Huaihai Economic Zone Research Articles

Spatiotemporal evolution of carbon emissions and influencing factors in county-level based on nighttime lighting data: a case study in Huaihai economic zone core city

ABSTRACT Driven by China’s carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals, this study constructs a carbon emission inversion model for 57 county-level in the core city cluster of the Huaihai Economic Zone. It analyzes the spatial-temporal characteristics of carbon emissions in these counties between 2001 and 2021. It also explores the impacts of different socio-economic factors on carbon emissions by adopting geographically and temporally weighted regression methods. The results showed that: (1) From 2001 to 2021, the total carbon emissions of counties increased from 63.42 Mt to 279.89 Mt, and the distribution pattern of the region is “high in the middle and low in the east and west.” (2) Carbon emissions have significant positive spatial correlations, with the global Moran’s I index showing a wave-like downward trend from 0.233 to 0.0954, indicating that the spatial concentration of carbon emissions in different counties is gradually decreasing, and the differences show a trend of narrowing. (3) Significant spatial and temporal heterogeneity is among the influencing factors. It is mainly manifested in population size and industrial structure, while economic scale and technological progress are the dominant factors in carbon emissions. The research results will inform county-level low-carbon development.

Evaluation of innovation primacy in cross-regional central cities: Evidence from the Huaihai Economic Zone in China (2010-2020).

With the intensification of global economic competition, innovation has become one of the core elements of vigorous development in various regions. Improving the innovation ability of cross-regional central cities is the main factor influencing whether a region can achieve economic and social development. In this paper, an innovation primacy index system is designed according to the links of the innovation value chain, and the innovation advantages and empirical effects are comprehensively analyzed by using the point-to-point method, entropy weight method, gravity model and two-way fixed effect model. Based on the data of 8 cities in the core area of the Huaihai Economic Zone from 2010 to 2020 in China, Xuzhou's innovation primacy ranks first in the core area of the Huaihai Economic Zone, which accords with its status as the central city of the region. Its index has been rising, and its development trend is also good. However, the overall innovation ability of the core area of the Huaihai Economic Zone is unbalanced; the overall economic foundation is not solid enough. In terms of knowledge innovation, R&D innovation and industrial innovation, the industrialization level, around the activation of Xuzhou city vitality, enhances the Xuzhou innovation radiation drive, leading to a decrease in the Huaihai Economic Zone. Finally, some corresponding suggestions on innovation primacy have been proposed for the city of the Huaihai Economic Zone.

Effects of work-family conflict, social support and burnout on job satisfaction among primary care physicians in Huaihai economic zone.

Primary care physicians (PCPs) are doctors in primary health care institutions, namely village clinics, township health centers and community health service centers (stations) who are the main providers of primary health care services in primary health care settings. Improving the overall health status of the population requires the support of a large number of primary care physicians; however, the job satisfaction of this group has not been sufficiently emphasized and recognized. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of primary care physicians' work-family conflict on their job satisfaction, as well as the mediating role of burnout and the moderating role of social support. This cross-sectional study was conducted from February 2023 to March 2023. Participants were 749 primary care physicians from four cities of Xuzhou, Linyi, Huaibei, and Shangqiu in the Huaihai Economic Zone of China. SPSS statistical analysis was used to evaluate the relationship between work-family conflict, social support, burnout and job satisfaction among medical workers. Work-family conflict had a significant negative effect on job satisfaction (β = -0.36, p< 0.001), after adding burnout in the model, work-family conflict also negatively predicted job satisfaction (β = -0.32, p< 0.001). Social support had a moderating effect on the direct effect of burnout on job satisfaction (β = 0.00, t = 2.66, p< 0.01, 95%CI [0.001, 0.007]), the predictive effect of burnout on job satisfaction at high level of social support (β = -0.45, p< 0.001) was higher than a low level of social support (β = -0.33, p< 0.001). This study demonstrated the negative impact of work-family conflict on primary care physicians' job satisfaction, as well as the mediating role of burnout and the moderating role of social support on burnout and job satisfaction, which are important for improving primary care physicians' job satisfaction and enhancing the quality of primary care in the future.

Evolution of the asynchronous relationship between interprovincial industrial growth and carbon emissions and its coordination mechanism：A case study of the Huaihai Economic Zone

Evolution of the asynchronous relationship between interprovincial industrial growth and carbon emissions and its coordination mechanism：A case study of the Huaihai Economic Zone

Spatiotemporal evolution patterns and driving factors of arable land in Huaihai Economic Zone, China

The Huaihai Economic Zone (HEZ) has excellent topographic and climatic conditions and is recognized as one of China’s major grain production areas. Identifying the spatiotemporal evolution patterns of arable land and the driving factors can offer valuable insights for protecting arable land, optimizing land use layout, and developing ecological economics in HEZ. In this paper, we analyze the spatiotemporal evolution patterns using spatial autocorrelation, land use transfer matrix, and kernel density calculations and investigate the driving factors of arable land evolution with Geodetector. The results show the following trends in the distribution of arable land within the HEZ: 1) The kernel density distribution of the arable land in HEZ remained relatively consistent from 2005 to 2020, but the density showed a downward trend over time. 2) The distribution of arable land in HEZ exhibited lower density in the Northeast and higher density in the Southwest, showing growth in the initial stage and subsequent declines in the intermediate and final phases. 3) A significant positive spatial correlation was observed in the distribution of arable land in HEZ. The main local cluster types were the “high-high” and “low-low” clusters, and their distribution characteristics were similar to the kernel density of arable land. 4) The change of arable land in HEZ between 2005 and 2020 was primarily driven by the conversion of land types, with a notable shift towards grassland and construction land 5) The main driving factors affecting the spatial distribution of arable land in HEZ included traffic accessibility, air temperature, precipitation, elevation, and slope. The secondary driving factors were land use and soil type. Over time, population and GDP have also evolved into significant driving factors. 6) The factors were bi-enhance after the interaction. In the future, all cities within HEZ should implement rigorous control measures to limit the expansion of arable land usage. Their primary focus should be on revitalizing existing construction land while strictly upholding the “compensation determines occupation” principle. They should also work to optimize the arrangement of arable land and give increased consideration to the interactive effects of traffic accessibility, population, and GDP to protect arable land in a more focused and effective manner.

Effects of work-family conflict on turnover intention among primary medical staff in Huaihai Economic Zone: a mediation model through burnout.

Countries worldwide face the challenge of how medical personnel manage conflicts between work and family. Especially after the challenge of the COVID-19 epidemic, it is necessary to explore the possible mechanisms of work-family conflict, burnout, and turnover intention among primary medical staff. This study aims to observe the turnover intention of Chinese primary medical staff and explore the relationship between work-family conflict, burnout, and turnover intention. A cross-sectional study included a turnover intention questionnaire, the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey (MBI-GS), and the Work-Family Conflict Scale (WFCS) to understand turnover intention, burnout, and work-family conflict among primary medical staff in four cities (Xuzhou, Linyi, Huaibei, and Shangqiu cities) within the Huaihai Economic Zone. Spearman correlation analysis and hierarchical multiple regression analysis were used to examine the related factors of turnover intention. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to study the mediating role of burnout between work-family conflict and turnover intention. In this study, there is a positive correlation between work-family conflict and turnover intention (P < 0.01). Demographic characteristics, work-family conflict, and burnout explained 2.3%, 20.3%, and 8.8% of the incremental variances, respectively. Burnout mediated the association between work-family conflict and turnover intention. Burnout can be regarded as a mediator between two different variables: work-family conflict and turnover intention. Improving work-family conflict and alleviating burnout may play a key role in reducing the willingness of primary medical staff to resign. Corresponding measures can be taken to balance the conflict between work and family, alleviate burnout, reduce turnover rates, and build a primary medical staff team with higher medical service quality and stability.

Spatial and Temporal Variation of Aerosol Optical Depth in Huaihai Economic Zone from 1982 to 2021

Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD), quantifying the amount of aerosol in the atmosphere, is widely regarded as a crucial indicator for research on atmospheric physics and regional air quality. At present, the inversion of AOD from observation of satellite remote sensing sensors has become the main technology for large-scale monitoring of aerosol load. The Huaihai Economic Zone is the connecting belt of two key areas of atmospheric governance (the Yangtze River Delta and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, China), and it has been suffering from air pollution for many years and few studies of AOD focus on this region. Therefore, the spatial and temporal characteristics of the AOD are explored using MODIS AOD data and AVHRR AOD data in this region during the period from 1982 to 2021 in this study. The correlation coefficients between the AOD of satellite observation and actual air pollution were analyzed by combining PM2.5 pollutant concentration and air quality index (AQI) data. The results showed that the AOD is higher in the northwest than in the southeast, and it is different from season to season. The annual variation of AOD in the Huaihai Economic Zone is a W-shaped trend from 1982 to 2011, while the trend of annual AOD is decreasing after 2011. In terms of seasons, the whole differences in AOD are evident, exhibiting AOD values in summer &gt; those in spring &gt; those in autumn &gt; and those in winter. Furthermore, it indicated that the quarterly and monthly variation of the AOD tends to be flat in recent years. Since 2015, the concentration of PM2.5 has continued to decline, the same as that of AQI. Meanwhile, the quarterly and monthly differences in PM2.5 are still obvious, with higher PM2.5 in winter and lower PM2.5 in summer. However, it also represented that PM2.5 is significantly higher in spring than in autumn from 2015 to 2018, which is the opposite for 2019 to 2021. Lastly, the correlation between AOD and PM2.5/AQI is also given; i.e., the correlation coefficients of AOD with PM2.5/AQI are 0.84/0.82, with the highest correlation coefficient in autumn (R = 0.86/0.91) and the lowest in winter (R = 0.46/0.48).

Analyzing the innovation ability of listed companies in the core area of the Huaihai economic zone.

The strategic position of the core area of the Huaihai Economic Zone is very important. The evaluation and analysis of the listed companies' innovation ability in this core area effectively reflect the level of innovation ability of regional enterprises and uncover the differences and influencing factors of the enterprise innovation ability level across different cities and industries; this would provide a reference for further improving the enterprise innovation ability level in the Huaihai Economic Zone. Given this context, data are collected from the CSMAR database on 37 listed companies in eight cities in the Huaihai Economic Zone core area from 2017 to 2021, and an innovation ability evaluation index is constructed from the innovation input and innovation output dimensions of listed companies. The results show that the innovation ability of listed companies in the region is weak; the main reason for the lack of innovation ability of listed companies is the lack of capital investment and talent investment; the innovation primacy of Xuzhou listed enterprises is not high. Finally, in view of the improvement of the innovation ability of listed enterprises in the core field, corresponding suggestions are put forward from the aspects of increasing innovation investment, optimizing the innovation environment and improving the innovation leading force in Xuzhou.

Vertical profiles of aerosol and NO2 based on mobile multi-axis differential absorption spectroscopy

Mobile acquisition of vertical distribution profiles of air pollutants in urban areas is of great significance for studying the transmission and traceability of urban pollutants. In this study, a portable mobile multi-axis differential optical absorption spectroscopy (MAX-DOAS) system was used to establish an algorithm based on the mobile system to retrieve air pollution profiles, which could quickly trace the source of pollutants in urban areas. First, this study used the mobile MAX-DOAS system to continuously measure a planned urban route from multiple angles in real time and collect the vertical distribution information of aerosols and NO2 in different positions. Then, the established algorithm and the vertical distribution information of the pollutants were used to retrieve the air pollution profiles via the minimum cost function. Finally, the pollution source orientation was traced, and the pollution transmission process was analyzed based on the wind field data of the model. Experimental results showed a significant correlation between tropospheric monitoring instrument (TROPOMI) and mobile measurements based on a coefficient of determination value of 0.85. It was found that the air quality of Xuzhou and Huaihai Economic Zone was adversely affected by the transport of the pollutants northeast of Xuzhou. This study realizes portable mobile retrieval of the aerosol and NO2 profiles in urban areas, improves the accuracy of pollution traceability, and provides insights into retrieving the trace gas profiles via a mobile MAX-DOAS system.

Spatio-Temporal Analysis about Resource and Environmental Carrying Capacity (RECC) of Mining Cities in Coal-Concentrated Areas: A Case Study of Huaihai Economic Zone in China

The over-exploitation and utilization of natural resources in mining cities has caused sharp contradictions between urban development and ecological protection. In addition, dynamic changes in resources and environmental carrying capacity (RECC) will be changed by the different ways and degrees of the specific utilization of natural resources. In order to better study the dynamic trends and reasons of the RECC in mining cities, so as to provide methods and suggestions for the mining cities to save resources, improve the ecology, and adjust the industrial structure, this article will construct an evaluation index for the RECC of mining cities. Taking Huaihai Economic Zone as the research object, we used the entropy method to determine the index weight. Then, the TOPSIS model was used to analyze the spatial and temporal characteristics of the development of the RECC of mining cities in coal-concentrated areas during 2012–2018. After the analysis, the study found five results. (1) Except Zaozhuang, the RECC of the six mining cities in the Huaihai Economic Zone showed a steady upward trend during 2012–2018; (2) among the three subsystems, natural resources have the greatest impact on the RECC; (3) in terms of space, the carrying capacity in this region gradually has a polarization phenomenon centered on Xuzhou and Jining, and will continue to increase in the future; (4) the types of mining cities will have an impact on the change characteristics of the RECC; and (5) most cities improve the level of ecological carrying capacity (ECC) and social economic carrying capacity (SECC) at the cost of the decline of resources carrying capacity (RCC). Based on the results, the research can provide optimized reference strategies for the transformation and development of mining cities to ecological cities in Huaihai Economic Zone.

Spatiotemporal Pattern of Cultivated Land Pressure and Its Influencing Factors in the Huaihai Economic Zone, China.

Cultivated land pressure represents a direct reflection of grain security. Existing relevant studies rarely approached the spatiotemporal pattern of cultivated land pressure or the spatial heterogeneity of its influencing factors from the level of economic zones. Taking the Huaihai Economic Zone (HEZ), China for case analysis, this study investigated the spatiotemporal pattern of cultivated land pressure in diverse periods from 2000 to 2018 based on a modified cultivated land pressure index and spatial correlation models. On this basis, it explored the influencing factors of the spatial differentiation of cultivated land pressure in the late stage of the study using geographical detector as well as multi-scale geographically weighted regression model. The results indicated that: 1) in the study period, the global cultivated land pressure index of the study area decreased gradually, but cultivated land pressure increased locally in a significant way, especially in the central and southern Shandong Province; 2) the spatial pattern of cultivated land pressure manifested global clustering features. Hot and secondary-hot spots presented a narrowing and clustering trend, whereas cold and secondary-cold spots manifested a spreading and clustering trend; 3) average slope, the proportion of non-grain crops, population urbanization rate, and multiple cropping index have significant effects on the spatial differentiation of cultivated land pressure. The former three factors were positively correlated with cultivated land pressure, and the last factor was negatively correlated with cultivated land pressure; and 4) the amount of cultivated land has increased in the central and southern Shandong Province through land consolidation which, nonetheless, failed to improve the grain production. In regards to major grain producing areas similar to the HEZ in China, the authors suggest that great importance should be given to the balance of the quality and quantity of cultivated land, the optimization of agricultural production factors and the rational control of non-grain crops, thus providing a powerful guarantee for grain security in China.

Optimizing inland port scale and function decisions: A bilevel programming approach

With the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative, the inland ports planning is receiving more and more attention. In this work, we aim to determine the scale and function of different potential inland ports in a certain region while considering the cargo flow allocation schemes for the inland ports and seaports in cross-border trade. Unlike previous studies, we consider the dynamic interaction between local government and manufacturing enterprises in the inland port planning process. Based on this, we formulate a bilevel programming model for the considered inland port planning problem, where the upper-level focuses on the local government and the lower-level concentrates on the manufacturing enterprise. To solve the proposed model, we develop a hybrid heuristic algorithm by combining a genetic algorithm and an exact solution method. Furthermore, we conduct a case study of the inland ports planning for the Huaihai Economic Zone in China to verify the applicability of the proposed model and algorithm. The computational results demonstrate that the proposed optimization approach can effectively increase the cross-border transportation market share of inland ports within a limited investment amount and reduce the competition among these inland ports. Our case study also provides valuable management insights on inland port planning in terms of manufacturing enterprises weights, investment limit amount, scale effect, and cargo value weights.

Ecosystem Service Value Evolution and Security Pattern Optimization in Huaihai Economic Zone

The ecological and environmental effects caused by land use change have attracted global attention. Huaihai Economic Zone, as the core of the Huaihe River ecological economic belt, has experienced a reciprocal evolution of land use, ecological security and regional economic development. Based on multi-stage land use data extracted by Google Earth Engine (GEE), the spatio-temporal differentiation characteristics of ecosystem service value (ESV) evolution in Huaihai Economic Zone from 1998 to 2018 were analyzed with the help of ESV assessment and a minimum accumulated resistance model (MCR), and the regional ecological security pattern (ESP) was optimized. The results show that ESV intensity has obvious spatial differentiation, which is higher in northeastern China and lower in southwestern China. The median ESV area accounted for the largest proportion, while the high and low ESV areas accounted for a small proportion. The characteristics of EVS temporal and spatial differentiation show decreasing and increasing grades. From the perspective of development period, the ESV grade changes show a positive trend. In the optimization of the ecological security pattern, 26 important ecological sources, 22 main landscape ecological corridors, and 65 ecological strategic nodes were optimized and identified, and the middle-level ecological security zone accounted for the largest proportion. The main reasons for the changes in the ESV and ESP are closely related to the changes in local natural resources and the changes and adjustments in government protection policies. These research results can provide a reference for inter-provincial territorial space protection and the formulation of a sustainable development strategy.

The spatial pattern of agricultural ecosystem services from the production-living-ecology perspective: A case study of the Huaihai Economic Zone, China

Clarifying the spatial pattern of multiple ecosystem services and the production-living-ecology is crucial for promoting the sustainable development of regional agricultural ecosystems. In this paper, taking the Huaihai Economic Zone (HEZ) as a case study area, we used a series of geospatial models and multisource data to construct a framework for assessing the production-living-ecology of agricultural ecosystem services. Then, the ecosystem services and comprehensive production-living-ecology index of the cropland in the entire study area were evaluated and analyzed. Finally, we used a method of regionalization with dynamically constrained agglomerative clustering and partitioning to identify the subclusters of agricultural ecosystems in the study area and proposed the concept of regional management. We found that (1) for the single service of agricultural ecosystems, based on warm temperate semihumid climatic conditions and topographic factors, water conservation, carbon sequestration and oxygen release and grain production services in the HEZ showed spatial consistency in 2017; the distribution characteristics of these factors were high in the south and low in the north; the distribution of soil maintenance services was the opposite, and the high value of culture and recreation services was scattered and distributed in areas with good ecological background conditions and convenient transportation. (2) The production-living-ecology index in the HEZ generally showed a distribution pattern of high in the south and low in the north. (3) Through zoning, the 1884 grids, 12 partitions, and 6 subclusters provide references for the management of different types of agricultural ecosystem services. Our results can provide scientific guidance for the development of effective agricultural ecosystem management programs and the optimization of cropland development.

Coupling Relationship Among Technological Innovation, Industrial Transformation and Environmental Efficiency: A Case Study of the Huaihai Economic Zone, China.

The 14th Five-Year Plan period is a critical period for China to achieve high-quality development. Based on super-efficiency slacks-based measure (SBM) model, grey-related analysis (GRA) and other models, this paper studies the heterogeneity of the coupling relationship among technological innovation, industrial transformation and environmental efficiency in the Huaihai Economic Zone during the period of 2005–2019. In addition, it analyzes the coupling mechanism of single and binary systems to the ternary system, which is of great significance for the collaborative symbiosis among systems. The findings are as follows. 1) The technological innovation, industrial transformation and environmental efficiency (TIE) systems of the Huaihai Economic Zone had significant spatial-temporal heterogeneity. Although their evaluation value fluctuated, the development trends are all positive. Ultimately, technological innovation is characterized by being high in the northeast and low in the southwest around Xuzhou, while other systems are relatively staggered in space. 2) The coupling of TIE systems is in transition, lack of orderly integration and benign interaction. However, the developing trend of interaction is also upward, and a spatial pattern driven by Xuzhou and Linyi as the dual cores has gradually formed. Moreover, the coupling is mostly manifested as outdated technological innovation and industrial transformation. Except for the final coordination of regenerative cities, the other resource types are all in transition. Cities in all traffic locations are still in transition. The overall system interaction of cities on Longhai Line (Lanzhou-Lianyungang Railway) is relatively optimal, and cities on Xinshi Line (Xinxiang-Rizhao Railway) are accelerating toward synergy. 3) The coupling status of TIE systems depends on the development of the single system and the interaction of the binary (2E) system. The coupling is closely related to technological innovation and Technology-Industry system, and is hindered by the inefficient interaction of Technology-Environment system. Specifically, the synergy of regenerative cities is attributed to the advantage of a single system and the effective integration of 2E systems. Beneficial from the advantages of environmental efficiency, the cities on Xinshi Line promote the synergy of the 2E and TIE systems. Therefore, while the Huaihai Economic Zone stimulates the development potential of the single and 2E systems, it is necessary to amplify the superimposition effect of systems in accordance on the basis of resource and location.

Random Forest Estimation and Trend Analysis of PM2.5 Concentration over the Huaihai Economic Zone, China (2000–2020)

Consisting of ten cities in four Chinese provinces, the Huaihai Economic Zone has suffered serious air pollution over the last two decades, particularly of fine particulate matter (PM2.5). In this study, we used multi-source data, namely MAIAC AOD (at a 1 km spatial resolution), meteorological, topographic, date, and location (latitude and longitude) data, to construct a regression model using random forest to estimate the daily PM2.5 concentration over the Huaihai Economic Zone from 2000 to 2020. It was found that the variable expressing time (date) had the greatest characteristic importance when estimating PM2.5. By averaging the modeled daily PM2.5 concentration, we produced a yearly PM2.5 concentration dataset, at a 1 km resolution, for the study area from 2000 to 2020. On comparing modeled daily PM2.5 with observational data, the coefficient of determination (R2) of the modeling was 0.85, the root means square error (RMSE) was 14.63 μg/m3, and the mean absolute error (MAE) was 10.03 μg/m3. The quality assessment of the synthesized yearly PM2.5 concentration dataset shows that R2 = 0.77, RMSE = 6.92 μg/m3, and MAE = 5.42 μg/m3. Despite different trends from 2000–2010 and from 2010–2020, the trend of PM2.5 concentration over the Huaihai Economic Zone during the 21 years was, overall, decreasing. The area of the significantly decreasing trend was small and mainly concentrated in the lake areas of the Zone. It is concluded that PM2.5 can be well-estimated from the MAIAC AOD dataset, when incorporating spatiotemporal variability using random forest, and that the resultant PM2.5 concentration data provide a basis for environmental monitoring over large geographic areas.

The Linkage between Sustainable Development Goals 9 and 11: Examining the Association between Sustainable Urbanization and Intellectual Property Rights Protection

AbstractUnited Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 9 and 11 advocate industrial innovation and sustainable cities, respectively, although how sustainable urban development ensures the protection of innovative achievements remains understudied. Employing the Spatial Durbin Model, this study examines how the protection of intellectual property rights (IPRs) has affected sustainable urbanization using the case of the Huaihai economic zone (HEZ), China. Adopting a theoretical and empirical approach, the study seeks to understand how sustainable urbanization affects the protection of IPRs, and explores the spatial spillover from the perspectives of economic growth structure, technological progress, economic agglomeration and social welfare enhancement, taking into account also the protection of IPRs at a sub‐national level. The results indicate that sustainable urbanization is positively related to the protection of IPRs (as can be understood from the four abovementioned aspects of sustainable urbanization), that the spatial spillover effects of sustainable urbanization on the protection of IPRs and distance from the central city are significant, and that foreign direct investment (FDI)—a significant driving force in China's urbanization—has a negative impact.

The impact of density, distance and division on intellectual property rights protection: the case of Huaihai Economic Zone, China

ABSTRACT Although intellectual property rights (IPRs) protection is often discussed at national level, it may also present spatial difference at sub-national level due to regional economic development inequality in geographic space. The paper explores the empirical impact of 3Ds (Density, Distances and Division) framework of the 2009 World Development Report on spatial heterogeneity of IPRs protection within 20 cities in Huaihai Economic Zone (HEZ), China. Endogeneity and spatial effect issues are discussed in the study. This study not only employs OLS to examine the effects of spatial heterogeneity on IPRs protection, but also uses two-stage least squares regression (2SLS) and spatial effects to address endogeneity and neighbour issues respectively. Econometric results indicate that distance plays an important role in disparities of IPRs protection, especially distances to provincial capitals. However, the role of Xuzhou, the central city of HEZ, is not highlighted. The positive effect of density can help us understand IPRs protection and its significant role proves the existence of agglomeration, but due to the small sample size, we have to treat its effect carefully. Meanwhile, the results on division demonstrate the negative impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) and the existence of low quality FDI in Huaihai Economic Zone. In addition, the above conclusions continue to be held by interaction variables, and time dummies indicate that HEZ has been committed to the development of IPRs protection in recent years. Finally, these results have a strong policy implication for economic agglomeration, economic integration and central city development in HEZ.

Multi-step ahead forecasting of regional air quality using spatial-temporal deep neural networks: A case study of Huaihai Economic Zone

Air pollution has endangered both ecological environment and human health. Long-term prediction of air quality index (AQI) is an effective approach to early warning of, and prompt response to, pollution events to support cleaner industrial production. However, existing approaches to forecasting long-term air quality need further improvement. In this paper, we proposed a novel spatial-temporal deep learning algorithm based on bidirectional gated recurrent unit integrated with attention mechanism (BiAGRU), for more accurate air quality forecasting. The historical air quality measurements and meteorological monitoring data were constructed as a spatial-temporal matrix suitable for model input. The performance of the proposed BiAGRU model was evaluated by a series of metrics. The RMSE , MAE , R 2 and Fractional Bias ( FB ) values of the proposed BiAGRU model are 31.10, 23.06, 0.60, and 0.015, respectively, for 24 h multi-step ahead prediction assignments using Huaihai Economic Zone dataset. Quantitative comparison between models indicates the developed BiAGRU model outperformed various traditional machine learning algorithms and advanced deep neural network methods in term of lower error bias and higher accuracy and regression scores. This work is of importance to strengthen regional prevention and control of air pollution. • A novel artificial intelligence methodology for multi-step ahead forecasting and analysis of air quality. • Inclusion of spatial information improves regional air quality forecasting. • Model performance is evaluated against comprehensive metrics. • The novel spatial-temporal BiAGRU model outperformed several state-of-the-art algorithms.

Regional differential characteristics of urban-rural space integration development in Huaihai Economic Zone and its formation mechanism

Regional differential characteristics of urban-rural space integration development in Huaihai Economic Zone and its formation mechanism