Search Results (239)

Taking 563 national key rural tourism villages across 12 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities in western China as the research object, this study integrates multi-source data on physical geography, transportation location, socioeconomic conditions, and historical culture based on the ArcGIS platform. It comprehensively applies kernel density analysis, spatial autocorrelation analysis, buffer analysis, Spearman correlation analysis, Geodetector, and the relative enrichment index to examine the spatial distribution characteristics of these villages and their associated spatial factors. The results show that key rural tourism villages in western China exhibit an overall clustered and uneven distribution, forming a spatial pattern characterized by “high concentration in core areas, extension along secondary corridors, and sparse distribution across vast hinterlands.” The core agglomeration areas are mainly located in the Sichuan Basin, the Chongqing metropolitan area, and the Guanzhong Plain. In terms of physical geography, the distribution of key villages shows certain spatial associations with major river basins, low-slope areas, and low-relief terrain. In terms of human factors, population density and road network density are important associated factors, and the combined population–transportation conditions have strong explanatory power for the spatial differentiation of key village density. With regard to historical culture, folk-custom inheritance villages and red-culture heritage villages account for relatively high proportions, while different cultural types show certain regional agglomeration or corridor-like distribution characteristics. The findings can provide references for zoned optimization, transportation connectivity, cultural resource integration, and coordinated regional development of key rural tourism villages in western China. Full article

The article presents a systematic and critical theoretical–methodological review and conceptual synthesis of the region as a fundamental analytical category and the central subject matter of regional geography. The primary objective of the study is to critically re-examine and conceptually redefine the region through an ontological and epistemological analysis of classical and contemporary geographical paradigms. The study is based on a qualitative interpretative methodology that combines analytical–synthetic, historical–genetic, comparative, critical, and conceptual approaches in order to examine the ontological and epistemological foundations of the region within classical and contemporary geographical thought. The region is conceptualized as a complex, multilayered, and dynamic socio-spatial entity whose ontological status has continuously evolved—from the essentialist notion of an objective spatial reality characteristic of classical geographic paradigms toward a relational and constructivist concept shaped by the interaction of social practices, political processes, and identity articulations within contemporary theoretical frameworks. Attention is also given to the epistemological foundations of regional knowledge, linking various modalities of the production and interpretation of scientific knowledge. Furthermore, the paper examines the roles of power, knowledge, identity, and institutionalization in the formation of regions, as well as the significance of centripetal and centrifugal forces in maintaining or destabilizing regional coherence. The research challenges traditional concepts of the region and proposes its redefinition in accordance with contemporary approaches that conceptualize it as an open, fluid, and context-dependent analytical framework. In conclusion, from the perspective of new regional geography, the region is interpreted as an emergent relational configuration whose understanding requires a broad interdisciplinary and critical approach. Full article

Driven by the digital transformation of territorial spatial governance, traditional urban planning is irreversibly shifting towards a data-driven empirical paradigm. However, constrained by mimetic isomorphism and path dependence, many geography-based regional universities remain trapped in an educational dilemma: they overemphasize morphological representation while marginalizing quantitative decision-making, fostering a structural mismatch between graduate competencies and industry demands. To explore a systematic pathway out of this dilemma, this study chronicles a three-year pedagogical intervention utilizing a mixed-methods design with a historical control cohort (N = 275) within the urban planning program of Gansu Agricultural University—a regional institution situated in a less-developed frontier where territorial renewal demands macro-spatial synthesis over aesthetic forms. The intervention strategically redefined the graduate competency profile as “spatial data analysts”, constructing a pedagogical model comprising foundational algorithmic training, cross-disciplinary faculty collaboration, and real-world Project-Based Learning (PBL), coupled with a restructured, evidence-based evaluation system. Longitudinal tracking and quantitative analyses indicate a structural alignment with elevated educational efficacy. At the macro level of employment trajectories, the proportion of graduates securing knowledge-intensive data positions experienced a structural shift, rising from a baseline of 14.5% to 42.5%, reflecting an enhanced capacity to capitalize on expanding societal demands. At the meso level of practical competence, the award rate in high-level professional competitions increased by 35.4%. At the micro cognitive level, the new evaluation mechanism is associated with a successful redirection of students’ cognitive resources toward algorithmic logic and policy translation (p < 0.001) while highly significantly enhancing their self-efficacy in tackling complex, wicked engineering problems (p < 0.001). Rather than isolating pure causal mechanics, this study interprets these systemic gains as a contextual realignment of academic supply. It provides a context-sensitive, reproducible methodological reference for cultivating professional distinctiveness and reshaping the spatial planning education system in the digital era. Full article

The region today corresponding to modern Hunan province has been a site of stable language contact for over 2500 years, with the intensification of that contact occurring in particular between the 17th and 21st centuries. Major political developments during this time led to massive population movements which reshaped the demographics and linguistic ecology of Hunan. The region has considerable language and phylogenetic diversity, being home to three top-level groupings (Sino-Tibetan, Kra-Dai, and Hmong-Mien) and representing at least 17 different language varieties within a condensed area of around 211,800 km²; it is therefore the ideal setting to explore long-term language contact as mediated by degrees of relatedness. Structural diversity, in terms of morphological and phonological typology, is relatively low, owing to convergence over several thousand years. All language varieties in the province converge towards the MSEA typological profile; however, those that entered the region latest, such as varieties of Tujia, still retain features from outside the region (SOV, multisyllabic roots, etc.). In this paper the case is made that Hunan, with its geography, history of settlement, and contact between related and unrelated language families, represents a microcosm of linguistic contact situations which have taken place in other periods and regions of China. This is attributed to a combination of geographic and demographic patterns, historical patterns of settlement and ethnic conflict, and a complex sociolinguistic situation. Taken together, these lead to the formation of a unique linguistic niche where stable near-relative contact, distant-relative contact, and non-relative contact take place. The case is made that instances of near-relative contact between Xiang varieties and Mandarin (Standard and Southwestern) represent instances of koineization. This is evidenced by the formation of regional koines, such as Plastic Mandarin in Changsha, which present a degree of local prestige and show evidence of regional standard formation. Meanwhile distant- and non-relative contact between Southwestern/Standard Mandarin and Tujia and Waxiang, and Xiangxi Miao and Kam-Dong, respectively, are seen to result in extensive grammatical hybridization. Full article

This study introduces a multi-source spatial methodology that moves beyond the traditional urban/rural dichotomy to classify the American landscape into detailed, temporally defined settlement types. By combining historical housing unit and population estimates (HHUUD10 and LTDB) standardized to 2010 census tract boundaries with high-resolution, grid-level data on the built environment (HISDAC-US), this research establishes a settlement typology based on the development history of detailed geographic units. This framework classifies areas (from Prewar Cores and 21st-Century Suburbs to exurban fringes, outlying towns and rural areas) based on their era of development and proximity to urban centers. Applying this typology reveals profound spatial and demographic decentralization spanning eighty years of metropolitan expansion. The findings demonstrate a stark geographic sorting: expanding greenfield edges and exurbs have become magnets for high-income, highly educated, and predominantly White populations. However, longitudinal tracking reveals a distinct morphological “life-course” within suburban rings. As older suburbs age and their housing stock depreciates, they open to wider demographic integration, transforming into destinations for Black and foreign-born residents. Furthermore, the data highlight a contemporary polarization of human capital, concentrated in both the newest suburban peripheries and the resurgent urban cores, contrasting with persistent economic decline in outlying towns and rural areas. Ultimately, this methodology provides a flexible, longitudinal framework for understanding the long-term morphological and demographic evolution of American settlement. Full article

Research traditionally examines the spatial distribution of urban parks through the lens of spatial equity, overlooking the intricate interaction between the physical foundation of park construction and historical processes. Grounded in the theory of material geography, we investigate the mechanisms underlying the spatio-temporal evolution of urban parks in Shenzhen. We conduct topographical analysis and examine relevant historical policy texts to explore the ‘production of nature’ in China’s post-Mao urbanisation. We find that the distribution of urban parks in Shenzhen is not merely a result of social choice but a product of the interplay between material natural endowments—centred on topography—and urban spatial policies across historical stages. During rapid urbanisation, government-led spatial policies functionally reorganised and assigned symbolic meanings to diverse topographical features, such as plains, hills, and coastal areas, transforming them into urban parks that support capital accumulation and urban upgrading. The proposed ‘topography–policy’ synergistic framework transcends neutral spatial descriptions, revealing the nexus between the commodification of nature and urban governance. We clarify the rationale for the creation of contemporary urban green spaces in China and offer novel theoretical and empirical insights into sustainable urban transformation worldwide. Full article

Technological advancements have revolutionized photogrammetry, with the implementation of unmanned aerial vehicles for capturing images from different angles and the ease of obtaining sensor position information at the time of capture. This study evaluates the accuracy of direct georeferencing via Networked Transport of Radio Technical Commission for Maritime Services Via Internet Protocol, in the orthomosaic as a photogrammetric product in a large urban area with steep and highly variable topography, comparing it with the coordinates of nine checkpoints obtained with GNSS equipment connected to the National Active Geodetic Network, managed by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography of Mexico. An orthomosaic of the historic center of Zacatecas was obtained with a resolution of 2.70 cm/pixel. The orthomosaic coordinates, compared to those of the GNSS equipment, show a root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.78 m in the horizontal coordinates and an RMSE of 1.22 m in the vertical coordinates. Previous studies prove the efficiency of the Continuously Operating Reference Station module and network with other aircraft; this study determines that this is true for large areas with high coverage and quality in the internet network, but with rugged topography, the results are not accurate. Full article

Gentrification refers to a transformation in the composition of land users whereby in-coming users possess a higher socio-economic status than those they replace, accompanied by reinvestment in the built environment and the physical transformation of urban space. Displacement is an essential part of this process. Gentrification has become one of the central analytical concepts in urban studies. Gentrification has become one of the central analytical concepts in urban studies enabling the analysis of socio-spatial restructuring processes in cities and has been applied to a broad range of geographical settings and historical conditions. Originally coined in the context of post-war London, the concept has since traveled widely and has been applied to a broad range of geographical settings and historical conditions. This entry provides a comprehensive overview of the evolution of the concept, its principal theoretical interpretations, and its empirical applications. It reviews the major strands of explanation—demand-side, supply-side, and institutionalist approaches—and situates them within broader debates in urban theory. Particular attention is devoted to the relationship between gentrification and displacement, including both classical conceptualizations and recent efforts to capture its more diffuse and subjective dimensions. The entry concludes by arguing that while gentrification remains a key concept for analyzing urban change, it must be continuously reworked in light of emerging dynamics such as financialization, digitalization, and trans-local housing practices. It calls for more systematic and genuinely comparative research in order to better understand the evolving geographies of gentrification. Full article

Mount Lu’s transformation from a natural landscape into a Buddhist sacred space provides an important case for understanding how sacred geography was produced in medieval China. Rather than treating sacredness as an inherent quality of a place or as the product of textual representation alone, this article argues that Mount Lu was sacralized through the historical interaction of monastic practice, textual production, and cultural memory. Drawing on Henri Lefebvre’s theory of the production of space, the study examines how Huiyuan (334–416) and his community redefined Mount Lu through monastic settlement, ritual activity, institutional formation, and cultural authority centered on Donglin Temple. It further analyzes how historiographical writing, literary representation, and intertextual circulation extended the mountain’s religious significance beyond the monastic community and consolidated it within broader traditions of literati culture. In this process, Mount Lu became not only a Buddhist sacred site but also a durable site of memory onto which Buddhist, Daoist, and Confucian meanings could be projected and renegotiated. By tracing the interaction between embodied religious practice and textual transmission, this article shows that the sacralization of Mount Lu was neither a spontaneous religious phenomenon nor simply the result of state designation, but rather a cumulative historical achievement shaped by monastic initiative, literary circulation, and the long-term work of cultural remembrance. Full article

This study analyzes the locational characteristics of temples and shrines within the Namerigawa River basin in Kamakura, focusing on the characteristic landform known as “yatsu valleys”. While previous studies on Kamakura have examined historical and tourism-related aspects, few have investigated the spatial relationship between religious sites and geography. Using GIS-based national land numerical data and field surveys, this research classified 56 temples and shrines by environmental type, historical period, and religious sect. Results indicate that a significant number were built in the yatsu valleys, especially during the Kamakura period. Many yatsu valleys’ names reflect historical temple associations, even if the original structures no longer exist. Furthermore, temporal patterns show shifts in dominant sects, such as the Jodo-Shu and Nichiren-Shu, after 1260. Spatial analysis reveals a concentration of temples near specific watersheds and water networks, particularly where water access is optimal. This study contributes a geographical perspective to the field of historical and religious site research in Kamakura and underscores the need for comparative studies in other watersheds to deepen understanding of temple and shrine distribution across the region. Full article

This article argues that racism did not originate with the modern invention of race but crystallized out of a much older imperial grammar that had already learned how to naturalize domination through embodied difference. Long before race emerged as a named category, ancient and medieval empires developed durable ways of converting historically produced hierarchies into features of nature, the cosmos, and divine order. Through a comparative genealogy spanning early Mesopotamian epic, Near Eastern imperial inscriptions, Egyptian visual regimes, Greek philosophy and historiography, biblical scripture, South Asian metaphysics, late antique encyclopedism, and medieval Marian devotion, the article shows how inequality was repeatedly anchored in the body, in genealogy, in geography, and in moral psychology. Across these traditions, political authority is consistently masculinized, while subordination is feminized, animalized, or rendered reproductively vulnerable. Patriarchy and racialization thus emerge as co-constitutive imperial technologies rather than as separate or sequential phenomena. Modern racism did not invent hierarchy; it rendered an ancient logic portable, inheritable, and globally scalable by fastening domination to visible human difference. By situating race within a longue durée history of empire and male domination, the article reframes contemporary debates on racism as questions of imperial continuity rather than modern deviation. Full article

Anna Burns’ No Bones has extensively documented its depiction of trauma during the Troubles; less attention has been paid to the systematic mechanisms through which pervasive psychosocial harm is quietly administered and normalised. This article moves beyond readings of individual suffering to diagnose a collective condition, arguing that Burns constructs a veritable architecture of harm: a meticulously designed system operating not through overt aggression alone, but through the mundane, yet powerfully insidious, interplay of social forces governing everyday life. This synthesis reveals how these forces converge to produce what Achille Mbembe terms a death-world: a state of being where populations are subjected to conditions that confer upon them the status of the living dead. Within this necropolitical landscape, the protagonist Amelia’s routines are dictated by shrinking spatial affordances, while incessant rumour functions as a policing mechanism that enforces social death long before physical death is a threat. This analysis demonstrates that harm is not an atmospheric byproduct of conflict, but the very logic of this architecture, which compels the community to participate in its own subjugation. Ultimately, by mapping this architecture, this article reframes Burns’ novel from a historical text of the Troubles into a trenchant meditation on the governance of populations under duress. It offers a vital framework for understanding how quiet harm is spatially engineered, a dynamic with profound relevance for contemporary studies of carceral geographies, algorithm-driven social control, and the politics of atmospheric violence. It posits Burns’ work as a crucial resource for theorising the invisible structures that shape and constrain modern life. Full article

This study reconstructs the geography of meaning of the German perception verb schmecken on the basis of 30 major dialect dictionaries, treating them as a distributed semantic corpus and coding attestations as binary variables reflecting the presence or absence of semantic options. Combining a construal-based framework with spatial modeling, the analysis shows that the polysemy of schmecken is structured by three mutually reinforcing forces: embodied sensory organization, construal-based perspectivization, and regionally patterned areal dynamics. The gustatory–olfactory axis forms the semantic core of the verb, from which tactile, visual, affective, and epistemic extensions emerge. These extensions align with systematic pathways constrained by agentive, experiential, emissive, and evaluative construals, demonstrating that semantic extension is channeled through specific construal modes—notably emissive and agentive—rather than determined by sensory modality alone. A detailed areal analysis reveals a pronounced north–south divide. While Low German dialects conform to the cross-linguistically more common tendency to avoid colexifying taste and smekk—itself the outcome of historical change rather than uninterrupted differentiation—Upper German varieties preserve a typologically rare gustatory–olfactory cluster and exhibit the richest range of cross-modal and abstract extensions. The resulting semantic graph formalizes how regional varieties activate different subsets of a lexeme’s semantic potential and demonstrates that semantic networks themselves display spatial organization. The study thus provides an empirically grounded reconstruction of a German geography of meaning and illustrates how dialect data illuminate the interplay between embodied cognition, construal-based lexical architecture, and areal dynamics. Full article

Against the backdrop of climate change and rapid urbanization, assessing urban flood resilience requires spatially continuous and interpretable approaches capable of capturing nonlinear interactions between natural and human systems. This study proposes a high-resolution framework for mapping urban flood resilience in the built-up areas of Chongqing, China, grounded in the geography–ecology–society–infrastructure systems (GESIS) concept. A Flood Resilience Index is constructed at a 50 m grid resolution using ten core indicators and objective weighting based on combined entropy and coefficient-of-variation methods. Three machine learning models—multilayer perceptron (MLP), random forest, and XGBoost—are then trained to reproduce the resilience surface by integrating these indicators with additional historical flood-exposure variables, with SHAP used for model interpretation. The MLP model achieves the best performance (R² ≈ 0.78) and generates spatially coherent resilience patterns. Impervious surface fraction and building density exert dominant negative effects, whereas elevation and ecological connectivity contribute positively. The results reveal pronounced nonlinear thresholds in key drivers, indicating that flood resilience cannot be inferred from monotonic factor effects alone. By combining objective weighting, explainable machine learning, and historical exposure information, this framework supports both accurate prediction and policy-relevant interpretation of urban flood resilience for sustainable urban planning in mountainous megacities. Full article

The issue of land use is currently commonly taken up by researchers in many aspects, e.g., geography, GIS or related sciences. However, the research gap occurs in the historical, partial reconstruction of the old agricultural and natural realities. The main objective of this article is to determine potential and actual places that were most useful for agriculture in the Early Middle Ages and to present human pressure on the natural environment. The results were developed in the form of colorful models that were generated on the basis of the following parameters: slope, river network, settlement, landscape and climate-vegetation belts. As a result, after summing up the above-mentioned maps, a new model was created, which was properly analyzed in terms of geoarchaeology in relation to early-medieval hillforts and the soil map in southern Małopolska. This article illustrates methods that can support broader interdisciplinary research in other regions of Europe (e.g., Italy) and the delimitation of medieval administrative borders. Full article