Spatio-Temporal Evolution and Implications of Urban Residential Space Based on the New Commercial Housing in Xi’an, China, 2006–2022
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsPlease read the comment.
Comments for author File: 
Comments.pdf
Please read the comment.
Author Response
Dear reviewers,
Thank you very much for your valuable suggestions, which improved our manuscript entitled “Spatio-temporal evolution and implications of urban residential space based on the empirical analysis on the new commercial housing in Xi'an of China, 2006-2022” (ID:3151103). We responded to each comment and made corresponding changes in the manuscript. We believe that the revised manuscript is now much easier for readers to follow. According to these comments and suggestions, we added new information to the revised manuscript to help clarify the content. The response to each comment and corresponding changes are listed as follows. Reviewers' comments are bolded in black. Responses are italicized in black. And specific changes are highlighted in yellow. Changes in the revised manuscript are highlighted in yellow. Common problems mentioned by reviewers are marked in grey.
Your efforts in reviewing the manuscript are highly appreciated.
Sincerely,
Authors of Spatio-temporal evolution and implications of urban residential space based on the empirical analysis on the new commercial housing in Xi'an of China, 2006-2022 (ID:3151103)
Comments 1：(Title) Shorten the title.
Response1: Thank you for your suggestion. We have adjusted the title of the article. The “empirical analysis on the” has been deleted.[Page 1, Line 2-4]
The current title is: Spatio-temporal evolution and implications of urban residential space based on the new commercial housing in Xi'an of China, 2006-2022.
Comments 2：(Abstract) Write the paper’s aim and motivation. The results can be shortened and put in the conclusion.
Response 2: Thank you for your careful reading. Following the reviewers' suggestions, we have added the purpose and motivation of the paper to the abstract and shortened the results section of the abstract.
"Since 1998, comprehensive housing marketization has led to a more intricate urban residential space structure in urban China, which is typically presented by the change of new commercial housing. The current stage is a critical period for China to seek high-quality and sustainable development of its cities, and the spatial structure of housing is an important landing point for achieving this goal.The results show the changes in the number, size and space of new commercial housing in Xi'an. Then, the evolution of residential space is analyzed as being mainly influenced by national policies."[Page 1, Line 12-27]
Comments 3: (Introduction) Reformulate texts to be simpler and less wordy.
Response 3: Thank you for your helpful suggestions. We have restructured the introduction by taking the literature review section out of the introduction and making it a separate section, removing unnecessary statements from it to make it look more concise. In the introduction section, we follow a four-step process of organization: introducing the background of commercial housing marketization in China, briefly describing the progress of related research, introducing the uniqueness of Xi'an compared with other metropolises in China, and describing the innovation and significance of the study. [Page 1-2, Line 31-87]
Comments 4: (L 35-40) The term “West” should be cautious; it might create a conflict between the West and China. Find another expression. If this term should be underline, the researcher should explain why it is used.
Response 4: Thank you for pointing out the problem. We have changed “west” to “other countries”. Drawing on Western theories, China has conducted a comprehensive exploration of urban residential spaces that share similar characteristics and development history with other countries. [Page 1-2, Line 27,58]
Comments 5:(L57) Netherlands or Europe. The Netherlands belongs to Europe.
Response 5: We sincerely thank the reviewer for careful reading. As suggested by the reviewer, we have corrected the “whether in the Netherlands or in Europe” into “in Europe”.
Willem R. Boterman pointed out that in Europe, low- and middle-income groups were at risk of being forced to move to less attractive areas because of the difficulty of increasing the supply of housing in the short term to meet growing demand. [Page 3, Line 111]
Comments 6: (L59-61) These lines have nothing to do with the paper topic. Delete them and their reference numbers.
Response 6: Thank you very much for your advice. We have removed this sentence and the corresponding reference.[Page 2, Line 59-61.]
Comments 7: (L95, L114, and further): What is “commercial housing”? Living and doing business simultaneously? In Chinese urbanization, is only this type allowed? Provide illustrations or photos to be understood fully.
Response 7: Thank you for your useful suggestions for our article. (1) We have reorganized the definition of commercial housing in our research. It refers to a dwelling that can be traded on the market without commercial attributes, which is different from the concept of business housing. (2) In urbanization process of China, five major housing systems have been formed: commercial housing, new Danwei housing, affordable housing, demolition resettlement housing, and self-built housing. Commercial housing is a particularly important and influential component. This study focuses primarily on commercial housing.
"Commodity housing (Figure 1) refers to the housing developed by a qualified real estate development enterprise after obtaining the land use right by way of transfer under the condition of market economy (the general service life is 70 years), which is different from the unit housing under the rationing system in the planned economy period. Commercial housing differs from Business housing in that the former is used for residential purposes while the latter can be used for commercial purposes. It should be noted that each commodity housing project pointed out in this study is a community. In urbanization process of China, five main housing systems have been developed: commercial housing, new Danwei housing, affordable housing, demolition resettlement housing, and self-built housing. Commercial housing is a particularly important and influential part of it."[Page 3-4, Line 142-155]
Comments 8: (L119) Does this apply to Chinese scholars? Write this sentence differently.
Response 8:We are grateful for the suggestion. We reorganized the sentence structure.
"Studies related to commercial housing mainly include spatio-temporal differentiation and commercial housing prices in the world, and Chinese scholars have made in-depth discussions on these two aspects."[Page 4, Line 156-158]
Comments 9: (L156) Need more information about the First, Second and Third Ring Roads' similarities and differences. Provide aerial photos or other images (see Fig. 2).
Response 9: Thank you for your valuable advice. We have added detailed descriptions of the First, Second and Third Ring Roads in Xi'an so that readers can understand them better. Meanwhile, we have attached a satellite image of Xi'an in Figure 2 and labelled the three ring roads. (1) We add the introduction of the similarities and differences of the three loops in the introduction part of the research area. (2) Satellite images are added to the original Figure 2 to illustrate the distribution of the three ring roads. [Page 5,9, Line 190-197, 272]
Comments 10: (Fig. 1) Move the small map (left) to the further left to keep a balance, if possible.
Response 10:Thank you very much for your close inspection. We have adjusted the pictures. [Page 5, Line 199]
Comments 11: (L172-173) The website addresses do not function at this moment.
Response 11: We apologize for our negligence. We have updated the website address to ensure it is available. https://openmaptiles.org/languages/zh/#0.49/0/0 [Page 5, Line 214]
Comments 12: (Section 2.2.2) It is difficult to follow ‘Data Processing'. Is there any other way to explain it?
Response 12: Thank you for your careful reading and suggestions. We have reorganized the content of the methodology section, replacing the original point-by-point presentation with a tabular presentation. The table includes “Step”, “Operation” and “Instruction”. The table contains the eight steps of data processing. [Page 6, Line 223]
Comments 13: (L223 and further) Be attentive to overuse “on the one hand,” “on the other hand.” Find other synonyms.
Response 13: Thank you for pointing this out. We have kept one ‘on the one hand’, ‘on the other hand’, and changed them to other connectives in the later text.
"At the same time, after the central government changed its fiscal system in the late 1990." [Page 16, Line 521]
Comments 14: (Fig. 4) Delete the outlines of the images. It looks hard on paper visualtiy.
Response 14: We have removed the outlines of the images based on the comments.[Page 10, Line 308]
Comments 15: (Text and table, drawings) Make the distance between.
Response 15: Thanks to your suggestion, we've added a line of spaces to each image.
Comments 16: (L436, 444, 449) Capital letters (rapid, …)
Response 16: We apologize for our negligence. We have corrected the spelling of these words."Thirdly, rapid industry-led… ;Fourthly, demographic demand is… ;Finally, urbanization drives housing…"[Page 15, Line 478,486,491]
Comments 17: (L538-557) Check the texts to see if the content is correct.
Response 17: Thank you very much for your suggestion, we have carefully read and reorganized the language of the paragraph. Redundant descriptions have been removed, making the paragraph logical and concise.
"The pattern of temporal and spatial changes in residential space of China is quite different from that of other countries. Firstly, the evolution of urban residential space in new commercial housing projects is mainly influenced by national housing policies, while the historical and cultural foundations, the population's housing needs and industry-led economic development are the most critical external factors. Secondly, the data of new commercial housing used in this study are not all from the construction of raw land, and some are built after the demolition of urban villages (6.2 per cent). Among these, a whopping 84.16 per cent are “The renewal of urban villages into commercial housing projects” outside of the Second Ring Road, which is related to the influence of government activities, industrial development zones and government finances. This is a distinctive feature of urban residential space, which aims to achieve intensive land use, improve the living environment for residents and promote high-quality urban development. Finally, unlike the processes of “suburbanization” and “re- urbanization” in Western countries, urban residential space of China shows a pattern of “external expansion accompanied by internal renewal”." [Page 17, Line 580-594]
Comments 18: (L566) Xian city?
Response 18: Thank you for your careful reading. We have replaced “Xi'an” with “Xi City” throughout the text.
Comments 19: (Conclusion) Emphasize the paper’s contribution and future research.
Response 19: We thank the reviewers for alerting us to this issue. This issue was also raised by Reviewer #2 and is therefore labeled gray in the text. We have reorganized our language and concluded our conclusion by stating the broader implications and significance of the study. At the same time, we illustrate the shortcomings of the study and believe that we can increase the research and interviews in future studies, improve the research methodology, and enhance the depth of the paper. At the end of the conclusion section, we have revised the following parts: (1) Enhanced the relevance of the recommendations to make it specific and clear. (2) Emphasize the significance and contribution of the thesis to Xi'an as well as to China, and look forward to areas where future research can be further improved.
"Under the new economic normal, income growth has slowed for the government, real estate, residents and other parties, and the cost of new commercial housing has continued to rise. Therefore, in urban commercial housing development planning, attention should be paid to status quo research and long-term planning, clarifying the laws of development of urban residential space and exploring the spatial and temporal mechanisms of urbanization, which will help to ensure that the spatial layout is in line with governmental expectations and the laws of the market. For Xi'an, the dynamics of the spatial evolution of new commercial housing can directly serve as an indicator of the real estate sector in the planning and construction of the city. As a mega and city in northwestern China, influence of Xi’an covers a series of western provinces. Urban residential space evolution of Xi’an is a reference and target for all western provinces. Xianyang city is located in the northwest of Xi'an, next to the central city of Xi'an, so the development of commercial housing in Xi'an has a direct impact on the urban development plan of Xianyang city. Similarly, the city of Chengdu has a similar ring-shaped urban structure as Xi'an and similar economic power, so the development of urban residential space and urban planning of the two cities can be exchanged and integrated with each other.
In the future, Xi'an can adopt the following strategies to optimize urban residential space. (1) Strengthen urban renewal efforts and efficiently utilize land within the city. (2) Slow down the rate of urban expansion and increase the rate of home purchases. (3) Improve the competitiveness of commercial housing outside the Second Ring Road and improve the surrounding supporting facilities. Promote the flow of population within the Second Ring Road and ease the pressure on the inner city. (4) In the construction of commercial housing, we can focus on Chang’an District, Huyi District and Xixian New District outside the main urban zone. These areas are closely linked to the main urban zone and are supported by many national policies.
We can increase in-depth interviews and surveys in subsequent studies to increase the accuracy of the data and the understanding of the causes of spatial and temporal evolution of residential space." [Page17-18, Line 595-623]
Comments 20: (Reference) Websites do not show. 18-21: delete.
Response 20: Thank you for pointing out the problems and errors. We have corrected the DOI URLs of the references and removed references 18-21. [Page 18-22, Line 638-778]
- Zaiga, Krisjane, Maris, Berzins. Post-socialist Urban Trends: New Patterns and Motivations for Migration in the Suburban Areas of Rīga, Latvia. Urban Studies. 2011. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042098011402232
- García Docampo M. Theories of urban dynamics. International Journal of Population Rese. 2014;2014(1):494871. https://doi.org/10.1155/2014/494871
- Salvia R, Alhuseen AMA, Escrivà F, Salvati L, Quaranta G. Local development, metropolitan sustainability and the urbanization-suburbanization nexus in the Mediterranean region: A quantitative exercise. Habitat International. 2023;140:102909. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2023.102909
Comments 21: (Grammar) Write more clearly. Delete unnecessary adverbs, the conjunctive, etc.
Response 21: We thank the reviewers for bringing this issue to our attention. We did our best to correct the grammar problem.
We have deleted unnecessary adverbs and conjunctions in the article, such as “typically”, “additionally”, “primarily”, “generically”, “mainly”, “on the one hand”, and so on.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThe study employs GIS methods to analyze the spatio-temporal evolution characteristics and influencing factors of urban residential space. It explores the transformation of urban residential spaces in Xi'an, China, within the context of housing marketization post-1998.
1. The research problem is clearly defined, focusing on the evolution of urban residential space in Xi'an from 2006 to 2022. This research generally emphasizes the impact of national policies, urbanization, and industrialization on residential space. The problem statement could be strengthened by highlighting the unique aspects of Xi'an's urban development compared to other metropolitan areas in China.
2. The study provides a comprehensive review of the literature on urban residential space, including discussions on gentrification, suburbanization, and socio-spatial segregation. It effectively incorporates Western theories and compares them with the Chinese context, acknowledging the unique development patterns in China. However, the literature review could be improved by including more recent studies or publications that have emerged after the initial data collection period. Moreover, there is a need for a more critical analysis of the literature, identifying gaps and how the current study addresses these gaps.
3. The use of GIS methods for analyzing spatio-temporal data is appropriate and contributes to the study's methodology. The standard deviation ellipse space analysis is a valid approach to understanding the spatial distribution characteristics of new commercial housing projects. While, the methodology section lacks detail on the data validation process, which is crucial for ensuring the accuracy of GIS-based analyses. It would be better if it could incorporate additional methods, such as surveys or interviews, to provide a more nuanced understanding of the social implications of the spatial changes.
4. The results are presented clearly, with a focus on the increase in the number of new commercial housing projects and their spatial distribution. However, the results analysis could be more critical, discussing potential limitations or biases in the data or the interpretation of the findings. It would also benefit from a deeper exploration of the socio-economic implications of the observed spatial changes on the residents of Xi'an.
5. the conclusion section, could be strengthened by discussing the broader implications of the findings for urban policy and planning beyond Xi'an. The recommendations for future research should be more specific, suggesting areas for further investigation or methodological improvements.
Author Response
Dear Reviewers:
Thank you for your comments concerning our manuscript entitled “Spatio-temporal evolution and implications of urban residential space based on the empirical analysis on the new commercial housing in Xi'an of China, 2006-2022” (ID: 3151103). Those comments are all valuable and very helpful for revising and improving our paper. We have studied comments carefully and have made correction which we hope meet with approval. The main corrections in the paper and responds to the reviewer’s comments are as flowing. Reviewers' comments are bolded in black. Responses are italicized in black. And specific changes are highlighted in blue. Changes in the revised manuscript are highlighted in blue. Common problems mentioned by reviewers are marked in grey.
We tried our best to improve the manuscript and made some changes in the manuscript.
We appreciate for Reviewers’ warm work earnestly, and hope that the correction comments and suggestions.
Yours sincerely,
Authors of Spatio-temporal evolution and implications of urban residential space based on the empirical analysis on the new commercial housing in Xi'an of China, 2006-2022 (ID:3151103)
Comments 1: The research problem is clearly defined, focusing on the evolution of urban residential space in Xi'an from 2006 to 2022. This research generally emphasizes the impact of national policies, urbanization, and industrialization on residential space. The problem statement could be strengthened by highlighting the unique aspects of Xi'an's urban development compared to other metropolitan areas in China.
Response1: Thank you for recognizing the research content and significance of the article. We are aware of the issues you have raised. We have added a description of “the uniqueness of Xi'an's urban development compared with other metropolises in China” in the last paragraph of the introduction section, as well as citations of relevant literature. [Page 2, Line 72-78]
Xi'an has unique advantages and development potential as an important city in Northwest China. First-tier cities such as Beijing and Shanghai are developing rapidly, and the evolution of residential space is more unique, while Xi’an is relatively backward in urban construction and development, but it is universal and can represent the evolution of more urban residential space in China. Therefore, the study of the new commercial housing in Xi’an can not only highlight the characteristics of Xi’an, but also help to solve the housing problem in China [10-12].
10. Wang X, Xiao F, Zhang Y, Yin L, Lesi M, Guo B, et al. Thirty‐year expansion of construction land in Xi'an: Spatial pattern and potential driving factors. Geological Journal. 2018;53:309-21. https://doi.org/10.1002/gj.2987
11. Chen A, Gao J. Urbanization in China and the coordinated development model—The case of Chengdu. The Social Science Journal. 2011;48(3):500-13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soscij.2011.05.005
12. Liu R, Zhang K, Zhang Z, Borthwick AG. Land-use suitability analysis for urban development in Beijing. Journal of environmental management. 2014;145:170-9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2014.06.020
Comments 2: The study provides a comprehensive review of the literature on urban residential space, including discussions on gentrification, suburbanization, and socio-spatial segregation. It effectively incorporates Western theories and compares them with the Chinese context, acknowledging the unique development patterns in China. However, the literature review could be improved by including more recent studies or publications that have emerged after the initial data collection period. Moreover, there is a need for a more critical analysis of the literature, identifying gaps and how the current study addresses these gaps.
Response 2: Thank you for recognizing the research literature combing related to the article, your comments are very useful. We have added some of the most recent literature and publications and distinguished the literature review as a separate paragraph by adding a critical discussion of the existing literature and the significance of this study at the end of it. [Page 2-3, Line 61-71, 92-95]
2. García Docampo M. Theories of urban dynamics. International Journal of Population Rese. 2014;2014(1):494871. https://doi.org/10.1155/2014/494871
3. Salvia R, Alhuseen AMA, Escrivà F, Salvati L, Quaranta G. Local development, metropolitan sustainability and the urbanization-suburbanization nexus in the Mediterranean region: A quantitative exercise. Habitat International. 2023;140:102909. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2023.102909
4. Fu Q, Lin N. Local state marketism: an institutional analysis of Chinese urban housing and land market. Chinese Sociological Review. 2013;46(1):3-24. https://doi.org/10.2753/CSA2162-0555460101
The course of urban development in western countries is often urbanization, subur-banization, reverse suburbanization and re-urbanization. Scholars have conducted a large number of studies on population suburbanization, gentrification, and residential space differentiation. After the reform and opening up, the country built its urban system by leaps and bounds, leading to rapid urban expansion. Over time, Chinese cities have often chosen to regenerate older neighborhoods within the city rather than con-tinuously moving outward. The stakeholders involved in this process of changing land cover, as well as the emotional issues of the residents, are also issues that Chinese scholars are committed to studying. In both Western coun-tries and China, the number of studies on physical residential space is relatively small and narrow.
In fact, since human being is an important subject in geography, the research on social residential space related to human being has been a hot spot, and the research on physical residential space is relatively weak.
Comments 3: The use of GIS methods for analyzing spatio-temporal data is appropriate and contributes to the study's methodology. The standard deviation ellipse space analysis is a valid approach to understanding the spatial distribution characteristics of new commercial housing projects. While, the methodology section lacks detail on the data validation process, which is crucial for ensuring the accuracy of GIS-based analyses. It would be better if it could incorporate additional methods, such as surveys or interviews, to provide a more nuanced understanding of the social implications of the spatial changes.
Response 3: Thank you for recognizing the research methodology of the article as well as your careful reading and commenting on the article. We have reorganized the text of the “Data Processing” section and presented it in tabular form. We have also added pictures of the data validation process to make it easier for readers to understand. [Page 6-7, Line 224-230]
In the data validation session, we calibrated all the study data by selecting six sets of calibration points outside the range of the study data. After calibration, we randomly selected the data points to match the distances between the data points and the actual points on the map, and found that the data calibration was relatively satisfactory (Figure 3).
You mentioned that social surveys and interviews could be added to the dissertation, which we think is feasible. However, due to the significant time costs associated with this method, we are considering adding it to our follow-up work. Thank you for your contribution to the improvement of the paper.
Comments 4: The results are presented clearly, with a focus on the increase in the number of new commercial housing projects and their spatial distribution. However, the results analysis could be more critical, discussing potential limitations or biases in the data or the interpretation of the findings. It would also benefit from a deeper exploration of the socio-economic implications of the observed spatial changes on the residents of Xi'an.
Response 4: Thank you for recognizing the results section of the paper, we think your suggestions are useful. (1) We explain the research limitations posed by data collection in the “Data Acquisition” section and use this as an outlook for the paper, which we hope to add to and improve in subsequent work, and which does not detract from the arguments and conclusions of the paper itself. (2) We have added the socio-economic impacts of the above spatial changes in new commercial housing on the city of Xi'an and its residents at the end of paragraph 4.2 of the results section. It mainly includes the relocation of the city's economic center to promote the linkage development of the surrounding districts and counties as well as the relocation of the city's economic center to promote the relocation of the population in the inner city to alleviate the pressure on the city and promote the sustainable development of the city. [Page 6, 8, 12, Line 216-218, 266-269, 369-375]
Due to the limitation of data, our research mainly focuses on the main urban zone, and does not study from a larger data range. In the following work, we can expand the scope of research and deepen the research value.
…
This is related to the fact that urbanization is in its mid-to-late stages and housing demand is stabilizing, but also to the reduction of space suitable for housing development in the main urban zones, the expansion into neighboring jurisdictions and the regulation of housing policies.
…
The gradual expansion of commercial housing and the northeastern shift in the center of gravity of construction give a signal to residents that the economic center of Xi'an is also gradually moving northeastward from the Bell Tower. The government aims to seek a large amount of fresh land in the Weiyang and Baqiao districts to spur economic development in the area. With this policy and market pull, the population of Xi'an will move northeast accordingly, easing the population pressure within the city and favoring the city's sustainable development.
Comments 5: The conclusion section, could be strengthened by discussing the broader implications of the findings for urban policy and planning beyond Xi'an. The recommendations for future research should be more specific, suggesting areas for further investigation or methodological improvements.
Response 5: Thank you. This issue was also raised by Reviewer #1, and we have marked the common issues in gray in the text. We agree with this clearer description of the process and have updated our text as suggested. We conclude our conclusions by describing the broader implications of Xi'an's urban residential space for policy and planning in other cities, and make four recommendations. We also explain the shortcomings of the study and agree to add research and interviews to improve the research methodology in subsequent studies. [Page 17-18, Line 595-623]
Under the new economic normal, income growth has slowed for the government, real estate, residents and other parties, and the cost of new commercial housing has continued to rise. Therefore, in urban commercial housing development planning, attention should be paid to status quo research and long-term planning, clarifying the laws of development of urban residential space and exploring the spatial and temporal mechanisms of urbanization, which will help to ensure that the spatial layout is in line with governmental expectations and the laws of the market. For Xi'an, the dynamics of the spatial evolution of new commercial housing can directly serve as an indicator of the real estate sector in the planning and construction of the city. As a mega and city in northwestern China, influence of Xi’an covers a series of western provinces. Urban residential space evolution of Xi’an is a reference and target for all western provinces. Xianyang city is located in the northwest of Xi'an, next to the central city of Xi'an, so the development of commercial housing in Xi'an has a direct impact on the urban development plan of Xianyang city. Similarly, the city of Chengdu has a similar ring-shaped urban structure as Xi'an and similar economic power, so the development of urban residential space and urban planning of the two cities can be exchanged and integrated with each other.
In the future, Xi'an can adopt the following strategies to optimize urban residential space. (1) Strengthen urban renewal efforts and efficiently utilize land within the city. (2) Slow down the rate of urban expansion and increase the rate of home purchases. (3) Improve the competitiveness of commercial housing outside the Second Ring Road and improve the surrounding supporting facilities. Promote the flow of population within the Second Ring Road and ease the pressure on the inner city. (4) In the construction of commercial housing, we can focus on Chang’an District, Huyi District and Xixian New District outside the main urban zone. These areas are closely linked to the main urban zone and are supported by many national policies.
We can increase in-depth interviews and surveys in subsequent studies to increase the accuracy of the data and the understanding of the causes of spatial and temporal evolution of residential space.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsPlease read the comment.
Comments for author File: Comments.pdf
Please read the comment.
Author Response
Comments 1: Read the text carefully and shorten it if it is not necessary. LESS IS MORE.
Response 1: Thank you for your useful suggestions, we have revised the entire text and removed some unnecessary sentences.
We have deleted some repetitive and unnecessary sentences such as “This is related to the fact that urbanization is in its mid-to-late stages and housing demand is stabilizing, but also to the reduction of space suitable for housing development in the main urban zone, the expansion into neighboring jurisdictions and the regulation of housing policies.”. Some adverbs and conjunctions, adjectives have also been deleted.
Comments 2: Do not overuse the same word in a sentence or in neighbouring sentences such as ‘important’, ‘urban’, ‘Chinese’, ‘rapid’, etc. Too many repetitions make the paper unprofessional
Response 2: Thank you for your pertinent suggestions, and we have revised the similarly repeated words within the full text.
We have deleted and replaced similar repetitive words such as “important”, “urban”, “China”, “Chinese”, “rapid” and so on.
For example: (1) The transformation of urban villages into commercial housing projects is a prominent feature of changes in urban residential space, which saves construction land and improves residents’ living conditions. (2) Since 2005, economy has maintained rapid growth in Xi’an, with GDP increasing from 22,0.15 trillion yuan in 2006 to 1.15 trillion yuan in 2022 (Figure 11).
…
Comments 3: Standardise all Figure numbers. Make (Figure 1) or Figure 1. At this moment, some are inside ( ); some are not. Some are Figure; some are Fig.
Response 3: Thank you for your careful scrutiny, we have standardized the figure numbers.
We have standardized the use of “Figure. 1” and have used “()” in all cases. (Page 8, Line 248; Page 9, Line 269; Page 10, Line 289,302; Page 11, Line 326; Page 12, Line 345; Page 13, Line 379; Page 14, Line 419-431)
Comments 4: Figure 9: delete the outline of the map, like Figure 2.
Response 4: Thank you for your honest suggestion, we have removed the border from Figure 9. (Page 13, Line 384)
Comments 5: Make all Figures’ outlines thinner. Or use grey lines. By doing it, text and images can be better read.
Response 5: We agree with your suggestion and have turned the image borders in the article gray. (Page 12, Line 339)
Comments 6: Reference 40-41: check the space.
Response 6: Thank you. We apologize for our carelessness. (Page 21, Line 699-703)
36. Wakely P. Housing in developing cities: experience and lessons: Routledge; 2018. https://doi.org/10.1080/19463138.2019.1603487
37. Li J, Li K, Qiu R. The suburbanization and revitalization of industrial land in Shanghai, China. Sustainability. 2022, 14(12): 7062. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14127062
Comments 7: Check the grammar again.
Response 7: Thanks to your suggestions, we invited a native English speaker to help us correct the grammar of the article.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThis research conducts an analysis of the spatial and temporal evolution of new commercial housing projects in Xi'an from 2006 to 2022, exploring the characteristics, transformation laws, and influencing factors of urban residential space. Through reviewing this manuscript, the author has made substantial revisions in the introduction, literature review, methodology and conclusion. Specifically, 1) The article points out that since the implementation of housing monetization distribution in 1998, the impact of national policies on the new commercial housing market is macro and lagging. The article does a good job of showing the relationship between policy changes and the number of new commercial housing projects through a chart. 2) Rapid economic growth is seen as a key external factor driving the development of the residential market. The article provides the data of Xi'an's GDP growth, illustrating the relationship between economic growth and housing demand. 3) Population growth leads to a significant increase in the demand for housing, which the article shows through population data. 4) The urbanization process promotes the development of the housing market. The paper points out that there is a significant positive correlation between the urbanization rate and the number of new commercial housing.
In spite of this, there are still some small problems that would be better if they could be improved: 1) In the third paragraph of introduction, the introduction of Xi'an research area, it is suggested to be merged into Section 3.1 study area. 2) In the literature review, the author makes a detailed review in three parts: social residential space, physical residential space and commercial housing. However, as a journal paper, it is recommended to organize the content of this part around the research question or goal, and at the same time, the discussion section can further cite relevant literature to support the research findings. 3) The paper does a good job in analyzing the impact of policies, but it can further deepen the analysis of other influencing factors (such as cultural and social changes). 4) The chart is the key to presenting the results of the study, the chart in the highlighted section is clear, but it is recommended to add more charts to show the influence of different factors on the evolution of residential space.
Author Response
Comments 1: This research conducts an analysis of the spatial and temporal evolution of new commercial housing projects in Xi'an from 2006 to 2022, exploring the characteristics, transformation laws, and influencing factors of urban residential space. Through reviewing this manuscript, the author has made substantial revisions in the introduction, literature review, methodology and conclusion. Specifically, 1) The article points out that since the implementation of housing monetization distribution in 1998, the impact of national policies on the new commercial housing market is macro and lagging. The article does a good job of showing the relationship between policy changes and the number of new commercial housing projects through a chart. 2) Rapid economic growth is seen as a key external factor driving the development of the residential market. The article provides the data of Xi'an's GDP growth, illustrating the relationship between economic growth and housing demand. 3) Population growth leads to a significant increase in the demand for housing, which the article shows through population data. 4) The urbanization process promotes the development of the housing market. The paper points out that there is a significant positive correlation between the urbanization rate and the number of new commercial housing.
Response 1: Thank you for your careful reading and professional summary of the article.
Comments 2: In the third paragraph of introduction, the introduction of Xi'an research area, it is suggested to be merged into Section 3.1 study area.
Response 2: Thank you for your useful suggestion, we have merged the paragraph in section 3.1. (Page 4-5, Line 167-179)
Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi Province, is located in the middle of the Guanzhong Plain, with the Qinling Mountains to the south and the Weihe River to the north. As an important city in Northwest China, Xi’an possesses unique advantages and development potential. First-tier cities such as Beijing and Shanghai are developing rapidly, and the evolution of residential space is regionally distinctive. Xi'an is lagging behind in terms of construction and development, but it is representative of the evolution of residential space in many more cities in China. Therefore, the spatio-temporal evolution of new commercial housing in Xi'an is more representative and typical.
Although Xi'an has 11 districts and 2 counties under its jurisdiction, due to the withdrawal of counties and the establishment of districts, there are problems such as statistical differences and time inconsistencies between the main city and other districts and counties. Therefore, the research object of this paper is the main urban zone including Xincheng, Beilin, Lianhu, Weiyang, Yanta and Baqiao (Figure 2).
Comments 3: In the literature review, the author makes a detailed review in three parts: social residential space, physical residential space and commercial housing. However, as a journal paper, it is recommended to organize the content of this part around the research question or goal, and at the same time, the discussion section can further cite relevant literature to support the research findings.
Response 3: Thanks to your sound advice on the literature review section, we have changed the logical structure of the section so that it revolves around urban residential commercial housing. In addition, we introduce some references in the discussion section to support some of the arguments. (Page 2-3, Line 78-130 and Page 22, Line 759-767)
2. Literature Review
New commercial housing is a typical residential space under the housing marketization, and most foreign studies on new commercial housing are reflected in the evolution of residential space. Therefore, we sort out the literature from the following two aspects.
2.1 Research on urban residential space
Urban residential space is an important expression of the city's social space, physical space and economic progress [10-12]. So, the study of residential space evolution can be divided into that of social and physical residential space.
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2.2 Research on commercial housing
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63. Jin C, Choi MJ. The causal structure of land finance, commercial housing, and social housing in China. International Journal of Urban Sciences. 2019; 23(2): 286-99. https://doi.org/10.1080/12265934.2019.1568285
66. Liu R, Wong T-C. Urban village redevelopment in Beijing: The state-dominated formalization of informal housing. Cities. 2018; 72: 160-72. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2017.08.008
67. Zhang L, Zhu L, Shi D, Hui EC-m. Urban residential space differentiation and the influence of accessibility in Hangzhou, China. Habitat International. 2022; 124: 102556. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2022.102556
Comments 4: The paper does a good job in analyzing the impact of policies, but it can further deepen the analysis of other influencing factors (such as cultural and social changes).
Response 4: Thanks to your valid suggestions, we have added an analysis of other factors that influence the evolution of urban living space, such as culture and social change, and population. (Page 15-16, Line 442-455,467-477)
Secondly, the spatio-temporal evolution of commercial housing in Xi'an is influenced by cultural and social change factors. (1) There are areas where development is restricted and prohibited, such as the Ming City Wall (within the First Ring Road), its inner historical neighborhoods, the ruins of Han Chang’an City, and the Daming Palace ruins (Figure 2). These places are witnesses to Xi'an's long history, and the authorities have issued protection orders against development to preserve the historical and cultural sites. The protection order is permanent, meaning that the area remains within the protection zone regardless of how much Xi’an expands. (2) In the early days of urban development, which was primarily industrial and based on the “nearby employment and residence” pattern, the east-west Longhai Railway became a population-residence-industry agglomeration area after its construction. The east-west built-up area and residential zone along the railroad already existed in the early planning stages. Under this pattern, the city developed better in the east-west direction, extending to Xianyang and Lintong, while construction in the north-south direction lagged behind.
Fourthly, population demand is a direct driver of housing growth. Data analysis shows a positive correlation between population and projects. As the population grows, the correlation is highest from 2006-2010, the growth rate slows down from 2011-2020, and a negative correlation occurs in 2021-2022 (Figure 12). Xi'an's growth has attract-ed a large number of people from neighboring cities. The expansion of the city's population has led to a significant increase in housing demand. Newly built commercial housing has become an important part of people's lifestyles and consumer culture. 2021-2022 saw a decline in population but an increase in the number of commercial housings, which is a phenomenon arising from the development of the city to a certain scale. The lag of commercial housing causes it to delay making changes. There is no doubt about the contribution of population to housing in the study period.
Comments 5: The chart is the key to presenting the results of the study, the chart in the highlighted section is clear, but it is recommended to add more charts to show the influence of different factors on the evolution of residential space.
Response 5: Thank you. We have added two new images to depict the relationship between population, GDP and the number of new commercial housing projects. (Page 15, Line 464 and Page 16, Line 478)
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
