project was the study area. Landsat-8 images and other spatial data were used to investigate causes and distributions of geothermal disasters. A collinearity diagnosis of environmental variables was carried out. Twelve environmental variables, such as land surface temperature, were selected to predict potential geothermal disaster areas using four niche models (MaxEnt, Bioclim, Domain and GARP). The prediction results were divided into four levels and had different characteristics. Among them, the area under receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) and kappa values of the MaxEnt model were the highest, at 0.84 and 0.63, respectively. Its prediction accuracy was the highest and the algorithm results are more suitable for the prediction of geothermal disasters. The prediction results show that the geothermal disaster potential is greatest in the Markam-Deqen, Zuogong-Zayu and Baxoi-Zayu regions. Through jack-knife analysis, it was found that the land surface temperature, active faults, water system distribution and Moho depth are the key environmental predictors of potential geothermal disaster areas. The research results provide a reference for the design and construction of the Yunnan–Tibet railway project and associated sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The continuation of human civilization is inseparable from the development and construction of rural areas, and infrastructure is the core of rural development. China has been building large-scale rural infrastructure in recent years. Rural infrastructure building, for example, is huge in both quantity and scope, but it is beset by challenges in its current construction and development, and it urgently requires suitable leadership. Planning assessment, as a technical method, can identify problems in regional development and is a powerful tool for evaluating the impact of planning and construction and promoting the development of complete new areas. This paper is aimed at the planning evaluation of rural construction and the evaluation of rural construction and guides the planning and implementation of the next step of rural construction, to assist China's supervision and inspection of rural construction effect and promote rural construction and development into a good track. In view of the low accuracy and efficiency of the current evaluation model of rural planning and the problem that a single neural network easily produces local extreme value, the neural network method is improved, and the application of LM-BP neural network in the evaluation model of rural planning is proposed. Input sample elements are five factors affecting rural construction, including industrial construction, population distribution, and utilization rate of large-scale facilities, construction of public facilities, and promotion effect of supporting policies. Output sample is the evaluation result. On this foundation, the LM-BP neural network was used to convert the training into a least square problem, and the LM method was used to redefine the number of hidden layer nodes, resulting in the construction of a rural planning evaluation model based on the LM-BP neural network. This approach is used to determine the outcomes of rural planning evaluations. The experimental results show that the designed evaluation model has a small evaluation error, has the advantage of high accuracy compared with similar models, and is a reliable evaluation model for rural planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the paper, we analyze the climate-related risks of rainstorm floods, droughts and water shortages, high temperatures, and heavy hazes in the Xiongan New Area. A warming and drying trend was seen in Xiongan New Area during 1961–2018, as evidenced by the increase in the number of high-temperature days and the maximum rainfall intensity per hour, a decrease in surface water resources and groundwater levels, a reduction in wind speeds, and weakening of the self-purification capacity of the atmosphere. It is estimated that the areas at high risk of floods and heats will increase by 15.7 and 15.6% in around 2035 relative to 1986–2005, respectively. Although the runoff in the Daqing River Basin will increase, the construction of Xiongan New Area means that the imbalance between the supply and demand of water resources will remain. Climate change adaptation measures should therefore be improved in the planning and construction of Xiongan New Area. Finally, we discuss the approaches to address climate-related risks in this new area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The paper aims to focus on institutional initiatives to embed e-learning in a university in Hong Kong, from 2006-12, through large-scale funding of 43 e-learning projects. It outlines the guiding principles behind the university's e-learning development and discusses the significance of various procedures and practices in project planning, development and implementation. Design/methodology/approach - This longitudinal study combines historical perspectives with process description, analysis and personal observations. Its approach is based in action research. The authors are engaged both as participants/learning designers in particular projects and in management, administration and evaluation of the projects at the institutional level. Findings - It is proposed that e-learning projects need careful planning, scaffolding and managing. Also that piloting, evaluation and formal reporting as well as the availability of professional, technical and instructional design support are significant factors in success. Research limitations/implications - This paper is preliminary work. Further findings and analysis are expected at the final completion of all projects. A wealth of data is available in accumulated project documentation and reports, including individual project evaluations with quantitative and qualitative data. Originality/value - Given the commonly acknowledged difficulties in helping e-learning projects continue to completion and actually be implemented, this study can offer strategies that may be widely applied in different contexts. The scale and timeframe of the study and the amount of funding available in one institution are unusual so emerging implications are potentially significant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A method for spatiotemporal coordination of multienergy systems is proposed. • Virtual energy storage gain is calculated based on spectral analysis. • The hydropower regulation ability affects the virtual energy storage gain. • The optimal coordination range between multiple energy sources is obtained. Utilizing the spatial heterogeneity and climate periodicity of various available renewable energy sources can enhance the multienergy complementarity, which will further reduce the energy storage demand and contributes to the "virtual energy storage gain." In this paper, we propose a spatiotemporal coordination method based on spectral analysis for a wind-PV-hydropower system that targets the maximum virtual energy storage gain. The complementary effect of hydropower on wind and PV power can be seen as changes in the regulation ability resulting from the hydropower construction development as well as a decreased variance in the total system production output. This method is used to determine the optimal coordination distance of multiple energy sources that are matched over different periods representing typical climate variation. A case study in the Yalong River basin in China obtains the best range of hydropower bundling surrounding wind power and PV power stations under different hydropower construction planning scenarios, and it reveals that increased regulation capacity of hydropower will reduce the optimal coordination distance but can achieve more energy balance if both actual storage and virtual storage is accounted for. This approach can realize energy delivery with the optimal coordination distance to meet intensive and efficient development needs, which can provide guidance and support for the planning and construction of wind-PV-hydropower storage systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the global climate change and the rapid progress of urbanization, the frequent occurrence of flooding disasters and non-point source pollution seriously threaten the sustainable development of modern cities. To alleviate these problems, China started to pilot construction of the "Sponge City" (SPC). Over a decade, it has attracted public attention, supports, and participations. The paper presents a literature review of sponge city construction (SPCC) process (planning, design and construction) as well as the assessment of SPC, including: operation, maintenance, and effectiveness. Research gap and future works are also proposed. The paper offers some tactics for SPCC, including: 1) in the planning and construction stage of SPC, the goals and systematic plans should be formulated according to local water-environmental conditions. The drainage plan should cover the strategy to dispose runoff volumes at sources and the ultimately goal for flood mitigation. The drainage design involves the combination of various green and grey infrastructures; 2) It is important to identify monitoring methods and hydrological models which can be used to assess the performance of a SPC. With adequate field data, all models and methods should be calibrated for not only runoff quantity and quality control but also the alleviation of urban heat island effects, including the base flows and local groundwater table; 3) Based on the regional field data, it is necessary to standardize regional design parameters, construction material specifics, and maintenance scheme and schedule that would significantly affect the facility's infiltrating and filtering processes, therefore, a regular maintenance program should be initiated to monitor the operations of the as-built facilities according to local climate conditions. The paper evaluated several maintenance methods for ten typical facilities to provide a reference for the operation and maintenance of facilities in SPCC. • The sponge city construction (SPCC) and design methods were introduced in detail. • Scientific and reasonable assessment can better guide the SPCCs. • The sponge city (SPC) facilities can be a better way to control stormwater runoff. • Monitoring and simulation method are equally important for assessing SPC effect. • A maintenance program should be initiated to monitor the operations of SPC facility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nighttime light data play an important role in the research on cities, while the urban centers over a large spatial scale are still far from clearly understood. Aiming at the current challenges in monitoring the spatial structure of cities using nighttime light data, this paper proposes a new method for identifying urban centers for massive cities at the large spatial scale based on the brightness information captured by the Suomi National Polar-Orbiting Partnership's Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (NPP-VIIRS) sensor. Based on the method for extracting the peak point based on digital elevation model (DEM) data in terrain analysis, the maximum neighborhood and difference algorithms were applied to the NPP-VIIRS data to extract the pixels with the peak nighttime light intensity to identify the potential locations of urban centers. The results show 7239 urban centers in 2200 cities in China in 2017, with an average of 3.3 urban centers per city. Approximately 68% of the cities had significant polycentric structures. The developed method in this paper is useful for identifying the urban centers and can provide the reference to the city planning and construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Accurate assessment of China's ecological environment changes in the past 20 years is important. • We used time-series NDVI data (1998–2018) to evaluate China's ecological environment change. • In one-third of China the ecological environment has improved, and in 10%, the ecological environment has deteriorated. • The Yellow River Basin is an area where the ecological environment has significantly improved. • The main reason for the deterioration in the ecological environment of the eastern coastal areas is urban expansion. The ecological environment is the foundation of human survival and development. China's ecological environment has undergone a historic transition from partial improvement to overall improvement. In this paper, long time series NDVI data (1998–2018) are used to evaluate the ecological environment change and spatiotemporal change that has taken place in China over the last 20 years, at different scales (regional, provincial, county, and grid scales). Combined with typical areas, the causes of ecological environment change are revealed. The results show that in about one-third of China, the ecological environment improved, and in 10%, the ecological environment deteriorated. Ningxia, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Guizhou, and Guangxi are the provinces in which the improvement of the ecological environment is most pronounced. However, the ecological environments with vegetation as the core in Shanghai and Jiangsu Province have deteriorated significantly. The areas with the fastest improvement in their ecological environment are those with precipitation of 200–600 mm. The Yellow River Basin is an area where the ecological environment has significantly improved. Forestry projects and the development of oasis agriculture effectively promote the improvement of the ecological environment. In the past 20 years, the main reason for the degradation of the ecological environment in eastern coastal areas is urban expansion. China should continue to strengthen its overall layout of forestry projects and improve its ecological environment. When planning its ecological construction, China should fully consider the associated physical and geographical conditions, and adjust measures to local conditions accordingly. China should coordinate the relationship between development and protection and avoid the "pie spread" expansion witnessed in eastern coastal areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By integrating the vehicle tracking system, discrete-event simulation algorithm, and evolutionary optimization algorithm, we developed HKCONSIM-Realtime, a decision-support platform created specifically for handling ready-mixed concrete operations. This platform is capable of (1) tracking the positions of concrete trucks and monitoring the motion and status of concrete deliveries in real time, (2) transforming the tracking records into data that provide updated input to simulation, and (3) optimizing the operations and logistics of concrete production based on simulation of the production system using the most current data. This paper presents an overview of the design and development of (1) the hardware and software modules, (2) the data flow and processing throughout the system, and (3) the role of the system in providing interactive, effective support for the human operator to attain cost efficiency. Case studies are given to demonstrate the functionality and application of the prototype system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the beginning of 2020, the weak domestic power demand caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the large-scale advancement of coal power construction projects may have further aggravated the coal power overcapacity in China. Given the new situation, this study collected the data on China's installed electricity capacity and electricity demand during the 13th Five-Year Plan period. Moreover, a reasonable capacity evaluation model of coal power was established based on the energy and electric power balance to analyze China's coal power overcapacity in 2019 and determine the reasonable capacity for 2025. The internal reasons of unreasonable energy structure and regional difference of energy structure are systematically discussed. Results show that the overcapacity in 2019 was approximately 170 GW, and the overcapacity situation in North, Northwest, and South China was particularly serious. The reasonable coal power capacity for 2025 under the basic situation is 950 GW, indicating that if all the coal power units under construction and planning are operated, the overcapacity in 2025 will be 300 GW. Sensitivity and comprehensive scenario analyses show that under different scenarios, the upper and lower limits of the reasonable coal power capacity in 2025 are 1083 and 794 GW, respectively. Finally, this paper proposes relevant policy recommendations to cope with China's serious coal power overcapacity problem. [Display omitted] • Capacity evaluation model of coal power is established. • Quantitative analysis is provided for each regional power grid of China. • The coal power overcapacity of China exceeds 170 GW in 2019. • The overcapacity situation may further deteriorate during the 14th FYP period. • A reasonable scale of coal power is 950–1000 GW at 2025. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Xu, B., 2020. Opinions on organic renewal and construction south of the Yangtze River guided by water resources and elements. In: Hu, C. and Cai, M. (eds.), Geo-informatics and Oceanography. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 105, pp. 199–203. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. Key issues in the development of waterfront space south of the Yangtze River are analyzed based on the identification and analysis of traditional elements of regions in southern China, and a concept for renewal and development of regions in southern China is proposed that uses water elements as factors to activate the traditional village–town space. Based on full respect and utilization of the river network, this paper excavates important design elements, builds a planning and construction model for organic renewal of villages and towns south of the Yangtze River, constructs a target frame system from a new perspective that features organic renewal of the countryside guided by water resources and elements, and puts forward a development strategy, implementation approach, and institutional innovation under this integrated target system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chen, L. and Wang, Y., 2020. Study on plant configuration and planning of landscape architecture in coastal cities. In: Bai, X. and Zhou, H. (eds.), Advances in Water Resources, Environmental Protection, and Sustainable Development. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 115, pp. 17-20. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. The development and progress of society put forward higher requirements for the development of coastal cities. Strengthening the planning and construction of coastal cities has become an important task and work at present. Plant landscape is the most direct and only landscape that can make people feel the changes of life. Its richness and diversity will have a profound impact on people's life and spirit. It can directly show the beauty of plants, give people a feeling of being close to nature, and can coordinate with the surrounding coastal city environment to change the ecological environment. In this paper, the classification and characteristics of seasonal plants are summarized, and the design principles, common plant configuration forms and plant selection of coastal city landscape gardens are systematically discussed. On this basis, the design points of coastal city planning are put forward in order to promote the continuous improvement of ecological planning and design level of coastal cities in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chen, L. and Wang, Y., 2020. Study on plant configuration and planning of landscape architecture in coastal cities. In: Bai, X. and Zhou, H. (eds.), Advances in Water Resources, Environmental Protection, and Sustainable Development. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 115, pp. 17-20. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. The development and progress of society put forward higher requirements for the development of coastal cities. Strengthening the planning and construction of coastal cities has become an important task and work at present. Plant landscape is the most direct and only landscape that can make people feel the changes of life. Its richness and diversity will have a profound impact on people's life and spirit. It can directly show the beauty of plants, give people a feeling of being close to nature, and can coordinate with the surrounding coastal city environment to change the ecological environment. In this paper, the classification and characteristics of seasonal plants are summarized, and the design principles, common plant configuration forms and plant selection of coastal city landscape gardens are systematically discussed. On this basis, the design points of coastal city planning are put forward in order to promote the continuous improvement of ecological planning and design level of coastal cities in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

He, C.; Xiang, X.; Lin, J., and Yu, L., 2020. Study on urban design characteristics of new coastal "reclamation type" town. In: Gong, D.; Zhang, M., and Liu, R. (eds.), Advances in Coastal Research: Engineering, Industry, Economy, and Sustainable Development. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 106, pp. 363–367. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. The construction of new coastal reclamation areas is an important decision in China, because it is a form of development and construction that must adapt to many problems in coastal areas, including rapid socioeconomic development, rapid population growth, and serious shortage of land resources. China has many coastal provinces, which will be limited by the shortage of land resources. Therefore, in the rapid economic development, coastal cities will be greatly restricted, which will limit the rapid process of urbanization. China has abundant beach resources. Therefore, reclamation and city building have become the main means to alleviate land resource shortages. In recent years, various coastal cities in China have carried out new reclamation-type town design, which has its own unique characteristics. These new city construction plans need to be improved, because the "reclamation type" city is an important part of urban construction planning in the future. This paper analyzes the current situation of the construction of the new coastal reclamation areas, presents the methods, and suggests improvements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As China is a mountainous country, a large quantity of the population has to live in mountainous areas due to limited living space. Most of them cluster along roads in areas with relatively poor traffic conditions. In view of the spatial-temporal change of complex geological and ecological environment along the roads in the mountains, this paper takes the Dujiangyan- Wenchuan (Du-Wen) Road as the research object, and puts forward a method to evaluate the bearing capacity of regional geological and ecological environment based on the evaluation of quality and spatial coupling of bearing capacity. For the needs of the current research, a total number of 20 indicators from three aspects of geological, ecological, and social attributes were selected to carry out the assessment. Based on the GIS platform and evaluation index system, the weight of each evaluation index factor is determined by Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). The comprehensive quality of bearing capacity is calculated by the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) algorithm through weighted superposition, which comes to result in the evaluation of geological, ecological, and social environment. Afterward, the bearing capacity of the study area is classified, combining the results of hot spot analysis. The study shows that the spatial distribution of geological, ecological, and socio-economic bearing capacity in this area is highly aggregated, with 31.12% of the area to be classified as suitable construction area, 31.98% as backup reserve area, and 36.79% as unsuitable construction area. The studied triangle area, composed of Yingxiu Town, Xuankou Town, and Dujiangyan City, presents a large area of a high-valued aggregation area, with comprehensive high quality bearing capacity and spatial aggregation, which is better for planning and construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]