Regional population and social welfare from the perspective of sustainability: Evaluation indicator, level measurement, and interaction mechanism.

Key to regional sustainable development are the development and interplay of population dynamics and social welfare, each playing a significant role. As a representative region with demographic characteristics such as negative population growth and large labor outflow, the development and interaction between population and social welfare in Nanchong deserve in-depth exploration. This article takes the development of population and social welfare in Nanchong as the research object, and constructs an evaluation indicator system of population and social welfare through research backtracking, and uses entropy method and coupling coordination model to measure the development level and interactive effect of population and social welfare in Nanchong from 2010 to 2021. The research results show that: Firstly, the comprehensive evaluation results of population in Nanchong shows a linear upward trend, which indicates the stable positive effect of population structure and distribution, the gradual improvement effect of population quality effectively compensate for the weakening effect of population quantity, thus achieving the positive development of population. Secondly, the comprehensive evaluation results of social welfare in Nanchong shows an exponential upward trend, which indicates the social welfare has maintained a rapid growth momentum in various dimensions and the long-term positive effects have completely absorbed the negative effects, thus achieving the positive development of social welfare. Thirdly, during the sample period, the population and social welfare in Nanchong consistently maintained a high level of interaction strength, with factors diffusing and integrating. On this basis, the diffusion theory is used as an empirical reference to construct three interactive mechanisms between the population and social welfare in Nanchong and the implications are inferred from the empirical results.

Global burden of non-optimal temperature attributable stroke: The long-term trends, population growth and aging effects.

Since the 20th century, the world has undergone climate change, population growth and population aging, which may result in alterations in the epidemiology of non-optimal temperature-associated strokes. We employed multiple methodologies and data from the global burden of disease 2019 to unveil the long-term curvilinear trends in strokes attributed to non-optimal temperature and the impact of aging and population growth on its changing epidemiology. From 1990 to 2019, the age-standardized DALYs rate (ASDR) of strokes attributable to low temperature had been decreasing, but from 2016, the continued downward trend in ASDR disappeared and began to remain stable. On the contrary, the ASDR of strokes attributable to high temperature continued to increase. The high socio-demographic index (SDI) region experienced the fastest decreased trend. The disease burden of stroke attributable to low temperature is increased by aging in 178 countries (87.25%), compared with 130 (63.73%) for high temperature. After excluding aging and population growth, the DALY rate for strokes attributed to high temperature was increasing in 87 countries and territories (42.64%). The disease burden of strokes attributed to low temperature is far greater than that of high temperature in absolute figures. However, globally, there is a significant trend toward an increase in strokes attributed to high temperature. Social development has largely offset the burden of strokes attributed to low temperature, but most regions of the world are equally affected by strokes attributed to high temperature. Simultaneously, in the framework of climate change, aging is also largely hindering stroke prevention efforts.

Comparative analysis of population growth and women employment patterns in agriculture and service sectors: Evidence from China and India.

This study uses a comparative approach to investigate population growth patterns and women employment in two strategic sectors of China and India from 2005 to 2021. Consequently, a descriptive statistic was used to estimate the performance of each of the variables of interest. The results showed that the average mean value of population growth rate in China is 0.52 % while that of India is 1.23%. The mean value of women employed in agriculture in India is higher comparing to the average percentage of women in agriculture in China. Moreover, Chinese service sector accounts for 45.27% of female workforce but its India counterpart engages 21.71% of women working population. This implies that the Chinese service sector engages a significant proportion of the female working population. In the light of this, policymakers in India should prioritise investment in human development of the female population in order to ensure gender balancing in the service sector of the country. Also, the policymakers in India need to embark on a proactive measure in controlling its increasing population in order to ensure that the country's population growth rate does not overshoot the means of sustenance in the country.

Cette étude utilise une approche comparative pour étudier les schémas de croissance démographique et l'emploi des femmes chez deux secteurs stratégiques de Chine et de l'Inde de 20 05 à 2021. Par conséquent, une statistique descriptive était Wase pour estimer la performance des variables d'intérêt. Les résultats ont montré que le La valeur moyenne moyenne du taux de croissance démographique en Chine est de 0,52% tandis que celle de l'Inde 1,23%. La valeur moyenne des femmes employées dans l'agriculture de l'Inde est plus élevée pour le pourcentage moyen de femmes en agriculture en Chine. Représente 45,27% de la main-d'œuvre féminine mais Son homologue de l'Inde engage 21,71% de la population professionnelle des femmes. Assurer l'équilibre entre les sexes dans le service hors du comptoir. Mesure proactive de l'ONA dans le contrôle de sa population croissante afin que le taux de taux de taux de population du pays ne dépasse pas les moyens de subsistance dans le pays.

Exploring the effects of climate change and government stability on internal conflicts: evidence from selected sub-Saharan African countries.

Climate change has been linked to water scarcity, land degradation, and food insecurity, exacerbating existing tensions and creating new conflicts in countries with weak political institutions. Despite the critical need for effective conflict management and climate adaptation measures, prior studies failed to emphasize the role climate change plays in civil clashes in conflict-affected countries. In this research, we undertake a comprehensive investigation of the effects of climate change and government stability on internal conflicts in 14 selected SSA nations between 1996 and 2016. The study embraces contemporary heterogeneous panel techniques to address heterogeneity and cross-sectional dependence issues that usually appear in panel data estimates. We employed second-generation unit root tests, such as CADF and CIPS, to determine the order of integration of the variables. In addition, Pedroni and Westerlund cointegration tests confirmed the long-run relationship among the variables. Although temperatures were insignificant, the long-run results of the pooled mean group (PMG) approach suggested that civil conflicts decline when precipitation increases. In addition, the outcomes indicate that environmental degradation and population growth are long-run aggravators of social unrest. The short-run results suggest that rising temperatures exacerbate civil conflicts in the selected SSA countries. However, the study found that government stability lessens internal conflicts in the short run, but not in the long run. The DOLS technique validated the long-run outcomes of the PMG technique. Based on the findings of the study, conflict-prone SSA countries should integrate climate change adaptation and conflict prevention strategies, implement sustainable water resource management practices, and endorse climate-related conflict resolution.

Assessing the impact of human capital, renewable energy, population growth, economic growth, and climate change policies on achieving the sustainable development goals.

The global emphasis on achieving sustainable development goals necessitates the involvement of researchers and regulators worldwide. In light of this, recent research has examined the effect of human capital, renewable energy, population growth, economic growth, and environmental protection on the sustainable development goals (SDGs) in a developed economy like Pakistan, which is the most important country in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) region. This study analyzed secondary data from 1990 to 2019, using the World Development Indicators as the secondary data source. Using the augmented Dickey-Fuller test to investigate stationarity and the autoregressive distributed lag model to evaluate the nexus between variables, the researchers analyzed the relationship between the variables. The findings indicate that all predictors, such as the human capital index (HCI), renewable energy consumption, and renewable energy, exhibit a negative correlation with carbon emissions and a positive correlation with the SDGs. In this study, sustainability and the HCI are positively correlated. Reducing carbon emissions requires competent and dependable employees. As Pakistan transitions to renewable energy and strives for 30% green electricity by 2030, the report highlights the ecological benefits of controlled population growth. According to the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI), effective climate policies advance the environmental objectives of a nation. Economic and population growth have a positive correlation with carbon emissions as well. These results facilitate Pakistani policymakers' creation of effective SDG-related initiatives for sustainable development.

Quantifying future sanitation scenarios and progress towards SDG targets in the shared socioeconomic pathways.

Two main targets of SDG 6 (Sustainable Development Goal), clean water and sanitation, are SDG 6.2, to achieve universal and equitable access to improved sanitation and to phase out unimproved sanitation (include pit latrines without a slab or platform, hanging latrines, bucket latrines and open defecation) and SDG 6.3, to halve the proportion of untreated wastewater by 2030. We compiled a global sanitation database for 200 countries. Starting from recent trends, we constructed a wide spectrum of contrasting future scenarios, i.e. the five Shared Socio-economic Pathways (SSP1-5) whereby the SSP2 scenario is 'middle of the road' scenario. The sanitation scenarios differ due to contrasting pathways for population growth and urbanization, economic growth and the SSP narratives. Our results indicate that it will be difficult to achieve the SDG 6 target. Target 6.2 on improved sanitation is expected to be achieved between 2070 and 2090 in SSP1, SSP2 and SSP5, while the target will not be achieved by 2100 in SSP3 and SSP4. Unimproved sanitation is projected to be phased out by 2070 in SSP1 and SSP5, or beyond 2100 in SSP3 and SSP4. The percentage of households with sewerage connection will be between 51% in SSP3 and 75% in SSP5 in 2050, and respectively 60% and 95% in 2100. Target SDG 6.3 on improving wastewater treatment will be reached by 2030 only in SSP1, followed by SSP2 and SSP5 between 2040 and 2050, while in SSP3 and SSP4 this target is not reached by 2100. The developments in wastewater treatment, expressed as percentage nutrient removal, showed an increase from 14% in 2015 to 45% in 2050 and 80% in 2100 in SSP1. But in SSP3, the global percentage is expected to have hardly changed by 2050 and have declined to 12% by 2100 due to the population growth in Sub-Saharan Africa. There is a major contrast between countries and regions. In the period between 2000 and 2015, although globally the percentage of people with unimproved sanitation declined, in 7% of the 200 countries the number of people with unimproved sanitation increased. Also, wastewater treatment globally improved, but in 16 countries it deteriorated. This inequality is particularly important in SSP3 and SSP4 where the lack of improved sanitation will continue till 2100.

Climate bonds: Are they invested efficiently?

Achieving a Net-Zero goal is heavily reliant on transitioning to green methods, making it a top priority. Our research, which used the Generalized Least Squares (GLS) panel method, found that each Macro-region should invest at least 2% more per capita annually in Climate Bonds, a type of green bond. Although some studies have questioned the effectiveness of Climate Bonds, our focus is on their efficient use in countries that produce more fossil fuels. Our findings show that globally, a) Climate Bonds are underutilized in areas with higher per capita use of fossil fuels, and b) High-income countries are gradually reducing their reliance on fossil fuels, while low-income countries have always used very little (with a forecast of future growth). Allocating financial resources in the form of Climate Bonds for the green transition should consider per capita use of fossil fuels, as well as the heterogeneity of population growth and different Macro-Regional economic development. Developing countries, with their large populations, will require more financial resources for an ethically acceptable green transition in the future.

High-resolution gridded population datasets for Latin America and the Caribbean using official statistics.

"Leaving no one behind" is the fundamental objective of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Latin America and the Caribbean is marked by social inequalities, whilst its total population is projected to increase to almost 760 million by 2050. In this context, contemporary and spatially detailed datasets that accurately capture the distribution of residential population are critical to appropriately inform and support environmental, health, and developmental applications at subnational levels. Existing datasets are under-utilised by governments due to the non-alignment with their own statistics. Therefore, official statistics at the finest level of administrative units available have been implemented to construct an open-access repository of high-resolution gridded population datasets for 40 countries in Latin American and the Caribbean. These datasets are detailed here, alongside the 'top-down' approach and methods to generate and validate them. Population distribution datasets for each country were created at a resolution of 3 arc-seconds (approximately 100 m at the equator), and are all available from the WorldPop Data Repository.

A multi-model forecasting approach for solid waste generation by integrating demographic and socioeconomic factors: a case study of Prayagraj, India.

Projecting municipal solid waste generation and identifying socioeconomic factors affecting waste generation is crucial for integrated waste management strategies. The present research work focuses on the projection of municipal solid waste (MSW) generation in Prayagraj, India, based on demographics and socioeconomic factors, using long short-term memory (LSTM), autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA), and incremental increase models (IIM). The model was integrated with nine socioeconomic variables to improve accuracy. The influence of socioeconomic variables on MSW generation was evaluated using correlation and fuzzy logic approaches. Waste generation data collected from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) from 1997 to 2015 were used to train the models. The results of the correlation study indicate that population growth, employment, and households have a substantial impact on waste generation rates. Root mean squared error (RMSE), mean absolute percent error (MAPE), and coefficient of determination (R2) suggest that LSTM is the best model to forecast MSW generation in Prayagraj, India. The R2 value indicates that the LSTM is more accurate (0.92) than ARIMA (0.72) and IIM (0.70). LSTM projection indicates that the city will have a population of 1.6 million by 2031, and waste generation will increase by 70.6% in 2031.

Rapid population growth and high management costs have created a narrow window for control of introduced hippos in Colombia.

The introduction of hippos into the wild in Colombia has been marked by their rapid population growth and widespread dispersal on the landscape, high financial costs of management, and conflicting social perspectives on their management and fate. Here we use population projection models to investigate the effectiveness and cost of management options under consideration for controlling introduced hippos. We estimate there are 91 hippos in the middle Magdalena River basin, Colombia, and the hippo population is growing at an estimated rate of 9.6% per year. At this rate, there will be 230 hippos by 2032 and over 1,000 by 2050. Applying the population control methods currently under consideration will cost at least 1-2 million USD to sufficiently decrease hippo population growth to achieve long-term removal, and depending on the management strategy selected, there may still be hippos on the landscape for 50-100 years. Delaying management actions for a single decade will increase minimum costs by a factor of 2.5, and some methods may become infeasible. Our approach illustrates the trade-offs inherent between cost and effort in managing introduced species, as well as the importance of acting quickly, especially when dealing with species with rapid population growth rates and potential for significant ecological and social impacts.

Demographics and social determinants of oral health for baby boomers.

OBJECTIVE: Age cohorts such as the baby boomers are influenced by historical experiences and the socio-dental events during their lifespan. These events/experiences have impacted their health behavior and consequently, their systemic and oral health. As the baby boomer population is aging, and the majority of them are retaining some of their natural teeth for longer, only fewer are becoming edentulous. This paper discusses the demographics and the social determinants of health of the early baby boomers (1945-1955), as well as the late boomers (1956-1964). METHODS: We have used data from the literature to describe the events which might have impacted these cohorts' attitudes and expectations towards the utilization of health care and dental services. RESULTS: There are variations in the way different age groups perceive dentistry and use dental and other healthcare services, known as cohort differences. Nonetheless, because people are now keeping more of their natural teeth as they age, there is a greater demand for oral healthcare among the baby boomer generation. In order to provide specialized care that addresses their unique needs, there is a need for expanded training programs at both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. CONCLUSION: A cohort is composed of numerous individuals whose attitudes and behaviors are shaped by their personal life experiences and broader societal trends. Consequently, any information about a particular cohort can only offer generalizations. As healthcare providers, it is important to be aware of the general characteristics of a cohort, but also exercise caution when applying them to individual patients. We should interpret these characteristics in light of each patient's unique circumstances.

The Impact of Land Use Structure Change on Utilization Performance in Henan Province, China.

Because of the trends in population growth and rapid industrialization and urbanization, the intensity and structure of land use are undergoing great changes. Henan Province is an important economic province and a major grain producing and energy consumption area, and its land use plays a key role in the sustainable development of the whole of China. This study takes Henan Province as the research object, selects panel statistical data from 2010 to 2020, and discusses the land use structure (LUS) in Henan Province in terms of three aspects: information entropy, analysis of land use dynamic change, and land type conversion matrix. Based on the indicator system "social economy (SE)-ecological environment (EE)-agricultural production (AP)-energy consumption (EC)", a land use performance (LUP) evaluation model was constructed to judge the performance of various land use types in Henan Province. Finally, the relational degree between LUS and LUP was calculated through the grey correlation. The results show that among the eight land use types in the study area since 2010, land used for water and water conservancy facilities increased by 4%. In addition, transport and garden land changed significantly, and was mainly converted from cultivated land (decreased by 6674 km2) and other land. From the perspective of LUP, the increase in ecological environment performance is the most obvious, while agriculture performance is lagging behind; it is worth paying attention to the energy consumption performance, which is decreasing year by year. There is an obvious correlation between LUS and LUP. LUS in Henan Province presents a gradually stable state, and the transformation of land types promotes LUP. Proposing an effective and convenient evaluation method to explore the relationship between LUS and LUP is very beneficial in helping stakeholders to actively focus more on optimizing land resource management and decision making for the coordinated and sustainable development among agricultural, socio-economic, eco-environmental, and energy systems.

How do carbon emissions, economic growth, population growth, trade openness and employment influence food security? Recent evidence from the East Africa.

East Africa has a substantially greater rate of food insecurity than other regions of the world. Scenarios of climate change and other macroeconomic variables are important contributors to food insecurity in East Africa. Using data spanning from 1990 to 2020, this study looked into the influence of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, economic growth, population growth, trade openness, and agricultural employment on food security in the East Africa. The fully modified ordinary least square (FMOLS) and dynamic ordinary least square (DOLS) models were used in this study. The heterogeneous panel cointegration test's findings indicated that the study variables have an equilibrium long-term connections. The estimation findings from the FMOLS and DOLS models showed that an increase in CO2 emissions increases food security in the East Africa over the long term. According to other findings, long-term food security is positively impacted by economic expansion, population growth, trade openness, and employment in agriculture. However, trade openness has a detrimental long-lasting effect on food security. Future research directions, research limitations, and policy implications are discussed.

Baby boomers in Europe: demography, socioeconomic and health status, and oral health needs.

The European countries are aging fast. Baby boomers in Europe constitute a diverse population group with several differences in life events and living conditions. The fiscal effects of the aging of European population have led to changes in policies and legislation that largely affect the lives of baby boomers necessitating an increase in their working lives. Furthermore, reforms are planned in the existing health and long-term care systems. Although some baby boomers in Europe face chronic medical conditions, the majority perceive their general health as good or very good. However, approximately one quarter have reported unmet needs for medical care, mainly due to cost or long waiting lists with large variability among different countries. The oral health of baby boomers has improved compared to previous generations particularly related to tooth loss. However, older groups in many countries face an increase in dental caries and periodontal disease. Some baby boomers may enter very old age with many natural teeth, functional impairment, limited ability to perform oral hygiene and an increased demand for more complex dental care as well as domiciliary care. However, in contrast to medical care, dental expenses in Europe are mainly financed with out-of-pocket payments while domiciliary dental care is rarely provided leading to unmet dental care needs for the most vulnerable individuals. Educational interventions for all healthcare professionals, as well as formal and informal carers and the public are required, and appropriate policies and legislations are needed to promote the oral health of the aging European population.

Defining the role of renewable energy, economic growth, globalization, energy consumption, and population growth on PM2.5 concentration: evidence from South Asian countries.

Rapid industrialization and economic development in South Asia (SA) caused serious air pollution-related issues. Air pollutants, particularly fine particulate matter (PM2.5), have negative effects on health, instigating widespread concern. The current study is an attempt to analyze the impact of non-renewable energy (NRE), globalization (GLO), GDP, renewable energy (RE), and population (POP) on PM2.5 concentration in SA from 1998 to 2020. In doing so, this study incorporated advanced and robust econometric techniques, i.e., Pesaran (Economet Rev 34(6-10), 1089-1117, 2015), to check the cross-sectional dependency, and the unit root presence checked through Cross-sectional Im, Pesaran, and Shin (CIPS) and Cross-sectionally Augmented Dickey-Fuller (CADF) unit root tests. Moreover, the long and short-run association among the selected variables was analyzed through Westerlund and Edgerton (Econ Lett 97(3), 185-190, 2007), cointegration test, and cross-sectional augmented ARDL (CS-ARDL). The empirical results indicate that the panel was cross-sectionally correlated, stationary at the first difference, and co-integrated in the long run. Moreover, the CS-ARDL model indicates a positive association between GDP and PM2.5 concentration. Similarly, NRE and POP contribute significantly to increasing the PM2.5 concentration in SA. However, RE and GLO play an important role to decrease the PM2.5 concentration in SA.

Current oral health services and the divergent needs of the baby boom cohorts.

The two cohorts of Baby Boomers, the Early (born between 1945 and 1955) and the Late (born between 1956 and 1964), have some subtle yet distinct differences when it comes to their oral health and oral health related behaviors. Unlike their predecessors, the Baby Boomer cohorts are retaining more teeth, as there is a sharp fall in edentulous rates in this population. The oral health care community is now facing unparalleled challenges in providing and maintaining the oral health of this unique cohort who are keeping their teeth longer, have multiple comorbidities, and are living longer than previous generations. This paper draws from the latest studies, scientific data and research to describe a realistic picture of the oral health services available to and utilized by the Baby Boomers. The factors affecting utilization, their rising needs, demands, expectations, and areas where improvement is needed for the Baby Boomer are also reported here.

Peak water: future long-term changes driven by socio-economic development in China.

Population and economic growth cause an increase in water demand leading to ever-increasing water shortage and water crisis. The paper presents China's future long-term changes in water demand driven by socio-economic development based on the construction of a water demand model. At the national and state or provincial level, the water demand model was calibrated and validated with historical data involving developed countries and developing countries, respectively, which exemplifies the feasibility and applicability of the model. Through analyzing the historical data and predicting the future water demand, the following conclusions are obtained. First, total water use in 2013 is not peak water. Second, total water demand is projected to continue increasing to an extent, which would not surge for the next few decades. Third, peak water of around 630 billion m3 may appear in 2026 or 2027. Fourth, the peak water will not be beyond 700 billion m3 issued by the National Comprehensive Water Resources Plan from China, even at the possible peak of population. In general, the water demand model can inform early intervention to prepare for times of scarcity and help track the effectiveness of water policy and management activities.

Migração em tempos de covid-19: impactos e estratégias de enfrentamento / Migration in times of covid-19: effects and coping strategies / Migración en tiempos del covid-19: impactos y estrategias de afrontamiento

Em 2020, o mundo enfrentou uma grave emergência de saúde pública devido à pandemia de COVID-19, que impactou significativamente a mobilidade humana e a vida cotidiana de milhares de imigrantes ao redor do mundo. Este artigo fez uso de entrevistas online e por telefone com imigrantes que chegaram ao Brasil a partir de 2016, para identificar as estratégias de enfrentamento adotadas durante a pandemia. Foi realizada uma análise transversal das entrevistas com o auxílio do software Atlas.ti 9, usando a técnica sistemática de categorização iterativa. Com base em uma perspectiva sociocultural em psicologia, o artigo introduz os impactos iniciais da pandemia em diferentes esferas da vida cotidiana desses imigrantes e apresenta as estratégias mobilizadas para restaurar continuidades funcionais e relacionais em um momento no qual as rupturas provocadas pela migração e pela pandemia se sobrepõem. Entre outros, podese identificar como os entrevistados ativaram rapidamente as redes sociais locais e transnacionais virtualmente, mobilizando competências e habilidades aprendidas durante a migração.(AU)

In 2020, the world faced a serious public health emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has significantly impacted human mobility and the daily lives of thousands of immigrants around the world. This article uses online and telephone interviews conducted with migrants who arrived in Brazil in 2016, to identify coping strategies employed during the pandemic. A transversal analysis of all interviews was conducted with the aid of the software Atlas.ti 9, using a systematic approach of iterative categorization. From a sociocultural perspective in psychology, the article introduces the initial impacts of the pandemic in different spheres of everyday life of these immigrants. With this everyday context, we present the strategies mobilized by immigrants to restore functional and relational continuities at a moment in which the ruptures caused by migration and the pandemic overlap. In particular, we identify how interviewees rapidly activated local and transnational social networks virtually, mobilizing skills learnt during migration.(AU)

En 2020, el mundo se enfrentó a un grave estado de emergencia en salud pública debido a la pandemia del COVID-19, que impactó significativamente la movilidad humana y la vida cotidiana de miles de inmigrantes en todo el mundo. Este artículo realizó entrevistas en línea y por teléfono con inmigrantes quienes llegaron a Brasil a partir de 2016, con el fin de identificar sus estrategias de afrontamiento adoptadas durante la pandemia. Se realizó un análisis transversal de las entrevistas con la ayuda del software Atlas.ti 9, utilizando la técnica sistemática de categorización iterativa. Desde una perspectiva sociocultural en Psicología, este artículo expone los impactos iniciales de la pandemia en diferentes ámbitos de la vida cotidiana de estos inmigrantes y presenta las estrategias movilizadas para restaurar las continuidades funcionales y relacionales en un momento en que se superponen las rupturas causadas por la migración y la pandemia. Entre otros aspectos, se puede identificar cómo los entrevistados activaron virtualmente las redes sociales locales y transnacionales movilizando habilidades y destrezas aprendidas durante la migración.(AU)

Construction Land Expansion of Resource-Based Cities in China: Spatiotemporal Characteristics and Driving Factors.

Studying construction land expansion (CLE) characteristics and driving factors in resource-based cities (RBCs) is important to promote efficient land use and maintain ecological equilibrium in RBCs. This study explores the CLE and its driving factors in RBCs. The results indicated that (1) the CLE in RBCs became increasingly obvious, and the number of cities with expansion areas exceeding 20 km2 increased from 29 to 86. In RBCs in different regions, CLE in eastern, central, and western regions was obvious, while CLE in the northeast region decelerated. The order of CLE degree at different stages of RBCs was mature, growing, regenerative, and declining. (2) Single factors such as gross domestic product, fixed-asset investment, and secondary industry added value, playing a major role. This differs from the dominant role of population and urbanization in existing research. This occurred because population growth is slow, the urbanization rate is low, population contraction prominently occurs, and economic development exhibits notable path dependence in RBCs. (3) Interaction-factor detection demonstrated that the force of two-factor interaction was greater than that of a single factor, and the interactions of total population with fixed-asset investment and economic development level strongly drove CLE in RBCs.

Slope climbing of urban expansion worldwide: Spatiotemporal characteristics, driving factors and implications for food security.

The tendency of global urban expansion to be slope climbing has partly become possible with scarce cropland resources in plains. However, the scientific understanding of the quantity, intensity, pattern, and effect of the slope climbing of urban expansion (SCE) is minimal globally. In this study, we have attempted to quantify and evaluate global SCE from Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (SNPP)-Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS)-like data and other auxiliary data. Results revealed that global SCE areas unevenly increased from 22,760 km2 to 90,720 km2 from 2000 to 2020, with an annual growth rate of 21.72%, in which low-environment cost type areas increased from 21,550 km2 to 84,010 km2 while high-environment cost type (HEC) areas increased from 1210 km2 to 6710 km2. One remarkable phenomenon is that China's SCE areas in 2020 were more than 11 times those in 2000. In addition, global SCE intensity increased by about 3.4-fold from 2000 to 2020 and the rapid growth of HEC intensity is concentrated in Asia and North America. SCE is mostly affected by urban population growth and terrain. Economic development also promotes its development to a certain extent. We also noted that global SCE potentially made a considerable contribution to saved cropland, saving about 46,747 km2 with a theoretical increased grain yield of 25,020 × 103 t. Our study provides timely and transparent monitoring of global SCE and offers new insights into sustainable urban development.