Planning, Transformation and Development of Resource Based Industrial Cities

The effect of the place-based policies on sustainable development has received substantial attention in economic research. In China, the industrial transformation and upgrading exemplary zone policy is a prominent example of such policies, as it targets old industrial and resource-based cities. The paper provides an early assessment of the policy’s capability to reduce carbon emissions. Specifically, we use data from old industrial and resource-based cities for the period of 2012–2019 and apply the difference-in-differences method to examine the policy’s influence on total carbon emissions and intensity. The results show that the policy can effectively reduce carbon emissions through reducing energy consumption, promoting urban green innovation and tertiary industry agglomeration. Compared to resource-based cities, cities with a low level of economic development and central, western cities, this impact is more notable in old industrial cities, cities with a high level of economic development and eastern cities. Additional analysis reveals that the policy has beneficial spatial radiation impacts on the nearby cities as well. In the meanwhile, the strategy may have a synergy effect on reducing carbon emissions and pollution. The results of this study may have an impact on how nations implement place-based policies and reduce carbon emissions.

Resource-based cities are the most important players in responding to climate change and achieving low carbon development in China. An analysis of relevant data (such as the energy consumption) showed an inter-city differentiation of CO2 emissions from energy consumption, and suggested an influence of the Industrial Enterprises above Designated Size (IEDS) in resource-based industrial cities at the prefecture level and above in different regions. Then by geographical detector technology, the sizes of each influencing mechanism on CO2 emissions from energy consumption of the IEDS were probed. This analysis showed that significant spatial differences exist for CO2 emissions from energy consumption and revealed several factors which influence the IEDS in resource-based cities. (1) In terms of unit employment, Eastern and Western resource-based cities are above the overall level of all resource-based cities; and only Coal resource-based cities far exceeded the overall level among all of the cities in the analysis. (2) In terms of unit gross industrial output value, the Eastern, Central and Western resources-based cities are all above the overall level for all the cities. Here also, only Coal resource-based cities far exceeded the overall level of all resources-based cities. Economic scale and energy structure are the main factors influencing CO2 emissions from energy consumption of the IEDS in resource-based cities. The factors influencing CO2 emissions in different regions and types of resource-based cities show significant spatial variations, and the degree of influence that any given factor exerts varies among different regions and types of resource-based cities. Therefore, individualized recommendations should be directed to different regions and types of resource-based cities, so that the strategies and measures of industrial low carbon and transformation should vary greatly according to the specific conditions that exist in each city.

IntroductionWith industrial transformation and upgrading being essential to attaining sustainable growth, the pursuit of green development has grown in importance on a global scale.MethodsThis study employs a sample dataset from 2011 to 2021, utilizing the national Industrial Transformation and Upgrading Zones (ITUZ) policy interventions of 2017 and 2019 as a quasi-natural experiment. Employing a difference-in-differences approach, this paper investigates the impact and underlying mechanisms of these policies on green technology innovation, as well as their heterogeneity across different urban contexts.ResultsThe results indicate that the ITUZ policy substantially improves green technology innovation in the designated cities, a conclusion that persists across multiple robustness assessments. Subsequent mechanistic research reveals that financial development and the enhancement of industrial structures are essential avenues for the realization of green technology innovation. The heterogeneity study highlights the policy’s significant impact on green technology innovation in eastern cities, uniform demonstration zones, and old industrial cities.DiscussionThis study finishes with practical implications for policy design, indicating that it is essential to extract and share the beneficial experiences from pilot cities during the establishment of demonstration zones. It underscores the importance of synchronizing urban development policies with local characteristics to investigate varied and successful approaches for advancing green technology innovation. This research offers critical insights for policymakers and urban planners in guiding the transition of older industrial and resource-based cities toward a more sustainable and environmentally friendly future.

Forest roads alter the biotic and abiotic components of ecosystems, modifying temperature, humidity, wind speed, and light availability that, in turn, cause changes in plant community composition and diversity. We aim at investigating and comparing the diversity of herbaceous species along main and secondary forest roads in a temperate-managed hornbeam-beech forest, north of Iran. Sixteen transects along main and secondary forest roads were established (eight transects along main roads and eight along secondary roads). To eliminate the effect of forest type, all transects were located in Carpinetum-Fagetum forests, the dominant forest type in the study area. The total length of each transect was 200m (100m toward up slope and 100m toward down slope), and plots were established along it at different distances from road edge. The diversity of herbaceous plant species was calculated in each plot using Shannon-Wiener index, species richness, and Pielou's index. The results showed that diversity index decreased when distance from road edge increases. This decreasing trend continued up to 60m from forest road margin, and after this threshold, the index slightly increased. Depending on the type of road (main or secondary) as well as cut or fill slopes, the area showing a statistical different plant composition and diversity measured through Shannon-Wiener, species richness, and Pielou's index is up to 10m. The length depth of the road edge effect found in main and secondary forest roads was small, but it could have cumulative effects on forest microclimate and forest-associated biota at the island scale. Forest managers should account for the effect of road buildings on plant communities.

Based on a literature review and theoretical mechanism, this paper takes the implementation point of the adjustment and transformation policy for old industrial cities as the breakthrough point, and uses a regression model to explore the impact of the adjustment and transformation policy of these old industrial cities on urban carbon emissions. This paper also robustly tests the effective mechanisms and environmental hypotheses. Overall, the implementation of the adjustment and renovation policy has significantly reduced the carbon emissions of old industrial cities by about 0.068 units. Compared with the control group cities, the pilot cities reduced carbon emissions by an average of about 310,000 tons after the implementation of the policy. Based on a summary of the excellent Chinese case experience and an empirical analysis, it can be concluded that improvements in the green innovation capacity of old industrial cities, the agglomeration of high-end service industries, and the strengthening of ecological restoration are important mechanisms that lead to reduced carbon emissions. There is no subsequent exacerbation of the carbon intensity of neighboring cities, and there is insufficient evidence to prove pollution via neighboring transfers and use of the beggar-thy-neighbor policy. The extended analysis shows that the “inverted U-shaped” CO2 Kuznets environmental curve hypothesis is significantly present in the sample of old industrial cities, but most cities do not cross the threshold. In 2013, about 60% of the urban sample economic growth and carbon emissions showed signs of tapping into potentials and increasing efficiency (absolute decoupling) and intensive expansion (relative decoupling). In old industrial cities, the proportion of relative decoupling shows a fluctuating upward trend. In the future, the government should accurately select its own development orientation and actively seek the “best balance” between economic growth and a green and low-carbon path.

The first step in establishing a pavement management system (PMS) is road network identification. An important feature of a PMS is the ability to determine the current condition of a road network and predict its future condition. Pavement condition evaluation may involve structure, roughness, surface distress, and safety evaluation. In this study, a pavement distress condition rating procedure was used to achieve the objectives of this study. The main objectives of this study were to identify the common types of distress that exist on the Jazan road network (JRN), either on main roads or secondary roads, and to evaluate the pavement condition based on network level inspection. The study was conducted by collecting pavement distress types from 227 sample units on main roads and 500 sample units from secondary roads. Data were examined through analysis of common types of distress identified in both main and secondary roads. Through these data, pavement condition index (PCI) for each sample unit was then calculated. Through these calculations, average PCIs for the main and secondary roads were determined. Results indicated that the most common pavement distress types on main roads were patching and utility cut patching, longitudinal and transverse cracking, polished aggregate, weathering and raveling, and alligator cracking. The most common pavement distress types on secondary roads were weathering and raveling, patching and utility cut patching, longitudinal and transverse cracking, potholes, and alligator cracking. The results also indicated that 65% of Jazan's main road network has an average pavement condition rating of very good while only 30% of Jazan's secondary roads network has an average pavement condition.

Industrial digital transformation is the appropriate intention and an inevitable choice to empower the construction of a new industrialized city, which holds great significance for the efficient allocation of industrial resources, the optimized layout of the industrial structure, and the enhancement of industrial development quality. However, industrial digital transformation will encounter two major problems: the data security of enterprise information-knowledge spillovers and the willingness of enterprises to transform, reflected in the enterprise input-output ratio for industrial digital transformation. Therefore, constructing an industrial digital transformation strategy that can effectively address these two problems has become a focal point. In light of this, the study builds an industrial digital transformation strategy from the perspectives of research institutions such as universities, industrial enterprises, trade associations, and government departments by exploring the causes of industrial digital transformation problems. Universities and research institutions should expedite the construction of compatible big data models for industrial digital transformation paradigms, such as the industrial Internet. Leading manufacturing enterprises should actively establish "satellite-type" industrial digital transformation platforms. Trade associations should redirect their functions toward the construction of standardized industrial know-how systems. Government departments should take a leading role in promoting industrial digital transformation among scientific research institutions, industrial enterprises, trade associations, and government departments. The government should lead efforts to promote synergistic cooperation among research institutions, industrial enterprises, and trade associations to ultimately realize the systematic and holistic promotion of industrial digital transformation.

The development of the circular economy is an important way for China to achieve its carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals on schedule. In this paper, we use the construction of circular economy demonstration cities as a quasi-natural experiment to systematically evaluate the carbon reduction effect of the circular economy pilot policy using the multi-period Differences-in-Differences (DID) model and Spatial-Differences-in-Differences (Spatial-DID) model. The research findings indicate that the circular economy pilot policy may effectively restrain the intensity of carbon emissions and the volume of carbon emissions, primarily driving carbon reduction in resource-based cities, old industrial base cities, and cities in the central regions, rather than universally exerting a significant impact on energy conservation and carbon reduction in all cities. Government investment in technology and the improvement of factor allocation structure play a mediating role in the carbon reduction effect of the circular economy pilot policy, while the intensity of public management plays a moderating role. When considering the externalities of urban networks, it becomes evident that the policy exhibits a notable spatial spillover effect. This not only significantly propels local efforts to reduce carbon emissions but also exerts a “demonstration effect” on the surrounding areas. The spillover effect on carbon emissions volume surpasses that on carbon emission intensity. This study offers empirical evidence for the ongoing promotion of the circular economy pilot policy nationwide, facilitating the achievement of cities’ dual carbon goals.

In order to study the characteristics and sources of carbon fractions in PM2.5 and PM10 of road dust in Tianjin, samples of road dust were collected by the quadrat sampling method in April 2015 in Tianjin, and samples were re-suspended on filters by using a NK-ZXF sampler. A Thermal Optical Carbon Analyzer (IMPROVE-TOR) was employed to measure the concentrations of organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC), and the pollution characteristics and sources were investigated by non-parametric tests and OC/EC ratio, correlation, and cluster analyses. The results showed that ω(total carbon, TC) in PM2.5 of road dust amounted to 4.89% (secondary road) -18.83% (expressway), ω(OC) amounted to 3.57% (secondary road) -15.39% (expressway), and ω(EC) amounted to 1.32% (secondary road) -3.44% (expressway); meanwhile, ω(TC) in PM10 of road dust was 8.14% (secondary road) -19.71% (expressway), ω(OC) was 5.91% (secondary road) -16.28% (expressway), and ω(EC) was 1.96% (main road) -3.43% (expressway). The mass fraction of each carbon component for the expressway was relatively high, and that for the secondary trunk road was relatively low, which may have been due to the large traffic volume on the expressway and corresponding large amounts of exhaust emissions from motor vehicles, whereas there were fewer vehicles on the secondary trunk road. Additionally, ω(OC) was significantly larger than ω(EC) for all types of roads, and ω(EC) did not vary much among the different road types. The non-parametric tests of two related samples showed that there was no significant difference in the mass fraction of each carbon component between PM2.5 and PM10. The correlation analysis showed that the sources of OC and EC in road dust were roughly the same. The OC/EC ratio analysis and cluster analysis showed that the main sources of the carbon components in the dust of roads in Tianjin in spring were coal combustion, motor vehicle exhaust, and biomass burning.

The impacts of high-speed rail on the transformation of resource-based cities in China: A market segmentation perspective

In this study the relationship between cleaner production and circular economy was investigated, including discusses necessity and significance of developing circular economy as a whole and recommends feasible countermeasures for developing circular economy. Efficient theoretical basis for creating a sustainable developing road in resource-based city was established and the objective of this study is to develop a best way for implementing Cleaner Production in heavy industry city through analyzing industrial layout, industrial structure and economic development size in Fushun.

Global dynamics such as economic transformations and reorganizations of production led to the crisis of many former industrial cities in Europe and the U.S in the last decades of the 20th century. Most of them have suffered or are still suffering from urban decay and shrinkage. The severity and persistence of some of these processes have called into question both the future of these cities and the ability of urban planning to deal with decline. The trajectory of some industrial cities, whose crisis has persisted despite local efforts to confront it, could lead to regard decline as an irreversible process and to accept the impossibility of urban planning to intervene in it. Nevertheless, the gradual restructuring of some European industrial cities in recent years, seem to point toward the relevance of local response to global dynamics. Different paths of development may only be explained from the distinctiveness of each territory, specific local decisions and successive strategies to tackle decay. These processes of revitalization seem to reveal the importance of local action and the possibility of guiding and easing decline. Even more, they point out to the crucial role of planning.These experiences show different ways to tackle decay. This paper aims to explore the role of certain planning strategies on guiding the futures of industrial regions.

IntroductionSince the beginning of the twenty-first century, with the depletion of resources, the decline of industries and the impact of emerging technologies, old industrial bases have faced problems such as an aging economic structure, weak growth, deterioration of the ecological environment, and the backwardness of public facilities, which have severely constrained the sustainable development of cities. Although the government has continued to invest a large amount of resources to promote the transformation of old industrial zones, there are significant differences in the effectiveness of the transformation between regions from a national perspective, with some areas achieving significant results and others still facing economic and social difficulties.MethodsThis study aims to construct an evaluation index system for the transformation performance of old industrial cities and use a combination empowerment model based on the game-theoretic combined weighted approach and the GRA-VIKOR-coupling coordination degree comprehensive evaluation model. Specific regions, including the Dadukou District in Chongqing, the Huaxi District in Guiyang, and the Baqiao District in Xi’an, were selected as sample cases to diagnose the transformation performance and evolutionary characteristics of coupled coordinated development in old industrial cities from 2012 to 2023, and an in-depth analysis of the issues encountered during the transformation process was conducted.ResultsThe results of the study found that: (1) Overall, the comprehensive transformation performance of the three old industrial cities exhibited a fluctuating upward trend during the study period, verifying the positive impact of China’s policy support and industrial structure optimization for old industrial cities. (2) According to the results of the coupling coordination degree, the overall trend of the coupling coordination level of the three-dimensional system shows an upward trend, and the degree of coordination increases from the “dysfunctional recession zone” to the “coordinated development zone” level.ConclusionBased on the above conclusions, this study puts forward targeted policy recommendations that aim to provide valuable references for promoting the high-quality development of old industrial cities.

To protect industrial cultural heritage, the methods of overall protection and utilization of industrial heritage were put forward in the transformation and development of resource-based cities. Taking Chongqing, a famous old industrial city in China, as the research object, from the cultural heritage, history, architecture, urban planning and other disciplines, the construction of Chongqing industrial heritage protection theory and practice methods were explored to guide the protection and utilization of Chongqing industrial heritage. A progressive evaluation method from the whole to the local was established. Industrial cities, typical corporate and architectural heritage were evaluated. The overall characteristics of urban industrial development were reflected. The renewal of old industrial areas and the protection of industrial heritage were elaborated through the overall co-ordination of urban design and detailed planning. The results showed that it was the key to integrate the protection elements and requirements into the detailed urban control planning. Therefore, special planning plays an important role in protecting industrial heritage.

With increasingly serious environmental and resource problems, resource-based cities have attracted unprecedented attention at home and abroad. In recent years, resource-based cities have become a hot research topic that has produced fruitful results. However, few articles have comprehensively and systematically reviewed the research on resource-based cities, which makes it difficult to carry out further research. This study introduces the influencing factors of the urban transformation of resource-based cities, the path of urban transformation, and the evaluation index system of urban transformation in detail. At the same time, a total of 2,182 articles related to resource-based cities in the CNKI and WOS from 2002 to 2022 were taken as the research objects. CiteSpace software was used to conduct statistical analysis of publication dates, journals of publication, institutions, and highly cited literature. Using the co-occurrence network of literature keywords and the analysis of emergent words, the research status of resource-based cities at home and abroad is visually analyzed. It is found that Chinese universities attach the most importance to research on resource-based cities. Chinese-language journals focus on urban and economic transformation, while English-language journals focus on sustainable development and the circular economy, which are quite different. The overall research content of Chinese journals is scattered, the co-occurrence ability of keywords is weak, and the duration of hot research topics is short. In contrast, the overall research trend of English-language journals is more concentrated, the key words’ emergence intensity is high, and the duration is long. This study aims to systematically sort out the theories and research related to resource-based city development in China and internationally, clarify the key issues of resource-based city research and the shortcomings of existing research, and put forward feasible suggestions for future research.