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• New town UHI intensity and extent exceed urban averages. • UHI morphology reflects new town development patterns. • Tailored policies can be formulated based on UHI form. • Promote mixed-use by integrating commercial with institutional. • Similar thermal mechanisms from proximity and shared patterns. New town developments aim to improve spatial layout and quality of human habitats in metropolitan areas. However, due to high-density compact development and inadequate long-term land use planning, new towns are vulnerable to urban heat island effects. This study addresses this concern by analyzing five new towns in Shanghai, using spatial pattern analysis to examine morphological conditions of urban heat island and Point-of-Interest datasets to derive functional characteristics. Geodetector is then used to detect the influence of land use function density on urban heat island. Findings reveal that new towns are more prone to urban heat island effects, with core-type dominant in suburban new towns, loop-type in sprawling new towns, and bridge-type in regional new towns. The study proposed targeted strategies based on morphological characteristics, including greenbelt transformations for core-types and using greenbelts to interrupt bridge-type connections. Findings also reveal strong thermal influence from public services, interactive effects of parks with other functions, and lower thermal influence from mixed education and commercial developments. Similar thermal mechanisms stem from spatial proximity and similar development patterns in new towns. Incorporating these target strategies into planning practice enables urban planners and policymakers to develop effective interventions against urban heat island in new towns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have frequently taken urban density as a surrogate for economic efficiency and applied composite scores such as urban intensity to assess the existing physical forms of towns. However, measures of intensity might nuance crude calculations of density while considering how such measures relate to future plans and the process of transformations. This paper used open source geospatial data and regulatory detailed planning to measure urban intensity of the existing and the planned. Spatial analytical techniques were applied to compute accessibility to destinations, building density, compactness of development, and diversity of land use function of sixteen specialty towns in China. The results showed that the regulatory detailed planning of these cases might not improve town planning measured by intensity in terms of spatial arrangement in the time horizon of 15–20 years. We found that well-integrated monocentric forms with the finer street network could potentially provide a more suitable spatial distribution for mid-sized towns measured by urban intensity, no matter whether the urban form is linear or center-spreading. Moreover, the comparison between the existing and the planned implies that the poly-centric urban form for mid-sized towns in China could end up with a lower score of urban intensity. We outline a framework of urban intensity measures that include analytical consideration of what is there now, planned to what is forthcoming, and conceptual in terms of time and space. • Differentiating urban intensity from density • Using urban block as the spatial unit of study is more accurate than a synthetic spatial grid. • Comparing existing and planned conditions of medium-sized towns • Evaluation and intervention of town planning policies [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coal resource-based cities (CRBCs) represent a significant portion of resource-based cities in China, accounting for 40 % of prefecture-level cities. However, existing research on CRBCs primarily focuses on outcome-based sustainability analysis, neglecting production-based evaluation. To bridge this gap, our study investigates sustainability of CRBC using the inclusive wealth index (IWI), IWI per capita, and IWI density. We find substantial variations in CRBCs' inclusive wealth influenced by regional distribution and life stages. Regionally, sustainable development capacity follows the sequence "east > west > central > northeast", with the northern region benefiting from abundant non-renewable natural capital. In terms of life stage sustainable development, the sequence is "growing > regenerative > grown-up > recessionary". The decline in wealth performance from growing to recessionary types confirms the negative impact of the "resource curse" phenomenon, where resource dependence hampers growth. However, the regenerative type demonstrates the potential for transformation through sustainable development strategies. Our study presents practical strategies to enhance regional policies by adopting the IWI accounting indicator system proposed by the United Nations Environment Programme and localizing it to align with the characteristics of CRBCs in China. This innovative approach facilitates the evaluation of CRBCs' sustainable development performance. • Significant regional discrepancy exisits in Chinese CRBCs. • Implement policies in recessionary CRBCs for wealth and SDGs attainment. • Transform regenerative CRBCs via sustainable development strategies. • Offer guiance to CRBCs globally as a valuable reference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]