Development Of Beijing Research Articles

Optimized Resource Allocation for Sustainable Development in Beijing: Integrating Water, Land, Energy, and Carbon Nexus

Chinese megacities face significant challenges in reducing carbon emissions while balancing economic growth and social welfare. This study constructs an innovative multi-objective optimization model, the SD-NSGA-III model, integrated with a System Dynamics (SD) model and using the Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm III (NSGA-III) to optimize resource allocation in Beijing. The model targets environmental, economic, and social goals by establishing a water–land–energy–carbon (WLEC) nexus for analyzing resource allocation strategies and carbon reduction pathways under various constraints. Scenario simulations under the efficiency-oriented scenario indicated a potential reduction in energy carbon emissions of 81.4% by 2030. The fairness-oriented scenario revealed significant trade-offs between equity and emission reductions, emphasizing the need for balanced strategies. Introducing constraints on resources and economic growth significantly reduced median energy carbon emissions to 80 million tons by 2030. These findings demonstrate the effectiveness of the SD-NSGA-III model in providing actionable strategies for achieving carbon neutrality and sustainable development in cities.

Digital economy and the urban–rural income gap: Impact, mechanisms, and spatial heterogeneity

This study examines how digital economy development in China impacts the urban–rural income gap. We construct a digital economy development index using panel data from 30 provinces and cities in China from 2013 to 2021. By combining a spatially varying coefficient model with a chain–mediated effect model, we quantify the impact of digital economy on the urban–rural income gap and examine its spatial heterogeneity. The results show that the digital economy influences the urban–rural income gap through four different pathways, each of which exhibits significant spatial variation. As these paths offset each other, the digital economy development in Beijing, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Henan, Hubei, Jiangxi, Jiangsu, Guangdong, and other provinces has widened the urban–rural income gap, resulting in a digital divide effect. However, in most areas of China's northeast, east coast, and western regions, the digital economy development has narrowed the income gap, resulting in a digital dividend effect. This study investigates the relevant debates among scholars and provides valuable insights and foundations for strategic decision making to reduce the urban–rural income gap in various regions.

Autonomous vehicle market development in Beijing: A system dynamics approach

A system dynamics (SD) model for the autonomous vehicles (AVs) market development in Beijing is proposed. The model approaches the vehicle scale evolution with the marketization development of private AVs and shared AVs. Some potential factors such as trust, AV purchase willingness, AV using willingness and shared AV service accessibility, are analyzed. Based on the passenger vehicle situation in Beijing, optimistic scenarios from 2014 to 2050 are developed. The base scenario involves the marketization of private AVs and the operation of shared AV fleets, and based on the levels of driving automation, which are divided into six types. The causal feedback relationship and system flow diagram are illustrated. Results show that with the introduction of AVs in Beijing, the number of private vehicles is significantly decreased, which is dependent on the use of shared AVs. To compare with the private vehicle ownership in 2020, the total number of private vehicles has decreased and the number of the private vehicles is over 2.2 million vehicles in 2050. After 2030, the shared vehicle fleet will be dominated by the high-level shared AV and the number of high-level shared AVs is about 2 million. Further, to consider the impact of ride-sharing, the model compares the different attitudes for customers to share their rides and use the shared AV alternative ratio to approach this. The result shows that the extreme ratio will reduce the number of shared AVs, and the fleet size of shared vehicle is about 400,000 vehicles in 2050. For the low ratio scenario, the fleet size of shared vehicle will increase a lot to over 3,186,000 vehicles, which will lead to a large number of cars on the road and thus increase congestion. The introduction of AVs is expected to reduce the number of private vehicles; However, the uncertainty of residents' attitudes towards car sharing will affect the introduction of AVs. At present, the existing policies prefer to limit the number of vehicles by controlling car registration in Beijing. In the future, with the application of AVs, this could be adjusted by encouraging ride sharing, to achieve sustainable urban transport development in Beijing.

Spatiotemporal Analysis of Urban Blue Space in Beijing and the Identification of Multifactor Driving Mechanisms Using Remote Sensing

With rapid urban development in Beijing, there is a critical need to explore urban natural resources and understand their underlying mechanisms. Urban blue space (UBS) has gained increasing attention due to its potential to drive microcirculation, mitigate heat islands, and enhance residents’ well-being. In this study, we used remote sensing data to extract UBS in Beijing and employed exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA) methods to examine its spatial and temporal development over the past two decades. We adopted a mesoscopic perspective to uncover the full spectrum of landscape patterns and quantitatively simulate the mechanisms influencing the area of UBS and landscape patterns. Our findings are as follows: (1) The UBS area in Beijing exhibited fluctuating growth from 2000 to 2020. (2) Spatial clustering of UBS was stable with subtle changes. (3) The ecological conditions in Beijing improved over the last 21 years, indicated by increased habitat diversity and richness, while notable landscape fragmentation posed significant challenges. (4) Science and technology management-related factors, such as UEM, EDUI, and STI, emerged as the most influential mechanisms for the UBS area. The coefficients for these factors were 0.798, 0.759, and 0.758, respectively. Following closely were vegetation conditions (NDVI) with a coefficient of 0.697 and an annual average temperature (T) with a coefficient of 0.692. (5) Precipitation was identified as the most vital influencing factor for the UBS landscape, with a significant correlation coefficient of 0.732. It was followed by residential population (POP), with a coefficient of 0.692, and economic conditions represented by gross domestic product (GDP), with a coefficient of 0.691.

Place attachment as an indicator of public participation in low-carbon community development: A case study of Beijing, China

Engaging the public in low-carbon community development is an important step toward achieving the UN Sustainability Goals. Research on residents' participation in low-carbon activities has primarily focused on socio-demographic, economic, and institutional contextual factors. How residents' subjective perceptions of place influence their participation in developing low-carbon communities has scarcely been studied. This study examines the relationship between place attachment and public attitudes and behaviors towards low-carbon community development in Beijing, China. A three-dimensional model of place attachment including personal, social, and environmental contexts was proposed. Exploratory factor analysis, confirmative factor analysis and structural equation modeling were conducted via a survey of 300 participants. Results confirm the validity of the three-dimensional model of place attachment and indicate (a) a significant and positive effect of place attachment on participation attitude; (b) a significant and positive effect of place attachment on participation behavior; (c) a significant and positive effect of participation attitude on behavior; and (d) environmental contexts more strongly affect participation attitude and behavior than personal and social contexts. The findings assist relevant authorities in engaging locals in low-carbon participation by investing in neighborhood revitalisation, promoting social outreach activities and sharing low-carbon knowledge. Practitioners should consider both symbolic and environmental elements for residents when planning and renewing communities.

Research on the influence mechanism of coordinated development of Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei local economy and high haze pollution industries such as thermal power

The unbalanced industrial development in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei leads to the economic development with increasingly prominent environmental problems, which is not conducive to the coordinated development of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei. This research constructs a composite multiple mediation model with government factors as independent variables, market factors, technological innovation, and location factors as mediating variables, and coordinated development as outcome variables to conduct an empirical study. The PLS-SEM method was used to evaluate and test the initial model and the modified model. After several fittings, the optimal model is obtained, the study found that the mediating effect value of technological innovation was the largest between government factors to coordinated development effects, followed by the mediating variables location factors and market factors. It is recommended to build a common research and sharing mechanism for green technological innovation in pollution reduction and accelerate the speed of transformation of green achievements; build an internal and external construction mechanism based on thermal power and other high haze pollution industrial systems to improve the proportion of high quality population; build a financial hierarchical expenditure guarantee mechanism and strive to create an environment open to foreign business.

Analysis of the Relationship between Beijing Rail Transit and Urban Planning Based on Space Syntax

Transportation infrastructure planning is one of the essential ways to achieve a carbon-neutral society in China’s future. With regards to sustainable urban development, the Green Low-Carbon policy for Transportation is set out in the 14th Five-Year Plan Outline 2021–2025. However, there are only a limited number of previous studies that systematically combined land-use planning and urban transportation evolution to clarify the structural issues in urban transportation optimization. In this study, we use traditional analysis and space syntax analysis to examine the relationship between the urban development of Beijing and the evolution of its rail transit transportation. After analyzing Beijing’s multi-center and multi-circle rail transit structure, it was concluded that the current division of labor in Beijing’s rail transit is unclear. Analysis using space syntax shows that connecting suburban centers using suburban railways improves accessibility better than subways. However, after analyzing the synergy between these factors, it is found that the application of space syntax needs to be analyzed in combination with the actual situation.

Countermeasures of Double Carbon Targets in Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei Region by Using Grey Model

In this paper, by combining the development characteristics of the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region, the fractional accumulation GM (1,1) model was used to predict the peak time of the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region, and the carbon peak year was predicted to be 2044. Then, according to the urbanization level and the proportion of the added value of the secondary industry in different regions in 2018, regions were divided into four categories: the first to reach the peak, the peak on schedule (easy), the peak on schedule (general), and the peak may be delayed. The Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region plans to achieve a carbon peak by 2044 and proposes specific suggestions to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060 to achieve coordinated development of Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei and high-quality development.

Evidence-Based Smart Transition Strategies for Long-Distance Commuters in Beijing

Building a sustainable and eco-friendly transport system is crucial to tackling global challenges such as climate change, as transport can be seen as one of the main sources of air pollution and CO2 emissions in megacities, particularly in developing countries. By bringing together multiple modes of travel, and combining different transport provider options into a single service, Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) could offer an effective way to help build a sustainable city by improving public transport services. However, the strategies used to develop MaaS, vary in different cities based on their specific multimodal transport facilities and service. Many residents of Beijing have to contend with long-distance commuting, which may adversely affect individuals’ travel experience and satisfaction and is, therefore, a key issue for transport development in Beijing. Using Beijing as a case study, we carried out in-depth interviews and thereby captured long-distance commuters’ concerns and needs concerning their commuting experiences. Our findings show that long-distance commuters are primarily concerned about the following multimodal commuting scenarios: “Underground + bicycle”, “Underground + taxi”, “Underground + private car”, and “Underground + bus”. Therefore, we suggest that the priority should be to develop a MaaS model for Beijing that focuses on the integration of multimodal transport connected to the underground rail system.

Estimating the Spatial and Temporal Changes in the Green Development Level in Beijing During 2006–2016

Green development is an important way to achieve global sustainable development goals, and has become one of the main research hotspots in recent years. Balancing economic development and environmental protection has turned out to be a great challenge in Beijing, the capital of China, which can provide some suggestions on ecological civilization construction and green development for other cities. However, there have been limited studies on this crucial topic. Therefore, based on the statistical data for Beijing from 2006 to 2016, this paper constructed the green development evaluation system of Beijing, and used the Projection Pursuit Model and spatial analysis method to analyze the spatial and temporal changes in its green development level. We also aimed to further explore the influences of key factors on green development. Our results illustrated that: (1) the overall and average levels of green development in Beijing showed significant increasing trends; (2) there are obvious spatial differences in green development among districts in Beijing, with the outer districts showing higher values; and (3) the environmental condition and human consumption were two important factors driving the green development in Beijing.

An Empirical Comparative Study on the Construction of Mass Organizations in Beijing, Shanghai and Chongqing

A comprehensive comparison of mass league reform and development in Beijing, Shanghai and Chongqing is made. Based on the local conditions, each has its own strengths. Beijing has a high political position in mass league reform and a perfect service system. Shanghai mass league development work dare to take the lead in the world, the courage to break down the institutional barriers, the implementation of flat organizational reform, and the establishment of online mass league pattern; Chongqing has made great efforts to bring into play the role of mass organizations as a bridge and link between the masses at the grass-roots level and to mobilize the masses to do mass work, which has achieved good feedback and actual results from the masses.

The high-quality development in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei regions: Based on the perspective of comparison

Chinese economy has changed from high-speed growth stage to high-quality development stage. Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region is an essential part of economic development in China, where high-quality development and realize innovation-driven development need to be achieved urgently. In this paper, an index system is constructed to measure the high-quality development of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, and the entropy weight method is used to measure the high-quality development of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. The results indicate that from the perspective of vertical development, the high-quality development of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region from 2009 to 2018 is on the rise year by year. Besides, Hebei has presented a rebound development recent years due to the weak development foundation in the early stage. Tianjin develops evenly with an annual growth rate of 10%, and Beijing has also been growing steadily. From the perspective of horizontal development, the high-quality development of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region is significantly unbalanced, and the comprehensive index of high-quality development in Beijing is significantly higher than that in Tianjin and Hebei, demonstrating a large gap in high-quality development among Beijing and the other two regions. The innovation contribution of the target layer to the criterion layer is the largest.

Land subsidence due to groundwater pumping: hazard probability assessment through the combination of Bayesian model and fuzzy set theory

Abstract. Land subsidence caused by groundwater overpumping threatens the sustainable development in Beijing. Hazard assessments of land subsidence can provide early warning information to improve prevention measures. However, uncertainty and fuzziness are the major issues during hazard assessments of land subsidence. We propose a method that integrates fuzzy set theory and weighted Bayesian model (FWBM) to evaluate the hazard probability of land subsidence measured by Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) technology. The model is structured as a directed acyclic graph. The hazard probability distribution of each factor triggering land subsidence is determined using Bayes' theorem. Fuzzification of the factor significance reduces the ambiguity of the relationship between the factors and subsidence. The probability of land subsidence hazard under multiple factors is then calculated with the FWBM. The subsidence time series obtained by InSAR is used to infer the updated posterior probability. The upper and middle parts of the Chaobai River alluvial fan are taken as a case-study site, which locates the first large-scale emergency groundwater resource region in the Beijing plain. The results show that rates of groundwater level decrease more than 1 m yr−1 in the confined and unconfined aquifers, with cumulative thicknesses of the compressible sediments between 160 and 170 m and Quaternary thicknesses between 400 and 500 m, yielding maximum hazard probabilities of 0.65, 0.68, 0.32, and 0.35, respectively. The overall hazard probability of land subsidence in the study area decreased from 51.3 % to 28.3 % between 2003 and 2017 due to lower rates of groundwater level decrease. This study provides useful insights for decision makers to select different approaches for land subsidence prevention.

Study on the relationship between water resources utilization and economic development based on decoupling theory in Beijing

Since the Chinese government put forward the strategy of ecological civilization, China’s ecological environment has been significantly improved. At present, in some places, there is a phenomenon that the ecological environment and economic development are not coordinated. Taking Beijing as an example, this paper uses decoupling theory to study the relationship between water resources use level and economic development in Beijing. The results show that the relationship between water resources use and economic development has been obviously decoupled in Beijing. Beijing government can make further efforts in increasing investment in education, improving the level of investment in science and technology, so as to promote the coordination of water resources utilization and economic development.

Economic, environmental, social, and health benefits of urban traffic emission reduction management strategies: Case study of Beijing, China

In tandem with social and economic development in Beijing, traffic congestion and the resulting air pollution have become serious problems. To improve the environment as well as road-carrying capacity, this study established a vehicle emission reduction management model using a system dynamics approach. An algorithm for the qualified verification of the degree of grey incidence based on system dynamics and grey model theory was also established to validate the model. Furthermore, in consideration of economic, environmental, social, and health benefits, the effects of the air pollution charging fee(APCF), penalties, and subsidies(collectively, the APS strategy) on air quality and traffic congestion were explored. The findings indicated that APCF and penalties help reduce missions and alleviate traffic congestion but increase the burden on public transport and reduce its supply level. Further, while the subsidy strategy’s effects on reducing congestion and emissions are not obvious, the strategy will greatly increase the supply of public transport. In addition, the lagged and fading effects of the combined APS strategy were identified. The combined APS strategy has multiple benefits: it can not only increase public-transport supply and promote health (social and health benefits) but also decrease pollution and total energy consumption (economic and environmental benefits).

Monitoring Spatiotemporal Changes of Impervious Surfaces in Beijing City Using Random Forest Algorithm and Textural Features

As the capital city of China, Beijing has experienced unprecedented economic and population growth and dramatic impervious surface changes during the last few decades. An application of the classification method combining the spectral and textural features based on Random Forest was conducted to monitor the spatial and temporal changes of Beijing’s impervious surfaces. This classification strategy achieved excellent performance in the impervious surface extraction in complex urban areas, as the Kappa coefficient reached 0.850. Based on this strategy, the impervious surfaces inside Beijing’s sixth ring road in 1997, 2002, 2007, 2013, and 2017 were extracted. As the development of Beijing has a special regional feature, the changes of impervious surfaces within the sixth ring road were assessed. The findings are as follows: (1) the textural features can significantly improve the classification accuracy of land cover in urban areas, especially for the impervious surface with high albedo. (2) Impervious surfaces within the sixth ring road expanded dramatically from 1997 to 2017, had three expanding periods: 1997–2002, 2002–2007, and 2013–2017, and only shrank in 2007–2013. There are different possible major driving factors for each period. (3) The region between the fifth and sixth ring roads in Beijing underwent the most significant changes in the two decades. (4) The inner three regions are relatively highly urbanized areas compared to the outer two regions. Urbanization processes in the interior regions tend to be completed compared to the exterior regions.

“Local versus Nonlocal” Enterprise Linkages of Global Cities: A Comparison between Beijing and Shanghai, China

Two global cities of China, Beijing and Shanghai, have completely different development statuses with their hinterlands. There is a large economic development gap between Beijing and its hinterland, Hebei Province, while Shanghai has formed a highly integrated region with its hinterland, the Yangtze River Delta. According to the Outline of Collaborative Development of Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei Province, enterprise linkages between Beijing and Hebei should be strengthened in order to narrow the economic gap between the center and the hinterland. On this basis, this paper proposes two hypotheses. (1) The economic gap between Beijing and Hebei has not really changed, because more enterprise linkages of Beijing are nonlocal. (2) The gradual narrowing of the economic gap between Shanghai and Jiangsu as well as Zhejiang is due to the fact that more enterprise linkages of Shanghai are local. We have used enterprise data on business registration from the State Administration for Industry and Commerce of China and have selected two indicators, namely, the number of headquarters-branches offices and the amount of enterprise investment, to examine the enterprise linkages between Beijing/Shanghai and their hinterlands as well as the hinterworld, and have verified these two hypotheses. The results show that nonlocal enterprise linkages based on the hinterworld are the main form in Beijing, while local enterprise linkages based on the hinterland are the main form in Shanghai. In addition, we have analyzed the mechanisms of formation of the enterprises linkages of the two cities and have put forward some policy suggestions.

Analysis of Beijing’s Working Population Based on Geographically Weighted Regression Model

Evaluation of urban planning and development is becoming more and more important due to the large-scale urbanization of the world. With the application of mobile phone data, people can analyze the development status of cities from more perspectives. By using the mobile phone data of Beijing, the working population density in different regions was identified. Taking the working population density in Beijing as the research object and combining the land use of the city, the development status of Beijing was evaluated. A geographically weighted regression model (GWR) was used to analyze the difference in the impact of land use on the working population between different regions. By establishing a correlation model between the working population and land use, not only can the city’s development status be evaluated, but it can also help city managers and planners to make decisions to promote better development of Beijing.

Decomposition Analysis of Energy Carbon Emission Factors in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei

With the rapid economic development of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the problem of environmental pollution cannot be ignored. Especially in recent years, the haze weather, the increase of carbon dioxide emissions, the development of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei has brought a negative impact. Now, the primary energy consumption of the three regions of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei is decomposed into five factors including population, economy, industrial structure, energy intensity and energy consumption structure by using LMDI decomposition method. The results show that: overall population and per capita GDP promote the growth of carbon emissions, and overall industrial structure effect, energy intensity effect and energy consumption structure factors inhibit the growth of carbon emissions. The energy intensity of the secondary industry and the tertiary industry has a very significant inhibiting effect on the growth of carbon emissions.

Learning to Transform Through Interplay Between the Confucian and Western Cultural Heritages: A Case Study of School Leadership Development in Beijing, China

Taking a case study approach and utilizing Hoggan’s transformative learning (TL) typology and criteria as a framework, we examined the self-reported TL experiences of 12 local school leaders in Beijing, China. These local school leaders gained cross-cultural learning from a school leadership development program that was designed to prepare school leaders for education internationalization. Our data analysis indicated that these 12 local school leaders had experienced significant changes in their educational epistemology, self-identity, and school leadership practices. Further examining these changes at the intersection of the Confucian and Western cultural heritages, we discovered that these school leaders had developed an integrated approach to education, started to consciously reflect on what their social- and self-identities entail, and began the process of transitioning from conservative to appreciative school leadership practices.