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The paper presents a new method to evaluate the impact of Xiongan’s construction on the collaborative development of Jing-Jin-Ji (JJJ) Urban Agglomeration under different development strategies. Firstly, the SD model of each urban node of JJJ Urban Agglomeration is constructed by using parallel calibration system, and it is applied to simulate the development trend of target system. Then, the paper sets up a fractal model base on gravitational theorem which takes population, GDP and full carbon emissions as main factors to be evaluated with the Low Carbon Economic Linkage Strength. The evaluation results show that: (1) Xiongan as a radiation center can significantly promote the collaborative development of urban agglomeration; (2) On the basis of the existing trend, improving the low-carbon level of Xiongan alone has no significant effect on the low-carbon development, while the effect is significant when Beijing, Tianjin and Xiongan low-carbon levels are improved at the same time; (3) There will be a delay in the transmission of low-carbon economic development capacity from high to low gradient, but this delay does not affect the radiation effect of high gradient cities on low gradient cities, nor does it affect the coordinated development of urban agglomerations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of Xiongan New Area in Hebei Province, China, as a significant national choice, has considerable strategic significance for the integrated growth of Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei. This paper proposes a cloud model for the suitability evaluation of the construction of Xiongan New Area based on entropy weight analysis, taking into account the geological conditions, groundwater environment, environmental geological problems, and other factors of the suitability of image city development. According to the research, the suitability evaluation findings for the project building employing the cloud model are in strong accord with those of the traditional model and have some application potential. The evaluation's findings indicate that the project construction in Xiongan New Area is acceptable, with suitable and relatively suitable sites making up 81.4% of the total area and excellent circumstances for project development, construction, and usage. This study offers helpful direction for Xiongan New Area's urban land-space design and serves as a useful point of comparison for studies looking at the viability of other deep Quaternary Plain region engineering buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate and effective PM2.5 concentration prediction has important implications for public health and the ecological environment. To provide more accurate early warnings for haze prevention, urban planning, and people's travel planning, this paper proposes a new combined PM2.5 concentration prediction model. Firstly, the original sequence is decomposed by complete ensemble empirical mode decomposition with adaptive noise (CEEMDAN), followed by decomposition and reconstruction of the data by adaptive variational mode decomposition (AVMD) and sample entropy (SE), and then the reconstructed subseries are predicted by long and short-term memory networks (LSTM). The empirical analysis was carried out with three datasets from Beijing, Tianjin, and Baoding, and the following conclusions can be drawn: (1) The validity and robustness of the proposed model were verified, with R2 (0.982), RMSE (2.792), and MAPE (9.088%) being optimal in all comparison experiments. (2) The incorporation of secondary decomposition and pattern reorganization algorithms can effectively handle data with high volatility and non-linearity. (3) Compared with traditional machine learning models, the long and short-term memory network is more suitable for time series prediction. The model provides a novel and effective PM2.5 concentration prediction tool for the government and the public. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As China's economy has entered the development stage of a "new normal," the traditional path relying on investment scale expansion for economic growth can no longer sustain. Thus the key of the supply-side structural reform lies in breaking through the long-term path dependence and facilitating the transformation and innovation of socio-economic and urban development. This paper takes Shenzhen as the benchmark of the comparative study, and Guangzhou and Tianjin as the comparative object to analyze the contributions of the demand-side "troika" - investment, consumption, and export, to economic growth from 1986 to 2015. Then, it introduces multiple growth elements on the supply-side to analyze the significant contribution elements in urban economic growth and their contribution degrees. Meanwhile, in combination with the economic development background and the policy guidance since the reform and opening up, the paper analyzes the characteristics of the development paths and their trends of the three cities. In the end, based on the comparative study, it carries out a discussion on the development path for mega-cities and their urban planning strategies at the new era from three perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to improve the effect of urban and rural regional spatial planning and resource allocation, we need to focus on the factor of urban and rural population flow. Therefore, this paper evaluates the effect of urban and rural population mobility and spatial planning under the background of big data. Based on the evaluation of the effect of urban-rural population migration, according to the evaluation principle of the effect of urban-rural population migration after the reform and opening up, the evaluation index system is constructed, the dimensionless processing of the evaluation index system is carried out, the evaluation index weight is calculated, and the evaluation index is quantified, so as to complete the effect evaluation of spatial planning. Finally, taking Tianjin as an example, the application effect of this design method is verified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding public perceptions of images of urban public spaces can guide efforts to improve urban vitality and spatial diversity. The rise of social media data and breakthroughs in deep learning frameworks for computer vision provide new opportunities for studying public perceptions in public spaces. While social media research methods already exist for extracting geo-information on public preferences and emotion analysis findings from geodata, this paper aims at deep learning analysis by building a VGG-16 image classification method that enhanced the research content of images without geo-information. In this study, 1940 Flickr images of the Haihe River in Tianjin were identified in multiple scenes with deep learning. The regularized VGG-16 architecture showed high accuracies of 81.75% for the TOP-1 and 96.75% for the TOP-5 and Grad-CAM visualization modules for the interpretation of classification results. The result of the present work indicate that images of the Haihe River are dominated by skyscrapers, bridges, promenades, and urban canals. After using kernel density to visualize the spatial distribution of Flickr images with geodata, it was found that there are three vitality areas in Haihe River. However, the kernel density result also shows that judging spatial visualization based solely on geodata is incomplete. The spatial distribution can be used as an assistant function in the case of the under-representation of geodata. Collectively, the field of how to apply computer vision to urban design research was explored and extended in this trial study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Architectural Journal / Jian Zhu Xue Bao is the property of Architectural Journal Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The objective of a bridge design is to produce a safe bridge that satisfies all functional requirements with a cost that is acceptable by the owners. However, with accelerated development of people's aesthetic awareness, the design of urban bridges is gradually developing towards novelty, harmony, and customization. The most critical issue in constructing an aesthetically pleasing bridge is that there is no such rule to conceive of the most perfect or elegant design. In recent decades, a large number of bridges have been built on the Haihe River in Tianjin, China. This paper focuses on the introduction and implementation of innovative aesthetics design for urban bridges in this city. The design of new bridges on the Haihe River adheres to the people-oriented conception, and to the successful combination of aesthetics and functional design specifications. Complementary scientific strategies are implemented during the reconstruction of old bridges on the river to protect the cultural relics and preserve the history. The overall design conception in this paper is the harmony of mechanics and aesthetics as well as the harmony of bridges and its surrounding environment. Also, the designers and constructors follow the rules of inheriting historical emotions and human emotions. Several novel bridge cases are employed in the paper to demonstrate the design conception. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The regeneration of stock land has gradually occupied the mainstream of China's urban development. In order to cope with the inherent complexity of land property rights and transaction costs in stock land regeneration, relevant urban policies need to play a necessary guiding role. Taking the downtown area of Tianjin as an example, this paper discusses the interaction between spatial regeneration and policy change of stock industrial land. Firstly, a spatial database is constructed through multi-party research to quantitatively describe the spatial and temporal evolution of the stock industrial land since 1995. Secondly, the relevant urban policies since 1979 are sorted out, and the characteristics of policy changes are evaluated and analyzed. Finally, through comparative studies, it is confirmed that the regeneration rate of stock industrial land is affected by policy change, and the speed of policy impact is subject to the policies' inherent characteristics, namely, "guiding policy" or "regulating policy." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite its tremendous success, the Chinese Economy is still characterized and controlled by a recurring process of 5 year planning. This comprehensive National planning program occurs at all levels of the Chinese government, educational system and state owned companies. This paper reports on a study that was made in preparation for the 13th 5 year Plan for the Smart City component of the upcoming city of Tianjin. The objective of this study was to identify problems in informatization, automation and centralization of command and control, so that these could be solved as part of the 5 year plan. The study followed a three-stage mixed-method approach. First, questionnaires were used to assess the sate of development of the smart city features in the different departments of the city government. Second, the study organized thematic joint development groups consisting of expert representatives from different city's departments and units. Third, results of questionnaires and thematic joint development discussions were analyzed in departmental focus groups to clarify and specify the problems and assess proposed solutions and viability of those solutions. This paper analyses the findings of this three-stage process and offers a classification of the identified problems, an integrative conceptual representation of these and a discussion of the importance of this identification in the overall planning process. The results and discussion are of particular importance in China for the next round of 5 year planning that will take place in 2020. However the meaning of the findings of this applied research process are transferable to any smart city planning process all over the world as the majority of the issues discussed are generic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to study the evolution of urban land use in Tianjin, predict the future evolution trend of urban land use in Tianjin, and further understand the development of urban planning in China. Firstly, the extensive application of remote sensing image technology and its role in the study of urban scale development are expounded. Then, the paper studies the connotation of the basic ecological water demand in the river channel, discusses the hydraulics method to calculate the ecological water demand in the river channel, especially the theory of wet-cycle method. Finally, the temporal and spatial evolution of urban land use in Tianjin is qualitatively and quantitatively studied. The results show that the RS technology can be used to study the spatiotemporal evolution of urban land use in Tianjin, and the specific situation of urban land use in different periods can be accurately understood. The results show that remote sensing technology can effectively map the specific situation of urban land use. This exploration provides a new perspective and a new method for the study of urban land use change, provides a guarantee for the in-depth study of urban planning and urban and rural planning, and provides a reference for future related studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The construction of subways has an external impact on the urban environment. Among them, the most important acceleration function lies in the property values of housing near subway stations. Tianjin, the largest open coastal city in Northern China, is selected as the subject of the research in this paper by virtue of its unique background. The Hedonic Pricing Model is used in analysing the change in the value of the properties located within 1,000 metres of completed subway line 3 stations. Using the theories of land rent and land location, and a model of the impact of urban traffic on the surrounding real estate prices, we analyse the sphere of influence of Tianjin Metro Line 3 on real estate prices. Finally, the paper stresses the importance of urban construction and subway building and finds that different development strategies should be used according to the characteristics of the subway in various regions of the city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Research of Environmental Sciences is the property of Research of Environmental Sciences Editorial Board and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a significant increase in e-commerce, which has prompted residents to shift their purchasing habits from offline to online. As a result, Smart Parcel Lockers (SPLs) have emerged as an accessible end-to-end delivery service that fits into the pandemic strategy of maintaining social distance and no-contact protocols. Although numerous studies have examined SPLs from various perspectives, few have analyzed their spatial distribution from an urban planning perspective, which could enhance the development of other disciplines in this field. To address this gap, we investigate the distribution of SPLs in Tianjin's central urban area before and after the pandemic (i.e., 2019 and 2022) using kernel density estimation, average nearest neighbor analysis, standard deviation elliptic, and geographical detector. Our results show that, in three years, the number of SPLs has increased from 51 to 479, and a majority were installed in residential communities (i.e., 92.2% in 2019, and 97.7% in 2022). We find that SPLs were distributed randomly before the pandemic, but after the pandemic, SPLs agglomerated and followed Tianjin's development pattern. We identify eight influential factors on the spatial distribution of SPLs and discuss their individual and compound effects. Our discussion highlights potential spatial distribution analysis, such as dynamic layout planning, to improve the allocation of SPLs in city planning and city logistics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The feasibility of integrating large-scale heat pumps in the BTH region is studied. • Regional integrated planning is compared with independent planning. • EnergyPLAN is adopted to simulate the operation of heating and power systems. • The maximum economic feasible potential of heat pump penetration is identified. • Heat pumps earn energy and environmental benefits without increasing cost in 2030. Promoting cleaner heating is one of the key pathways towards future energy transition. One promising solution is to implement large-scale heat pumps into the existing heat supply system. This paper aims to investigate whether the integration of large-scale heat pumps can be the first feasible step for cities towards clean heating transition. As opposed to the traditional way of conducting independent energy planning within a single city/region, this paper presents a novel approach of employing integrated planning for the multiple neighboring regions to explore the advantages of interregional energy collaboration. The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) urban agglomeration is taken as a case study, which is the most polluted region in China caused by the coal-based heating system. By implementing a series of simulations for the heating and power systems in the EnergyPLAN tool for six predesigned future scenarios which consider different planning strategies and analysis focuses, this paper analyzes to what extent heat pumps can help to achieve energy and environmental improvement for the whole BTH region by 2030 while ensuring economic feasibility. This is done by creating three independent models for respective Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei, and one integrated model for the whole BTH region. The results suggest that when guaranteeing economic feasibility, the integration of large-scale heat pumps can potentially result in at least 9.5% energy saving and 9.28% reduced CO 2 emission compared to the baseline. The integrated planning strategy can furthermore be more efficient in the urban agglomeration, which reduces 1.92% and 2.27% more energy and emissions in 2030 compared to the independent planning results. Based on cost analysis, the maximum economic feasible potential of heat pump penetration is identified as well. This paper can provide references for policymakers in the BTH region and the rest of Northern China, as well as present a principle of energy planning for cities on a general level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The concept of absolute threshold of cooling (ToC abs) is defined and determined. • The cooling intensities of different types of landscape patches were reclassified. • The effects of spatial patterns on LST of different landscape patches were studied. • The impacts of neighboring greenspace proportion on land patch LST were quantified. • The methodology can be applied in other cities to achieve climate adaptive planning. Increasing the amount of blue-green spaces has been recognized as an effective strategy to mitigate the urban heat island (UHI) effect. Specific quantitative and actionable landscape mitigation strategies for different land-use and land-cover (LULC) types to cool down cities, have been rarely addressed. In this paper, the absolute threshold of cooling (ToC abs) —the specific threshold of a certain influencing factor to ensure the effective cooling of a particular patch type, was proposed and defined for the first time to facilitate the research. The effects of size, shape and neighboring greenspace percentage (NGP) of different types of LULC patches on land surface temperature (LST) were examined and their corresponding ToC abs values were determined if existed, in the metropolitan areas of Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin using satellite images. Results demonstrate that larger-sized and complex-shaped water bodies and forested areas produce greater cooling effect. The size is irrelevant to the cooling intensity of grass-dominated patches. ToC abs of patch size exist and were identified for water bodies (Beijing, 5 ha; Shanghai, 10 ha; and Tianjin, 5 ha) and forested areas (Beijing, 20 ha; Shanghai, 50 ha; and Tianjin, 20 ha). Besides, NGP is negatively correlated with patch LST for all LULC types, indicating that increasing the amount of neighboring vegetation cover can effectively lower the nearby patch LST. ToC abs of NGP exist and were identified for water bodies (Beijing, 30.3%; Shanghai, 61.6%; and Tianjin, 20%) and grass-dominated areas (Beijing, 89.1%; Shanghai, 76.9%; and Tianjin, 81.5%). Among the three influencing factors, the size accounts for greatest variability in patch LST for forested areas and impervious surfaces, and neighboring greenspace proportion accounts for the most variability in LST for water bodies and grass-dominated areas. The methodology and results of this study could help to orientate specific and actionable landscape strategies of urban cooling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chlorinated paraffins (CPs) have been widely used as halogenated flame retardants and plasticizers since the mid-20th century. The prevalence of CPs in soil has been widely reported, but the distribution pattern of CPs in urbanized zones and their association with multiple socioeconomic variables have not been adequately explored. Herein, short-chain and medium-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs and MCCPs) were investigated in surface soil samples from Tianjin, China, a typical urbanized area. The concentration distributions of SCCPs and MCCPs showed similar trends in different administrative divisions and land use types: urban areas > suburbs > outer suburbs (p < 0.001) and residential areas > greenbelts > agricultural areas (p < 0.001). The CP congeners in residential surface soils mainly included those with longer carbon chains and high degree of chlorination, while the CP congeners in agricultural surface soils mainly consisted of those with shorter carbon chains and fewer chlorine substituents. Multiple statistical approaches were used to explore the association between socioeconomic factors and CP distribution. CP concentration was significantly correlated to population density and gross domestic product (GDP) (p < 0.001), and structural equation models incorporating administrative regional planning showed an indirect impact on the distribution of MCCP concentration due to the influence of regional planning on population density. These results highlight the association between CP contamination and the degree of urbanization, and this paper provides useful information toward mitigating the exposure risk of CPs for urban inhabitants. [Display omitted] • Human urban planning played an important role in the environmental behavior of SCCPs and MCCPs. • Socio-economic factors were positively correlated with CP concentration. • The structural equation models confirmed that population density had a direct and significant effect on MCCP concentrations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The establishment of low-carbon eco-city planning in the pattern of low-carbon economic development and the low-carbon society consumption with cities as a unit can remove the bottleneck for urban development, promote sustainable urban development and provide ample opportunities for industry upgrading and transformation in cities. The paper highlights the low-carbon eco-city planning ideas and development strategies and introduces the practical exploration of the planning with the new eco-city of Tianjin as an example. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A transnational flow of capital exchange during the 19th and early 20th centuries brought planning ideas and modernity into China. Since European countries and America used violence to place China into a colonial world and its forms of power-knowledge, the existing works too often focus on the impact of the 'west', treating the Chinese as passive recipients who responded to 'western' transnational planning ideas, while neglecting the transnational flow of Intra-Asia. By exploring the formation of urbanism in Hebei New Area in Tianjin, this article reveals that the Chinese did not allow themselves to be dictated to by the planning ideas emanating from the west. Instead, they both sought the most suitable ideas based on their local situations and actively imported planning ideas from the east – Japan. The authorities in Tianjin sent officials to Japan to draw upon Japanese industrial and commercial planning models to set up their own organizational framework, urban built environments, and operational management. Consequently, they incorporated planning ideas from the 'east' to re-organize the daily life of the masses and modernize their city. These ideas were juxtaposed with ideas from the 'west' to shape the urbanism of Tianjin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We improved the urbanization effects indicator by considering built-up areas. • Urbanization promoted annual precipitation in developed urban areas of temperate zone. • High uncertainties of urbanization effects existed in coastal cities. Rapid urbanization plays important roles in modifying regional climate. The effects of urbanization on annual precipitation in temperate climate zone were complicated and have not been fully investigated. In this study, Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region of North China was selected as research area and field observations of inter-annual precipitation from 1980 to 2015 were utilized to conduct the spatiotemporal analysis and to extract the urbanization effects. Combined statistical methods were applied and the urbanization effects indicator (UE) was created to quantify the roles of urban development on annual precipitation by combining the land cover change of cities and urban–rural precipitation differences. The paper found following main results: (1) In 2000 s, annual precipitation increased faster in urban areas (slope = 7.165 mm/yr) than in rural areas (slope = 4.954 mm/yr). The urbanization effects on the increasing of precipitation have been implied by comparisons of urban–rural difference between 2000 s (slope = 2.211 mm/yr) and 1980 s (slope = 0.165 mm/yr). (2) Rapid urbanization led to increasing of annual precipitation. Built-up areas correlated higher with urban precipitation than with rural precipitation in 9 of 13 cities, and were used as weights to improve the urbanization effects indicator (UE). (3) As the largest and the most developed city, Beijing presented the highest urbanization effects (UE = 44.5) on the increasing inter-annual precipitation, which was 51% higher than the secondary city of Chengde (UE = 21.71). The coastal cities such as Tianjin, Qinhuangdao and Tangshan presented negative UE values probably due to the strong sea-land energy interactions. This study contributes new findings to the effects of urbanization on annual precipitation in temperate climate zone and could help understand the feedback of land surface changes to variations of atmospheric circulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid urbanization has made many cities in China enter an era that increment and stock develop in parallel. Urban central area presents the characteristics of complex spatial structure and high functional complexity, resulting in the huge disaster risks and severe security issues of evacuation. This paper proposes a method of improving emergency evacuation effectiveness under the restriction of limited available land resources in high-density areas, which is combined with urban renewal planning, aiming at optimizing the layout of shelters and evacuation passageway by cyclic evacuation simulation, evaluation and optimization with Anylogic software and facility location tool based on ArcGIS. Taking the renewal planning of Jintang Road Area in Tianjin, a typical high-density urban area, as a case study. The results showed that: 1) The evacuation space system of Jintang Road Area exists potential danger that severe congestion occurred in the simulation process and the congested section spread outward with three shelters as the center. Which lasted for several hours. The rate of successful asylum in 5 min and 30 min was 13% and 34%; 2) The matching degree between spatial layout of emergency shelters and population distribution is low, which is reflected in the utilization rate of shelter: the rate of shelter No.1 is as high as 826%, while that of No 4 and No 5 is 48% and 11%, and also causes unreasonable distribution of people flow in evacuation passages during the evacuation process; 3) The research method of integrating simulation, facility location and renewal planning is an effective way to improve the effectiveness of pedestrian evacuation in high-density urban areas. After the improvement, the four indexes have been effectively improved. • Method for improving emergency evacuation effectiveness under the limitations. • Integrates simulation, facility location &renewal planning. • Improves the effectiveness of pedestrian evacuation in high-density urban areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A population-economy-space and a 2-dimensional evaluation system are established. • Efficiency is the focus of our model for suburban land use development. • Suburban land use policy and developmental efficiency are examined for Tianjin, CN. • Benefit improvement of suburbs has not paralleled population and economic growth. • Multi-center structure of megacities has not been fully formed in the aspect of land use efficiency. In the process of rapid development of megacities, existing cost-benefit evaluation for economic and ecological benefits of urban land use cannot be easily applied to evaluation of suburbs in megacities. In this paper, a benefit evaluation model is constructed to solve this problem on the basis of the "core-edge" theory. A "population-economy-space" triangular element evaluation system and a two-dimensional evaluation system are established. The method compares and differentiates suburban districts and central urban areas. Taking Tianjin, China as an example, this study carries out an empirical evaluation and applies the model to 11 suburban districts. The conclusions of the empirical evaluation are summarized as follows: (1) from the comparative results of similar suburban districts, the horizontal benefits in the districts above the development axis are higher than those in other districts; (2) from the comparative results between the central urban area and suburban districts, the land use benefit level of suburban districts has not increased with the increase in the total amount levels of population and economy, and some have a decreasing trend; (3) from the developmental patterns of suburban districts, most districts are under the model of marginal expansion, which reflects limitations of sub-center city planning and sprawling developmental pattern of build-up land. Our analytical models can facilitate the policy-making related to intensifying land use and optimizing land supply structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban agglomerations are considered as significant space typologies in the post globalization & digitalization era. The spatial linkage intensity of cities in urban agglomeration is an important basis for evaluating the development and compactness of urban agglomerations. The requirements associated with the major national strategy to achieve the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region and the research methods made possible by Big Data in the Internet era have created the realistic possibility of revealing the strength of spatial networks and the spatial differentiation rules of urban agglomerations. This study uses Web Crawler to obtain 500,000 sets of Weibo data in 13 cities of the BTH urban agglomeration. Three criteria and nine indicators are used to construct an index system and a model to quantitatively evaluate the strength of spatial networks in the BTH urban agglomeration. The results show that spatial network connections between cities in the urban agglomeration are not strong overall, reflecting the limited development of urban agglomeration; the spatial networks in the urban agglomeration have hierarchical and centralized characteristics, which reflect the imbalanced development of the city network; Beijing, Tianjin, and Shijiazhuang are the centers of the social network connections in the BTH urban agglomeration, which means that Weibo's online space reinforces the existing urban system; there is a positive correlation between network spatial connectivity and the hierarchy of cities in the urban agglomeration, where cities with higher levels would have more urban network connections; Generally, Weibo network connections are stronger than economic or transport links between the cities, and the development of information technology may reduce the disparity of regional development. This research innovatively uses social network big data to reveal the strength of spatial network connections and spatial differentiation rules in the urban agglomeration. The methodology provided in this paper is systematic enough for generalization. • The spatial linkage intensity is an important basis for evaluating the development and compactness of urban agglomerations. • We construct a new index system using network big data to measure the strength of connection between cities. • The methodology can be applied to other regions when examining social network big data from Facebook or Twitter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mismatch between the design of the micro-scale built environment around metro stations and pedestrian/cyclist preferences causes inconvenience and dissatisfaction. How to design streets near metro stations to provide a walking/biking friendly built environment is still a key question in promoting the use of metro systems. To identify which general attributes of the street-scale built environment are relevant for pedestrians/cyclists and increase walkability/cycle-ability, this paper reports the results of a stated choice experiment in which eight built environment attributes were systematically varied: street segment length, average number of building floors on both sides of the street, retail shops in frontage of streets, street crossing facilities for pedestrians/cyclists, width of sidewalks/bicycle paths, greenery, density of street lamps and crowdedness of pedestrian/cyclists to understand their influence on a road segment choice and preferences. A total of 803 respondents were recruited from Tianjin, China to complete the stated choice experiment through on-street face-to-face interviews. A multinomial logit model was estimated to unravel pedestrian/cyclist preferences using the stated choice data. The results indicate that pedestrians and cyclists have similar preferences for road segments with building lower than 6 floors, 50% retail shops in frontage, more greenery, lamps between 15 m and 30 m, more crossing facilities, wider sidewalk/bike lane and not crowded. These significant built environment attributes can be used in urban design projects with a walking/biking friendly built environment around a metro station. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban agglomeration research has received increasing attention in China's national development strategies, and has become a hot topic in academic research. This study develops a theoretical framework that explores the formation mechanism and expansion process of urban agglomerations from the perspective of industrial evolution, and identifies the development issues and their causes by taking Yangtze Delta and Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomerations as case studies. In the process of urban agglomeration formation within a free market, as has happened in Yangtze Delta region, the central city develops first, its secondary industry is then transferred to its neighboring cities, and the work division and cooperation with the neighboring cities is gradually established. However, in the 1990s, aiming to become an international metropolis, Beijing implemented a series of administrative policies to encourage the reduction of the secondary industry and the development of the tertiary industry, before its secondary industry were fully developed and transferred to its neighboring cities. This delayed the integration process and the development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration. This study builds a good foundation for the construction of the theoretical system's urban agglomeration study, and provides references for decision making in an urban agglomeration development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, artificial light at night brings increasingly severe impacts on natural ecological environment. Researchers have found that different species of migratory birds react differently to artificial light at night and each kind needs to be specifically studied. Tianjin City is an important stopover of the international bird migratory routes while having rapid growing light pollution. It is necessary to conduct target research for the representative bird species in this area. Silvereye, the typical type of migratory bird in Tianjin, was chosen as the experimental subject for the study. 15 subjects' chirping frequencies were documented under natural light and the artificial light with different spectral power distributions (SPDs) and intensities. The sleep onset time was determined by the end of chirping. The results showed that the tested white light, 620nm orange and 580nm yellow light significantly delayed the silvereyes' sleep onset while light in 470nm blue or 510nm green showed slight interference. The higher the irradiance level of light was, the longer the sleep onset would be postponed. The study leaves references for lighting design of urban ecological areas on minimizing the negative impacts of artificial light to silvereyes' sleep behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The assessment of ecological security patterns is a topic of conversation in landscape ecology in recent years. However, ecosystem services and human activities are seldom considered comprehensively in the assessment of ecological security patterns. The present study employs the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei urban agglomeration as a study area, and uses ecological services to determine the ecological sources. The importance of ecological sources is classified based on logical coding and functional types of ecological services. The research combines regional characteristics to select and quantitatively calculate three human disturbance factors: soil erosion sensitivity, geological hazard sensitivity, and night lighting. Then the basic surface resistance of land use to limit migration is modified and ecological corridors are identified by combining these three disturbance factors. The results indicate that the sources of water production, soil and water conservation, and carbon fixation are mainly provided in mountainous areas, recreation sources are mostly distributed in the plains, and these ecological sources improve the maintenance of ecological corridors. The modification of resistance surfaces significantly changes the length of ecological corridors in Tianjin, Tangshan, Cangzhou, and Beijing, and the modified resistance surface improves the recognition of ecological corridors. This study provides a new research framework for identifying the ecological security patterns of urban agglomerations and provides scientific guidance related to ecological protection and urban planning for the Beijing−Tianjin−Hebei urban agglomeration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eco-cities have attracted international attention from governments, corporations, academics and other actors seeking to use sustainable urban planning to reduce urban environmental impacts. China has devoted significant political will and economic resources to the development of new-build eco-city projects, reflecting the Chinese government's goals to build a 'harmonious society' in which environmental sustainability and social stability are mutually reinforcing. We critically analyse the case of the Sino-Singapore Tianjin eco-city to demonstrate that the eco-city's ecologically modernizing visions of eco-urbanism construct a protective environment for its residents that constrains broader consideration of social sustainability. Through analysis of the marketing and presentation of specific domestic and other spaces of the eco-city, we examine the application of ecologically modernizing construction and technology to the design of the city. We argue that the eco-city is discursively constructed as ecologically beneficial for its inhabitants rather than for the broader socio-environmental landscape. Our analysis of residential spaces in Tianjin eco-city introduces the question of what 'eco' means when considering the construction of eco-urban environments for the city's residents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, Tianjin becomes a major economic development zone, emulating operations seen in Shenzhen and Shanghai. But the corresponding large-scale urban development is bringing great challenges to the existing modern architectural heritage, which is an indispensable part of Tianjin's history, character, and culture. The Wudadao Area in the previous British Concession is such a case. Through examining its development process, this research identifies four modes of preservation strategies, and analyses the respective characteristics. Multiple stakeholders who take part in Wudadao's preservation and regeneration are recognized. Via case studies, the research elucidates the different roles played by responsible departments in Tianjin Municipal Government, state-owned enterprises, and local residents respectively. In a micro-circulation way, Wudadao has developed from an endangered colonial settlement to a re-recognized symbol of Tianjin's urban culture and a refurbished showcase of global identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China is implementing an extensive urban forestry plan in Xiongan New Area (XNA), a new city in Hebei province. The city has been designated to serve Beijing's noncapital functions and promote the integration of the broader Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei city-region. As part of a green initiative to minimize environmental impacts and its carbon footprint, a massive urban forestry system has been planned on an unprecedented scale, expected to cover over 600 km2 by 2030. Using science to inform policy, one major goal is to simultaneously minimize impacts of invasive species, while making urban forests more resilient to potential invasive species threats. In this review, we introduce these urban forestry plans such as basic concepts and principles for afforestation, tree species to be planted, delineation of existing pests already established, and expected forest invasive species of concern threatening the new area. Finally, we introduce a framework for invasive pest management strategies in XNA based on a "big data" approach and decision system to minimize impacts of invasive species. This new approach to urban forestry has the potential to become an exemplary global model for urban forestry planning, one that integrates research activities focused on forest health surveys and monitoring with sustainable forestry management. Finally, we provide an overview of the forest health policy required for the design of an unprecedentedly large new urban forest from initial planning to full implementation of an integrated forest management program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]