First-tier Cities Research Articles

The effects of COVID-19 on the resilience of urban life in China

Understanding the impacts of COVID-19 on citizens from different cities is crucial for urban resilience-building and reducing inequal resilience distribution. However, little research focuses on urban life at the individual level, particularly in second- and third-tier cities. An online survey was therefore conducted to collect data on how COVID-19 affected the cities and urban residents in mainland China. The results indicate that COVID-19 limited citizens’ access to healthcare facilities and socioeconomic activities apart from the immediate health crisis. Most citizens suffered reduced income, unemployment, and social anxiety. However, COVID-19 also raised social awareness and actions for disaster adaptation. The Chinese pandemic management has strengthened governmental leadership and credibility among most citizens in the early stage. Importantly, the results suggested that citizens in first-tier cities appeared more resilient to pandemics than those in second-tier cities. A networked resilience framework was therefore discussed for resilience-building policy implications.

The Effect of Urban Experience on the Settlement Intention of Rural Migrants: Evidence from China

Urban experience can increase the ability of rural migrants to integrate into cities, thereby enhancing their settlement intentions. This paper empirically supports these findings using data from the China Migrants Dynamic Survey (CMDS). The mechanism analysis finds that urban experience promotes economic survival skills and adaptive capacity among rural migrants and enhances their willingness to settle in cities. It has significantly increased the labor market income, social activity, and interpersonal interaction of rural migrants. Compared with other cities, the urban experience of rural migrants who move to first-tier cities in their first migration significantly impacts their willingness to settle in cities. Finally, further discussion finds that the impact of urban experience on rural migrants’ settlement intention is nonlinear, with an inverted U-shaped curve. These findings can help local governments in China improve the integration ability and willingness of rural migrants to settle in cities through measures such as optimizing household registration and improving the social security system. They can also provide lessons for urbanization development in other countries.

Discuss How Luckin Coffee Uses Unique Marketing Strategies to Satisfy Consumers' Needs and Desires in a Highly Homogenized Market

In a fast-paced era, life and work are relatively busy. The emergence of various products makes the market competition increasingly fierce. Especially in the first-tier cities, such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, etc., most people's lives are two points and one line type, every day running between home and the company or home and school, there is not much time to stop and rest or social. In such a busy and exhausting life, people tend to feel tired and sleepy, so there is a need to have coffee or tea products to help refresh. However, most coffee shops are primarily recreational and require long waiting times for products to be prepared, so many customers have special needs that cannot be catered for. Luckin has capitalized on this by targeting a more convenient and rapid "new retail" experience and has gained a lot of sales. This paper focuses on the questionnaire survey and combines the 4P theory to analyze how Luckin uses product, price, place, and promotion strategies to satisfy consumers' needs. Luckin Coffee's marketing ideas can provide a particular reference for other enterprises.

Analyzing Cooling Island Effect of Urban Parks in Zhengzhou City: A Study on Spatial Maximum and Spatial Accumulation Perspectives

As a result of urbanization, cities worldwide are experiencing urban heat island (UHI) challenges. Urban parks, which are essential components of urban blue and green landscapes, typically have lower temperatures in providing outdoor comfort than their surroundings with impervious surfaces. This phenomenon, known as the park cooling island effect (PCIE), has been recognized as an effective approach to mitigate the negative effects of the UHI in the context of sustainable development of urban environment. To cope with the serious UHI challenge and to guide urban park planning and design for Zhengzhou City, which is one of the China’s new first-tier cities, 35 urban parks in the city were analyzed in this study. Remotely sensed land surface temperature (LST) and reflectance images by Landsat 9 and Sentinel-2 were selected as data sources. A cubic polynomial model that depicts the relationship between the LST and the distance from the park edge was first built for each park. Based on this model, the spatial maximum perspective metrics (including the park cooling area (PCA) and park cooling efficiency (PCE)) and the spatial accumulation perspective metrics (including park cooling intensity (PCI) and park cooling gradient (PCG)) were calculated to quantify the PCIE of each park. The 35 parks were divided into three groups using the hierarchical clustering method for further analysis. For each group, the metrics of the PCIE were statistically analyzed, and the main factors influencing the PCIE were identified by the Spearman correlation coefficient. The results indicate the following: (1) The 35 urban parks exhibit an obvious PCIE. The maximum cooling distance is 133.95 ± 41.93 m. The mean LST of the park is 3.01 ± 1.23 °C lower than that within the maximum cooling distance range. (2) The PCIE varies among different types of parks. Parks with large areas and covered by certain water bodies generally exhibit higher PCA, PCI, and PCG values. However, parks with small areas and mainly covered by vegetation show higher PCE values, which makes them more economical in exerting the PCIE. (3) Park area and landscape shape index (LSI) were positively correlated with PCA, PCI, and PCG. However, there is a threshold in the relationship between the park area and the PCI. A park area of approximately 19 ha can produce a higher PCI than a smaller one. In central urban areas with limited space, parks with small areas, complex shapes, and predominant vegetation coverage can be designed to achieve higher cooling efficiency.

From the Documentary City Dream - An Analysis of the Significance of Migrant Workers to Modern Society

With the continuous development and progress of society, integrating into first-tier cities is the aspiration of most migrant workers. A large number of migrant workers have flooded into these cities, making significant contributions to the development of the cities. However, the influx of migrant workers also increases the difficulty of urbanization process and brings about problems in employment. These problems include unequal treatment between urban and rural areas and an imperfect social security system, which pose challenges to the integration of migrant workers into the city. This paper analyzes the current living conditions and employment problems of migrant workers through the image of migrant workers in the documentary City Dream and studies the value and significance of the improvement of the system to enable migrant workers to better integrate into the city.

Returning to One's Hometown for Employment: A New Option for "Homecoming" Students

With the increasing number of graduates year after year, the difficulties of working and living in first-tier cities are also on the rise. Returning to one's hometown for employment has emerged as an alternative option for graduates. By examining the characteristics of this trend, this paper analyzes the factors influencing graduates' decisions to return home for work, including local sentiment, hometown return policies, and levels of development. Furthermore, it provides insights into choosing a university location based on employment opportunities and pressures, quality of life and cost of living, as well as the sense of regional belonging.

Forecasting Urban Housing Land Needs: A Comparative Analysis of Chinese Cities

In urban centers across China, the actual annual land supply frequently fails to meet government projections, significantly impacting local economic and social development. This study bridges the gap in prospective analyses of governmental decision-making concerning urban housing land supply. Employing fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis, this research examines the housing land supply in 50 Chinese cities, including 16 first-tier and 34 non-first-tier cities. The goal is to explore the decision-making combinations that influence the supply of housing land, thereby aiding in the formulation of governmental policies. Our findings indicate that in first-tier cities, forward-looking decisions rely on low fiscal pressure, with purchase restrictions and land supply restructuring acting in tandem. In contrast, in non-first-tier cities, high population density or significant fiscal pressure necessitate enhancements in land supply structures without implementing purchase restrictions to sustain forward-looking governance. Additionally, while forward-looking decisions depend on numerous conditions, it is generally simpler to circumvent non-forward-looking decisions. This investigation integrates forward-looking theory into real estate research, offering valuable insights for the formulation of governmental land supply strategies.

Current status of PD-(L)1 inhibitor usage in advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer: A national survey of oncologists in China.

e20559 Background: The aim of the present study conducted by Chinese Society of Clinical Oncology Expert Committee on Immunotherapy was to obtain real-world information on the use of PD-(L)1 inhibitors for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in different regions of China via a national questionnaire survey for oncologists. Methods: This survey was distributed online to cancer-related medical departments in 202 first-tier to fourth-tier cities of China between March to April 2023. The national survey consisted of four sections regarding oncologists’ concerns about immunotherapy as follows: treatment choice, response assessment, treatment duration, and management of immune-related adverse events (irAEs). Results: A total of 2,018 oncologists completed this survey. For advanced squamous (SQ) and non-squamous (NSQ) NSCLC without targetable genetic alterations, PD-(L)1 inhibitor-based regimens were the most widely used first-line treatment regimen (SQ: 52%, NSQ: 46%), followed by chemotherapy alone (SQ: 37%, NSQ: 37%) and other regimens (SQ: 11%, NSQ: 17%). The average treatment duration of 1L PD-(L)1 inhibitor-based regimens in SQ NSCLC and NSQ NSCLC were 6.4 and 6.2 cycles, respectively. 67% of oncologists may discontinue immunotherapy or change regimens when the first radiographic tumor assessment was SD per RECIST 1.1. Other reasons for early discontinuation of PD-(L)1 inhibitors before PD or unacceptable toxicity included economic reasons (78%) and patients’ low willingness to continue immunotherapy even they reached CR/PR (62%). Oncologists in the second-tier cities and below were more likely to discontinue immunotherapy when the tumors were stable, with shorter treatment duration of 5.7 cycles versus 7.1 cycles in the first-tier cities. The most common irAEs included dermatologic, endocrine, pulmonary, gastrointestinal, and hepatic toxicities. Conclusions: PD-(L)1 inhibitor-based regimens have become the priority choice for advanced NSCLC in China, however, the status of standardized continuous use of immunotherapy is obviously insufficient. There is a gap between clinical practice and clinical trials regarding PD-(L)1 inhibitor usage, which need more attention. [Table: see text]

Pathways to zero plastic waste in Chinese cities: Implications of different disposal options under the zero waste cities policy

The disposal of municipal plastic waste (MPW) is crucial to the sustainable development of cities. China generates a large amount of MPW and the disposal methods vary with the level of urban development. This study analyzed the MPW disposal transformation in six groups of China cities at different development level. The results show that landfill is still the main disposal method in the fourth and fifth tier cities, while incineration has become the dominant disposal method in the higher-tier cities. The speed of transforming from landfill to incineration is faster at the higher-tier cities except the first-tier cities due to the large population and limited land resources. Scenario analysis implies that landfill and interim storage MPW could reduce 25%–35% by enhancing incineration and 51%–57% by enhancing recycling. There is still a big potential for lower-tier cities to enhance its incineration capacity, yet improving the recycling should be a more sustainable pathway especially for higher-tier cities.

Study on the Relationship between Elderly Tourism Motivation and Active Aging: A Case Study of Elderly Population in First-tier Cities of China

This paper explores active aging by examining elderly tourism through the lenses of existential theory, the broaden-and-build theory, and the circular theory. It investigates the travel motivations of the elderly in tourism scenarios, integrating factors such as positive thinking, positive behavior, and a positive organizational environment into the research. A path model was constructed to analyze how active aging influences travel motivations in a tourism context, supported by empirical analysis using 337 valid samples. The study found that key dimensions of active aging influencing elderly travel motivations include positive behavior, positive thinking, and a positive organizational environment. The path model and research data show good compatibility and explanatory power regarding the impact of active aging on travel motivations. Positive thinking, positive behavior, and a positive organizational environment all positively affect the travel motivations of the elderly. In the path analysis, positive thinking as an independent variable does not directly influence travel motivations; instead, positive behavior and a positive organizational environment serve as important mediating variables.

Ways to relieve anxiety: Chinese consumers’ perceptions of paid digital knowledge products

PurposeThis study aims to explore why Chinese consumers pay for digital content products by investigating the experiences of Chinese consumers living in first-tier and second-tier cities regarding paid digital knowledge products.Design/methodology/approachA total of 19 in-depth interviews were conducted to collect data, and the phenomenological reduction was adopted to analyze data.FindingsThis study reveals that Chinese consumers use paid digital knowledge products to alleviate stress and anxiety stemming from real-life competition and the fear of falling behind. While consumers acknowledge the limited assistance that paid knowledge products can offer, their acceptance and expectations of paid digital knowledge products remain positive.Originality/valuePaid digital knowledge represents an innovative phenomenon, with few scholars outside China having studied it. This study contributes a conceptual framework to understand the motivations of Chinese consumers with high purchasing power residing in first-tier and second-tier cities to invest in digital content.

How does digital technology administrative penalty affect big data technology innovation: evidence from China

Administrative regulation is an essential institutional arrangement for governing innovation in big data technology. Administrative penalties are one of its main methods. It is worth investigating whether administrative penalties can serve as an institutional safeguard to promote technological innovation. This study collects data on digital technology administrative penalty (DTAP) and big data technology innovation (BDTI) from 2008 to 2020 in 281 cities in China and empirically evaluates the impact and mechanism of DTAP on BDTI. The findings suggest that the normative impact of the DTAP system can foster a conducive business ecosystem for big data innovation. The incentive mechanism motivates firms to increase their long-term investment in technological innovation, while the deterrence mechanism ensures the existence of a regulated competitive market. These mechanisms play a crucial role in facilitating BDTI. Mechanism tests show that the DTAP has the potential to promote novel business models in the digital economy and accelerate progress in industrial digitalisation, which in turn promotes innovation in big data technologies. The impact of the DTAP on promoting BDTI is diverse, with a significantly greater impact in the first-tier cities. DTAP plays a more important role in fostering BDTI in places where the digital factor-driven industry is still in its early stages of development.

Digital carbon neutrality: evidence of carbon emission reduction based on digital inclusive finance.

As a powerful engine for economic reform and curbing carbon emissions, digital inclusive finance provides solid support for achieving the goal of digital carbon neutrality. This study reveals the positive effect of digital inclusive finance on carbon emission reduction and the deeper reasons behind it by digging deeper into the panel data of 213 cities in China. The study adopts advanced empirical analysis methods to rigorously test the association between digital inclusive finance and carbon emissions. The results show that there is a strong positive correlation between the booming development of digital inclusive finance and the significant decline in carbon emissions. This finding remains solid after several rounds of robustness tests, which fully proves the reliability of the research results. Further mechanism analysis reveals the multiple paths of digital financial inclusion on carbon emission reduction. First, it promotes the optimization and upgrading of industrial structure by optimizing the allocation of financial resources, thus reducing the proportion of high-carbon emission industries. Second, digital inclusive finance attracts more foreign capital inflows and introduces advanced low-carbon technologies and management experience, further promoting the development of low-carbon economy. In addition, the study also found that the differences between different cities in terms of geographic location and city size have a significant impact on the carbon emission reduction effect of digital inclusive finance. In particular, the carbon emission reduction effect of digital inclusive finance is particularly significant in western regions, central cities, and first-tier cities. In response to these findings, this paper proposes a series of targeted policy recommendations. First, the financial service system should be further optimized to increase the coverage and penetration of digital inclusive finance, especially in less developed regions and small- and medium-sized cities. Second, regional policy synergies should be strengthened to form a strong synergy to promote the development of a low-carbon economy. In addition, it should guide capital flows to low-carbon industries and encourage enterprises to increase green technology research and development and application, while actively promoting low-carbon consumption concepts and guiding consumers to form green consumption habits. Through the implementation of these measures, it is expected that the potential of digital inclusive finance in the development of a low-carbon economy will be further stimulated, making a greater contribution to the realization of the goals of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality.

CLIMATE-SMART CITY: CAN CHINA’S SMART CITY POLICY LEAD TO LOW-CARBON DEVELOPMENT OF CITIES?

As an intensive mode of urbanization, a smart city may be conducive to achieving a win–win situation of regulating the urban economy and the environment. Based on a quasi-natural experiment in three batches of smart pilot cities, we use the difference-in-differences (DID) method to examine the impact of the smart city policy on CO2 emissions by adopting city panel data in China during the period 2003–2017. This study also explores the influence mechanism and heterogeneous effects of smart city policy. The empirical results indicate that China’s smart city policy effectively lowered CO2 emissions by approximately 1.83%. This primary finding remains reliable using the propensity score matching (PSM)-DID method for robustness check. Moreover, the smart city policy not only directly inhibits CO2 emissions, but also indirectly influences CO2 emissions through scale, structure, and technology effects. Regarding city heterogeneity, the first-tier cities in the eastern area, which have larger population scale and more resource endowments, tend to have stronger negative impacts on CO2 emissions. Based on these conclusions, we highlight several specific policy measures for reducing CO2 emissions and achieving dual carbon targets in China.

The Feasibility of Initiated Movie Watching in New First-tier Cities

China's movie market has seen rapid growth in three years as the COVID-19 passes. At the same time, economic recovery has made the need for recreational life in new first-tier cities more urgent. Initiated movie watching, which fits the recovery of the movie industry as well as the general background of economic recovery, is a new type of entertainment program worth exploring. This study evaluates the feasibility of initiated movie watching in new first-tier cities in multiple dimensions through data analysis. Combined with industry data, the paper explores the development of initiated movies and the positive effects they can bring to the further recovery of the movie industry. The study concludes that there is much room for the development and feasibility of initiated movie watching in China's new first-tier cities and it can contribute to the further recovery of the movie market.

Housing Vulnerability, Shared Housing, Informality, and Crowding: The Housing Strategies of China’s Recent College Graduates

ABSTRACT Mirroring developments elsewhere, for recent college graduates in China the transition to employment is increasingly protracted and, for some, precarious. Case studies of individual strategies and cities indicate a diversification of housing pathways, where economic precarity is rendering at least some vulnerable. Based on original survey data collected in 2019, I investigate the housing choices of Chinese college graduate job market entrants and ask who is vulnerable and whether adverse outcomes are mere market entry strategies or lasting. I find that recent graduates generally find housing in central locations, close to their work. However, to achieve favourable locational outcomes on low budgets, many resort to sharing. High-density room sharing of three or more people is illegal but prominent and dominates in first-tier cities. The findings highlight how urbanization interacts with housing vulnerability and contribute to theorizing on the housing crisis, the Global North-South binary, and the very nature of home sharing.

Empirical Study on the Economic Impact of Small and Medium-Sized Sports Events on China's New First-tier Cities

To investigate the impact of medium and large sports events on the economies of first-tier cities in China, this study employs the ordinary least squares method to analyze the relationship between economic growth, the frequency of sports events, and industrial output in six cities—Guangzhou, Nanjing, Jinan, Shenyang, Tianjin, and Xi'an—that hosted events such as the National Games and marathons from 2000 to 2023. The empirical results indicate that the frequency of small and medium-sized sports events, along with factors such as financial and retail industry output, have a positive impact on economic development. Furthermore, due to varying levels of development, the specific industries impacted by sports events differ across cities. This research demonstrated that the rational planning of medium and large sports events can contribute to urban economic development.

Risks, Challenges and Strategies of the Creation of China’s “City of Events”– A Case Study of Hangzhou

From 2007, when Jinjiang proposed to build “China’s first sports city”, to the successful hosting of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, an increasing number of first-tier cities have regarded sports events as an important strategic layout for urban development. The construction of the “city of events” is proposed by the first-tier cities in China based on the national development strategy, serving the demands of the times for urban development, people’s livelihood and well-being, economic growth and window display. Based on literature, expert interviews and case studies, the article analyzes the current situation of Hangzhou as one of the first “city of events” in Zhejiang Province, existing predicaments and potential risks, strategies and paths for risk aversion, and the risks and challenges of Hangzhou in creating a “city of events”. The results show that there are risks such as lack of culture, imbalance of profit and loss, and lack of core strength in the creation of “city of events”, and it is necessary to focus on multi-dimensional efforts such as sports characteristic positioning, professional events and mass sports cultivation to realize the differential order development pattern of sports events integrating urban characteristics, and thus deduce the action logic of the creation of “city of events”. Diverse urban culture determines the difference in the development orientation of sports cities, and the idea of synergy, profit and loss balance, risk avoidance, and facing the future with a more positive outlook is the meaning and inevitable way of the creation of the domestic “city of events”.

Evaluating the synergistic effects of digital economy and government governance on urban low-carbon transition

Under the vision of the “dual carbon” targets, the digital economy and government governance have emerged as pivotal means for urban low-carbon transition. This study, based on theoretical analysis, utilizes panel data from 253 Chinese cities spanning 2011 to 2019 to investigate the relationship between the digital economy, government governance, and urban low-carbon transition. The findings demonstrate that: (1) The digital economy not only directly contributes to low-carbon transition but also exerts an indirect influence through enhancing labor productivity, accelerating green technological innovation, and upgrading industrial structures; (2) Significantly, government governance can synergize with the digital economy to propel urban low-carbon transition, this synergistic effect can be achieved through mechanisms related to green technological innovation and industrial upgrading; (3) Overall, the moderating effect of governance effectiveness is more significant than governance capability; (4) Analysis of heterogeneity reveals that first-tier cities, core cities, and cities in the central and western regions exhibit more efficient low-carbon transitions. These findings offer valuable theoretical insights and practical guidance for advancing urban low-carbon development and shaping relevant policy decisions.

Study on the Applicability of Green and Efficient Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Based on Exhaust Air Heat Recovery Technology

With the sustained and stable development of the national economy, China has stepped into a new stage of green emission reduction. Under the environment of comprehensively promoting the market share of green and efficient refrigeration products, the popularization and use of exhaust air heat recovery technology in different fields will further promote the green and efficient transformation of the refrigeration industry, improve the industry's independent innovation technology, and accelerate the construction of ecological civilization. This project firstly analyzes the research background, reviews domestic and international research, and clarifies the research background and current situation; secondly, it builds a comprehensive evaluation system for green refrigeration development based on three major energy-saving concepts, and measures the level of green refrigeration development in China's first-tier cities; secondly, it applies empirical evidence based on the data of three districts and cities, namely, Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, in the period of 2011-2021, to analyze the effect of the exhaust heat recovery technology on the development of high-efficiency green refrigeration. Then, based on the data of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou from 2011 to 2021, we use the empirical analysis to analyze the effect of exhaust air heat recovery technology on the development of high-efficiency green refrigeration.