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The study aims to reinvestigate the regional urbanization gap in China and some projects are to be presented for reducing the gap.

An innovative weighted kernel density approach is applied for identifying the regional urbanization development with population migration and investment and evaluating the projects.

The regional urbanization gap is 7 and 9 percent with the unconditional estimation, 13 (23) percent and 13 (23) percent with population (investment) weighted estimation between eastern and middle region, eastern and western region, respectively. The project on the interior migration of population by 30 percent and the project on the selective investment enhancement by 30 percent both reduce the regional urbanization gap by about 4 percent between middle and eastern region.

Focus is only on the investigation of urbanization development level with single population migration or investment enhancement; the identifications and projects with joint impact of population and investment are not considered.

The study not only measures the urbanization development with the nonparametric approach but also designs some practicable projects for reducing the regional urbanization gap, which is helpful for the Chinese Government in the policymaking process.

The purpose of this paper is to find out the characteristics and evolutionary trends of China’s inter-regional innovation correlation network, the status and roles of each province in China’s inter-regional innovation correlation network and the influencing factors of China’s inter-regional innovation correlation effect.

Based on the patent data of 30 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) in China from 1991 to 2017, social network analysis was used to find out the characteristics and evolutionary trends of China’s inter-regional innovation correlation network and the status and roles of each province in China’s inter-regional innovation correlation network. Furthermore, the QAP method was used to find out the influencing factors of China’s inter-regional innovation correlation effect.

China’s inter-regional innovation correlation is becoming increasingly close and inter-regional innovation correlation network is becoming increasingly stable. Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong and other eastern coastal provinces are at the core in the inter-regional innovation correlation network, while the western regions are marginal actors. China’s regional innovation development territory can be divided into four blocks, namely, “bidirectional spillover block,” “net spillover block,” “main beneficial block” and “net beneficial block,” and gradient transfer mechanism is obvious between the blocks. The geographical adjacency and similarity in regional industrial structure, urbanization level and government attention degree have significant positive effect on China’s inter-regional innovation correlation effects.

This paper only uses patent application as a measure of regional innovation level to analyze inter-regional innovation correlation effect. Meanwhile, this paper carries out an empirical study only from the provincial level and not from the city level.

This paper provides the practical basis for further promoting the coordinated development of regional innovation and promoting the construction of regional innovation systems with different characteristics.

This paper contributes to understand the status and role of each province in inter-regional innovation correlation network. Meanwhile, this paper also helps to understand the influence of the proximity and external environmental factors on inter-regional innovation correlation effect.

The purpose of this paper is to estimate the real urbanization level in China so as to provide a measurement that can be compared with the international level.

Taking into consideration 300m residents living in the administrative towns (300m residents here are referred to the population in administrative towns, including those in all counties), the gap between the urbanization rate of China and that of the world average becomes much wider.

China, however, implements the administrative system of government at the central, provincial, municipal, county and township levels. By city, it means the jurisdiction at and above the level of county, which includes the municipality directly under the central government, prefecture-level municipal and county. By town, it means the jurisdiction below the level of county (including the Chengguan Town, or capital town, where the county government is located) and exclusive of rural townships.

China has witnessed rapid development for 40 years since the reform and opening up in 1978. Nowadays, China has already stepped into the period of post-industrialization, with its urbanization rate (UR) of permanent population reaching 58.58 percent. However, on the basis of registered population, the UR is 43.37 percent, which is not only far below the average level of 81.3 percent in high-income countries, but also lower than the average of 65.8 percent in upper middle-income countries which are comparable to China in terms of per capita income. (The classification of state income level is based on the data of national income per capita and division standards in 2016 from the World Bank, in which annual revenue per capita in high-income countries reaches over US$12,736 and that in upper middle-income countries between US$4,126 and US$12,735.)

Previous research has generally assumed that a homogeneous cultural value exists within a given country. This research aims to identify the regional differences in cultural value based on an urbanization dimension in China, which generate diversity with regard to perceived value and consumer decision‐making styles.

A large‐scale questionnaire was administered to freshmen from major colleges and universities across China to measure cultural value, perceived value, and consumer decision‐making style. The data were analyzed with a multi‐group structural equation model and a stepwise discrimination test.

Results demonstrated significant differences in cultural value, perceived value and consumer decision‐making style among regions with different degrees of urbanization and revealed antecedents and formation of the mechanism of decision‐making style.

Future research should explore more antecedents that influence consumer decision‐making styles and other market dimensions other than urbanization.

The research might provide prominent guidelines for marketers to understand Chinese consumers. Specifically, in regions with different degrees of urbanization, marketers should develop differential strategies to exploit the market given the distinctions in cultural value, perceived value and consumer decision‐making styles.

This study is the first to build a theoretical relational model of cultural value, perceived value and consumer decision‐making styles. And this model revealed the antecedents and formation of the mechanism of decision‐making style.

The growth of the Chinese economy has resulted in a significant increase in construction and demolition waste (CDW), and regional differences in CDW generation are gradually increasing. The purpose of this study is to investigate the regional differences in CDW generation and the driving factors that influence CDW generation in different areas of China. To provide a systematic advisement for local governments to select the appropriate policy, reduce CDW generation.

The generation of CDW was calculated by region, based on the area estimation method, from 2005 to 2018. The relationship between CDW generation and economic development, and the driving factors of CDW generation in different regions of China, was investigated using the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) model and the STIRPAT theoretical model.

CDW generation of China increased at the average annual growth rate of 10.86% from 2005 to 2018. The main areas of CDW generation were concentrated in the eastern and central regions, while the proportion of CDW generation in the northeast region decreased gradually, and the changes varied significantly across different regions. The EKC between CDW generation and economic development was established for the whole country, North China, Northeast China, East China, Central South China, Southwest China and Northwest China. Three main factors based on the STIRPAT theoretical model were identified and explained into a framework to reduce CDW generation. The results provided a useful theoretical basis and data support guide for devising effective policies and regulations for the Chinese context.

The findings from this study can ultimately support policymakers and waste managers in formulating effective policies for waste management strategies and CDW-specific legislation. Additionally, it can help the coordinated reduction of CDW generation across regions in China and can support construction enterprises (in their development strategies), similar developing economies and foreign firms planning to operate in China.

This study contributes to the field through the STIRPAT model on driving factors of CDW generation in the Chinese context, in different regions.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a suitable framework of sustainable urbanization performance evaluation from the view of efficiency for mitigating the unbalance between the theoretical research of sustainable urbanization and the practical need of sustainable urbanization.

A slack-restricted slack-based measure data envelopment analysis (DEA) model and two sustainable urbanization benchmarking methods with individual and centralized view, respectively, are developed based upon the classical DEA theory.

The empirical results show that China is now suffering a relatively low level of sustainable urbanization. Too much waste water emission, too small an urban population proportion, and too much resource wastage are the major factors that drive China’s urbanization away from sustainability.

Having the overall aim of practical urbanization, the proposed framework can help stakeholders recognize different sustainable urbanization performance levels by offering them accurate sustainable urbanization performance scores. The framework can also direct governments to improve the sustainable urbanization performance. The empirical analysis of China’s provincial region sustainable urbanization performance with the proposed framework further demonstrates the theoretical and practical value of this research.

The intended nationally determined contributions (INDCs) is a major outcome of the Paris Agreement on international cooperation to reduce emissions, and is likely to be the future scenario for carbon emissions. This paper aims to obtain the fine spatial pattern of carbon emissions in 2030, identify hot spots and analyze changes of carbon emissions with a spatial grid method.

Based on the integrated quantified INDCs of each economy in 2030, the authors predict the population density pattern in 2030 by using the statistics of current population density, natural growth rates and differences in population growth resulting from urbanization within countries. Then the authors regard population density as a comprehensive socioeconomic indicator for the top-bottom allocation of the INDC data to a 0.1° × 0.1° grid. Then, the grid spatial pattern of carbon emissions in 2030 is compared with that in 2016.

Under the unconditional and conditional scenarios, the global carbon emission grid values in 2030 will be within [0, 59,200.911] ktCO₂ and [0, 51,800.942] ktCO_2, respectively; eastern China, northern India, Western Europe and North America will continue to be the major emitters; grid carbon emissions will increase in most parts of the world compared to 2016, especially in densely populated areas.

While many studies have explored the overall global carbon emissions or warming under the INDC scenario, attention to spatial details is also required to help us make better emissions attributions and policy decisions from the perspective of the grid unit rather than the administrative unit.

Drawing on a EU-funded research project on urbanisation in China and Europe (URBACHINA), the purpose of this inquiry is to explore the potential of foresight – through visionary scenarios and related participatory processes – in promoting learning and sustainable futures in China’s centrally planned context. Our research explores the use of backcasting, of Donella Meadows’ “levers” and Paul Raskin’s “proximate-ultimate drivers” and of archetypal worldviews to further our understanding of how we think about the future, and of the tension between transition scenarios and transformative, paradigmatic or deep change.

A review of recent foresight studies and literature provides an overview of the latest approaches: in particular the methods, scope, process, level of participation, themes discussed and wild cards considered. Building on this, the inquiry designs and implements a participatory, normative and qualitative scenario building to explore sustainable urban futures for China, adapting the elements of Joseph Voros’ basic foresight process to include a total of nine steps, with five workshops, two international surveys, an adapted backcasting step and internal consistency mechanisms.

The combination of a participatory iterative process with normative approaches to envisioning, helped question assumptions and deeply ingrained development models, as well as the narrow space for “alternatives” resulting from China’s centralised, top-down planning and decision-making. The experience confirms the power of scenario/storyline building in helping reflect and question strategic policy choices and enrich urban policy debates. The process successfully proposed a number of steps that ensured triangulation of the envisioning outcomes and additional learning also through backcasting. Finally, the research shows a clear link between the development of scenarios space, the debate on transition and transformative futures and archetypal worldviews, which were shown to be stable even after decades.

The URBACHINA approach to the specific challenge of sustainable urbanisation in China applies a strong normative component combined to more locally accepted exploratory methods and introduces a participatory approach to all key stages of scenario building. This represents an innovative contribution to the country’s foresight practice and the results help Chinese decision makers to reflect on the wider sustainability implications of their urban strategy. The inquiry deepens our understanding of the use of proximate and ultimate drivers of change and of the tension between transition and transformation pathways to our future.

In the 69 years since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, especially the 40 years since the reform and opening-up, the relationship between urban and rural areas has undergone profound change. When the deepening reform of the urban-rural relationship is entering a critical period, it is necessary to reassess the evolution of the urban-rural relationship in China and draw a picture for that relationship in the future. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

This paper combs the policies on the urban and rural development since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, and analyzes macro data on the industries, population, personal income, and other aspects.

The study found that this urbanism affects individuals’ lives and the choices of society through the will of the state, and then provides feedback at the whole level of social values.

This paper divides the evolution of China’s urban-rural relationship into two major stages – nurturing cities with rural areas and leading rural areas with cities, which are then subdivided into five periods. The features of the relationship between the urban and rural areas in different periods are analyzed, and the future development of urban-rural relations is also considered.

As China’s industrial structure continues to upgrade and optimize, the consumption capacity of rural residents gradually improves and the role of consumption in economic growth is increasingly prominent. Against the background of weak external demand, the untapped potential of rural consumption has become a key force in expanding domestic demand. As one of the important means that the government has long relied on, fiscal support for agriculture has played a crucial role in activating the rural consumer market. This manuscript aims to explore the impact of local fiscal support for agricultural expenditure (FSAE) on rural consumption in China, as well as to examine the mediating role of the level of rural financial development.

In this manuscript, the authors use the provincial panel data of 31 provinces in China from 2000 to 2020. The data of all variables mainly come from China Statistical Yearbook and China Rural Statistical Yearbook. According to the variable selection above, 651 sample data of 31 provinces and cities across China from 2000 to 2020 are organized. In terms of methodology, multiple fixed-effects panel model is applied to regression.

Firstly, FSAE varies significantly, while rural consumption slowly but steadily rises, with a relatively stable consumption structure. Secondly, FSAE has a significant positive effect on rural consumption. Thirdly, mediation testing indicates that mechanisms such as income, uncertainty and financial development have significant positive mediating effects on rural consumption. Thirdly, there is evident regional heterogeneity in FSAE’s impact on rural consumption. The Western regions, under government fiscal support, show a more significant effect on the elevation of rural consumption levels, while the role of FSAE in optimizing the consumption structure of rural residents in eastern and central regions is more pronounced.

Firstly, a systematic examination of local FSAE and rural consumption has been conducted, enriching relevant theories. Secondly, utilizing econometric empirical methods to research the relationship between local FSAE and rural consumption provides an exploratory extension to empirical studies on rural consumption in China. This offers empirical evidence for local fiscal support in agricultural development and the promotion of rural consumption.