ABSTRACT Rapid urbanisation in China has reshaped historic urban cores, placing modern heritage fabric under increasing redevelopment pressure. Focusing on Zhongshan District in Dalian, a historic port city shaped by layered Russian and Japanese planning legacies, this study develops an integrated GIS and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) framework to assess cultural heritage value at the district scale. Archival research and systematic field surveys are used to translate qualitative heritage significance into spatially explicit, value-based evidence. The results reveal a clear spatial gradient of heritage value, with high-value clusters concentrated around Zhongshan Square and lower values extending toward peripheral redevelopment zones. While officially listed buildings remain relatively well protected, many unlisted yet socially meaningful structures are shown to be particularly vulnerable, highlighting limitations in existing top-down governance approaches. By operationalising the UNESCO Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) approach through a value-based GIS – AHP framework, this study demonstrates how heritage assessment can be integrated into everyday planning practice and offers transferable insights for rapidly transforming port cities in East Asia.

Wet markets remain a cornerstone of fresh food retail in Chinese cities, continuously evolving alongside urbanization. However, the drivers and implications of their transformation at the city level remain underexplored. Drawing on government documents and survey data from Nanjing and Suzhou, this study reveals that China’s wet market evolution is characterized by incremental semi-formalization and upgrading, preserving their essential role in the food supply chain without displacing other retail formats. This transformation reflects shifting government attitudes, strategic urban planning for food security, and the effective integration of public and private interests. The hybrid governance model, which combines public oversight with private operation, has enhanced wet markets’ resilience, ensuring affordability, freshness, and social interaction. Their adaptability underscores a broader lesson: inclusive urban food systems require soft–hard infrastructure synergy, where physical upgrades coexist with social functions. In this paper, we argue that wet markets exemplify social infrastructure: they are not merely food hubs but spaces fostering civic life, cultural continuity, and equitable access. Their co-evolution with supermarkets and e-commerce challenges the “supermarketization” thesis, highlighting the importance of policy flexibility and localized governance. Our findings offer insights for Global South cities grappling with food system transitions, emphasizing the need to balance modernization with the preservation of informal economies’ social fabric.

Accelerating the low-carbon transition of an urban centralized heating system is a key concern for policymakers. We propose a novel equilibrium analysis framework to assess the feasibility of implementing ETS in China's central heating sector. The results demonstrate that implementing an emission trading scheme (ETS) within the central heating sector can accelerate decarbonization process by shifting the focus of the current Clean Heating Campaign from gas boilers to industrial surplus heat and geothermal energy, aligning with China's goal of reaching 25% nonfossil energy by 2030. It can provide a more cost-effective and sustainable decarbonization pathway in which a 1% annual reduction in carbon quotas leads to emissions peak at 2033, as well as it is expected to generate significant co-benefits by reducing heating-related air pollution. A well-designed subsidy reallocation and phase-out strategy can enable the ETS to drive decarbonization and alleviate fiscal pressures. This combination of ETS and subsidies ensures a smooth transition to low-carbon heating in the short term and is sustainable in the long run through endogenous technological advancement and market self-regulation.

ABSTRACT Over the past two decades, scholars working on urbanization in China have grappled with a fundamental contradiction: the nation’s urban–rural binary simultaneously over-determines livelihoods and life chances and fails to capture the under-determined nature of urbanization as a set of social and material processes. In response to this problem, various strategies of reconceptualization have emerged, including the redefinition, complication, and recombination of China’s urban and rural categories. Nevertheless, the urban–rural binary and its misrepresentation of Chinese urbanization persists. Using the conceptual apparatus of science and technology studies, this article critically examines this literature as a basis for reengaging ongoing conceptual debates in the wider field of urban studies. Through a reading of the last 20 years of “Number One Documents,” which highlight the central government’s policy priorities for rural development, I argue that the apparent mismatch between categories and processes is not, in fact, a problem that is susceptible to conceptual resolution. By embracing the methodological principles of agnosticism, symmetry, and free association, a sociology of urban knowledge can help to expose the inherent politics of urban concepts.

A meta-coupling analysis between three-dimensional urbanization and ecosystem services in China’s urban agglomerations

Spatial heterogeneity and evolutionary pathways of PM2.5 pollution driven by urbanization in China to 2100.

Despite the growing prevalence of the intensive mothering ideology in China, little quantitative research has been conducted within the Chinese context. Utilising data from 449 Chinese mothers of preschoolers, the current study examined how intensive mothering attitudes, as well as whether their associations with maternal involvement in educational activities differed by social class. Results suggested that, compared to middle-class mothers, working-class mothers reported a stronger endorsement of intensive mothering in several aspects. Specifically, they believed more strongly in their inherent roles as mothers, the importance of cognitive stimulation and the child-centred parenting approach, and the challenges of mothering more than their middle-class counterparts. Mothers' endorsements of the importance of cognitive stimulation, the child-centred parenting approach, and the fulfilment in childrearing were positively related to their levels of home-based and school-based involvement. In addition, the association between mothers' recognition of the value of cognitive stimulation and home-based involvement was stronger for middle-class than working-class mothers. The findings highlight the impact of the intensive mothering ideology on maternal involvement and its variations by social class in contemporary China.

Falling into poverty or escaping from it? The effect of the minimum wage in urban China

When property becomes liability: Housing wealth and public support for property taxation in urban China

Background This study aims to investigate the associations between four dietary behaviors and physical fitness among Chinese adolescents aged 13–16, with particular attention to urban–rural and sex-related differences. Methods The data were obtained from the Chinese National Survey on Students’ Constitution and Health (CNSSCH). The analysis included 43,194 participants aged 13–16 from urban and rural China. Multivariable linear regression analyses were used to examine associations between dietary and physical fitness, adjusting for physical activity, sleep duration, and sedentary time. Results More frequent consumption of breakfast, eggs, and dairy products was linked to better physical fitness outcomes in all groups. Higher intake of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) was linked to poorer fitness performance. These relationships were stronger in rural adolescents, especially for strength ( β = 0.047, p < 0.001) and endurance ( β = −0.063, p < 0.001). The associations were more evident among girls. Conclusion Dietary behaviors were related to physical fitness in adolescents aged 13–16. The relationships were stronger in rural areas than in urban areas. Regular intake of breakfast, eggs, and dairy products was linked to better strength, speed, and endurance. Overall, higher consumption of breakfast, eggs, and milk, and reduced intake of SSBs were associated with modestly better physical fitness outcomes among adolescents.

BackgroundHome-based respiratory pathogen testing services (HRPTS), an emerging internet-based health care model, enable rapid pathogen identification within hours through digital platforms and eCommerce logistics. This decentralized approach overcomes conventional testing delays to accelerate diagnosis. However, public awareness, adoption, and influencing factors remain largely unknown.ObjectiveIn this study, we aimed to investigate digitally connected metropolitan residents' awareness and intention to adopt HRPTS and analyze factors influencing adoption intention.MethodsThis study used a structured questionnaire grounded in the technology acceptance model, which measured perceived usefulness, ease of use, risk, and behavioral intention. Questionnaire development involved focus group discussions to ensure content validity. Statistical analysis included descriptive statistics and multivariate linear regression, with scale reliability and validity confirmed by exploratory factor analysis. Using a convenience sampling strategy, 1850 volunteers completed questionnaires via Wenjuanxing. After data validation, 1756 surveys met the inclusion criteria (effective response rate: 94.92%) and were analyzed.ResultsAmong 1756 respondents, 54.7% (n=961) knew about HRPTS for respiratory diseases, and 15.3% (n=269) had previously used them. Perceived usefulness was high among respondents: fast pathogen identification (n=1092, 62.2%), early treatment (n=1136, 64.7%), time or cost savings (n=1119, 63.7%), and anxiety alleviation (n=1110, 63.2%). Regarding perceived ease of use, 55.9% (n=982) of the respondents cited robust logistics, 53.8% (n=945) cited online appointment convenience, and 54.2% (n=952) cited simple self-sampling. However, respondents expressed concerns regarding privacy (n=925, 52.7%), test accuracy questions (n=871, 49.6%), and insufficient regulations (n=948, 54.0%). Nevertheless, >70% of the respondents were willing to adopt HRPTS, if available. Multivariate regression showed that higher education (β=.598; P<.001), living with family (β=.271; P=.04), and absence of underlying chronic diseases (β=.321; P=.03) were significant predictors of adoption intention. Additionally, not having used HRPTS before (β=−1.203; P<.001) and less frequent health care–seeking behaviors were negatively associated with adoption intention.ConclusionsHRPTS as an internet-based health care service holds value for early diagnosis, treatment, and health care optimization in urban China. However, significant concerns regarding test accuracy, data privacy, and regulatory accountability within this evolving digital health sector should be addressed to strengthen respiratory disease prevention in the postpandemic era.

ABSTRACT This study develops a novel city‐level metric for assessing digital government in China by applying an LSTM + RobotaBERT text classification model to local government procurement contracts. We investigate the impact of digital government on urban innovation, validating our metric against official digital development indices. Our analysis reveals a significant positive effect of digital government on the quantity of urban innovation, a finding that is robust to a comprehensive set of endogeneity checks. We then unpack the mechanisms, showing that this effect operates through two complementary channels: the direct reduction of firm‐level transaction costs and the broader improvement of the business environment. Crucially, our research demonstrates that the benefits of digital government are not unconditional; its positive impact on innovation is significantly stronger in cities with key enabling conditions, namely higher levels of human capital, financial development, and external cooperation. Furthermore, we find that digital government's influence extends beyond mere quantity to significantly enhance innovation quality, fostering more high‐cited, high‐knowledge‐width, and core technology patents. This work advances the understanding of digital government's role from a simple tool for efficiency to a powerful, context‐dependent catalyst for high‐quality urban innovation, providing nuanced insights for future policy.

This brief article aims to extend what has become a vibrant debate within Chinese urban studies concerning the subfield’s relation to urban theory. This debate is tied to other, analogous discussions shaping urban studies more broadly in recent years and that address themselves to the global scale of urban change. The purpose of this essay is to make legible and accessible the question of theorizing about and from urban China and how recent interventions have contributed to these debates to create a growing and diversifying subfield. The analysis addresses problems of particularism and generalization in the subfield, questions pertaining to exceptionalism and the uniqueness of China as a site of study, burgeoning conceptual innovations derived from urban Chinese settings, and the prospects of Chinese cities generating theory salient elsewhere.

The rapid urbanization in China has profoundly transformed social structures, environmental conditions, and public health landscapes within a relatively brief period. While driving economic growth, it has also generated complex mental health challenges. We explored the multifaceted relationships between urbanization and mental health in China, highlighting spatial and demographic disparities, impact pathways, and intervention strategies. Mental health outcomes are shaped not by a simple urban-rural divide but by many determinants such as age, gender, chronic illness, socioeconomic status, and stage of life. Vulnerable groups, including rural older adults, migrant workers, left-behind or migrant children, and urban youth, face elevated psychological risks from environmental stressors, social exclusion and institutional barriers. Key influences are likely to involve the physical environment, social system, economic factors and policy frameworks. In addition, intervention strategies emphasize both individual and structural approaches, such as community-based psychosocial support, urban greening, inclusive policy design, and integrated mental health governance. However, current research on their impacts remains constrained by methodological limitations. This review underscores the need for equity-oriented approaches, interdisciplinary research and policy innovations to support community mental health within China's urbanization trajectory. Aligning public mental health strategies with national initiatives like "Healthy China 2030" and dual carbon goals is imperative to building inclusive and healthy urban environments for population mental well being and resilience.

This study provides a causal estimate of the impact of logistics-focused coordination policies on regional economic growth in China. While the role of logistics in development is widely acknowledged, the existing literature offers limited causal evidence on the economic mechanisms through which policy-driven coordination unlocks growth. Addressing this gap, we employ a quasi-experimental design, treating the staggered implementation of coordination policies in three major urban agglomerations—Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH), Yangtze River Delta (YRD), and Pearl River Delta (PRD)—as natural experiments. We estimate a heterogeneous Difference-in-Differences (DID) model complemented by an instrumental variable (IV) approach to address endogeneity. Our analysis, structured around supply-side production scale, spatial coordination efficiency, and demand-side market intensity, reveals significant positive effects. However, we find heterogeneous treatment effects: the growth mechanism is infrastructure-driven in BTH, market-integration-led in YRD, and reliant on cross-border cooperation in PRD. By quantifying these distinct causal pathways, this research contributes to the discourses in economic geography and regional policy, underscoring the importance of regionally-tailored economic strategies for achieving efficient resource allocation and sustainable development.

Health inequality is a global issue, with a particularly significant impact on older adults. In China, differences in the urban administrative hierarchy may lead to uneven allocation of public resources, resulting in the concentration of public resources in cities with higher administrative hierarchies and, consequently, health inequality among older adults. Therefore, this study aims to explore the relationship between urban administrative hierarchies and older adults' subjective physical and mental health, while also analyzing the role of resource allocation mechanisms in shaping this dynamic. This study utilizes data from the China Family Panel Studies, the China City Statistical Yearbook, and the China Urban Construction Statistical Yearbook, employing a multi-dimensional fixed effects model, incorporating province, individual, and time variables, to evaluate the impact of the urban administrative hierarchy on the subjective physical and mental health inequality of older adults. The study considers medical and environmental resources as potential mediating variables and explores the moderating role of marketization. The findings reveal a positive correlation between the urban administrative hierarchy and older adults' subjective physical and mental health, with those in cities with higher administrative hierarchies enjoying higher quality of life and subjective health levels. This is primarily due to cities with higher administrative hierarchies owning medical and environmental resources. Furthermore, the level of marketization has a positive moderating effect on the positive relationship between urban administrative hierarchy and older adults' mental health, but has no significant impact on physical health. Heterogeneity analysis by region and age indicates that the impact of the urban administrative hierarchy on the physical and mental health of older adults is more pronounced in economically less developed regions and among younger elderly individuals. The study highlights the inequalities in the subjective physical and mental health of older adults across cities with different administrative hierarchies in China. By providing more resources, cities with higher administrative hierarchies can significantly improve older adults' life quality and subjective health. Meanwhile, marketization further strengthens the positive impact of urban administrative hierarchy on mental health. By introducing the urban administrative hierarchy as a macro-level political system into the study of individual health disparities, this research not only expands the analytical perspective on health inequalities among older adults, but also provides empirical support for understanding the current trends in elderly migration for retirement. Moreover, it offers valuable insights for global aging governance and promoting health equity.

Multiple trajectories of urban–rural ecosystem services disparities: Evidence from two decades of urbanization in China

Smart sports communities are emerging as a crucial component of China’s National Fitness Strategy, driven by digital empowerment and governance innovation. This study examines the historical evolution of urban community sports and investigates how technological innovations enhance governance, management, service efficiency, and user experience in the development of smart sports communities. Method: This research employs an empirical case study in the Yangtze River Delta region, encompassing 25 grassroots communities across cities such as Nanjing, Jiaxing, Shanghai, Hefei, and Wuhu. A historical analysis of policy documents, academic research, and media reports provides longitudinal insights into the transformation of urban community sports since the 1990s. In addition, qualitative data were collected through in-depth interviews with key stakeholders (government officials, citizens, volunteers, suppliers, and project managers) and field observations, assessing the role of digital technologies in fostering sports participation and enhancing governance effectiveness. The findings indicate that digital empowerment and governance innovation are reshaping smart sports communities in multiple ways: (1) shifting community sports services from a government-led model to a public-private partnership approach that responds to personalized demands; (2) optimizing grassroots governance through digital platforms and smart applications, enabling refined management of public services; (3) reinforcing national policy implementation and regulatory oversight via smart service technologies; and (4) fostering community engagement, social collaboration, and sustainable urban development by integrating digital tools into sports participation frameworks. The integration of technological innovation into community sports governance provides new opportunities for urban community development, enhancing both participation and management efficiency. However, this study also identifies challenges related to technology alienation. Future development of smart sports communities should move beyond infrastructure deployment to emphasize dynamic, multi-stakeholder collaboration, the construction of interactive online-to-offline sports networks, and the expansion of public social spaces. Simultaneously, governance strategies should address potential risks of technology alienation to ensure inclusive and balanced development in the digital era.

Assessing the co-benefits of reductions in mobile-source CO2 and pollutant emissions for urban air qualityand public health.

ABSTRACT Herpes zoster imposes a substantial disease burden in China. Despite vaccination being critical for burden mitigation, willingness-to-pay (WTP) for herpes zoster vaccines among urban residents remains understudied, with a lack of national-level evidence on its determinants. A national-wide survey was conducted among 2,864 urban residents aged ≥25 years across nine provinces and nine cities in China. Using the contingent valuation method (CVM), three elicitation approaches – payment scales, bidding, and open-ended questions – were employed to assess respondents’ willingness-to-pay (WTP) for herpes zoster vaccination. Univariate statistical analyses were then performed to explore the associations between socioeconomic characteristics and WTP. Median WTP varied by methods (payment cards: CNY 300, bidding: CNY 500, open-ended: CNY 300). Across these methods, 36.09%, 29.06%, and 23.64% of participants, respectively, were unwilling to pay (including those rejecting free vaccination). For higher thresholds, 2.36% and 9.96% reported WTP ≥ 2,000 CNY via the payment scale and bidding methods, while 2.09% indicated WTP ≥ 2,000 CNY through the open-ended method. Age was negatively associated with WTP, and respondents from moderately developed regions had the highest WTP. Education and annual household income showed positive associations with WTP. Additionally, unemployment, chronic disease, divorced or widowed residents, and below-average self-reported health correlated with lower WTP. While respondents with public or commercial insurance had highest WTP. In conclusion, individual WTP for herpes zoster vaccine is substantially influenced by socioeconomic characteristics, which are inherently linked to income. This highlights the need for income-sensitive policies, including affordable pricing and targeted health education for vulnerable groups.