The construction of nature reserve system with national parks as the main body is a major initiative to implement the idea of ecological civilization, and an important practice area for Chinese modernization of harmonious coexistence between human beings and nature, and thus has received multidisciplinary attention from ecology, geography, economics, law, sociology and other disciplines. In order to coordinate the human-land relationship and garden-land relationship of the nature reserve system, and to promote the theoretical innovation, governance optimization and upgrading of the legal system guarantee in the construction of China's nature reserve system, we have invited eight experts in the nature reserve related fields to carry out interviews. The interviews focused on four aspects, namely, Chinese modernization, innovation of theoretical system and methods, legal system guarantee and international compliance, with the theoretical understanding and practical innovation of the governance of China's nature reserve system as the core, and explored several aspects of the construction of the nature reserve system with national parks as the main body: the understanding of the complex human-land and garden-land relations and its complexity coping strategy; the management efficiency of the nature reserve system; the strategy of improving the management efficiency of the nature reserve system; how the construction of China's nature reserve system can demonstrate the advantages of Chinese modernization by linking it with the implementation tasks of important international conventions; and the innovative role of the legal system in coordinating the relationship between people and land, and the relationship between parks and the land. Summarizing the main views of the experts, we can draw the main conclusions: (1) The construction of the nature reserve system, with national parks as the main body, needs to respond to the governance requirements of the Chinese modernization of the interaction between human beings and nature, which is a harmonious coexistence of human beings and nature, in the aspects of maintaining national ecological security, guaranteeing the supply of high-quality ecological products, as well as coordinating the relationship between the reserves and their surroundings, in order to achieve the unity of "ecological protection, green development and improvement of people's livelihoods". (2) Coordinating the relationship between people and land is the key to promoting the modernization of the governance of national parks, focusing on the three core issues of the relationship between people and land, the relationship between parks and land and the synergy of the inter-provincial level, and defining China's national parks governance model as "integrated governance based on the synergy between the central government and the local governments", and through the design of effective mechanisms. (3) The synergy between ecological protection and community development in nature reserves requires further research on the important role of biodiversity in human society, and Nature-based Solutions are conducive to the formation of inclusive governance in protected areas. (4) The construction of a unified, standardized, and efficient national parks system requires the improvement of the leadership system and the development of a system for promoting the reform of the national parks system in a coordinated manner, leadership system and working mechanism for the reform of the national park system, forming a community of interests in the park and deepening the degree of integration between the park and the land. (5) The development of new quality productive forces is necessary to deal with the relationship between people and the land and the relationship between the park and the land, and the model of harmonious coexistence between human beings and nature that relies mainly on the market economy not only embodies the characteristics of the Chinese modernization, but also contributes to the mainstreaming of the work of the Convention on Biological Diversity in the work on biodiversity, and the formation of an internationally applicable model of biodiversity. (6) Cracking the problem of "human-land constraints" and properly handling the "park-land relationship" requires a top-to-bottom legal system to regulate national parks and escort the standardized use of natural resources. (7) The Belt and Road Initiative and the construction of ecological civilization complement each other, and China's nature reserve system can help the Global South to realize the equal importance of protection and development in global compliance, and provide Chinese wisdom for the construction of a community of ecological destiny for mankind.
Innovating the multi-stakeholder collaborative governance model is essential for addressing the China's urban renewal and developmental obstacles. It would also assist in promoting high-quality urban development. This study analyzes the practical pathways and internal mechanisms of collaborative governance in urban renewal. With Hangzhou as an example, the study adopts a case study and inductive analysis methods to explore these dynamics. The results indicate that: (1) Hangzhou's urban renewal has developed four governance paths. The first path is building a governance environment through an integrated management system and diverse policy tools. The second path is establishing a governance structure that coordinates the efforts of government, market, residents, and society. The third path is applying governance tools that combine knowledge-based discourse and physical technology. Finally, the fourth path is achieving governance outcomes that balance development, livelihood, and preservation. (2) Multi-stakeholder collaborative governance of urban renewal should encompass an integrated framework of 'synergistic environment-structure-means-outcomes.' This includes an environmental synergy through self-consistent management and coordinated policy innovation, a structural synergy via diversified interest coordination and differentiated power allocation, a means synergy through normative procedures and incentive controls, and a results synergy focused on balancing conflicting goals with universal sharing. These integrated mechanisms are designed to facilitate high-quality urban renewal through coordinated development strategies. Therefore, this study offers four key governance insights. Firstly, it highlights the principles of responsibility-rights coordination and dynamic adjustment to innovate management systems and policy tools. Secondly, it calls for allocating stakeholder power based on roles to build an inclusive urban renewal governance community. Thirdly, it proposes combining regulation and incentives for flexible yet effective governance approaches. Finally, it stresses balancing efficiency and equity to achieve coordinated economic, social, and environmental development. These insights provide valuable lessons for advancing urban renewal governance in the New Era.
The frontier of urban regeneration in some Chinese cities has shifted to university campuses and their surrounding areas, thereby co-producing innovation ecosystems that integrates ''innovation, production, and urbanisation''. This study draws on the Triple Helix Theory and develops an analytical framework to explain the formation and evolution of innovation ecosystems in China. Using this framework, it compares the trajectories and outcomes of two university-based innovation ecosystems: Nanjing University's Silicon Valley and the Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics Innovation Bay Area. The study has three main findings. Firstly, in both cases, universities and local governments collaborated to adapt university campuses and regenerate surrounding areas to co-create innovation ecosystems. This suggests that urban regeneration and innovation-driven development have become new frontiers of town-gown interactions. Secondly, the development of both university-based innovation ecosystems was led and implemented by local governments and universities rather than by innovation businesses. This state-led feature, partly due to their early-stage status, diverges from Western theories on innovation, which place businesses at the core of innovation ecosystem formations. Thirdly, the innovation ecosystems developed in three stages: upgrading material spaces, creating an enabling environment, and densifying collaborative networks. The success of each stage depended on alignment between universities and local governments regarding goals, implementation, and sustaining mechanisms. The findings offer national and local governments insights into implementing innovation-driven development strategies, fostering new quality productive forces, and promoting sustainable urban regeneration.
Urban informality is a common phenomenon in rapidly developing cities, and the "Three Olds" redevelopment is an important aspect of achieving high-quality urban development in the later stages of urbanization in China. Addressing the current lack of academic attention to the redevelopment of informal land use in the context of the "Three Olds" initiative, this paper, based on the theories of urban informality and scalar politics, selects a typical case of "Three Olds" redevelopment in Dongguan city. Using qualitative research methods such as document analysis and in-depth interviews, this study explores the processes and mechanisms involved. The research finds that Dongguan's "Three Olds" redevelopment policy has undergone a scalar political process consisting of three stages: policy application, policy piloting (including normalization), and policy revision. This process is accompanied by a shift in the roles of the main actors from "dominant" to "subordinate" and vice versa, as well as the interactive evolution of the land parcels from "informal-formal-informal" states. During the implementation of the "Three Olds" redevelopment, two pathways emerge: one where the interests of all actors align, leading to smooth redevelopment, and the other where, in cases of conflicting interests, local governments revise policies and redistribute benefits. These pathways cycle to achieve a new equilibrium. The study contributes to further enriching the theoretical understanding of urban informality and provides practical insights for the "Three Olds" redevelopment and urban renewal and governance.
The integration of culture and tourism is becoming a new engine for boosting domestic demand in China, and the assessment of the potential for cultural and tourism development can help to reuse the built heritage of the city and renew it with high quality. Under the heritage conservation policy of integrated management, how to quickly identify and categorize built heritage with potential for enhancement, and how to gather multiple heritage resources to build a cultural and tourism network has become a key issue in cultural heritage renewal. Taking built heritage in the main urban area of Dalian as the object of study, combining field research scoring, geospatial, socio-economic, demographic and streetscape image data, we constructed an evaluation system of built heritage regeneration potential from three levels, namely supply potential, demand potential and regional security power, and further refined it with six elements, namely environmental value, ontological value, market demand, cultural renewal demand, regional resource conditions and tourism resource extensibility. Through the collection and sorting of heritage lists, the existing built heritage with development value was screened and identified, and the improved CRITIC and TOPSIS integrated evaluation models were used to comprehensively evaluate the development potential of built heritage sites, and the data of each element and criterion layer were visualized and analyzed. Based on the kernel density analysis, the joint heritage renewal areas were divided and the renewal priority of each area was determined. The results show that: (1) The differences in the development value of each built heritage are concentrated in the two aspects of supply potential and regional security power. (2) The demand potential, especially the demand for cultural renewal, is less different from region to region. (3) The higher comprehensive development value is observed in the urban core area. Based on the evaluation results of each element and the comprehensive analysis, we put forward the renewal mechanisms for the heritage development models in various regions. Finally, we select the most representative heritage sites with priority for renewal in each region, providing references for the protection and development practices of existing urban built heritage.
Based on the unique geographical and historical background, red brick has become a distinctive urban characteristic in the Fujian-Taiwan region, with its complex cultural background endowing it with rich potential value. However, the current inheritance and continuation of red brick cultural genes face significant challenges. In this study, we apply scene theory to Quanzhou West Street historical and cultural district, which is the most representative red brick area in Quanzhou. This study adopts the framework of the five elements of a scene to analyze the evaluation process of carrier characteristics, behavioral perception, and amenity value. Through a combination of field research, in-depth interviews, surveys, and big data statistical analysis, we investigate the evaluation indicator system for scene amenities at two levels: the macro-level of the entire district and the micro-level of red brick buildings. Our research findings reveal: (1) The scene elements of the red brick historical district include spatial environment, functional medium, diverse groups, activity combinations, and value attraction. (2) The scene functions of the overall district environment include: historical artifacts, cultural displays, and consumption experiences. These three aspects are interrelated, but the overall satisfaction of Quanzhou West Street still needs improvement. (3) The amenities of red brick architecture can be categorized into four types: color aesthetics, texture, decorative details, and regional characteristics. These categories include 12 traditional architectural features such as red bricks, white stones, wood, windows, balconies, external structures, beam decorations, columns, bricklaying methods, internal spaces, main structures, and roofs. Finally, we propose principles for protection and renewal, specific measures, and strategies for controlling the architectural style of red brick buildings. Our research extends the empirical application of scene theory in China, and provides effective approaches for the protection and renewal of historical and cultural districts.
The renewal of collective construction land is fundamentally a process of land development rights restructuring, which may lead to various conflicts of interest and become the major obstacle to planning implementation. The rights adjustment system based on the principle of balancing interests can help mitigate these challenges. Theoretically, the imbalance in rights distribution is caused by the dual effects of market dynamics and planning intervention, which can negatively affect the fairness and sustainability of urban-rural development. To address this issue, a theoretical framework has been constructed that integrates the adjustment mechanisms of land development rights from aspects of scale, type, and standards. Empirical analysis, using Nanhai district in Foshan city as a case study, reveals the mechanism of unequal rights distribution in the formation and development of collective construction land, as well as the government's planning interventions. The study identifies three models of rights adjustment: mixed development, joint redevelopment, and the "three vouchers" system. These models are applicable to different scenarios of collective construction land renewal and exhibit distinct evolutionary characteristics. Mixed development promotes redevelopment through negotiated profit sharing, but it may lead to government concessions and thus reduce the government's capacity for broader rights adjustment. Joint redevelopment links development responsibilities with specific projects, promotes a more equitable distribution of spatial rights and supports the renewal of industrial land. The "three vouchers" system establishes a spatial transaction mechanism for land development rights through the transfer of land use indicators and the reallocation of properties, thereby further enhancing the coordination of development rights across regions. These models exhibit a trajectory towards more scalable, diverse, and clearly defined standards. The study concludes with policy recommendations emphasizing the importance of incorporating rights adjustment mechanisms into the planning process, clarifying standards for rights allocation and adjustment, and establishing a systematic framework for transferring development rights between government and market actors.
Floor area is vital influencing factor of urban regeneration development gains. The article, based on Shenzhen experience analyzing the rule of floor area determination in urban regeneration, presents the evidence for the strong conflict between market-oriented and planning technology-oriented floor area determination, which brings the unequal development right among the subjects, the huge profit gap among different projects, the higher floor area ratio, and the subordinate functional type of urban construction, etc. The conflict has been proved not good for improving the quality and efficiency of floor area allocation. Therefore, this article analyzes the cooperative transformation mode of urban renewal,and uses an economic benefit analysis model based on four indicators: demolition and construction ratio, demolition and compensation ratio, saleable housing price unit price, and profit margin. It analyzes the mathematical relationship between various indicators in different types of renovation projects and examines the economic relationship between the government, market entities, and original rights holders in urban renewal. As a result of these investigations, suggestions, for instance, separating the market-oriented floor area and planning technology-oriented floor area, developing the demolition and construction ratio-based rule of floor area determination, enhancing the guidance of the demolition and compensation negotiation, are identified for improving the rule of floor area determination in urban regeneration at the end of this article.
Based on the sample data of 8 prefecture-level cities in the Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan Surrounding Area from 2010 to 2022, this paper empirically analyzed the coupling coordination and driving mechanism of urban renewal and ecological resilience by using the entropy weight method, coupling coordination model, spatial Durbin model and other methods. The results show that: (1) From 2010 to 2022, the level of urban renewal and ecological resilience in the study area shows an overall upward trend, and the regional differences decreased year by year. (2) The coupling coordination degree of urban renewal and ecological resilience showed a fluctuating upward trend, and Changsha had always been in the high-level area of coupling coordination, and the development of its surrounding cities showed a trend of agglomeration. (3) Population agglomeration and economic development could promote the improvement of coupling coordination, and population agglomeration could also have a positive impact on the coupling coordination degree of neighboring areas. The increase in the proportion of industry and excessive government intervention would have an inhibiting effect on the coupling and coordination degree, and the impact of opening up to the outside world was still unclear.
China has currently entered a stock era of comprehensive renewal, while urban renewal has become the primary task and form of urban development. Japan, a developed adjacent country, has similar geographical and cultural backgrounds to China. As such, understanding its urban renewal can help to formulate and develop sustainable strategies for urban renewal in contemporary China. In doing so, this study aims to compare and discuss the differences in the characteristics of stages of urban renewal between China and Japan by analyzing the case of the process of urban renewal at Shibuya, Tokyo. It is found that urban renewal in Japan has gone through five stages since the Meiji Restoration, and there are significant differences in terms of time dimension, driving factors, location, and scale compared to urban renewal in China. However, from the dynamic development process, urban renewal in China gradually converged with the development characteristics of Japan in the later stages. Therefore, based on the inspiration from Japan's experience, this study summarizes the path and countermeasures for the future development of urban renewal in China: first, building a more refined and perfect urban renewal policy system; second, exploring the autonomous creation model under government led coordination; and third, using Japan's pioneering experience for reference and considering in advance the response to social issues.
National parks represent a country's most important natural landscapes, unique heritage sites, and areas of rich biodiversity within the natural ecosystem. Their primary function is to protect the authenticity and integrity of vital natural ecosystems while supporting scientific research, education, and recreation. The scientific delimitation of functional divisions in national parks and identification of suitable space for conservation and utilization is of great significance for achieving multi-objective collaborative management of national parks. We developed a functional zoning analysis method for national parks based on a multi-dimensional framework combining recreation value, habitat quality, and landscape vulnerability. Our innovative approach optimized the measurement of habitat quality and landscape vulnerability indices. Using Kalamaili National Park in Xinjiang as a case study, our comprehensive evaluation revealed that areas with high recreation value, landscape vulnerability, and habitat quality showed distinct spatial distribution patterns. High recreational value areas were primarily distributed in the southeast and southwest zones, covering approximately 1200 km2. High habitat quality areas were largely concentrated in the central region, encompassing roughly 2168.64 km2. Areas of high landscape vulnerability were found in the east and south, spanning about 3310.25 km2. Through spatial overlay analysis, we identified six functional clusters. According to these distribution patterns of functional clusters, we proposed planning recommendations for Kalamaili National Park's scientific development. The functional zoning assessment framework in this paper effectively identifies the functional combination and layout of national parks. It provides scientific evaluation methods and decision support for park management and sustainable development, helping promote the harmony between humans and nature.
Reserve areas are the key coverage areas of ecological protection compensation in China. In this paper, the generality and particularity of eco-compensation decision in reserve areas were analyzed, and a decision framework for eco-compensation was built considering the systematicness of decision and multi-dimensional effects. Based on the emphasis on expressing uncertainty in decision information, a decision model with "GIS (Geographic Information System)-BN (Bayesian Network)" as the core was constructed. The Maoli Lake Watershed, where the Hunan Maoli Lake National Wetland Park is located, was selected as a case area to design four agricultural land-use adjustment measures aimed at improving the water environment of the Maoli Lake, such as the reduction of chemical fertiliser application, and to form a number of eco-compensatory schemes to be selected. The decision tools were developed by self-programming to realize the fine decision of priority scheme and implementation area of agricultural land eco-compensation in the case area. The results showed that: (1) Ecological compensation for agricultural land in nature reserve areas had a multidimensional effect, and its decision-making should seek synergies between the conservation needs of the reserve and regional economic and social stability and development. (2) Ecological compensation for agricultural land comprised multiple key components, such as land use adjustment measures, target land types, compensation standards, and implementation areas. These elements could be combined in various ways to form comprehensive decision-making plans. This multi-component approach offerd a more systematic and holistic framework compared to single-factor decision-making models. (3) The priority programme for ecological compensation of agricultural land in the case area was the implementation of crop rotation and fallow for paddy fields and drylands, with compensation rates at the second level; regional preferences at the village level of the administrative districts could be implemented more efficiently. (4) The decision model in this paper could entirely transfer uncertainty information from the microscale of plot to the mesoscale of watershed, and the assessment results could simultaneously suggest the potential benefits and possible risks of the decision.
Mammals hold crucial significance in the realm of biodiversity conservation. Nature reserves serve as vital zones that effectively mitigate the loss of species diversity. Based on equal-area grid, this study evaluates the abundance patterns of terrestrial mammals across different levels of threats, analyzes regions and species under protection gaps, considering both the broad scale of nature reserves and the finer scale of protective patches. However, there are limited traditional gap analyses that fully take into account the diversity of species and their spatial requirements. We integrate the concept of Minimum Area Requirement (MAR) of species populations as a new supplementary assessment metric to assess the sufficiency of nature reserve patches, and species with poorer compliance are considered as the candidate species under conservation gaps, replacing the single threshold division approach with a multispecies threshold estimation method. The results show that: (1) The richness of threatened terrestrial mammals decreases progressively from the biodiversity-rich southwest to the north, highlighting the importance of Southwest China, particularly Yunnan province, as a critical biodiversity hotspot. Additionally, seven key regions are identified as conservation gap areas, where nature reserves fail to provide sufficient coverage for the protection of threatened species. (2) The distribution ranges of a total of 92.06% of the threatened species overlap with existing nature reserves, however, the presence of the overlaps does not ensure the provision of sufficient conservation, as evidenced by the fact that seven mammal species classified as endangered and three mammal species categorized as vulnerable are subject to absence of protection coverage. (3) Half of the protected patches for each of twenty-two nationally important threatened species face area limitations under different population growth rate levels. The results hold significant implications for identifying priority conservation areas and optimizing the planning of nature reserves to safeguard mammalian biodiversity.
The cultural service value realization of ecological products builds a bridge between ecosystems and human well-being and it is an important part of the exploration of the value realization mechanism of ecological products in national parks. In order to promote the transformation of lucid waters and lush mountains in national parks to invaluable assets and better meet people's growing demand for high-quality cultural ecosystem services, this paper proposed the path and mechanism of realizing the value of cultural service of ecological products in national parks (CSEPNPs) on the condition of the identification of functional characteristics and realization conditions. The analysis followed the chain process of "function-product/services-benefit-value" of ecosystem services based on the framework of ecosystem services cascade. We found that the path of realizing the value of CSEPNP includes six steps, namely clear ownership, survey and monitoring, product production, value accounting, project operation and trading. It was suggested to improve and optimize the mechanism on realizing the value of CSEPNP from policy, ecological compensation, investment, franchising, technology application, and public participation. In view of the characteristics of joint production of cultural ecosystem services and strong dependence on social construction, the value realization mechanism proposed in this paper from the perspective of stakeholders was conducive to improving and optimizing the humanistic feedback of the cascade framework in theory, and promoting the supply and demand matching between ecological products and cultural services in national parks in practice. With the continuing study on supply-side theory, method and policy, future research should pay attention to demand-side investigation, monitoring, evaluation methods and public participation and supervision mechanism research, so as to achieve real-time matching of supply and demand.
As an important bridge connecting the natural ecosystem and human society, the improvement of the value realization efficiency of forest ecological products significantly impacts the realization of sustainable development goals. This paper aimed to explore how the new quality productive forces can empower the value realization efficiency of forest ecological products and promote the sustainable and efficient utilization of forest resources. Based on the dynamic qualitative comparative analysis method, using the panel data of 30 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) from 2011 to 2022, this paper analyzed the multi-factor synergistic linkage effect of new quality productive forces in the process of improving the value realization efficiency of forest ecological products. The study found that: (1) A single factor couldn't constitute a necessary condition for the high value realization efficiency of forest ecological products, but the necessity of innovative productivity, technological productivity, resource productivity, environmental productivity, digital industry productivity and industrial digital productivity was gradually increasing. (2) The high value realization efficiency of forest ecological products had four driving paths: "innovation+environment", "technology+environment+industrial digit", "resources +digit" and "innovation+resources". The low value realization efficiency of forest ecological products had three restrictive paths: "green+industrial digit", "technology+green" and "innovation+environment". (3) All the four driving paths of high value realization efficiency of forest ecological products had spatial heterogeneity, and the "innovation+environment" driving path has significant time effect. The research results provided not only theoretical support for understanding the empowering effect of new quality productive forces on the value realization efficiency of forest ecological products, but also practical guidance for optimizing the management of forest ecological products and enhancing the value of ecological services.
This study clarifies the basic connotation of the value of natural resources under ecological security, constructs a theoretical analytical framework of "policy-technology-market-society", and systematically explores new models and pathways for enhancing the value of natural resources under ecological security, in order to provide theoretical support and practical guidance for promoting the high-quality management of natural resources in the New Era. The new models for enhancing the value of natural resources under ecological security mainly include the digital empowerment model, the combined supply model, the circular regeneration model and the resource ecology-oriented development model, so as to realize the digital management throughout the entire life cycle, optimized allocation, circular utilization, and efficient use of natural resources. The pathways for enhancing the value of natural resources under ecological security include the institutional innovation pathway, the technology-empowerment pathway, the market activation pathway, and the social co-governance pathway. These pathways are aimed at promoting development with a combination of rigidity and flexibility, enhancing efficiency through full-chain efforts, enlivening the market with diverse measures, and aggregating strength through collaborative cooperation, thereby propelling the construction of ecological civilization to a new level.
