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• Index of recycling sustainability for assessing waste paper recycling. • Integrating methodology of GIS and value chain model. • Historical changes of informal recyclables distribution sites in Beijing. • Value chain of waste paper recycling in Beijing may face challenges in the future. • Policy implications to improve waste paper recycling in Beijing. China established a self-organized and market-driven recycling system, which was dominated by the informal sectors. In recent years, the amount of domestically-recycled waste paper grew slower than expectation in China, which may be resulted from a decline in economic sustainability of current recycling system. For understanding the waste paper recycling system in most cities in China, the economic mechanism remains unclear and the city-level data is extremely insufficient. In this work, an index of recycling sustainability (IRS, benefit divided by cost) is analyzed with a resolution of 1 km2 grid in Beijing City, by adopting value chain and GIS methodology. Five degrees of IRS are defined, from high-degree (IRS > 1.10) to low-degree (IRS < 0.95). Different stakeholders in the informal waste paper recycling system were interviewed to fill the data gap. Results show that: (1) from 2015 to 2018, the informal recycling of waste paper accounted for approximate 80% in Beijing; (2) the number of informal recyclables distribution sites decreased from 27 to 11, and their average distance to the city-center rose from 27.5 km to 40.9 km; (3) in 2015 and 2018, the grids with high-degree IRS accounted for 99.5% and 89.2%, respectively, indicating a sustainable waste paper recycling industry in Beijing; and (4) according to the scenario analysis, if the operating cost rises by 30%, the grids with low-degree IRS accounts for 98.5%, indicating a nontrivial challenges when the recycling cost keeps increasing in the future. Policy recommendations are put forward for a more sustainable paper waste recycling system in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the modern risk society, the general sense of collaborative governance is facing a profound crisis—poor governance efficiency due to the lack of authority. The paper introduces a case from China and finds a new mechanism in COVID-19 prevention and control which is called joint governance. Instead of the relatively equal status among multiple actors, joint governance is characterized by a dominant power forming alliances with other stakeholders. The political advantages that Beijing enjoys make it work. Our study suggests that joint governance is a new perspective of collaborative governance which brings politics back to administrative domains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the life experiences of creative expats and the associated impact of, and on, the built environment of their host localities. Grounded on participants' testimonies, we develop the concept of transient mentality as a potential mediating factor in-between such reciprocal relations. Employing an interview and survey-based research approach and drawing on grounded theory for data collection and analysis in Beijing, China, we found that the prevalence of a transient mentality among creative expats is influenced by the nature of their occupations, the fluidity of their social relationships, and the rapid transformations in the built environment. This transient mentality, in turn, affects the production of the cityscape through the consumption preferences of these expats. We argue that understanding such a transient mentality is crucial for urban planning and cultural policy, particularly in (emerging) global cities that work to brand themselves as international creative hubs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Against the backdrop of climate change, heat waves have become increasingly detrimental to cities. Urban morphology, a comprehensive reflection of material and non-material elements in the physical world, is closely related to environmental quality, thermal environment, population health, and other elements. From the perspective of urban morphological regions, this paper examines the characteristics of heat exposure, sensitivity, adaptability, and vulnerability of the main urban areas and its surrounding areas in Beijing, in combination with land surface temperature, air temperature, population characteristics, vegetation distribution, and other indicators. The results indicate that the built-up areas of Beijing are dominated by compact classes, making them most vulnerable to heat waves due to the unfavorable thermal environment, high population density, a large proportion of young and old people, and sparse vegetation cover. In contrast, the open low-rise class shows the highest adaptive capacity due to better economic condition of the population and high vegetation cover. This paper provides mitigation strategies from angles of morphology optimization and policy guidance, and suggests that the assessment and analysis of heat vulnerability based on urban morphology can provide a reference for climate changeoriented planning and design, and promote urban high-quality development and sustainable construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Suburban railways in megacities exert a pivotal role in propelling urbanization and shaping urban agglomeration. However, previous study endeavors have overlooked the transformations occurring in urban expansion along suburban railways, with a particular dearth of attention on the spatio-temporal evolution of landscape ecology and urban function. Therefore, this study employs the megacity of Beijing as an example. It utilizes remote sensing and point-of-interest (POI) data spanning from 2008 to 2022 to construct an indicator system from two essential dimensions: urban form and function. We explored the spatio-temporal characteristics of alterations in urban expansion within the gradient buffer zone adjacent to the suburban railway network in Beijing. The results showed that: (1) The rates of urban expansion were highest in 2008–2013 and lowest in 2013–2018; moreover, suburban railways had the greatest impact on the built-up area within 2–4 km along the route, and the impact gradually decreased beyond 4 km. (2) The direction of urban expansion shifted northward in the direction of latitude and eastward in the direction of longitude from 2008 to 2022, with the shift in latitude being more distinct. (3) The number of urban functions gradually increased from 2008 to 2018, but the number of medical services suddenly increased and the number of other urban functions decreased from 2018 to 2022; in addition, urban functions other than scenic spots were mainly distributed in the main urban areas, with very few clusters distributed near stations. (4) The landscape shape index became more irregular and fragmented from the center along the route to the edge of the buffer zone from 2008 to 2013, and the degree of fragmentation was highest in the 2–4 km buffer zone. In summary, this paper analyzes the spatio-temporal characteristics of urban expansion along suburban railways through four indexes, namely expansion rate, expansion direction, urban function, and landscape shape, and the results of this study are of great significance to the development and planning of suburban railways in megacities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

InSAR (Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar) is widely recognized as a crucial remote sensing tool for monitoring various geological disasters because it provides all-day and all-weather monitoring. Nevertheless, the current interpretation methods for InSAR heavily depend on the interpreter's experience, which hinders efficiency and fails to meet the requirements for the timely detection of geologic hazards. Furthermore, the results obtained through current InSAR processing carry inherent noise interference, further complicating the interpretation process. To address those issues, this paper proposes an approach that enables automatic and rapid identification of deformation zones. The proposed method leverages IPTA (Interferometric Point Target Analysis) technology for SAR data processing. It combines the power of HNSW (Hierarchical Navigable Small Word) and DBSCAN (Density-Based Spatial Clustering of Applications with Noise) algorithms to cluster deformation results. Compared with traditional methods, the computational efficiency of the proposed method is improved by 11.26 times, and spatial noise is suppressed. Additionally, the clustering results are fused with slope units determined using DEM (Digital Elevation Model), which facilitates the automatic identification of slopes experiencing deformation. The experimental verification in the western mountainous area of Beijing has identified 716 hidden danger areas, and this method is superior to the traditional technology in speed and automation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• analyze the energy efficiency of Beijing's industrial sectors from 2002 to 2018. • model industry heterogeneity of Beijing's industrial sectors accurately. • low energy efficiency of Beijing's industrial sectors due to management inefficiency. • the energy efficiency of heavy industry is higher than that of light industry. • explore the influencing factors of energy efficiency of Beijing's industrial sectors. Improving energy efficiency is one of the effective means to achieve China's carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals. As the capital of China, Beijing should improve energy efficiency and has a primary responsibility in achieving the goals. Considering the heterogeneity of industrial sectors, this paper proposes a data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach to analyze the total factor energy efficiency and its influencing factors of 31 industrial sectors in Beijing from 2002 to 2018. We show that the low energy efficiency of Beijing's industrial sectors, mainly due to management inefficiency, is not conducive to the realization of the goals. Besides, the energy efficiency of heavy industry is higher than that of light industry. The expansion of enterprise scale has a positive impact on energy efficiency, while the property right structure, foreign trade and energy consumption structure have a negative impact on energy efficiency. Finally, we put forward some policy recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the concentrations of PM2.5 in urban ambient air in China have been declining; however, the strong atmospheric oxidation capacity (AOC) represents challenges to the further reduction of PM2.5 concentration and the continuous improvement of ambient air quality in China in the future, since the overall AOC is still at a high level. For this paper, based on ground observation data recorded in Beijing from 2016 to 2019, the variation in AOC was characterized according to the concentration of odd oxygen (OX = O3 + NO2). The concentrations of the primary and secondary components of PM2.5 were analyzed using empirical formulas, the correlation between AOC and the concentrations of secondary PM2.5 and the secondary inorganic components (SO42−, NO3−, NH4+, and SNA) in Beijing were explored, the impact of atmospheric photochemical reaction activity on the generation of atmospheric secondary particles was evaluated, and the impact of atmospheric oxidation variations on PM2.5 concentrations and SNA in Beijing was investigated. The results revealed that OX concentrations reached their peak in 2016 and reached their lowest point in 2019. The OX concentrations followed a descending seasonal trend of summer, spring, autumn, and winter, along with a spatial descending trend from urban observation stations to suburban stations and background stations. The degree of photochemical activity and the magnitude of the AOC have a large influence on the production of atmospheric secondary particles. When the photochemical reaction was more active and the AOC was stronger, the mass concentrations of the secondary generated PM2.5 fraction were higher and accounted for a higher proportion of the total PM2.5 mass concentrations. In the PM2.5 fraction, SNA accounted for 50.7% to 94.4% of the total mass concentrations of water-soluble inorganic ions in the field observations. Higher concentrations of the atmospheric oxidant OX in ambient air corresponded to a higher sulfur oxidation ratio (SOR) and nitrogen oxidation ratio (NOR), suggesting that the increase in AOC could promote the increase of PM2.5 concentration. Based on a relationship analysis of SOR, NOR, and OX, it was inferred that the relationship between OX and SOR and the relationship between OX and NOR were both nonlinear. Therefore, when establishing PM2.5 control strategies in Beijing in the future, the impact of the AOC on PM2.5 generation should be fully considered, and favorable measures should be taken to properly regulate the AOC, which would be more effective when carrying out further control measures regarding PM2.5 pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effective refuge area is a key indicator in the study of emergency shelters. Accurately extracting the effective refuge area and analyzing the effectiveness of emergency shelters are of great significance for site selection, spatial distribution, and the evaluation of suitability. Beijing is one of only three capitals in the world located in a high-seismic-intensity zone of magnitude 8. The fast and accurate monitoring of effective refuge areas and an analysis of the effectiveness of emergency shelters are conducive to evacuation planning and disaster prevention and mitigation, and they promote the construction of a resilient city. However, the extraction of effective refuge areas in existing studies is not only a time-consuming and labor-intensive task but also has accuracy and efficiency problems, resulting in less precise validity analyses. In this paper, a remote sensing monitoring technology system for the effective refuge areas of emergency shelters is proposed based on multi-source data. Different methods were used to extract various land features, such as buildings and collapsed areas, water, dense areas of understory vegetation, and steep slope areas that cannot be evacuated, to obtain the effective refuge area at a detailed scale, in combination with the service radius of emergency shelters, the population distribution, and the actual road network, the criteria for effectiveness analysis were established for the effective open space ratio, capacity, per capita accessible effective refuge area, and population allocation gap. Taking the area within the Fifth Ring Road of Beijing as an example, the effectiveness of emergency shelters was analyzed at both the whole scale and a local scale. The results show that the effective refuge areas of different emergency shelters in Beijing vary significantly, with the smallest effective refuge area being located in Rings 2–3 and the largest one being located in Rings 4–5; between different regions, there are differences in the effectiveness. This study provides a feasible method for the fast, accurate, and detailed extraction of the effective refuge areas of emergency shelters and also provides a reference for emergency planning for disaster prevention and mitigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clarifying the pattern of the urban greenhouse gas (GHG) budget and its influencing factors is the basis of promoting urban low-carbon development. This paper takes Beijing and Shenzhen—the capital city and the most rapidly developing city in China, respectively—as case studies, comprehensively accounts their GHG budgets from 2005 to 2020, and investigates and compares the factors affecting their GHG budgets. The total GHG emissions in Beijing were lowest in 2005 (160.3 TgCO2 equivalents) and peaked at 227.7 TgCO2 equivalents in 2019, and then decreased to 209.1 TgCO2 equivalents in 2020. Meanwhile, the total GHG emissions in Shenzhen gradually increased from 36.0 TgCO2 equivalents in 2005 to 121.4 TgCO2 equivalents in 2019, and then decreased to 119.1 TgCO2 equivalents in 2020. The energy activity sector was the greatest contributor to GHG emissions in this period, accounting for 82.5% and 76.0% of the total GHG emissions in Beijing and Shenzhen, respectively. The carbon sink of the ecosystems of these two cities could absorb only small parts of their emissions, and the neutralization rates of sinks ranged from 1.7% to 2.3% in Beijing and from 0.3% to 1.5% in Shenzhen. The enhancement of population, economic product, and consumption increased the greenhouse gas emissions in both cities. A 1% increase in population size, per capita GD (gross domestic product), and residential consumption level would increase total GHG emissions by 0.181%, 0.019%, and 0.030% in Beijing, respectively. The corresponding increases in Shenzhen would be 0.180%, 0.243%, and 0.172%, respectively. The household size had opposite effects on the two cities, i.e., a 1% increase in household size would increase GHG emissions by 0.487% in Shenzhen but reduce them by 2.083% in Beijing. Each 1% increase in secondary industry and energy intensity would reduce GHG emissions by 0.553% and 0.110% in Shenzhen, respectively, which are more significant reductions than those in Beijing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the first-tier cities, subway has become an important carrier and life focus of people's daily travel activities. By studying the distribution of POIs of public service facilities around Metro Line 10, using GIS to quantitatively analyze the surrounding formats of subway stations, discussing the functional attributes of subway stations, and discussing the distribution of urban functions from a new perspective, this paper provided guidance and advice for the construction of service facilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sustainable development goals (SDGs) reflect the pursuit of achieving spatial justice. Both SDG 1.4 and SDG 11.1 reflect a concern for urban services. Life service resources, which are the new concept proposed by the Chinese government, also call for sustainable development path. However, few studies have focused on the realization of spatial justice in life service resources. This paper proposes a two-level, four-step analysis framework composed of quantity, structure, pattern, and coupling coordination to perceive the spatial justice of life service resources. Based on remote sensing technology and geographic information science, this paper acquires and analyses multi-source data including population density, building outlines, point of interests, subway lines, etc. Furthermore, the case study in downtown Beijing found the following: (1) The total life service resources are extensive and varying in type; (2) regional differences are evident and low-level equilibrium and high-level priority development coexist; (3) life service resources are concentrated in contiguous and multi-centre clusters with a greater north–south than east–west difference; (4) the overall level of life service resources is low, specifically for "high in the centre and low in the periphery" and "high in the east and low in the west". Future management should consider narrowing the development gap and formulating industry development plans to improve spatial justice. Finally, the comparison between Beijing and London and more cities in the future needs to consider the urban development stage, population density, and other aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to the interdisciplinary fields of migration and mobilities through an examination of how translocal migrants engage in a variety of mobilities in order to practice long-term stillness in Beijing, China. To achieve this the paper proposes the concept of dynamic stillness, a stillness at one scale achieved through mobility at other scales. Dynamic stillness builds on other forms of (im)mobility, including turbulent stillness, waiting, suspension, immobility and emplacement. The concept returns agency to the non-mobile individual, agency that is lacking in other terms used to describe various (im)mobilities. This paper also conceptualizes mobility and stillness as taking place in both physical and digital sites, and it explores the role that digital sites, such as instant messaging groups, play in projects of stillness. Empirically, the paper explores unsuccessful attempts to displace translocal migrants engaged in food work in Beijing. While seemingly successful at first, when the analysis moves beyond simplistic snapshots of displacement and takes into account a variety of sites, scales and temporalities, the paper shows how dynamic stillness can be practiced at the scale of the sub-district by being mobile at other scales, including streets, neighbourhoods, across the nation state and to digital sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a market-based instrument for transportation demand management, a transport fee-charging policy can not only effectively reduce traffic congestion, but also improve air quality. Considering the urgent need to improve urban transport fee-charging policies and reduce transport carbon emissions, the paper focuses on the role of the performance of fee-charging policies in reducing the carbon emissions of urban transport. In this study, we propose a methodological framework for the performance evaluation of urban traffic carbon emission fee-charging policies. First, we analyze the current situation of the implementation of fee-charging policies and their relationship with urban traffic congestion. Subsequently, we analyze changing trends of carbon emissions associated with transportation travel in Beijing in recent years, to identify the main sources of carbon emissions from transport. Finally, we used the DEA method to evaluate the performance of the fee policies for urban transport, which are meant to reduce carbon emissions, analyze their implementation efficiency, and then discuss the main factors affecting their efficiency. The results show that with the implementation of fee-charging policies, urban traffic congestion has eased. The overall carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from transportation in Beijing grew rapidly. CO2 emissions generated by car travel are the main source of carbon emissions from transportation in Beijing. The average value of the overall technical efficiency (TE) of Beijing's fee-charging policies to reduce transportation carbon emissions from 2006 to 2018 is 0.962, indicating that the overall implementation of Beijing's fee-charging policies has been effective. Adjustments to the fee structure reduce motor vehicle travel to an extent, increase the proportion of green travel, and reduce the intensity of transportation carbon emissions. The technical non-efficiency in Beijing's fee-charging policy is mainly due to non-efficiency of scale, followed by pure technical non-efficiency. Appropriately adjusting the fee structures imposed by different policies would help to improve the efficiency of policy implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tropospheric ozone is an important atmospheric pollutant as well as an efficient greenhouse gas. Beijing is one of the cities with the most serious ozone pollution. However, long-term date of observed ozone in Beijing are limited. In this paper, we combine the measurements of the In-service Aircraft for a Global Observing System (IAGOS), ozonesonde observations as well as the recently available ozone monitoring network observations to produce a unique data record of surface ozone (at 14:00 Beijing time) in Beijing from 1995 to 2020. Using this merged dataset, we investigate the variability in surface ozone in Beijing on multiple timescales. The long-term change is primarily characterized by a sudden drop in 2011–2012 with an insignificant linear trend during the full period. Based on CAM-chem model simulations, meteorological factors played important roles in the 2011–2012 ozone drop. Before and after this sudden drop, ozone levels in Beijing increased significantly by 0.42 ± 0.27 ppbv year−1 before 2011 and 0.43 ± 0.41 ppbv year−1 after 2013. We also found a substantial increase in the amplitude of the ozone annual cycle in Beijing, which has not been documented in previous studies. This is consistent with ozone increases in summer and ozone decreases in winter. In addition, the results by the Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition (EEMD) analysis indicate significant interannual variations in ozone levels in Beijing with different time oscillation periods, which may be associated with natural variabilities and subsequent changes in meteorological conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As China's urbanization has transformed from extensive development to "refined operation," urban regeneration is more significant. This paper analyzes changes in research perspectives of urban regeneration in recent years at home and abroad and the innovative concept of inclusive development proposed in the context of globalization, finding that the connotation of urban regeneration in European countries has been gradually enriched in order to promote social integration. Based on this, the paper examines how Paris, the first European city, combined inclusive development and urban regeneration and addressed social integration and equity in urban regeneration by taking accessibility as a key point in solving the most fundamental transportation problems. Based on lessons learned from Paris in developing a barrier-free transportation system, it proposes specific optimization strategies at the micro level in accordance with the status quo of public transportation accessibility in Beijing's urban regeneration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bridges play positive roles in the process of place development. Bridges affect changes in place images, which, in turn, are shaped by changing capital flows. Place image and place identity are intertwined. However, relatively little attention has been paid to the relationship among capital flows, place image, and place identity. This paper takes San Jiadian (SJD) village in Beijing as a case study and the Yongding River bridges around SJD as the main units of analysis. This paper aims to explain how the bridges influence the formation and change of place images during different historical periods and to provide a Chinese case for the relationship among capital flows, place image, and place identity. We draw the following conclusions. The change in the ownership of the bridges led to a change in capital flows to the bridges and the village, thereby leading to a change in the place image. Moreover, the new place image weakens the place identity of the villagers. The villagers' place identity should be considered for a place's new development direction and changes in the place image. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increased urbanization has caused problems such as increasing water consumption and the continuous deterioration of the groundwater environment. It is necessary to consider the groundwater quality in the water resource optimization system and increase the rate of reclaimed water development to reduce the amount of groundwater exploitation and achieve sustainable development of water resources. This study used the Daxing District, a region of Beijing's southern plain, as an example to evaluate water quality by analyzing water quality data of surface and groundwater from 2012 to 2016 and actual water-use schemes from 2006 to 2016. Three groundwater extraction modes were set up based on NO3–N concentrations, water resources were optimized under three extraction modes, and water resource optimization schemes were determined based on the improved connection entropy. The results show that (1) the surface water quality was poor, and the proportion of V4 type water in the indexes of NH3–N and chemical oxygen demand (COD) was the largest. The surface water can only be used for agricultural irrigation. The pollution sources contributing most to NH3–N and COD were domestic and agricultural pollution sources. (2) The groundwater quality was good. The NO3–N index was primarily type I–III water, accounting for 95.20% of the total samples. Severe NH3–N pollution areas were mainly in the northern region, and most regional groundwater can be used for various purposes. (3) Taking 2016 as an example, three groundwater exploitation modes were set to optimize water resource allocation, and the results showed that the rate of groundwater development and NO3–N pollution decreased significantly after optimization. (4) Connection entropy is an evaluation method that combines connection numbers and entropy, including identify, difference, and opposition entropy. As connection entropy being a kind of complete entropy, which can reflect the difference of the system in different states, based on the improved connection entropy, the connection entropies of optimal water resource allocation and actual water-use schemes were calculated. The connection entropy of groundwater exploitation mode 3 was less than that of groundwater exploitation modes 1 and 2 and actual water-use schemes from 2006 to 2016. Therefore, exploitation mode 3's water resource optimization scheme was recommended. In the paper, satisfactory results have been obtained. As a kind of complete entropy, connection entropy has great research value in dealing with complex hydrological problems. This study's research methods and outcomes can provide methodological and theoretical lessons for water management in freshwater-deficient areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the research on architectural color context in cultural quintessence area of Dongjiaomin Lane in Beijing City, the historical causes and changes of architectural color characteristics are explored. Through the investigation on the architectural color status of streets, GIS technology is used to construct architectural color information database for systematic study, and the typical characteristics, main laws and major problems of architectural color of streets are excavated. Combining social investigation and psychological evaluation, the public’s psychological judgment and demands on architectural color are mastered in a multi-dimensional way. Based on various conclusions, this paper explores scientific and effective methods for architectural color planning and coordination of streets, and puts forward specific suggestions for color protection planning, with a view to creating a architectural color pattern of streets in cultural quintessence area of Dongjiaomin Lane with overall harmony, perfect order, ancient and modern integration, and distinctive characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contemporary packages of housing retrofit equipment are based on models of expected energy savings with regard to globally standardized thermal comfort levels. Previous research shows that the energy savings realised after a housing retrofit is substantially lower than expected. Attempts to reduce energy demand by physical re-design, utilising technical standards for thermal comfort as well as financial incentives, tend to ignore the role of retrofit interventions in the construction of everyday practices of thermal comfort making. Thermal comfort practices of heating, cooling and ventilation are moderated by specific householders' motivations which constitute 'wants' and emerging 'needs' in the interaction with the housing retrofit equipment. This paper proposes that the interactions between the retrofitted buildings and the householders are the sum of material affordances, as signified by the design of the housing equipment on the one hand, and the practical affordances in practices-as-performances on the other. The study presents comfort practices in relation to recently retrofitted low-income housing estates in Beijing, Mianyang (Sichuan province, South-west China) and Amsterdam on the basis of 50 qualitative interviews with householders in each city. The paper concludes that the expected energy saving is counteracted by a poor match between conventional retrofit packages and householders' considerations about their thermal comfort. To better reduce energy demand and to mitigate energy poverty, retrofit packages should provide adaptive thermal comfort as preferred by householders, rather than fixed or tightly specified thermal comfort. Such a perspective may support a more flexible and inclusive use of housing equipment as part of retrofit programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Young people and their housing conditions are closely linked, since housing determines whether an individual can lead a smooth transition from dependence to independence. Nevertheless, young people across many societies face growing problems in achieving this transition, which can be attributed to rising house prices and the lack of affordable alternatives to homeownership. Moreover, young people are likely to have vastly divergent experiences and outcomes depending on their tenure. This paper explores these issues in relation to young people in Beijing. The paper argues that the housing issues in Beijing have distinct local characteristics. Drawing on a unique dataset of 83 housing stories, this paper explores housing differentiation and experiences amongst young, promising middle-class people in Beijing. This paper attempts to answer the following research questions: What factors contribute to young people's access to homeownership in light of the rising house prices in Beijing? How is homeownership differentiated by different classifications? The answers to the research questions are the key to understanding the differentiation of homeownership amongst young, promising middle-class people in Beijing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a coupling relationship between the development of urban transportation and cities: Urban growth leads to increase in the demand for urban transportation and consequently, a lot of transportation emissions. Therefore, an in-depth understanding of the mechanism behind the driving effect of urban development on transportation emissions is a crucial prerequisite for coordinated development of low-carbon urban transportation and cities. Based on the oil product allocation method, this paper estimates the transportation emission in Beijing from 1995 to 2016. Then based on the understanding of the driving mechanism, this paper applies the urban allometric scaling law to analyze the relationship between city size and transportation emission. Finally, the driving mechanism is analyzed using the STRIPAT model. The results reveal a superlinear relationship between transportation emission in Beijing and the expansion of the city, as the former outgrew the latter. Population size, urbanization, economic size, industrial structure, spatial scale and infrastructure construction are positive driving factors of transportation emission, whereas progress of energy technologies as a negative driving factor can restrain the growth of transportation emission. Urbanization has the most significant impact on urban transportation emission, and economic size contributes the most to the growth of transportation emission. Based on the results, we make a few policy recommendations for low-carbon urban transportation of Beijing, which include: improving transportation efficiency in the process of urbanization; promoting energy conservation and emission reduction while pursuing economic development so as to decouple transportation emission from urban development; restricting unordered urban expansion and updating the concept of transportation infrastructure supply; and developing energy technologies to improve energy efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land use is closely related to the sustainability of ecological development. This paper employed a patch-generating land use simulation (PLUS) model for the multi-scenario simulation of urban agglomerations. In addition, mathematical analysis methods such as Theil-Sen Median trend analysis, R/S analysis, Getis-Ord Gi* index and unary linear regression were used to study the temporal and spatial evolution characteristics of net primary productivity (NPP) for the impact of land use changes on NPP in urban agglomerations from 2000 to 2020 and to forecast the future trend of NPP. The results indicate that urban expansion is obvious in the baseline scenario and in the ecological protection scenario. In the scenario of cropland protection, the urban expansion is consistent with the land use plan of the government for 2035. The NPP in Beijing decreased gradually from northwest to southeast. The hot spot areas are concentrated in the densely forested areas in the mountainous areas of northwest. The cold spot areas are mainly concentrated in the periphery of urban areas and water areas. The NPP will continue to increase in forest and other areas under protection and remain stable in impervious surfaces. The NPP of Beijing showed a strong improvement trend and this trend will continue with the right ecological management and urban planning of the government. The study of land use in urban agglomeration and the development trend of vegetation NPP in the future can help policymakers rationally manage future land use dynamics and maintain the sustainable development of urban regional ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on multimodal accessibility under uncertain travel time has become a significant issue. Existing studies on accessibility lack a direct integration of multi-source data accessibility evaluation methods. This paper develops a multimodal random accessibility model (MR model). Multi-source data is integrated with a built-in joint calculation method of walking time, waiting time, and transit time while considering the effects of both the travel time budget in the time dimension and distance friction parameter in the spatial dimension. Taking Beijing as an example, accessibility generally shows a downward trend from the center of the city to the suburbs, especially along the subway lines, and there is a positive correlation between traffic flow and accessibility. The low-accessible high-flow area is mainly distributed in areas away from the city center and at the end of subway lines. These results could help transport planners formulate more reasonable public transport planning policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theoretically, transit-oriented development (TOD) can enhance accessibility by providing a relatively high level of transport connections and high-density, mixed-use, cycling- and pedestrian-friendly land use around transit stations. Empirically, there is a noted positive relationship between the transport component of TOD and accessibility, but the evidence is more mixed with respect to components other than transport (e.g., high urban density and diversity, or proximity of land uses to the transport node). In order to examine how the specific components of TOD are related to accessibility and the relative importance of each component to enhance accessibility, the paper develops a methodology to explore the relationship between each TOD component and accessibility, and applies it to Beijing, China. First, the paper assesses the accessibility of metro station areas in Beijing. Second, it studies how TOD components are related to accessibility at the one-hour travel time catchment level. The results highlight that, in the Beijing context, both a station area's location relative to the city center and the land use pattern (e.g., a relatively lower average residential density; a relatively higher average all-job density; a relatively lower average job density in the sector of retail, accommodation, and catering; a relatively higher average job density in the sector of education, health, and culture; and a relatively lower average degree of functional mixes) around all the stations within the targeted station's one-hour travel catchment are relatively more important to enhance the area's accessibility than improving the area's transit performance. This outcome provides insights for developing area-specific and targeted strategies to enhance the accessibility of a given metro station area in Beijing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Residential mobility has become an increasingly important issue in China, where urban families participate frenetically in the commodity housing market leading to soaring property prices. Applying place dependence approach and logistic regression models, this paper examines the association between residential mobility intentions and place dependence for employment and education in Beijing. The results reveal that people's intentions to move homes are driven by place dependence on the access to high-quality schools for their children, while the dependence for employment is rather weak. The findings indicate children's education has emerged as a new driving force that shapes urban space in contemporary China and therefore should be a focal point for planners and policy makers in urban resource distribution. This paper provides evidences to further our understanding of the high premium of properties that enable access to good schools. The needs for other spatial utilities and sentimental attachment to a place also encourage residential mobility intentions, which deserves further research. • Residential mobility intention was analyzed in Zhongguancun area in Beijing. • Influences of children's education and parents' employment were measured. • Children's education has emerged as a new driving force affecting residential choices. • Place dependence provides a useful lens to comprehend housing mobility in contemporary cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Around the globe, streets and sidewalks in cities are being contested as spaces that should be used for more than transportation. This paper analyzes street spaces as public goods, or their nature as a "public pool," from the perspective of property rights. After conducting a picture for the use of public street spaces in two innovative districts in Beijing via big data description and field investigation, this paper analyzes the use of public spaces from the perspective of property rights, spatial supply and demand, and the distribution and management of public goods. It further proposes three strategies for street design transformation, including refined management, design integrity, and planning priority transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traffic congestion is one of the key issues relating to sustainability and livability in many large cities. In particular, the situation in the growing megacities of developing countries has been worsening and is now attracting considerable attention from researchers and politicians. An understanding of the spatio-temporal patterns of this congestion is necessary in order to formulate effective policies to relieve it. Much of the research to date has focused on single districts for relatively short periods (days or weeks) using GPS, while long-term analysis of spatial and temporal patterns of traffic congestion at the city level has been rare. The aim of this paper is to help fill this gap in the literature by applying a big data analytic approach to a sample of 10.16 million records of traffic congestion indexes for 233 roads in the Beijing area over a six-month period. This analysis revealed four typical traffic congestion patterns in Beijing, which can be described as the weekend mode, holiday mode, weekday mode A, and weekday mode B. Each of these patterns possesses unique spatial and temporal characteristics. Compared with working days, on which congestion is regular and agglomerated, weekends and holidays are characterized by long-lasting congestion peaks throughout the day. Non-commuting travel on weekends and holidays, including trips for tourism, shopping, entertainment, and children's after-school activities, are major contributors to traffic congestion of the weekend and holiday mode. Owing to poor jobs-housing balance, the suburban new towns and job centres had relatively higher congestion than other areas. These findings shed significant light on geographical patterns of traffic congestion in growing megacities. • Traffic congestion is a key issue relating to urban sustainability. • This paper apples a big data analytic approach to a sample of 10.16 million records of traffic congestion. • There are four typical traffic congestion patterns in Beijing. • No-commuting travels on weekends and holidays are major contributors to traffic congestion. • The suburban new towns and job centres had relatively higher congestion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green space accessibility affects housing prices, which is an issue that has been underappreciated. This paper takes Beijing's central urban area as an example. First, the Gaussian-based two-step floating catchment area (G2SFCA) method is used to measure four levels (community green space, subdistrict green space, district green space, and municipal green space) of green space accessibility by multiple travel modes (walking, cycling and driving). Second, the spatial error model (SEM) is used to examine the factors influencing housing prices. Finally, the geographically weighted regression (GWR) model is introduced to explore the spatial relationship between green space accessibility by walking, cycling and driving and housing prices. The results show the following: (1) The SEM shows that only driving accessibility has a positive spatial spillover effect on housing prices, indicating that the spatial inequity of local community green spaces by driving will exacerbate surrounding spatial inequity. (2) The GWR model shows that from the perspective of walking and driving accessibility, most areas within the Second Ring Road show spatial equity in green spaces, while cycling accessibility shows that the spatial inequity of green space exists only outside the Second Ring Road. (3) We find that municipal green space and subdistrict green space most affect the spatial equity of green spaces. Community green space, which is not open to the public, plays a minimal role. Regarding walking and driving accessibility, municipal green space increases the spatial equity of green spaces. In contrast, this type of green space can promote the spatial equity of green spaces regarding cycling accessibility. This study can significantly improve the quality of urban settlements in the Global South and has important implications for policy-makers, planners, and stakeholders in other large cities worldwide to create green and liveable cities. • We investigated green space accessibility impact on housing prices • G2SFCA was used to measure green space accessibility for multiple travel modes • Driving accessibility had positive spatial spillover effect on housing prices • Driving and cycling green space accessibility had opposite effect on housing prices • Our results provided guidance and example for other developing countries megacities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In four decades, China has transitioned from a controlled housing economy to one in which choices (and constraints) are more central drivers of residential change, although government roles in inner area clearance and redevelopment also play a powerful role in residential change. In this paper, data from the China Household Finance Study – Beijing Survey are used to show that while age, education, marital status and tenure have become important variables in the decision to move, residential mobility has Chinese characteristics. Additionally, while choice and opportunity now play important roles in when people move and where, many in poor-quality housing have low likelihoods of moving. There is a growing bifurcated outcome where those with resources move into commodity housing, while others are relegated to poor-quality housing built before the housing market reforms. The process may increase inequality in Beijing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Xenoxylon is an important boreal Mesozoic fossil wood genus and has been widely reported from sites across northern China. This paper reports well-preserved Xenoxylon wood from the Jurassic-Cretaceous boundary Tuchengzi Formation at Yanqing, Beijing, China. The fossil wood described here is ascribed to two species, i.e. Xenoxylon latiporosum and X. peidense. The present new finding enrichs our knowledge of the floral characteristics, especially the forest composition of the Tuchengzi Formation. These new records enlarge the fossil wood diversity of the genus Xenoxylon of the Tuchengzi Formation up to three species at Yanqing. Statistic results of the annual and mean sensitivity values of the X. latiporosum and X. peidense indicates that the trees inhabited under a sensitive climate with relatively stable interannual water supply. Additionally, some fungal remains represented by fungal hyphae were found with wood tissues of specimens of X. peidense. Typical wood rotting structures resembling those of the extant white rot are also found in X. latiporosum. This is the first record of fungal hyphae in Yanqing, Beijing, China, and provides us with new evidence that can be used to explore interactions between fungi and plants in the Late Jurassic. Institutional abbreviations: YQ = Yanqing Silicified Wood National Geopark, Beijing, China [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geothermal energy is a clean energy source that can potentially mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, as its use can lead to a lower mitigation cost. However, research on the economic impacts of the geothermal industry is scarce. This paper describes the effect of the geothermal industry, its economic input and output, using Beijing as a case study. This paper adopts the input–output model. The results show that the demand for and input use of the geothermal sector vary greatly across industrial sectors: electricity, heat production, the supply industry and general equipment manufacturing have the greatest direct consumption coefficient for the geothermal industry. When considering direct and indirect demand, it is clear that the geothermal industry has a great effect on different industrial sectors in diverse ways. Its influence coefficient and sensitivity coefficient are 1.2167 (ranked 11th) and 1.2293 (ranked 8th), respectively, revealing that it exerts obvious demand-pulling and supply-pushing effects on the regional economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • The majority of carbon emissions derived from indirect fraction of energy consumption in Beijing. • Life expectancy is reduced in areas where a higher amount of coal is burnt for household consumption. • Socio-economic structure changes play a major role in the observed energy and emission trends. • Search of optimal solutions for energy-efficient and low carbon private will continue to be crucial. Abstract Household carbon emissions are major contributors to global emissions that is increasing recognized. In China, approximately 20 million rural populations transfer to the urban areas annually, which results in a lot of new infrastructure construction and consumer requirements. This paper quantifies the numbers and trends of urban and rural resident on energy use and carbon footprint in Beijing from 1996 to 2011 by analysis of Consumer Lifestyle Approach (CLA) and carbon footprint. It provides a better understanding of complete energy consumption and carbon emissions profile in Beijing. The results show that for the Beijing residents, when direct and indirect energy consumption and CO 2 emissions are taken into account, the total household energy consumption proportion compared to the city increases from 22.7% to 59.2%, and the total household CO 2 emissions proportion increases from 32.2% to 68.8% in the research period. In the urbanization process, total energy consumption and carbon emissions of Beijing urban residents are significantly higher than those of rural residents. However, the transformation of a rural Beijing resident into an urban Beijing resident would not create a large difference between urban and rural areas in the per-capita energy consumption and per-capita carbon footprint. Results are assessed with respect to the available scientific literature, as well as potential available technological and policy solutions. Since the implementation that different policy instruments can mitigate carbon emissions, governments are gradually combining policy measures for the same technology. The results in this paper may help promote alternative consumption strategies in household sector which could entail more reasonable resource distribution and effective reduction of both urban and rural environmental influences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 1990s are often described as a time of political retreat by artists and intellectuals in China, immediately following the protests at Tiananmen Square in 1989 and their bloody crackdown. The 1990s were also, however, a time of dramatic spatial and social flux in the country, characterized by radical urbanization, widespread demolition of the built environment and mass rural to urban migration. This paper considers the political activities of Chinese artists during the 1990s and early 2000s, yet does so with a focus on their spatial engagements, arguing that these constituted a new, necessary and highly productive mode of political work at this time. Describing a number of relatively self-made artists' colonies that appeared in Beijing in the early 1990s, and tracing these through to their semi-institutionalization (as 'creative industries precincts') by the Chinese Communist Party in the mid-2000s, it demonstrates alternative means by which China's artists continued to intervene in the negotiation of a Chinese modernity, once the possibilities for discursive engagement had been largely foreclosed. Drawing on archival research, personal interviews and literature in art history as well as cultural, urban and policy studies, this analysis thus tells a spatial history of this period often historicized as the development of 'Contemporary Chinese Art'. Importantly, this paper also seeks to offer new political imaginaries, pressing against expectations that Chinese artists be revolutionary or openly oppositional, and illustrating modes of political intervention that instead work creatively and discreetly with the movements of institutional and physical change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Urban gated communities have become increasingly common worldwide in both academic and policy discourse over recent decades. In contrast, gated communities in rural areas, a newer phenomenon, are rarely analyzed. This paper focuses on the unique phenomenon of gated villages that have emerged in the Beijing metropolitan area. We aim to explore the content, mechanism, heterogeneities etc. of gated villages, and how they differentiate from urban gated community. Five gated villages were selected for fieldwork and 27 semi-structured interviews were conducted with villagers, migrant tenants, heads of village committees, local government officers, and academics. Based on the framework of structuration theory, this paper analyzes the mechanism behind the formation of gated villages, which differ from urban gated communities. Based on the case studies, this paper concludes that: (1) the formation of the gated village is the culmination of interactions between complex dynamics of regional elements and the intellectual responses of various actors under the context of transitional rural China; (2) although the gated village appears similar to urban gated communities, it is in essence a new institutional tool of social management rather than a simple transfer of existing gated community structures into rural regions; (3) the consequences of the gated village are in general positive and can be enhanced by restricting physical size and by improvement of government-village co-operation. Highlights • Uncover the causes, mechanisms and consequences of gated village. • Distinguish rural gated village from urban gated community. • Clarify the co-evolution of institutions and actors in the formation and development of gated village. • Suggest that gated village can be an efficient institutional tool to improve rural wellbeing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract By virtue of the hukou reform issued by the State Council in 2014, a more people-oriented development path under a 'New Urbanization Model' is implemented during the 13th Five Year Plan. In a new grading regime, migrants' housing tenurial status plays a crucial role in differentiating who are qualified to enjoy the welfare entitlement (e.g. public education) in the host cities. Drawing upon the data from the 2011 and 2016 Migrant Dynamics Monitoring Survey, this paper investigates the rationale of the hybrid tenure continuum, its stratification mechanism among the whole migrant population in Beijing, and its dynamic change and impact on migrants given the undertaking of drastic measures by Beijing Municipality in the early 2010s to address its informality problems. A hybrid tenure structure from an insecure to de facto and to legal titles was proved critical to increase the resilience of housing supply for migrant groups. Policy implication of this paper is about how best to empower migrants as equal citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This paper studies the labour force in Beijing in relation to that in London. Through this comparative approach, the paper breaks the current isolation of Chinese studies, crosses the categorical divides in comparative research, and addresses local-global dialects in global cities. A very similar description of the labour force between these two cities is revealed. The labour forces in both cities had a young age profile with that in Beijing being only slightly younger, both shared a male-dominated characteristic with a stronger dominance in Beijing, and comprised primarily highly educated individuals who were slightly less represented in Beijing. Such a dominance of young, male and highly educated individuals in both cities is due to the two cities' similar attraction to these people as both now being a global city. The different extents of dominance in Beijing, however, are influenced by its various institutional practices. Yet with an aging population and a fast-developing urbanisation in China, these practices are very likely to be altered in the near future. It is therefore foreseeable that the labour force in Beijing will become yet more similar to that of London very soon. Based on these findings, it is untenable to claim Chinese cities as being greatly different. To largely exclude such cities from the comparative research is also no longer justifiable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A pandemic such as COVID-19, like any other, is characterised beyond demographic range because it is a worldwide phenomenon. This means that people of any creed are vulnerable to coronavirus, and that each of us needs to take our roles seriously in the fight against the virus. More to this, this means that the management of the virus has complexity, as shown by recent scientific advances with the discovery of the new variant. This implies that with the testing of new vaccines, with categories approved by the World Health Organisation, one needs to be mindful of their interaction with susceptible patients, and that in order to succumb to this pandemic, we must be aware of hygienic practices, and their importance henceforth. This paper is a news report on the 2019 coronavirus pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spatial identification of the urban-rural fringes is very significant for deeply understanding the development processes and regulations of urban space and guiding urban spatial development in the future. Traditionally, urban-rural fringe areas are identified using statistical analysis methods that consider indexes from single or multiple factors, such as population densities, the ratio of building land, the proportion of the non-agricultural population, and economic levels. However, these methods have limitations, for example, the statistical data are not continuous, the statistical standards are not uniform, the data is seldom available in real time, and it is difficult to avoid issues on the statistical effects from edges of administrative regions or express the internal differences of these areas. This paper proposes a convenient approach to identify the urban-rural fringe using nighttime light data of DMSP/OLS images. First, a light characteristics-combined value model was built in ArcGIS 10.3, and the combined characteristics of light intensity and the degree of light intensity fluctuation are analyzed in the urban, urban-rural fringe, and rural areas. Then, the Python programming language was used to extract the breakpoints of the characteristic combination values of the nighttime light data in 360 directions taking Tian An Men as the center. Finally, the range of the urban-rural fringe area is identified. The results show that the urban-rural fringe of Beijing is mainly located in the annular band around Tian An Men. The average inner radius is 19 km, and the outer radius is 26 km. The urban-rural fringe includes the outer portions of the four city center districts, which are the Chaoyang District, Haidian District, Fengtai District, and Shijingshan District and the part area border with Daxing District, Tongzhou District, Changping District, Mentougou District, Shunyi District, and Fangshan District. The area of the urban-rural fringe is approximately 765 km². This paper provides a convenient, feasible, and real-time approach for the identification of the urban-rural fringe areas. It is very significant to extract the urban-rural fringes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper, based on the ecological footprint component method, calculated the touristic ecological footprint of Jiufeng National Forest Park in Beijing The results showed that in 2013, in Jiufeng National Forest Park, the total touristic ecological footprint was 183.08 hm², the total ecological capacity was 225.16 hm², the total touristic ecological surplus was 42.07 hm², and the average touristic ecological surplus was 0.000 4 hm² per capita, indicating that tourism in Jiufeng National Forest Park was in ecological surplus and ecological security. However, forest parks in Beijing at large were in ecological deficit This paper suggested that the tourist flow volume of forest parks with a big ecological deficit should be moved to forest parks with an ecological surplus. Besides, forest parks are expected to strengthen the development and management, improve the availability of forest recreation resource, and promote the environmental protection awareness of tourists, so as to boost the sustainable development of forest park tourism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transit oriented development (TOD) advocates enhancing public transport connectivity, clustering urban development around public transport nodes and creating station areas with high‐density, diverse land uses and pedestrian‐ and cycling‐friendly environments. While this urban development approach is expected to have positive effects on the urban economy, the impacts of TOD strategies on economic efficiency are yet to be empirically examined. This study operationalised economic efficiency as labour productivity; developed a methodology to investigate how labour productivity is distributed at the local level, to explore the relationships between TOD characteristics and the clustering of labour productivities across different types of industries within a city; and applied it to the case of Beijing, China. The results show that in most cases the distribution of labour productivity has no significant association with TOD characteristics. However, in certain consumer‐service‐related economic sectors (i.e. wholesale and retail; accommodation and catering; and culture, sports, and entertainment) labour productivity is on average significantly higher in an area with stronger transit‐oriented development characteristics. Furthermore, within the conceptual framework of agglomeration economies, the paper identified specific TOD characteristics that are related to the clustering of the higher level of labour productivities in certain industry sectors. These outcomes provide insights for developing more focused TOD strategies, aimed at enhancing the clustering of labour productivities in the identified industries around the existing metro station areas in Beijing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The effectiveness of existing traffic measures in Beijing is investigated. • A survey on drivers' opinions and attitudes towards the traffic situation is given. • Most respondents think congestion is still serious in Beijing. • The perceived impact of congestion on personal car use is relatively low. • The symbolic meaning of personal cars has large impact on willingness to change. Facing serious challenges of traffic congestion and air pollution, Beijing has implemented a series of traffic polices. In this paper, we first investigate the effectiveness of existing traffic measures in Beijing and analyse the underlying factors from the perspective of drivers, which provide insights for the traffic regulations in other cities worldwide. While the car ownership restriction has effectively limited the total number of vehicle in Beijing, the effect of the car use restriction only lasts for a short period. A survey on drivers' opinions and attitudes towards the traffic situation and a potential measure, i.e., tradable driving credit (TDC), is conducted. Although traffic data shows that congestion improved and traffic was slightly congested in recent years in Beijing, most respondents believe congestion is still serious in Beijing. However, they think the impact of traffic congestion on their personal car use is relatively low, which could partly explain why so many travellers still depend on driving given the relative convenient transit facilities in Beijing. In addition, a large proportion of respondents treat personal cars as a representation of social status and think driving bring them pleasures, which indicates that it may be hard to further decrease the share of car trips in Beijing. According to their attitudes and social-economical characters, respondents' willingness on their changes of travel behaviours under TDC is investigated. The results show that individuals' social-economic characters such as income level, education and family size and the symbolic meaning of personal cars have significant influence on respondents' willingness to switch to other transport modes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Megacities in China are undergoing transformation in urban functional structure brought on by rapid urbanization and spatial expansion, while private motorization connects disparate functional zones with ever-longer journeys. Policies to control growth of the car fleet while investing in mass public transport, in Beijing and in many other cities, have divided city residents into car users and those dependent on public transport. This paper examines these policies from the transport equity perspective by measuring accessibility disparity between public transport and private car. Cumulative accessibility is measured for each of the two transport modes, while an accessibility equity index (AEI) is developed based on numerical and spatial computation. The recent changes in spatial distributions of population and employment in Beijing are analyzed. Accessibility and AEI are measured using network-based Geographical Information System (GIS) and analyzed quantitatively and spatially. Nine scenarios with different employment location strategies are simulated to analyze their impacts on accessibility and AEI, with clear benefits among the scenarios with regard to accessibility equity for suburban populations. Results suggest that reducing the demand for car use and ownership can be supported through employment spatial redistribution policies, which can be used to raise relative accessibility by public transport. Land use policy can form part of a larger set of spatial and transport policies that includes regulation of the car fleet and public transport development. Such integrated approaches are of particular importance for the present and future megacities of China that are expanding rapidly, with relatively high volume flows on limited movement networks. • Proposed a framework for transport equity assessment through measuring modal and spatial disparity. • Developed an accessibility equity index (AEI) based on numerical spatial computation. • Examined the transport equity of Beijing as a case study. • Applied equity assessment to spatial scenario analysis and policy with equity and efficiency improvement was suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public participation is playing an increasingly important role in the process of environmental protection, especially in some developing countries such as China. However, the studies that have focused on public participation in air pollution control, especially those that have used quantitative research, are comparatively insufficient in China. This paper investigated residents' participation intention and behavior in air pollution control in Beijing, China, and related the theory of planned behavior and the concepts of risk perception to analyze the formation mechanism of participation behavior. The results indicated a remarkable discrepancy between participation intention and behavior. Subjective norm was the major factor in predicting participation intention, followed by risk perception and attitude. Income was observed to have a negative effect on participation intention and a positive effect on participation behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The social impacts of transport systems and new transport infrastructure have often been overlooked and undervalued, partly because the relationship between transport and social equity is indirect and difficult to quantify. Researchers have usefully investigated the relationship between transport and social exclusion, focusing on aspects such as access to opportunities and activities by different population cohorts such as income, class, age, ethnicity and gender. The analysis has focused on addressing the imbalance in the distributional effects of transport provision and accessibility planning has often been a central tool in analysis. This paper seeks to build on the aforementioned research, employing Amartya Sen's Capabilities Approach as a theoretical framework to explore how an individual's capabilities and functionings differ in relation to transport. Beijing is used as a case study, with analysis from three stations on the Beijing subway line 1 and its extension to the Batong line, namely Guomao, Sihui and Tuqiao. Martha Nussbaum's Central Human Capabilities Approach is used to frame the analysis. The results show that functionings and capabilities differ according to an individual's socio-economic characteristics and geographical location, meaning that both the opportunities to participate in life and also the actual activities themselves differ. This is an important distinction that the Capabilities Approach offers, and it is useful to consider if the potential for achieving improved social equity is to be realised. • The Capabilities Approach is applied in transport planning. • A framework for understanding multi-dimensional social impacts is developed, including issues of life, bodily health, emotion and affiliation. • Comparisons are made for capabilities and functionings across socio-demographic characteristics and location. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the context of climate change and population growth, the development of urban agriculture is of great environmental and economic significance in rapidly urbanizing China. Based on the primary survey data, this paper evaluated the carbon footprint (CF) and economic efficiency of urban agriculture in Beijing (China) using the life cycle assessment method (from cradle to consumption approach). Two cases were analyzed and compared considering their differences in on-farm cultivation and off-farm supply chains: a conventional small householder farm that sells its vegetables directly to consumers in a local market, and a large home-delivery agriculture (HDA) initiative that delivers its vegetables to the consumers' home directly. Both cases were equipped with greenhouses with plastic covering but no heating system. The CF of the production, transportation and distribution of 1 kg fresh vegetables was estimated at 0.318 kg CO 2 -eq kg−1 and 0.624–0.652 kg CO 2 -eq kg−1 for conventional and HDA initiative farm, respectively. However, the HDA initiative showed a better environmental performance than the conventional operation when taking economic efficiency into consideration. The CF per unit of profit of HDA initiative (0.093–0.097 kg CO 2 -eq per CNY) was lower than conventional farm (0.111 kg CO 2 -eq per CNY). The lower CF per unit of product weight of the conventional farm was largely attributed to the high yield and the lower CF per unit of profit of the HDA initiative was mainly due to the outstanding economic profitability through income optimization. The major hotspots of CF in both cases were greenhouse plastic films in the cultivation phase (from cradle to farm gate) and transportation in the supply chain (from farm gate to consumption). Simulation of a switch to biodiesel instead of gasoline and diesel in combination with the replacement of current fossil-fuel-dominated electricity by hydro-powered electricity resulted in 20.0–21.8% reduction in the total CF. By identifying the CF hotspots of two farm cases, particular inputs and activities can be targeted for adjustment in order to effectively reduce the CF of urban agriculture in Beijing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The vertical structure of wind is a key factor in modulating air quality, from which the determination of boundary layer height (BLH) remains a major challenge. In this paper, we developed an improved threshold method to determine the BLH from radar wind profiler (RWP) measurements. The normalized signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) profiles were used instead of the original SNR profiles to avoid instrumental inconsistencies. Additionally, a peak filter was designed to indicate the BLH based on the maximum SNR by taking into account the multiple peaks in the SNR profile. This algorithm was then applied to the RWP measurements taken in the summer (June–July–August) of 2018 in Beijing to obtain the BLHs. Validation analyses suggested that the BLH retrievals from RWP exhibited high consistency with those from radiosondes, with an average correlation coefficient of 0.69 (0.66) and a root mean squared error of 0.39 (0.41) in the daytime (nighttime). Additionally, the major features of summertime BLHs in Beijing were examined. In particular, a distinct diurnal variation in BLH was observed with a peak (1630 ± 510 m) occurring at 0600 universal time coordinated (UTC) and a minimum (587 ± 343 m) at 2300 UTC. Therefore, the algorithm presented here has great potential to be applied to other regions to obtain reliable BLHs. The findings obtained here highlight the importance of vertical wind structure in air quality studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we use household travel survey data and employment establishment survey data collected in Beijing to empirically investigate the extent to which institutional arrangements influence the jobs-housing spatial relationship, and whether such arrangements interact with local job opportunities in shaping the jobs-housing relationship. Dynamic buffering is used to derive the number of job opportunities within specific distances of each home. We find that, once individuals have the freedom to choose their workplaces or homes, the "relics" of command-and-control housing provision policies no longer have significant influence on commute distances. We also find that more job opportunities close to homes have significant association with shorter commuting distances. This is especially true for individuals who joined the workforce after 1999. The institutional setup and spatial structure of the jobs and population in Beijing can contribute to this trend. Yet the magnitude of this effect from the job opportunities is nevertheless negligible. • We use large sample of household travel survey and establishment survey data collected in Beijing to empirically investigate jobs-housing spatial relationship and its impact factors, especially institutional factors and job opportunities. • Dynamic buffering is used to derive job opportunities within a specific distance of each home. • By comparing command-and-control housing policies and reformed housing market in China, we find that mandatory housing choice for the workers is a necessary condition to maintain jobs-housing balance. • Without command-and-control housing policies, more job opportunities near homes have negligible though statistically significant effects in reducing commuting distances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Urban and rural energy rebound effects in Beijing are studied by LA-AIDS model. • Energy rebound from substitution and income effects is decomposed by Slutsky equation. • Energy rebound effect of rural residents exceeded that of urban residents after 2010. • The income effect is the main source of the energy rebound effect in Beijing. • Energy rebound caused by various commodity groups presents obvious heterogeneity. With Beijing facing greater pressure for energy conservation, improving energy efficiency becomes more necessary. However, the energy rebound effect may weaken this energy-saving effect. Using the LA-AIDS (Linear Approximation of the Almost Ideal Demand System) model and simulation analysis, this paper evaluates the energy rebound effects of different commodity groups in Beijing's urban and rural households during 2000–2019. Then, the Slutsky decomposition equation is introduced to decompose the energy rebound caused by the substitution and income effects. Results suggest that: (1) The energy consumption of urban and rural residents shows a partial rebound in most years, and the energy rebound effect of rural residents exceeded that of urban residents after 2010. (2) The income effect from commodity price changes is the main source of the energy rebound effect both in urban and rural households. (3) The commodity groups Residence, Household facilities & Services, Transportation & Communication and Health care & Medical services have the same influencing direction on the energy rebound effect in urban and rural residents, while the commodity groups Food, Tobacco & Alcohol, Clothing and Culture, Education & Entertainment have different influencing direction. Finally, suggestions are provided for alleviating the energy rebound effect of households in Beijing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing studies investigate mobility inequality from the perspectives of accessibility and non-economic welfare. This paper proposes to analyze mobility inequality through the lens of economic welfare, which reflects the difference of passengers' willingness-to-pay and the actual fare. Based on the theory of welfare economics, this paper first defines the concept and specifies the formula of economic welfare with regards to mobility inequality. Then, economic welfare is calculated regarding the elderly's bus fare in Beijing and econometric models are estimated to examine how mobility inequality is socially and spatially distributed. Results show that those with low income and living in the low-unit-house-price communities in the city center are the marginalized group. The benefits of introducing economic welfare to mobility inequality studies include (1) it can improve the objectivity in assessing travelers' feelings and identifying marginalized groups; (2) the concept of economic welfare can directly correspond to the "sense of gain" policy initiative in China; (3) the perspective of economic welfare can inform transportation pricing policies to mitigate inequality issues. To conclude, this paper contributes to the existing literature by a new perspective of economic welfare that enriches the current dialogue of mobility inequality among the geographical, transportation, sociological and psychological researchers. • Economic welfare is introduced to measure mobility inequality. • Economic welfare can echo Chinese sense of gain initiative. • Young elderly's bus fare increases would incur inequality. • City planners in Beijing are suggested to propose fare increase policies based on income to promote social inclusion. • More routes around the low-unit-house-price communities may be planned and suburban-city express routes may charge a premium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]