Search Results (176)

The development of polycentric urban regions has strengthened the role of suburban settlements as secondary centres. However, centrality continues to be assessed primarily through the concentration of urban functions and amenities, while its social dimension remains insufficiently explored. This study extends the application of sociotope mapping from public open spaces to the assessment of social centrality in suburban settlement centres. The proposed framework was applied to Veternik, a suburban settlement within the urban region of Novi Sad in Serbia, combining functional and spatial analysis, a questionnaire survey, the Relative Importance Index, and GIS-based sociotope mapping. Functional and spatial analysis identified the existing urban functions, amenities, and their spatial organisation, while the questionnaire survey examined residents’ everyday patterns and frequency of centre-use activities. The Relative Importance Index ranked the relative importance of these activities, and GIS-based sociotope mapping visualised the resulting centre-use values. The findings indicate that Veternik exhibits relatively developed functional centrality, whereas its social centrality remains limited, particularly when considered in relation to users’ perceptions of the centre of Novi Sad. The study demonstrates the potential of sociotope mapping as a complementary framework for assessing social centrality and supporting the planning of socially sustainable suburban settlement centres. Full article

With climate change and urbanization accelerating, cities face increasing disaster risks. As critical facilities for safeguarding residents’ safety, emergency shelters have attracted growing attention due to spatial supply–demand mismatches. From the perspective of the 15-min community life circle, this study aims to develop a fine-scale analytical framework for assessing emergency shelter accessibility and inequality, using Pidu District, Chengdu, China, as a case study. The three-step floating catchment area (3SFCA) method is applied to assess emergency shelter accessibility, while the Gini coefficient and Kolm–Pollak equally distributed equivalent (EDE) are introduced to evaluate accessibility inequality across subdistricts and communities. The results show that: (1) compared with the traditional Gaussian two-step floating catchment area (G2SFCA) method, 3SFCA captures clearer accessibility differentiation and stronger local sensitivity; (2) emergency shelter accessibility shows marked spatial differentiation, with pronounced local clustering in the walking mode and a polycentric pattern in the cycling mode; (3) the Gini coefficient reveals distributional imbalance in emergency shelter accessibility, showing a clear “center–periphery” pattern in which urban areas generally exhibit lower inequality than suburban and rural areas; and (4) the Kolm–Pollak EDE emphasizes lower-tail welfare and helps distinguish “low but even” areas from “high but polarized” areas. These findings support equity-oriented strategies for emergency shelter planning and resource allocation. The study provides methodological and practical implications for fine-scale emergency shelter planning and resilient urban governance, contributing to more equitable, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable urban environments. Full article

This study examines urban green infrastructure (UGI) branding as a governance practice shaped by institutional homogenization and strategic responses within China’s multi-level policy framework. Against the backdrop of global sustainability agendas, UGI branding is conceptualized as a policy-oriented, symbolically embedded instrument for communicating cities’ commitments to green development and climate resilience. Using an institutional “identity–label–image” framework, integrated with policy diffusion theory and multi-center regional development models, we systematically analyze historical brand-label data from 27 core cities in the Yangtze River Delta. Our findings reveal three key patterns: (1) brand diffusion follows dual pathways of mandatory and imitative homogenization, with evolutionary rhythms tied to five-year planning cycles, generating discernible “policy waves”; (2) within polycentric regional structures, core cities act as institutional “interpreters” and benchmarks, while peripheral cities pursue imitation-driven differentiation, reflecting complex dynamics of collaboration and competition; and (3) urban identities expressed through brand labels progressively align with substantive sustainability transitions, aiming to enhance regional competitiveness and upward recognition. We conclude that UGI branding constitutes a deep-seated mechanism of sustainable urban governance, offering a novel theoretical lens on China’s institutional logic of city branding and providing actionable insights for optimizing collaborative brand governance and integrated green infrastructure planning in urban agglomerations. Full article

Rapid urban expansion reshapes urban morphology and the spatial organization of regional city systems. However, provincial-scale studies rarely integrate expansion dynamics, morphological change, and the evolution of morphological polycentricity, while stage-specific shifts in associated factors remain insufficiently understood. This study examines 16 prefecture-level cities in Shandong, China, from 2000 to 2020 to quantify urban expansion and morphological change, assess morphological polycentricity and the city-size hierarchy, and evaluate stage-specific factors associated with newly added built-up land. Built-up land was extracted from the Prolonged Artificial nighttime-light Dataset of China (PANDA-China) using a statistics-constrained bisection threshold method and evaluated against independent land-cover products, followed by complementary spatial, morphological, rank–size, and GeoDetector analyses. The results show that the built-up area increased from 1912.10 to 5646.04 km² in Shandong, while the annualized expansion rate declined from 7.09%/yr to 4.14%/yr despite persistently high absolute expansion after 2010. The dominant northeast–southwest axis remained stable, while urban forms became less compact and more complex. Secondary built-up nodes strengthened, whereas Jinan and Qingdao retained their dominant positions, indicating strengthening morphological polycentricity within a persistent dual-core structure. GeoDetector revealed a temporal shift from greater GDP prominence in 2000–2010 toward stronger population and road associations in 2010–2020. Initial built-up density remained the strongest explanatory factor, and factor interactions consistently exceeded individual explanatory power. These findings clarify the stage-dependent evolution of urban expansion and support differentiated land management and coordinated regional development. Full article

This study presents a comprehensive spatial analysis of the public transport network across the Almaty agglomeration, encompassing 211 routes within eight urban districts and seven adjacent administrative divisions. Drawing on digitized geodata from 3634 unique bus stops, the research methodology integrates quantitative and qualitative spatial metrics, including distribution density, average stop spacing, elevation gradients, and topological connectivity. The analysis highlights significant territorial imbalances: while 70.53% of all unique stops are concentrated within Almaty’s city limits, the surrounding regional network is highly fragmented, with an average stop spacing of 2579.53 m. Furthermore, topographic assessments confirm substantial operational challenges for north–south routing due to steep elevation changes, reaching 984.48 m within the city and 1243.23 m regionally. A critical evaluation of topological connectivity reveals that 44.63% of suburban bus stops lack transfer intersections, underscoring severe deficits in peripheral public transport provision. By assessing 56 distinct connection types, the study categorizes administrative districts based on their route integration levels. Ultimately, the derived spatial parameters offer a robust evaluation of the current transport framework. These insights establish a crucial scientific and empirical foundation for optimizing route geometries, bridging infrastructural gaps, and guiding sustainable transit planning in alignment with Almaty’s transition toward a polycentric urban model. Furthermore, the developed 3D spatial-topological framework provides a scalable, data-driven blueprint for municipal authorities to prioritize infrastructure investments, deploy multimodal hubs and enhance transit equity in other rapidly growing and topographically complex agglomerations worldwide. Full article

Coordinating public service supply and demand is essential to urban social sustainability. This study examines ten suburban districts of Beijing at six observation points from 2015 to 2024 and develops an integrated framework encompassing resource endowment, demand pressure, supply–demand matching, and spatial equity. Resource endowment and demand pressure are measured using spatial accessibility and objective weighting methods, while relative matching coefficients, Lorenz curves, and Gini coefficients are employed to evaluate spatial mismatch and equity. The results reveal a shift toward a dynamic polycentric supply pattern, persistent relative undersupply in Tongzhou and Daxing, and dimension-specific deficits in several otherwise balanced districts. Overall spatial equity improved during the study period, although localized mismatches remained. Public service planning should therefore move from uniform expansion toward demand-responsive, place-specific, and service-specific optimization. Full article

Rapid and unplanned urbanization in Dhaka is reshaping land use, intensifying peripheral expansion, and increasing pressure on urban and ecological resources. Understanding these growth dynamics is essential for effective urban growth boundary delineation and sustainable planning, yet integrated assessments of historical and future urban growth remain limited. The current study evaluates spatiotemporal urban expansion from 2010 to 2025, delineates the urban growth boundary using a morphological framework, and simulates future growth for 2030 through a coupled cellular automaton-neural network model. Multi-temporal Landsat imagery (2010, 2015, 2020, and 2025) was classified in Google Earth Engine using supervised Maximum Likelihood Classification. Urban growth patterns were quantified using the urban expansion intensity index (UEII), annual urban expansion rate (AUER), and landscape expansion index (LEI). The urban largest continuous patch index (ULCPI) approach was applied to extract functional urban boundaries. Model performance was validated using the Chi-square (χ²) goodness-of-fit test. Results show a substantial increase in built-up land from 115.85 km² to 171.42 km² between 2010 and 2025, accompanied by a decline of approximately 60 km² in urban green spaces. LEI results demonstrate a transition from compact infilling growth (2010–2015) to dominant edge and outlying expansion (2015–2020), indicating progressive peri-urbanization. The urban largest continuous patch (ULCP) nearly doubled from 78.58 km² to 152.13 km² over the same period, accentuating rapid spatial consolidation. The 2030 projection anticipates continued corridor-oriented expansion, particularly toward the northern and eastern peripheries, with predictive agreement from the CA–ANN model (χ² = 0.03 < 7.8). The study identifies a clear transition from monocentric compactness to polycentric expansion, emphasizing the necessity for enforceable growth containment, transit-oriented development, and ecologically responsive planning strategies to ensure long-term urban sustainability. Full article

Urban shrinkage in resource-based cities manifests not only as population decline but also as spatial mismatches between current human activities and inherited urban systems. Existing studies have mainly focused on single dimensions such as service accessibility or land-use efficiency, with limited attention to the multidimensional incompatibility between human activities, service systems, built environment, and industrial risks. This study develops a human activity-centered spatial mismatch framework to examine the spatial consistency between human activities and urban systems in shrinking resource-based cities. Taking the central urban area of Daqing as a case study, this study integrates multi-source urban big data across four spatial dimensions—human activity, public service provision, built environment, and industrial risk exposure—and identifies three types of spatial mismatch: service supply–demand mismatch, built environment mismatch, and industrial risk exposure conflict. The results show that human activities in central Daqing exhibit a polycentric pattern, while their spatial distribution is not fully consistent with existing urban systems. Specifically, service accessibility mismatch, built environment underutilization, and human activity–industrial risk overlap coexist across different areas, reflecting asynchronous adjustment between human activities and inherited urban structures. This study provides a human activity-centered framework for diagnosing multidimensional spatial conflicts in shrinking resource-based cities and supports a transition from expansion-oriented planning toward differentiated adaptive spatial governance. Full article

Over the last two decades, touristification has become one of the most influential concepts for understanding the relationship between tourism and urban change. However, existing research remains strongly shaped by the experiences of large metropolitan areas and globally recognized tourist destinations, leaving intermediate urban contexts comparatively underexplored. This paper addresses this gap by examining the Atlantic Urban System of the north-western Iberian Peninsula as a framework for understanding touristification beyond dominant metropolitan paradigms. Drawing on debates on touristification, ordinary cities, intermediate urbanism, and regional development, the article argues that the polycentric structure, historical peripherality, and growing integration of this urban system create distinctive conditions shaping tourism-related urban change. Building on previous work on the Atlantic Urban Axis, the paper conceptualizes the Atlantic Urban System as a territorial configuration composed largely of interconnected intermediate cities and develops a framework for analysing touristification through five interrelated dimensions: territorial position, housing market structure, tourism development trajectories, urban governance, and urban form. Rather than proposing a new urban type, the article highlights the analytical value of examining tourism-related transformations within a specific territorial configuration and contributes to ongoing efforts to diversify the geographical foundations of urban theory. Full article

Enhancing green total-factor energy efficiency (GTFEE) is a critical pathway for promoting the green transformation of economic and social development. However, the potential influence of the construction and development of urban functional networks (UFNs) on this process has received limited scholarly attention. Using panel data from 148 cities across nine major Chinese urban agglomerations from 2010 to 2023, this study finds the following: First, the development of UFNs at the urban agglomeration scale significantly enhances GTFEE. Second, UFNs improve GTFEE through two distinct mechanisms: “government action” and “market efficiency.” The “government action” mechanism primarily operates by promoting market integration, reducing land resource misallocation, and curbing urban sprawl. The “market efficiency” mechanism functions by enhancing factor mobility, optimizing the allocation of production factors, and accelerating the diffusion of green technological innovations. Third, the effect of UFNs on GTFEE varies according to local development conditions, infrastructure connectivity, and policy continuity and coordination. The enhancement effect is more pronounced in cities located near coastlines, those connected to other cities within the agglomeration by high-speed rail, and cities with longer-serving municipal Party secretaries. Fourth, urban agglomerations characterized by polycentric spatial structures and stronger agglomeration externalities are better able to leverage the functional node effects of their constituent cities, thereby further enhancing GTFEE. Full article

Urban fringe forests deliver critical ecosystem services yet face irreversible loss and complex degradation under urbanization, while their fragmentation dynamics relative to core forests remain largely unquantified owing to the lack of a spatiotemporally consistent mapping approach. To address this gap, a multi-source remote sensing framework integrating land cover, population, nightlight, and land surface temperature data was developed to delineate urban fringe boundaries and quantify forest dynamics in Zhejiang Province via area-weighted centroids and landscape metrics, where high forest cover and a polycentric urban structure create a highly heterogeneous and dynamic fringe environment, enabling separate quantification of spatiotemporal fragmentation patterns for urban fringe and core forests from 2004 to 2024. The results are as follows: (1) The four dimensions (land, population, economy, and environment) produced spatiotemporally distinct boundaries, with multi-dimensional integration outperforming any single indicator and nighttime light being the best. Meanwhile, the total fringe area grew from 2989.04 to 3990.66 km² over two decades, with the fastest growth in 2004–2014 and the most rapid boundary shifts in 2014–2019. (2) The fringe forest proportion dropped from 24.72% to 18.37%, with the largest decline in southwestern high-forest cities. Meanwhile, Hangzhou and Ningbo fringe forests increasingly assumed the main ecological carrier role formerly held by core forests, with their centroids moved southwestward most markedly in 2009–2014 and displaying a more consistent direction than core forests. (3) Fragmentation metrics showed a higher patch density and splitting index but lower connectivity in the fringe than in the core, with intensification peaking in Zhoushan and coinciding with intensive edge expansion in 2009–2014, followed by later responses in the core. This study provides a transferable multi-dimensional remote sensing methodology for urban fringe mapping indicating that fringe forests may serve as early-warning signals of urbanization-induced forest degradation, enabling spatially targeted forest management across varied urban contexts. Full article

Understanding how urban spatial structure evolves under environmental constraints is essential for sustainable urban development and planning practice. However, existing studies often analyze population distribution and urban functions separately, providing limited explanation of the mechanisms underlying urban spatial restructuring. This limitation is particularly evident in mountain cities, where topographic constraints, fragmented developable land, and corridor-based accessibility shape distinctive spatial patterns. Using Chongqing as a case study, this study examines the evolution of its central urban area between 2020 and 2024 from an integrated population–function perspective. Multi-temporal Baidu residential and employment population data and POI data are used to characterize population activities and urban functions. A functional reinterpretation framework is developed by aggregating conventional POI categories into three dimensions: prosperity, dynamism, and synergy. Kernel density estimation, density difference analysis, Getis–Ord Gi* hotspot analysis, and population–function relationship analysis are applied to examine spatial evolution and interaction patterns under topographic constraints. The results show that Chongqing experienced substantial spatial restructuring characterized by increasing polycentricity and internal reorganization rather than simple outward expansion. Residential and employment populations expanded along river valleys and development corridors, while employment activities remained more concentrated in established centers. Functional evolution shows clear differentiation: prosperity remains concentrated in traditional centers, dynamism expands toward emerging development platforms, and synergy diffuses through residential and transportation networks. Residential populations are more strongly associated with synergy functions, whereas employment populations are more closely linked to dynamism functions. Full article

Against the global imperative to address climate change and accelerate energy transitions, the rapid growth of the electric vehicle (EV) industry has turned public charging infrastructure into a key foundation of urban operations, driven by carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals. However, effective supply depends not only on scale but on deep association with urban functional spaces. This study compares Gusu District (a historic preservation district) and Industrial Park District (a new development district) in Suzhou. The goal is to reveal how public electric vehicle charging stations (EVCSes) associate with functional spaces under different urban development models. The study employs Standard Deviational Ellipse (SDE), Kernel Density Estimation (KDE), Bivariate Spatial Autocorrelation, and Coupling Coordination Degree (CCD) models to compare layout patterns, clustering features and functional association. The research findings are as follows: (1) The EVCS layout in Gusu District shows strong dependence on roads and administrative boundaries, while EVCSes in Industrial Park District show clear planning intervention, less constrained by its administrative boundary. (2) KDE analysis confirms that Gusu District has continuous clustering centered on the ancient city, but Industrial Park District shows a multi-center layout. (3) Bivariate Spatial Autocorrelation reveals different priorities in facility allocation. In Gusu District, spatial association is mainly driven by high-mobility nodes, while in Industrial Park District, EVCSes are more deeply embedded in social services and daily life scenarios. (4) CCD analysis reveals that the coordination in Gusu District forms a monocentric, spatially continuous gradient centered on the ancient city, whereas in Industrial Park District it displays a polycentric but fragmented pattern, with high coordination areas confined to planned cores. This comparative study reveals the EVCS spatial layout, which is shaped by both administrative boundaries and policy constraints, and the heterogeneity in spatial association between two districts. It provides scientific evidence and decision support for different spatial governance and facility optimization in various types of urban areas. Full article

The three-dimensional (3D) built environment encodes critical information about urban form intensity, environmental exposure, and resource consumption. However, previous studies have often overlooked the integration of long-term analyses of both horizontal expansion and vertical growth. This study aims to identify the spatial differentiation, morphology types, and vertical growth trajectories of major Chinese megacities over the past three decades. Using high-resolution GABLE building data and time-series GAIA impervious surface data, we examine the evolution of urban 3D morphology across six major Chinese megacities from 1991 to 2023 through a retrospective analysis of building construction years combined with spatial gradient analysis. The results reveal that although the megacities exhibit distinct differences in vertical structure, shape complexity, and spatial compactness, they share a consistent center-to-periphery gradient across most 3D indicators. The most active volumetric growth was concentrated in a zone 8–14 km from city centers, which accounted for 23.6% of total new development, whereas the inner core within 6 km contributed less than 2.68%. In terms of temporal dynamics, Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou follow an inverted-V-shaped 3D expansion trajectory driven by mid-rise construction; Tianjin and Hangzhou show accelerated growth with a higher proportion of high-rise clusters; while Shenzhen demonstrates an early peak and a decelerated growth rate, accompanied by a pronounced polycentric pattern. While recent global-scale studies have suggested a shift from outward urban sprawl to vertical development, our findings indicate that horizontal expansion still dominates in the selected Chinese megacities, with outward sprawl exceeding vertical densification during the study period. The integrated approach provides a robust framework for mapping 3D urbanization and offers practical insights for policymakers seeking to manage horizontal expansion, guide vertical intensification, and optimize land-use efficiency in rapidly urbanizing megacities. Full article

Rapid urbanisation is threatening agriculture in major cities worldwide. In the Greater Bandung Area (GBA), large-scale conversion of agricultural land into built-up areas has occurred over recent decades. Therefore, this study aimed to understand the rural–urban transition and its control in the agricultural context over the last 20 years. The methods adopted were multitemporal analysis of land cover change (2003–2023), calculation of the sub-district development index (SDI) (2005–2014–2021), spatial clustering analysis, and assessment of the level of agricultural land control. The results showed a transformation of GBA’s spatial structure from a monocentric growth pattern to a polycentric configuration, with the peri-urban zone within a 10–20 km radius evolving as a high-performance area. This shift has diminished the dominance of the traditional city centre and produced a pronounced “donut effect”. An integrated analysis of SDI and spatial clustering identified three interrelated functional zones, namely urban, peri-urban, and rural, forming a continuous spatial gradient. The peri-urban area functioned as a dynamic interface where agricultural activities coexisted and competed with urban expansion pressures. These results outlined the need for context-specific and differentiated planning methods, supported by selective spatial control to guide metropolitan transition toward balanced and sustainable development. Full article