Search Results (94)

Globally, technologically integrated housing solutions are increasingly relevant in addressing the challenges of aging populations and sustainable urban development. Drawing on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), this research investigates how perceptions of usefulness, ease of use, and attitudes influence relocation intention to smart retirement villages (SRVs), while also examining any significant differences between the socio-demographic variables and such intention. A total of 305 individuals aged 55 and above participated in an online survey, with data analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 27 and AMOS-SEM version 25. The findings reveal that elderly individuals of Chinese ethnicity, those who are married, and those aged between 66 and 70 are more inclined to relocate to SRVs. Attitude and perceived usefulness significantly predict relocation intention, while perceived ease of use exerts an indirect effect through usefulness. These results highlight the importance of integrating user-centered technological design with socio-cultural and demographic considerations in the development of age-friendly built environments. The study offers insights for urban planners, policymakers, and developers seeking to create inclusive and sustainable smart housing solutions for aging populations. Full article

The equitable allocation of clean energy access across towns–rural divides is a critical benchmark of modernization in developing economies. This is because it is intricately linked to the realization of strategic goals such as shared prosperity, ecological civilization advancement, and national energy security reinforcement. This research examines the impact of China’s digital village (DV) construction in reducing the urban–rural disparity in household clean energy access, evaluates the effect on towns–rural clean energy consumption inequality (CEI), explores the mediating mechanisms, and considers regional heterogeneity. It is an innovative approach to test the influence of digital village construction on clean energy consumption inequality between urban and rural areas, beyond which conventional research is limited to infrastructure investment and policy considerations. We can reach the following three results: (1) With the continuous improvement of digital village construction, CEI between towns and rural areas shows an “inverted U-shaped” change. (2) From the perspective of the intermediary mechanism, agricultural technological progress (ATP) and industrial structure upgrading (IND) can facilitate digital village construction and reduce the disparity in clean energy consumption between towns and rural regions. (3) From the perspective of heterogeneity analysis, digital village construction in areas with low urbanization levels, high terrain undulation, and non-clean energy demonstration provinces can significantly alleviate CEI. It is on this basis that the present paper proposes a policy recommendation for the Chinese government to effectively reduce the gap between towns and rural clean energy consumption in the process of digital village construction. Full article

As the global urbanization process accelerates, rural settlements in China are facing the challenges of rural hollowing and widening urban–rural disparities. The establishment of the national scenic area system has made scenic settlements a primary direction for tourism development. However, industrial transformation has led to significant restructuring of the human–land relationship and the spatial functions of these settlements, resulting in issues such as over-tourism, ecological degradation, and cultural loss. This paper focuses on the Mosuo settlements around Lugu Lake, selecting nine villages, including Gesha Village, Wuzhiluo Village, and Daluoshui Village, to explore the formation and expression of Mosuo spatial concepts. Through spatial measurement, area statistics, and the analysis of development paths, the core of the research is to propose that “there is consistency between conceptual order and spatial form,” revealing the multi-dimensional evolutionary mechanism of Mosuo settlement spatial morphology under the intertwining of traditional concepts, market logic, and institutional policies, providing a replicable Chinese reference for global cultural heritage rural areas. Full article

This study investigates the value identification and assessment of architectural heritage in Fujian Overseas Chinese New Village. As representative 20th-century settlements of returned overseas Chinese, these villages demonstrate distinctive architectural integration of Southeast Asian and Minnan architectural traditions while preserving historical memories of diasporic communities, though systematic evaluation remains lacking. An innovative multidimensional assessment framework combining qualitative and quantitative approaches was developed, with spatial analysis and value evaluation conducted on 247 representative structures employing Kernel Density Estimation (KDE), Delphi method, and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). Three primary findings emerged: (1) Spatial distribution patterns revealed core-periphery clustering characteristics, with Xiamen and Zhangzhou forming high-density cores (23.5% concentration ratio) showing KDE values of 4.138–4.976, reflecting historical migration networks and policy-driven site selection logic. (2) Heritage values were categorized into seven dimensions, with historical significance (0.2904), artistic merit (0.1602), and functional utility (0.1638) identified as primary value drivers. (3) A four-tier evaluation system quantified heritage significance through weighted indices, demonstrating 53.89% dominance of intrinsic value components, with historical and cultural factors contributing 29.04% and 18.52% respectively. Assessment outcomes indicated 23.5% of structures scoring above 80 points, particularly highlighting Xiamen’s comprehensive preservation value. This research advances traditional conservation paradigms through its pioneering “value identification–quantitative assessment–conservation and utilization” closed-loop model, providing methodological innovation applicable to similar Overseas Chinese communities. The developed framework fills critical research gaps in the systematic evaluation of Southern Min diaspora architecture while establishing quantitative parameters for decision-making synergy between cultural preservation and urban–rural development. By transcending conventional single-dimensional approaches, this study offers replicable analytical tools for differentiated conservation strategies and policy formulation. Full article

Urban color represents the visual skin of a city, embodying regional culture, historical memory, and the contemporary spirit. However, while the existing studies focus on pedestrian-level facade colors, the “fifth facade” from a bird’s-eye view has been largely overlooked. Moreover, color distortions in traditional remote sensing imagery hinder precise analysis. This study targeted 56 Chinese coastal cities, decoding the spatiotemporal patterns of their fifth facade color (FFC). Through developing an innovative natural color optimization algorithm, the oversaturation and color bias of Sentinel-2 imageries were addressed. Several color indicators, including dominant colors, hue–saturation–value, color richness, and color harmony, were developed to analyze the spatial variations of FFC. Results revealed that FFC in Chinese coastal cities is dominated by gray, black, and brown, reflecting the commonality of cement jungles. Among them, northern warm grays exude solidity, as in Weifang, while southern cool grays convey modern elegance, as in Shenzhen. Blue PVC rooftops (e.g., Tianjin) and red-brick villages (e.g., Quanzhou) serve as symbols of industrial function and cultural heritage. Economically advanced cities (e.g., Shanghai) lead in color richness, linking vitality to visual diversity, while high-harmony cities (e.g., Lianyungang) foster livability through coordinated colors. The study also warns of color pollution risks. Cities like Qingdao exposed planning imbalances through color clashes. This research pioneers a systematic and large-scale decoding of urban fifth facade color from a remote sensing perspective, quantitatively revealing the dilemma of “identical cities” in modernization development. The findings inject color rationality into urban planning and create readable and warm city images. Full article

The Yellow River Basin, a cradle of Chinese civilization, hosts traditional riverside villages that embody millennia of cultural and ecological heritage. Despite their significance, rapid urbanization and homogeneous rural development have precipitated landscape homogenization and cultural erosion, threatening these villages’ spatial integrity and cultural capital. Current research predominantly focuses on qualitative characterization of architectural heritage, neglecting quantitative assessments of agroecological synergies and systematic resource endowment analysis. This oversight limits the development of proactive conservation strategies tailored to the integrated cultural–ecological value of these villages, hindering their sustainable revitalization within China’s broader Yellow River Basin high-quality development strategy. Here, we develop a comprehensive framework integrating landscape characterization, value assessment, and conservation strategies for traditional villages along Shaanxi’s Yellow River. Using GISs 10.2 multi-criteria analysis, and field surveys, we construct a hierarchical landscape database and evaluate villages across cultural, ecological, and socio-economic dimensions. Our results reveal distinct spatial patterns, with 65% of historical structures clustered in village cores, and identify four landscape zones requiring targeted conservation. High-value villages (e.g., Yangjiagou) exhibit strong cultural preservation and ecological resilience, while lower-scoring villages underscore urgent intervention needs. We propose multi-scale protection strategies, including regional clustering and village-level tailored approaches, to balance conservation with sustainable development. This study fills the critical gap in systematic resource endowment evaluation by demonstrating how integrated cultural–ecological metrics can guide proactive conservation. Our framework not only safeguards tangible and intangible heritage but also aligns with national strategies for rural revitalization and ecological protection. By bridging methodological divides between qualitative and quantitative approaches, this research offers a replicable model for sustainable rural development in ecologically sensitive cultural landscapes globally, advancing the field beyond static preservation paradigms toward dynamic, evidence-based planning. Full article

The traditional paradigm for studying urban morphology involves the interpretation of Nolli maps, using methods such as morphometrics and visual neural networks. Previous studies on urban morphology discovery have always been based on raster analysis and have been limited to the central city area. Raster analysis can lead to fragmented forms, and focusing only on the central city area ignores many representative urban forms in the suburbs and towns. In this study, a vast and complex dataset was applied to the urban morphology discovery based on the administrative community or village boundary, and a new image deformation pipeline was proposed to enhance the morphological characteristics of building groups. This allows visual neural networks to focus on extracting the morphological characteristics of building groups. Additionally, the research on urban morphology often uses unsupervised learning, which means that the learning process is difficult to control. Therefore, we refined the NT-Xent loss so that it can integrate morphological indicators. This improvement allows the visual neural network to “recognize” the similarity of samples during optimization. By defining the similarity, we can guide the network to bring samples closer or move them farther apart based on certain morphological indicators. Three Chinese cities were used for our testing. Representative urban types were identified, particularly some types located at the urban fringe. The data analysis demonstrated the effectiveness of our image deformation pipeline and loss function, and the sociological analysis illustrated the unique urban functions of these urban types. Full article

The demolition and resettlement of urban villages is a new urbanization strategy widely used by the Chinese government. It is a massive development intervention designed and implemented by the Chinese government to promote the relocation and resettlement of the rural-to-urban population. However, limited research has focused on how rural residents adapt to their new urban lives within these large-scale relocation and resettlement projects. This paper aims to analyze this adaptation process. This study employs Lefebvre’s spatial production theory, based on a survey of 256 resettled residents in Qingdao, China, using a structured questionnaire and the statistical analysis software SPSS 24.0 to quantitatively evaluate the adaptability of resettled residents based on three dimensions: material space, institutional space, and social space. Descriptive statistics and correlation analyses are conducted to explore the relationships among these dimensions. Our findings reveal an association between high adaptation levels and urban resident identity recognition among the resettled residents. Our research findings raise more substantial concerns about the transparency of government decision-making and the community participation of resettlers in the current resettlement process. Full article

Traditional Chinese villages and architectural cultural resources are abundant. Against the backdrop of rapid development in contemporary socioeconomic and urbanization processes, rural construction is facing multiple challenges such as imbalanced urban–rural development, gradually fading cultural traditions, and disharmonious living environments. The cultural elements of rural architecture urgently need more systematic and effective protection, integration, and reuse. Therefore, the precise extraction of traditional architectural features and their translation applications in modern contexts are gradually becoming key issues in current research and practice fields. This study takes traditional architecture of the Goulou Cluster of Yue Dialects in Guangxi, China, as an example. Through field investigations and mathematical and GIS spatial analysis, architectural samples were identified and extracted typologically, and a database of traditional architecture was constructed, delineating architectural cultural zones and summarizing type characteristics to create a genealogy map. Based on the results of the architectural genealogy study, modern translation pathways for traditional architecture were proposed through spatial modeling, technical analysis, and iterative optimization. Modern translation experiments were conducted on selected typical villages and their traditional buildings, exploring the application model system of traditional architecture in modern contexts. This study not only deepens the scientific understanding of the genealogy zoning characteristics of traditional architecture in the Goulou Cluster of Yue Dialects in Guangxi but also provides a reference for the modern translation and optimization path of traditional architecture, providing important theoretical basis and application guidance for promoting the inheritance and innovation of rural culture, and realizing the protection and updating of rural architectural style. Full article

Despite extensive research on what draws people to urban streets, most existing insights originate from Western contexts, offering limited perspectives from wider urban contexts. This study addresses this gap by examining everyday street activities in Chinese urban villages, focusing specifically on how two spatial scales, the entire street edge and territorial segments, influence necessary, optional, and social engagements. Drawing on video recordings and walk-by observations in two urban villages in Wuhan, China, the research systematically measured the type and duration of activities across 110 territorially defined segments. The findings reveal that territorial segments, i.e., smaller-scale personalised subdivisions at a micro-scale often shaped by bottom–up adaptations, exert a significantly stronger influence upon how people use and linger in street space rather than entire street edges at a macro-scale, which shows only limited impact. This underscores the importance of fine-grained socio-spatial design and local ownership in fostering vibrant people-centred streets. By demonstrating the decisive role of micro-scale features, which span storefront layouts, semi-public alcoves, and adaptive uses, these results carry important implications for urban practitioners seeking to balance top–down redevelopment with bottom–up initiatives. Ultimately, the study enriches the global discourse on street-edge understanding and design, emphasising that territorial segments can be powerful catalysts for promoting activity and community life in dense urban contexts. Full article

Chinese rural elderly care services face challenges such as low levels of pensions and social security, as well as high proportions of the elderly living alone and those who are incapacitated and lack assistance. The rural elderly surrounding megacities have been more significantly impacted by urbanization (with relatives moving away to the megacities for jobs) than in other areas, so the well-being of this particular group deserves even more attention. However, existing major studies in China are mainly limited to those in need in specific regions, and there is little research on the well-being of special age groups. To fill the research gap, this study constructs an indicator system for the well-being assessment with five dimensions and explores the well-being of the rural elderly surrounding Xi’an and its obstacles using questionnaire data. The results indicate that (1) the well-being index of the rural elderly surrounding Xi’an in each dimension, in descending order, are medical health, spiritual fulfillment (the pursuit of the spiritual world of the elderly and their desire for a better life), quality of life, social relationships, and economic income status; (2) the comprehensive well-being of the rural elderly varies considerably in the northern counties and districts of Xi’an, and is relatively low in the south; and (3) spiritual fulfillment and medical health are the main obstacles to the improvement of well-being of the rural elderly surrounding Xi’an. Based on these findings, corresponding policy implications are proposed on the five dimensions of well-being, such as improving the rural social old-age insurance and medical insurance systems, providing old-age support for the families of the rural elderly, establishing a model of village old-age care, and promoting the rural habitation renovation, to provide guarantees for the improvement of the well-being of the rural elderly surrounding megacities. Full article

Rural digitalization not only constitutes the strategic orientation of rural revitalization but also serves as a potent means for augmenting farmers’ income. This study regards the implementation of China’s digital village pilot policy as a quasi-natural experiment. Based on the panel data of Chinese counties spanning from 2017 to 2022, it employs a multi-period difference-in-differences model to investigate the influence of rural digitalization on the coordinated development of urban and rural areas from the perspective of the income gap. The findings indicate that the policy has significantly reduced the urban–rural income gap. Mechanism analysis reveals that this reduction is achieved through enhancing county innovation capacity, accelerating agricultural digitization, promoting advanced industrial structure, and expanding non-farm employment. Heterogeneity analyses reveal that the policy has a greater impact in regions with less robust digital infrastructure, higher levels of community service, and stronger financial development. Consequently, it is indispensable to enhance the digital literacy of farmers, accelerate the digitalization of agriculture and the upgrading of industrial institutions, promote the balanced development of digital villages in various regions, and fully exert the guiding and facilitating role of community service levels. Full article

Data have become a virtual factor of production, and when integrated with the traditional factors of labor, capital, and land form digital labor, digital capital, and digital land, thereby generating a multiplier effect that contributes to the comprehensive revitalization of rural areas. This paper utilizes panel data from 30 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) in China from 2013 to 2023 and employs a double machine learning model to empirically test the impact mechanism of rural digitalization on the integration of rural industries. The results indicate that digital villages significantly promote the integrated development of rural industries through three direct pathways—digital industry development, digital information infrastructure, and digital service levels—with this conclusion remaining valid after a series of robustness tests. A mechanism analysis shows that digital villages facilitate the integration of rural industries through three indirect pathways—alleviating urban–rural factor mismatches, adjusting the agricultural–industrial structure, and promoting agricultural technological advancement—with this conclusion still valid after various robustness tests. The heterogeneity results show that there is significant variability in how digital villages promote the development of integrated rural industries, with the effects being more pronounced in major grain-producing and eastern regions compared to non-major grain-producing and central-western regions. Based on this, this paper proposes policy recommendations focused on accelerating digital village construction, formulating differentiated strategies, and alleviating factor mismatches, aiming to provide references for achieving rural revitalization. We mainly propose countermeasures and suggestions from three aspects: digital dividend, differentiation strategy, and element mismatch. Our main purpose in writing this article is to make up for the shortcomings of existing theories, enrich the theoretical system of digital rural construction, contribute Chinese solutions for digital rural construction around the world, and improve the word’s level of digital rural construction. Full article

With the advancement of resilience concepts, enhancing resilience capacity has become an effective approach to addressing rainwater and flooding issues. Most rural planning and construction efforts adopt urban planning models from economically developed regions, often leading to surface hardening, which subsequently causes drainage difficulties and severe surface water accumulation during the rainy season. In contrast, traditional Lingnan villages, exemplified by Guangdong’s Changqi Ancient Village, continue to function normally in flood-prone areas, suggesting that their water management knowledge merits investigation. Previous research on rainwater management in traditional Chinese villages has predominantly been qualitative, lacking scientific data support. This study employs an eco-social resilience perspective, combining field surveys and interviews with villagers, and utilizes the SWMM (Storm Water Management Model) software to conduct both qualitative and quantitative analyses of Changqi Ancient Village. The findings reveal the following: (1) The SWMM effectively quantifies rainwater and flood management in traditional villages. (2) From an ecological resilience perspective, the village’s geographical location is crucial. The topography, along with a rainwater regulation system comprising rivers, ponds, ditches, and permeable pavements, significantly influences the village’s drainage performance. (3) From a social resilience perspective, community participation is vital to the long-term stable development of traditional villages. This includes post-disaster collective fundraising by villagers for the restoration of rainwater and flood management facilities, the formulation of village regulations, and the construction and restoration of spiritual sites. (4) From an eco-social resilience perspective, the eco-social resilience system exhibits adaptive cyclical characteristics, where the geographical environment and the local economy significantly shape the ecological spatial patterns of Changqi, while positive interaction between nature and human society ensures the system’s dynamic equilibrium. Full article

As China shifts from urbanization to rural revitalization within its rural governance strategy, devising appropriate governance programs becomes crucial for the effective implementation of overarching strategies. This paper explores the policy pathway of the rural revitalization strategy via the lens of village relational governance. This paper builds a relational network of village governance using the Newtonian gravity model and proposes an effective relational governance policy by analyzing the impact of village cluster patterns under different policy rules. Empirical research was conducted in Guiyang County, Hunan Province, China. The findings of this paper are as follows. (1) Rural development in Guiyang County heavily relies on location advantages and natural resources, and there is an urgent need to reinvent the path of rural governance to foster potential rural clusters. (2) A comparative analysis of the relational networks shows that the assignment-based network has more high-clustering groups and fewer low-clustering clusters than the merit-based network, and it has more cluster types, resulting in a more balanced and diverse network structure. In contrast, the merit-based network has fewer cluster types and tends to have a centralized structure. (3) The assignment-type network has greater advantages in terms of agricultural productivity, preserving local culture, and protecting the environment. Simultaneously, its network path has the potential to boost the intrinsic vitality of rural areas and attract more groups to contribute to its development. This path is feasible due to the high level of organization within the Chinese villages. Consequently, this study recommends that the county government should actively decentralize power to villages and grant villages equal development rights to encourage villages to build network clusters with unique competitive advantages. Full article