COVID-19 mortality: educational inequalities and socio-spatial context in two provinces of Argentina. / Mortalidad por COVID-19: desigualdades educativas y contexto socio-espacial en dos provincias de Argentina.

Motivation for the study. There are very few studies on the educational inequalities in COVID-19 mortality, taking into account social contextual factors. Main findings. We found educational inequalities of COVID-19 mortality during both the 2020 and 2021 waves, regardless of the level of poverty and urbanization in the departments of Mendoza and San Juan provinces (Argentina). Implications. Preventive policies should focus not only in areas with high levels of poverty, but also in areas with adults of low educational level. With the aim of describing the association between sociodemographic characteristics and contextual factors with COVID-19 mortality during 2020-2021 in the provinces of Mendoza and San Juan in Argentina, we conducted an ecological study, which included the sociodemographic factors: age, sex and educational level, and the contextual factors: poverty and urbanization at the departmental level. The analyses were estimated using negative binomial Bayesian hierarchical models. Educational inequalities existed regardless of socioeconomic context and level of urbanization. The exception was the age group 65 years and older during 2021, which, regardless of educational level, showed a higher risk of death by COVID-19 in departments with high levels of structural poverty. In conclusion, educational inequality is an indicator of social inequality that increases vulnerability to COVID-19 mortality.

Con el objetivo de describir la asociación entre las características sociodemográficas y factores contextuales con la mortalidad por COVID-19, durante 2020-2021 en las provincias de Mendoza y San Juan en Argentina se realizó un estudio de tipo ecológico, donde los factores sociodemográficos fueron la edad, el sexo y el nivel educativo y contextuales la pobreza y la urbanización a nivel departamental. Los análisis se estimaron mediante modelos jerárquicos bayesianos binomial negativos. Existieron desigualdades educacionales independientemente del contexto socioeconómico y el nivel de urbanización. La excepción fue el grupo etario de 65 a más años durante 2021 que, independientemente del nivel educativo, mostró un riesgo de muerte por COVID-19 mayor en departamentos con niveles altos de pobreza estructural. En conclusión, la desigualdad educativa es un indicador de desigualdad social que aumenta la vulnerabilidad para la mortalidad por COVID-19. Motivación para realizar el estudio. Existen muy pocos estudios que den cuenta de las desigualdades educacionales de la mortalidad por COVID-19, tomando en cuenta factores sociales contextuales. Principales hallazgos. Durante ambas olas de 2020 y 2021, se encontraron desigualdades educativas de la mortalidad por COVID-19, independientemente del nivel de pobreza y de urbanización de los departamentos de las provincias de Mendoza y San Juan (Argentina). Implicancias. Se sugiere focalizar políticas preventivas no sólo en áreas con niveles altos de pobreza, sino también a escala de aquellos hogares con personas adultas de nivel educativo bajo.

Exploring the spatial spillover effects of Yangtze River Delta ports on urban economic growth.

The Yangtze River Delta (YRD) ports are pivotal in shaping the Yangtze River Economic Belt and advancing urban economies across China. This article utilizes panel data from 20 cities with ports in the YRD area, spanning from 2011 to 2020, using the spatial Durbin model to explore how these ports influence urban economic growth. The findings indicate that: (1) The YRD ports significantly contribute to economic growth in both the port cities and their surrounding areas, with the indirect impact on neighboring cities being more substantial than the direct effect on the cities themselves; (2) The beneficial spillover effects of the YRD ports on the economic growth of nearby cities vary in intensity over different spatial ranges, marked by distinct boundary effects and geographical attenuation. The influence extends up to approximately 110km; (3) Within the various elements impacting the economic growth of cities in the YRD, financial development prominently exhibits a threshold effect on urban economic growth; (4) Upon analyzing heterogeneity, inland and coastal port cities manifest divergent spillover effects, with inland port cities predominantly exerting a positive spillover on adjacent regions. Accordingly, in order to eventually achieve the shared prosperity of the region's economy, it is recommended that a strong top-level design be established and that efforts be made to transform the YRD region into a core region a diffusion and driving effect.

Coupled relationships between landscape pattern and ecosystem health in response to urbanization.

Rapid urbanization has highlighted ecological problems in the metropolitan area, with increasing landscape fragmentation and severe threats to ecosystem health (EH). Studying the spatio-temporal coupled relationship between landscape pattern and EH and its response to urbanization in the Fuzhou metropolitan area (FMA) can provide scientific reference for its long-term development planning. We examined the coupled relationship between landscape pattern and EH and its driving mechanism in the FMA at grid and township scales to address the gap. The results show that landscape heterogeneity, diversity, and dispersion are gradually increasing, and EH is rising progressively in the FMA from 2000 to 2020. The spatial distribution of landscape pattern indices and EH indicators showed a "high in the south and low in the north" trend. During the study period, the coupled relationship between landscape patterns and EH was increasingly powerful but with remarkable spatial heterogeneity. The study also found an inverted U-shaped relationship between urbanization and coupled relationships. Ecological landscapes' heterogeneity, diversity, and connectivity in low-urbanization areas are conducive to EH. The opposite is true for high-urbanization areas. This study provides a valuable reference for optimizing landscape planning and ecological management in metropolitan areas.

Land suitability analysis in monocentric post-socialist city: Case of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

Urban expansion has been rapidly increasing and is projected to be tripled in 2030 in worldwide. The impact of urbanization has adverse effects on the environment and economic development. Residential lands consist of almost one-third of the urban area and heavily affect the city's inhabitants. The capital of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar, has been significantly expanded, particularly in the urban periphery where poor living conditions and a lack of essential urban services were identified. The paper aims to conduct a suitability analysis of residential areas in Ulaanbaatar city based on three main categories (livability, affordability, and accessibility) of fifteen criteria using the fuzzy logic. Through the study, we have identified some potential suitable residential areas for further development, such as apartment residential area located in the southern part of the city and four low-rise ger areas were distributed along major transport corridors. Moreover, the results indicated that the spatial structure of the whole town might be in transition to a polycentric pattern. However, a concentric ring pattern in the 'city's periphery displayed a concerning uncontrolled ger area expansion, which may increase low living conditions in the area. This study recommends better urban sprawl control policies and more property market investment in the ger area to ensure sustainable development goals in Ulaanbaatar.

Spatiotemporal pattern and obstacle factors of coupling relationship between habitat quality and urbanization level in the Yellow River Basin, China.

Land use change stands as the primary factor influencing habitat quality (HQ). Clarifying the spatiotemporal change and the obstacle factors of the coupling relationship between HQ and urbanization level (UL) can provide imperative references for achieving sustainability in the Yellow River Basin (YRB). This study is based on the InVEST model, spatial autocorrelation, and obstacle factor analysis to measure the spatiotemporal dynamics and impediments of the coupling relationship between HQ and UL from 2000 to 2020 in the YRB. The findings were as follows: (1) From 2000 to 2020, the HQ showed a tendency of rise first and then fall, with the pattern of "High in the middle and west, low in the east"; (2) from 2000 to 2020, the UL had an upward trend, with the pattern of "Low in the west, high in the middle and east"; (3) the coupling and coordination level of HQ and UL in the YRB changed from extreme incoordination to verge of coordination, and it had a distribution pattern of "High in the east, low in the west", with the high-value area expanding to the east and the low-value area shrinking to the west. (4) Location condition, climate, proportion of construction land, vegetation index, and proportion of non-agricultural employment are the main obstacle factors that determined the coupling and coordination of the HQ and UL.

Urbanisation and boating are the main contributors to underwater soundscapes in three temperate estuaries.

Anthropogenic noise has been identified as one of the most harmful forms of global pollutants impacting both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. As global populations continue to increase, coastlines are seeing substantial increases in the level of urbanisation. Although measures are in place to minimise stress on fauna, they rarely consider the impact of anthropogenic noise. In Australia, New South Wales (NSW) estuaries have seen extensive increases in urbanisation in recent years. Yet, there remains minimal baseline data on their soundscapes to determine if noise pollution is a threat. This research provides a first assessment of baseline sounds across a temporal and seasonal scale. Recreational boating was the primary soundscape contributor in estuaries, and estuaries with higher urbanisation levels contained higher sound levels. This research provides useful information for managers of NSW estuaries and is of global relevance in an era of increasing generation of anthropogenic noise in estuarine and coastal systems.

Iniciativa sobre gobernanza urbana para la salud y el bienestar en Bogotá

La urbanización rápida y no planificada es uno de los desafíos ecológicos y humanos más importantes del siglo XXI. ONU-Hábitat predice que, para 2050, casi el 70% de la población mundial vivirá en ciudades, con un crecimiento urbano desproporcionado en los países de ingresos bajos y medianos. La Región de las Américas es una de las más urbanizadas y desiguales del mundo. La iniciativa Gobernanza urbana para la salud y el bienestar de la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS) busca apoyar acciones a nivel local para promover la buena gobernanza urbana para la salud y el bienestar, haciendo hincapié en la participación comunitaria. La gobernanza urbana para la salud y el bienestar se refiere a procesos enfocados de interacción y posterior toma de decisiones para generar soluciones colectivas para mejorar la salud y el bienestar a través de prácticas de cocreación, cambio social y compromiso institucional como parte de un gobierno integral. y enfoques que abarquen a toda la sociedad. La Organización Mundial de la Salud está trabajando con cinco ciudades: Bogotá (Colombia), Douala (Camerún), Ciudad de México (México), Khulna (Bangladesh) y Túnez (Túnez) en la primera fase. Este informe tiene como objetivo compartir los avances logrados hasta en Bogotá, Colombia, en la implementación de la Iniciativa de la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS) sobre Gobernanza Urbana para la Salud y el Bienestar a lo largo de la primera fase. Bogotá es la capital de Colombia y constituye el 16,4% de la población urbana total del país. Presenta el contexto y los principios de la iniciativa global, los logros en Bogotá y los próximos pasos. El público objetivo de esta publicación son los funcionarios municipales, los gobiernos nacionales y los donantes.

Land use land cover and land surface temperature changes and their relationship with human modification in Islamabad Capital Territory, Pakistan.

Human activities are altering the existing patterns of Land Use Land Cover (LULC) and Land Surface Temperature (LST) on a global scale. However, long-term trends of LULC and LST are largely unknown in many remote mountain areas such as the Karakorum. . The objective of our study therefore was to evaluate the historical changes in land use and land cover (LULC) in an alpine environment located in Islamabad Capital Territory, Pakistan. We used Landsat satellite pictures (namely Landsat 5 TM and Landsat 8 OLI) from the years 1988, 2002, and 2016 and applied the Maximum Likelihood Classification (MLC) approach to categorize land use classes. Land Surface Temperatures (LST) were calculated using the thermal bands (6, 10, and 11) of Landsat series data. The correlation between the Human Modification Index (HMI) and LULC as well as LST was evaluated by utilizing data from Google Earth Engine (GEE). Over the study period, the urbanized area increased by 9.94%, whilst the agricultural and bare soil areas decreased by 3.81% and 3.94%, respectively. The findings revealed a significant change in the LULC with a decrease of 1.99% in vegetation. The highest LST class exhibited a progressive trend, with an increase from 12.27% to 48.48%. Based on the LST analysis, the built-up area shows the highest temperature, followed by the barren, agricultural, and vegetation categories. Similarly, the HMI for different LST categories indicates that higher LST categories have higher levels of human alteration compared to lower LST categories, with a strong correlation (R-value = 0.61) between HMI and LST. The findings can be utilized to promote sustainable urban management and for biodiversity conservation efforts. The work also has the potential of utilizing it to protect delicate ecosystems from human interference and to formulate strategies and regulations for sustainable urban growth, including aspects of land utilization and zoning, reduction of urban heat stress, and urban infrastructure.

Study on decarbonization trajectories and policy implications for China: A comparative analysis of carbon peak nations.

Amidst escalating global concerns over climate change and the pressing need for sustainable development, this study conducts a comparative analysis across 24 nations that have successfully achieved carbon peaking, evaluating their socioeconomic characteristics and carbon reduction strategies. Simultaneously, it examines China's policy evolution and strategic responses within the context of its economic and urban development. The analysis reveals that countries with successful carbon peak outcomes typically exhibit high GDP per capita and advanced urbanization rates. Critical to their success are comprehensive adjustments in energy consumption structures and industrial transformation, which are supported by robust environmental policies and technological innovation. The study categorizes global carbon reduction policies into three primary categories and seven sub-categories, reflecting the dynamic evolution of policy approaches driven by global climate agendas and varying stages of national development. Strategies including legal frameworks, carbon pricing mechanisms, international cooperation, and technological innovation are critically assessed for their potential to refine China's carbon policies. Significant challenges in policy implementation are identified, particularly in aligning ambitious environmental strategies with economic objectives and managing transition costs in critical sectors such as energy and transportation. The study emphasizes the necessity of a phased policy implementation approach, which begins with enhancing public and corporate environmental awareness, advances through the promotion of low-carbon technologies, and concludes with the establishment of stringent legal and regulatory frameworks.

Impact of changing urban form and production-living-ecological space on changing ecosystem services of a smart city of Eastern India, Durgapur.

Worldwide land use land cover (LULC) transformation become a serious issue in the last few decades due to its immense importance in environmental and human well-being perspectives. Expansion of urban areas at the expense of natural land covers and changing urban form is mainly responsible for changing environmental conditions. This study focused on identifying the impacts of LULC change on environmental conditions through the assessment of changing ecosystem services (ESs) of the Durgapur Municipal Corporation (DMC) from 1990 to 2020. Changing ESs are assessed based on changing urban forms and production-living-ecological space (PLES) components. Results found that the compactness of urban areas is increasing along with the outward expansion. The core urban area of DMC has risen from 8.11% to 30.11% during 1990-2020. Similarly, living space increased from 15.57% to 42.60%, production space decreased from 53.06% to 25.59%, and ecological space fluctuated from 1990 to 2020. This transformation of PLES components negatively affects DMC's environmental condition, affecting the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These significant results may be utilized to understand changing environmental conditions and priority issues for DMC's future sustainable urban development.

Mechanism and empirical evidence on new-type urbanization to narrow the urban-rural income gap: Evidence from China's provincial data.

The main component of China's income gap is the urban-rural income gap, which is largely affected by urbanization. It is worth studying how new-type urbanization affects the income gap between urban and rural areas. Research mostly focuses on the urbanization rate as the core explanatory variable to explain the impact using one or two factors. This paper analyzes the mechanism of the effect using a comprehensive number of factors, with the quality of new-type urbanization development as the core explanatory variable. In terms of theoretical research, we believe that new-type urbanization affects the urban-rural income gap by promoting the transfer of labor, changing industrial structure, and policy tendency. Using both static and dynamic empirical analyses, we test the impact of new-type urbanization on the urban-rural income gap based on China's provincial data. We find that new-type urbanization is conducive to narrowing the income gap between urban and rural areas. The transfer of labor significantly reduces the urban-rural income gap. However, the upgrading of industrial structure will enlarge the gap. The impact of China's policy orientation is negligible. Policy should focus on promoting urbanization and improving the marginal rate of return of agriculture, improve the level of human capital, reverse the mismatch between employment structure and industrial structure, increase support for rural areas, and make substantial progress in promoting common prosperity.

The impact of urbanization on health depends on the health metric, life stage and level of urbanization: a global meta-analysis on avian species.

Stressors associated with urban habitats have been linked to poor wildlife health but whether a general negative relationship between urbanization and animal health can be affirmed is unclear. We conducted a meta-analysis of avian literature to test whether health biomarkers differed on average between urban and non-urban environments, and whether there are systematic differences across species, biomarkers, life stages and species traits. Our dataset included 644 effect sizes derived from 112 articles published between 1989 and 2022, on 51 bird species. First, we showed that there was no clear impact of urbanization on health when we categorized the sampling locations as urban or non-urban. However, we did find a small negative effect of urbanization on health when this dichotomous variable was replaced by a quantitative variable representing the degree of urbanization at each location. Second, we showed that the effect of urbanization on avian health was dependent on the type of health biomarker measured as well as the individual life stage, with young individuals being more negatively affected. Our comprehensive analysis calls for future studies to disentangle specific urban-related drivers of health that might be obscured in categorical urban versus non-urban comparisons.

Microplastics and Anthropogenic Particles in Recreationally Caught Freshwater Fish from an Urbanized Region of the North American Great Lakes.

BACKGROUND: Microplastics are a pervasive contaminant cycling through food webs-leading to concerns regarding exposure and risk to humans. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to quantify and characterize anthropogenic particle contamination (including microplastics) in fish caught for human consumption from the Humber Bay region of Lake Ontario. We related quantities of anthropogenic particles to other factors (e.g., fish size) that may help in understanding accumulation of microplastics in fish. METHODS: A total of 45 samples of six fish species collected from Humber Bay in Lake Ontario near Toronto, Ontario, Canada, were examined for anthropogenic particles in their gastrointestinal (GI) tracts and fillets. Using microscopy and spectroscopy, suspected anthropogenic particles were identified and characterized. RESULTS: We observed anthropogenic particles in the GI tracts and fillets of all species. Individual fish had a mean±standard deviation of 138±231 anthropogenic particles, with a single fish containing up to 1,508 particles. GI tracts had 93±226 particles/fish (9.8±32.6 particles/gram), and fillets had 56±61 particles/fish (0.5±0.8 particles/gram). Based on a consumption rate of 2 servings/week, the average yearly human exposure through the consumption of these fish fillets would be 12,800±18,300 particles. DISCUSSION: Our findings suggest that consumption of recreationally caught freshwater fish can be a pathway for human exposure to microplastics. The elevated number of particles observed in fish from Humber Bay highlights the need for large-scale geographic monitoring, especially near sources of microplastics. Currently, it is unclear what the effects of ingesting microplastics are for humans, but given that recreationally caught freshwater fish are one pathway for human exposure, these data can be incorporated into future human health risk assessment frameworks for microplastics. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP13540.

Modeling the United Oscillation and Wave of economic policy and urban planning employing spatial population dynamics.

Modern urban dynamics are increasingly shaped by the interplay between economic policy and urban planning, yet often lack an integrated approach. This study bridges this gap by examining the dynamic equilibrium between these two realms using the "Oscillation and Wave Framework." Specifically, we focus on the impact of variations in congestion parameter λ on urban sectoral spatial distribution and population dynamics. Our approach utilizes an advanced agent-based model to simulate interactions within an urban economic landscape, offering a detailed analysis of the relationship between agglomeration economies and congestion diseconomies. The results highlight the significant influence of congestion parameter adjustments on urban patterns, particularly in terms of cluster density and development. Therefore, this study not only provides a deeper understanding of the intricate balance between economic and urban planning factors but also emphasizes the necessity of incorporating these insights into urban planning and policy formulation for sustainable urban development. The findings also have important practical implications for addressing the dynamic complexities of urban environments, especially the interactions between different industries and their role in shaping urban structures.

Urban house finches are more resistant to the effects of artificial light at night.

Rapid urbanization of habitats alters the physical, chemical, auditory, and photic environments of human and wild animal inhabitants. One of the most widespread transformations is caused by artificial light at night (ALAN), but it is not clear the extent to which individuals acclimate to such rapid environmental change. Here, we tested the hypothesis that urban birds show increased resistance to harmful behavioral, parasitological, and physiological effects of ALAN. We captured house finches (Haemorhous mexicanus), a bird that commonly inhabits cities and their natural surroundings, from two urban and two rural sites in Phoenix, Arizona, USA, which differ by both degree of urbanization and by multiple orders of magnitude in ALAN intensity, and placed them in a common garden laboratory setting. We exposed half of the birds from each habitat type to ecologically relevant levels of night lighting during the subjective night and found that, while ALAN exposure reduced sleep in both urban and rural birds, ALAN-exposed urban birds were able to sleep longer than ALAN-exposed rural birds. We also found that ALAN exposure increased the proliferation rate of an intestinal coccidian parasite (Isospora spp.) in both urban and rural birds, but that the rate of proliferation was lower in urban relative to rural birds. We found that night lighting suppressed titers of feather corticosterone in rural but not urban birds, suggesting that light impairs HPA function through chronic stress or suppression of its circadian rhythmicity, and that urban birds were again resistant to this effect. Mediation analyses show that the effect of ALAN exposure in rural birds was significantly sleep-mediated for feather corticosterone but not coccidiosis, suggesting a diversity of mechanisms by which ALAN alters physiology. We contribute further evidence that animals from night-lit habitats can develop resistance to ALAN and its detrimental effects.

Multiliteracies meet new methods: The case for digital writing in English education case study in G-7 countries.

Recently, globe has tried to transform populace activities to digital platform, wherefrom all stakeholders can attain their basic information. However, education sector cannot be excluded from this debate. Since, the pandemic mostly most economies have utilized digital transformation in different aspects of life, but digital education becomes more prominent. Therefore, this empirical research focuses on digital writing specifically to English education in G-7 economies between the time frame spanning from January 2000 to April 2022. This study considers urbanization, income, renewable energy, information & communication technology, renewable energy, English education, and pandemic as the key environmental determinants. To address the challenges posed by panel data, this study utilized an advanced set of estimators such as AMG stands for Augmented Mean Group. The estimate of urbanization and income per capita is positively significant, confirming that urbanization and economic development cannot protect the green economy by minimizing environmental pollution. Likewise, the estimated coefficient of English Education and internet use is negative and significant, implying that English Education and ICT can protect the green economy by reducing emissions. Conversely, renewable energy consumption (REC) is an element that can increase economic activity and therefore decline the environmental damages to secure a green economy. Likewise, the growth in cases of Covid-19 also reduces the usage of resources like land, water, and forests and subsequently decreases carbon emissions, promoting the green economy. The results also indicate that interaction term of English Education and ICT have adverse impact on Carbon emission (CO2). The outcomes suggest that internet usage (ICT) in English Education (EE) can deal efficiently with environmental issues for the green economy; therefore, EE and ICT should be part of green policies across the international level.

Natural background levels and driving factors of aluminum in shallow groundwater of an urbanized delta: Insight from eliminating anthropogenic-impacted groundwaters.

Knowledge on natural background levels (NBLs) of aluminum (Al) in groundwater can accurately assess groundwater Al contamination at a regional scale. However, it has received little attention. This study used a combination of preselection and statistic methods consisting of the oxidation capacity and the boxplot iteration methods to evaluate the NBL of shallow groundwater Al in four groundwater units of the Pearl River Delta (PRD) via eliminating anthropogenic-impacted groundwaters and to discuss driving factors controlling high NBLs of Al in groundwater in this area. A total of 280 water samples were collected, and 18 physico-chemical parameters including Redox potential, dissolved oxygen, pH, total dissolved solids, HCO3 -, NH4 +, NO3 -, SO4 2-, Cl-, NO2 -, F-, K+, Na+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Fe, Mn, and Al were analyzed. Results showed that groundwater Al NBLs in groundwater units A-D were 0.11, 0.16, 0.15, and 0.08 mg/L, respectively. The used method in this study is acceptable for the assessment of groundwater Al NBLs in the PRD, because groundwater Al concentrations in various groundwater units in residual datasets were independent of land-use types, but they were opposite in the original datasets. The dissolution of Al-rich minerals in sediments/rocks was the major source for groundwater Al NBLs in the PRD, and the interaction with Al-rich river water was secondary one. The high groundwater Al NBL in groundwater unit B was mainly attributed to the acid precipitation and the organic matter mineralization inducing the release of Al in Quaternary sediments. By contrast, the high groundwater Al NBL in groundwater unit C mainly was ascribed to the release of Al complexes such as fluoroaluminate from rocks/soils into groundwater induced by acid precipitation, but it was limited by the dissolution of Mg minerals (e.g., dolomite) in aquifers. This study provides not only useful groundwater Al NBLs for the evaluation of groundwater Al contamination but also a reference for understanding the natural geochemical factors controlling groundwater Al in urbanized deltas such as the PRD. PRACTITIONER POINTS: The natural background level (NBL) of groundwater aluminum in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) was evaluated. The dissolution of aluminum-rich minerals in sediments/rocks was the major source for groundwater aluminum NBLs in the PRD. The acid precipitation and organic matter mineralization contribute to high groundwater Al NBL in the groundwater unit B. The acid precipitation contributes to high groundwater Al NBL in the groundwater unit C, while dissolution of magnesium minerals limits it.

Life makes cities greener: The impact of dual-policy of China in urban transformation on residents' green lifestyles.

Promoting the formation of the green lifestyle (GL) is a crucial step in achieving comprehensive green transformation of urban economic and social development. The widespread adoption of GL is influenced by various environmental regulations. Previous research mainly focused on the impact of individual policies on GL from the single policy perspective. The mechanisms of the combined effects of policies have not been thoroughly explored, particularly the contributions of each policy during periods of overlap. This paper takes the dual-policy of the New-type Urbanization Policy (NUP) and Smart City Policy (SCP) in China as an example. It employs panel data collected from 271 cities in China during 2007-2019 and establishes a multi-period difference-in-difference model to identify the combined effects of the dual-policy on residents' GL. Additionally, the Shapley value decomposition method is utilized to identify the contribution magnitude of each policy when they act simultaneously. The following conclusions are yielded. Firstly, the combined effects of dual-policy are more effective than a single policy in influencing residents' GL. Secondly, the Shapley value decomposition method reveals that when both policies are simultaneously implemented, SCP contributes a greater weight compared to NUP. Thirdly, the dual-policy can promote residents' adoption of GL through mechanisms such as green technological innovation, public participation in environmental protection, and the agglomeration of tertiary industries. Fourthly, the impact of dual-policy on residents' GL varies across different types and sizes of cities. This study attempts to unseal the "black box" of how the dual-policy influences residents' GL during the green transformation of cities in China, providing theoretical references for relevant urban policies in other countries and contributing to Chinese solutions and experience to global urban green development.

Study on factors influencing carbon dioxide emissions and carbon peak heterogenous pathways in Chinese provinces.

Implementing a Carbon Peak Action Plan at the regional level requires comprehensive consideration of the developmental heterogeneity among different provinces, which is an effective pathway for China to realize the goal of carbon peak by 2030. However, there is currently no clear provincial roadmap for carbon peak, and existing studies on carbon peak pathways inadequately address provincial heterogeneity. Therefore, this paper employs the Stochastic Impacts by Regression on Population, Affluence, and Technology (STIRPAT) model to decompose assess 8 factors influencing carbon emissions of 30 provinces. According to scenario analysis, the paper explores the differentiated pathways for provincial carbon peaks based on policy expectation indicators (including population, economy, and urbanization rate) and comprises policy control indicators (including the energy structure, energy efficiency, industrial structure, transportation structure, and innovation input). The results indicate that population, per capita GDP, urbanization rate, and innovation input are the primary factors for influencing (negatively) the growth of carbon emissions. In contrast, the optimization and upgrading of the industrial structure, energy intensity, energy structure, and transportation structure have mitigating effects on carbon emissions, especially for the first two factors. The forecasting results reveal that robust regulations of the energy and industry can effectively accelerate carbon peak at a reduced magnitude. If developed at BAU, China cannot achieve carbon peak by 2030, continuing an upward trend. However, by maximizing the adjustment strength of energy and industrial transformation within the scope of provincial capabilities, China could achieve carbon peak as early as 2025, with a peak of 12.069 billion tons. In this scenario, 24 provinces could achieve carbon peak before 2030. Overall, this study suggests the feasibility of differentiated pathway to achieve carbon peaks in China, exploring the carbon peak potential and paths of 30 provinces, and identifying provinces where carbon peak is more challenging. It also provides a reference for the design of carbon peak roadmaps at both provincial and national levels and offers targeted recommendations for the implementation of differentiated policy strategies for the government.

Spatiotemporal dynamic relationships and simulation of urban spatial form changes and land surface temperature: a case study in Chengdu, China.

Exploring the spatiotemporal dynamic evolution of local climate zones (LCZ) associated with changes in land surface temperature (LST) can help urban planners deeply understand urban climate. Firstly, we monitored the evolution of 3D urban spatial form in Chengdu City, Sichuan Province, China from 2010 to 2020, used the ordinary least squares model to fit the dynamic correlation (DR) between the changes in urban spatial patterns and changes in LST, and revealed the changes of urban spatial patterns closely related to the rise in LST. Secondly, the spatiotemporal patterns of LST were examined by the integration of the Space-Time Cube model and emerging hotspot analysis. Finally, a prediction model based on curve fitting and random forest was integrated to simulate the LST of study area in 2025. Results show the following: the evolution of the urban spatial form consists of three stages: initial incremental expansion, midterm incremental expansion and stock renewal, and late stock renewal and ecological transformation. The influence of the built environment on the rise of LST is greater than that of the natural environment, and the building density has a greater effect than the building height. The overall LST shows a warming trend, and the seven identified LST spatiotemporal patterns are dominated by oscillating and new hotspots patterns, accounting for 51.99 and 11.44% of the study area, respectively. The DR between urban spatial form and LST varies across different time periods and built environment types, whereas the natural environment is always positively correlated with LST. The thermal environment of the city will warm up in the future, and the area affected by the heat island will shift to the central of the city.