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Urbanization and Regional Economies towards Sustainability

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Urban and Rural Development".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 May 2023) | Viewed by 14334

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Prof. Dr. Suocheng Dong

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Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
Interests: regional economic geography; regional ecological economics; green development; planning of regional sustainable development; circular economics; eco-tourism; eco-city; ecological civilization; resources and environment scientific expedition; the belt and road; China–Mongolia–Russia economic corridor
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Prof. Dr. Arnold K. Tulokhonov

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Academician Professor, Baikal Institute of Nature Management, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 670047 Ulan-Ude, Russia
Interests: environmental management; regional sustainable development; geoecology; political and social geography; food security; geography of tourism

Prof. Dr. Zehong Li

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Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
Interests: resource economics; regional ecological economics; resource recycling and strategic resource guarantee; resources and environment effect of regional development and its dynamic mechanism; dynamic simulation of regional eco-economic system; interdisciplinary application of resources, environment, and ecology
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Prof. Dr. Liang Zhou

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Faculty of Geomatics, Lanzhou Jiaotong University, Lanzhou 730070, China
Interests: urbanization and ecological environment system; urban landscape planning and sustainable development; human-environment interactions; spatial analysis and decision-making; eco-environmental impact assessment; satellite-based urban monitoring, cities & Metropolitan
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Dr. Bing Xia

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Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
Interests: eco-efficiency; sustainable tourism; carbon effect; environmental–social–economic footprints
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Cities are important carriers and growth poles of regional economies, and the sustainable development of urbanization and regional economies is one of the main driving forces for the continuous progress of human civilization. However, the sustainable urbanization and regional economies, even the future of mankind, are facing a greater challenge because of the uncertainty of COVID-19 and the increased pressure brought on by global climate change. The Special Issue of Sustainability is going to be actively probing into the rule of interactions between urbanization and resources, environment and regional economies, exploring sustainable development modes of green and low-carbon eco-cities, and the new theory and methodology of urban planning; therefore, achieving the green transformation of regional economies, which is not only a key issue and frontier field of urban and regional economy innovation research, but also an important task for human beings to realize the objectives of sustainable development, and the key path to SDG 11, which constructs inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable cities and human habitats. The Special Issue will promote theoretical and methodological innovation in urban planning, urban geography, regional economies and regional ecological economies, which is of great significance for achieving sustainable development targets across cities worldwide, regional economies and strengthening the ability of response and mitigation of global climate change and prevention and control of COVID-19.

At present, urbanization, urban planning and regional economies development mainly face the following urgent problems to breakthrough. The first is the theory and mode of innovation for sustainable urbanization and green and low-carbon eco-cities. The second is sustainable urban planning quantitative expression, evaluation and innovation. The third is the mechanism and effect of regional economies sustainability and green transformation. The fourth is the interaction mechanism and coordination of urban and regional economies, ecological environment, carbon and other effects’ accounting, dynamic simulation and sustainable development of urban and regional economies. The purpose of this Special Issue is to focus on the above scientific issues that urgently need to be solved, and to bring together well-known scholars from different disciplines, such as urbanization, urban planning, sustainable development of regional economies, and ecological economies, to explore and analyze the modes and policies of new urbanization, innovation of urban planning, green transformation and sustainable development modes and policies of regional economies. The theme of this Special Issue, “Urbanization and Regional Economies towards Sustainability”, is highly connected with the journal of Sustainability’s theme of social economy, science, and comprehensive methodologies of sustainable development. It will actively promote the interdisciplinary integration and innovative breakthrough of sustainable development at multi-disciplinary, cross-regional and multi-spatial scales, which will help to cope with the uncertainty of COVID-19 and responses and mitigate the pressure of global climate change, as well as realize the goals of more sustainable urbanization, urban planning innovation, eco-city construction, and green transformation and healthy development of regional economies.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

(1) Theory and mode of innovation for urbanization and green and low-carbon eco-city development;

(2) Regional and urban planning theory and method innovation;

(3) Green transformation of regional economies, and theories and methods of regional ecological economies;

(4) Experiences, lessons, modes and policies of green transformation in resource-based cities;

(5) Big data, information technology and method application in urbanization, urban planning and regional economies development

We look forward to your contribution.

Prof. Dr. Suocheng Dong
Prof. Dr. Arnold K. Tulokhonov
Prof. Dr. Zehong Li
Prof. Dr. Liang Zhou
Dr. Bing Xia
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

urbanization
sustainable development
regional economies
eco-economies
green transformation
urban planning
low-carbon eco-city

Published Papers (8 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 2160 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Sustainability Assessment of Mineral Resource Sector Companies in Northern Asia (Russia): An Environmental and Socio-Economic Perspective

by Alexey Bilgaev, Suocheng Dong, Erzhena Sadykova, Fujia Li, Arnold Tulokhonov, Anna Mikheeva and Valentin Batomunkuev

Sustainability 2023, 15(13), 10070; https://doi.org/10.3390/su151310070 - 25 Jun 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1154

Abstract

This article discusses developing methods for assessing environmental and socio-economic sustainability, using examples of mineral and raw materials sector companies in Northern Asia (Russia). We identified a sustainability criteria system and proposed an indicator system. These indicators represent a mechanism that orders the complex of existing indicators following the goals and strategy of sustainable development at the micro level. The proposed methodology for constructing a generalized index is based on aggregating three indicator blocks that characterize the environmental and socio-economic aspects of company development. The Sustainable Development Generalized Index (SDGI) allowed us to integrate the complex environmental and socio-economic development processes of mineral and raw materials sector companies and assess their sustainability. Its main feature is the reflection of the environmental specificity of companies. The indicator system adapted to the peculiarities of the mineral and raw materials sector development is a tool for identifying the main trends in the extractive industry development and determining the factors that positively or negatively affect the sustainable development of production companies. The obtained results have information significance for state structures in ensuring the regulation, planning, and control of the consequences of decisions made in the greening production activities at the micro level. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urbanization and Regional Economies towards Sustainability)

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18 pages, 10999 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Mapping China’s Changing Gross Domestic Product Distribution Using Remotely Sensed and Point-of-Interest Data with Geographical Random Forest Model

by Fuliang Deng, Luwei Cao, Fangzhou Li, Lanhui Li, Wang Man, Yijian Chen, Wenfeng Liu and Chaofeng Peng

Sustainability 2023, 15(10), 8062; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15108062 - 15 May 2023

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1492

Abstract

Accurate knowledge of the spatiotemporal distribution of gross domestic product (GDP) is critical for achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs). However, there are rarely continuous multitemporal gridded GDP datasets for China in small geographies, and less is known about the variable importance of GDP mapping. Based on remotely sensed and point-of-interest (POI) data, a geographical random forest model was employed to map China’s multitemporal GDP distribution from 2010 to 2020 and to explore the regional differences in the importance of auxiliary variables to GDP modeling. Our new GDP density maps showed that the areas with a GDP density higher than 0.1 million CNY/km² account for half of China, mainly distributed on the southeast side of the Hu-line. The proportion of the areas with GDP density lower than 0.05 million CNY/km² has decreased by 11.38% over the past decade and the areas with an increase of 0.01 million CNY/km² account for 70.73% of China. Our maps also showed that the GDP density of most nonurban areas in northeast China declined, especially during 2015–2020, and the barycenter of China’s GDP moved 128.80 km to the southwest. These results indicate China’s achievements in alleviating poverty and the widening gaps between the South and the North. Meanwhile, the number of counties with the highest importance score for POI density, population density, and nighttime lights in GDP mapping accounts for 52.76%, 23.66%, and 23.56%, respectively, which suggests that they play a crucial role in GDP mapping. Moreover, the relationship between GDP and auxiliary variables displayed obvious regional differences. Our results provide a reference for the formulation of a sustainable development strategy. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urbanization and Regional Economies towards Sustainability)

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21 pages, 831 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Construct a Regional Innovation Ecosystem: A Case Study of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region in China

by Yuan Cao, Jingxian Liu, Ying Yang, Xiaolin Liu, Zhixuan Liu, Ning Lv, Hongkun Ma, Zhenyao Wang and Hongtu Li

Sustainability 2023, 15(9), 7099; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15097099 - 24 Apr 2023

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2435

Abstract

Constructing a Regional Innovation Ecosystem (RIE) can be an effective way to utilize innovation resources by breaking the existing regional barriers. Existing research focuses more on exploring the characteristics, evolution, and impact of innovation ecosystems from a theoretical perspective, while few studies combine reality with exploring how to build an effective innovation ecosystem. Given that the concept of an innovation ecosystem is inspired by natural ecosystems, using the method of comparative analysis, this article begins by analyzing the characteristics of tropical rainforests as the most stable and efficient natural ecosystem and deeply explores the essential features of an efficient RIE, including an innovative soft and hard environment, multi-level and differentiated producers, consumers and decomposers of innovative activities, and a virtuous cycle of innovation resources. By comparing Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei’s current reality with these characteristics, this article systematically analyzes the advantages of the innovation environment, the further improvement of innovation resource aggregation and innovation chains, as well as the disadvantages of an unbalanced distribution of innovation resources, the leapfrogging transformation of scientific and technological achievements, low innovation levels of market-oriented innovation entities, and loss of innovative factors, such as talents. Based on this analysis, targeted suggestions to construct a RIE in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, including using both market and administrative approaches to allocating innovation factors, stimulating the innovation vitality of market-oriented innovation entities, taking multiple measures to enhance Hebei Province’s capacity, building an innovative environment that is livable and business-friendly are proposed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urbanization and Regional Economies towards Sustainability)

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22 pages, 595 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Heterogenous Urbanization and Agricultural Green Development Efficiency: Evidence from China

by Pengfei Ge, Tan Liu, Xiaoxu Wu and Xiulu Huang

Sustainability 2023, 15(7), 5682; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15075682 - 24 Mar 2023

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 1686

Abstract

Realizing green development in agriculture is fundamental to sustained economic development. As a measure to facilitate the transfer of rural population, urbanization is considered to be strategic in promoting agricultural green development. This paper employs a SBM-DDF–Luenberger method to measure agricultural green total factor productivity (AGTFP) and the agricultural labor surplus in China, and empirically tests the heterogeneous effects of household registration urbanization, permanent residence urbanization, and employment urbanization on the efficiency of agricultural green development. The results reveal that: (1) the average annual growth rate of China’s AGFTP is 4.4374%, which is achieved mainly through improvements in green scale efficiency. (2) The agricultural sector in China is suffering a large surplus of labor force, with an estimation of 20.64 million in 2020. (3) Both household registration urbanization and permanent residence urbanization have a significant promoting effect on agricultural green development efficiency, though the former promotes less. (4) Employment urbanization improves agricultural green development efficiency by providing employment guidance for migrant workers, and employment urbanization of the tertiary industry has a more pronounced improvement effect. The findings suggest that governments remove restrictions on the household registration system and actively guide surplus agricultural laborers to engage in urban service industries to provide an impetus for promoting green agricultural development. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urbanization and Regional Economies towards Sustainability)

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30 pages, 9232 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Research Paradigm for Industrial Spatial Layout Optimization and High-Quality Development in The Context of Carbon Peaking

by Yang Zhang, Wenlong Li, Jiawen Sun, Haidong Zhao and Haiying Lin

Sustainability 2023, 15(4), 3105; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15043105 - 8 Feb 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1017

Abstract

The reasonable spatial layout of industries is crucial to carbon reduction and high-quality economic development. This paper establishes a research paradigm for optimizing the industrial spatial layout and high-quality development in the context of carbon peaking. Based on the perspectives of industrial transfer, the static agglomeration index, dynamic agglomeration index, industrial gradient coefficient, and low-carbon competitiveness index are used to analyze industrial agglomeration, competition status, and low-carbon competitiveness. Taking the Great Bend of the Yellow River (the Bend) as an example, we analyze the current situation in industrial development, guide the orderly transfer of industry, and optimize the spatial layout of industries to achieve high-quality economic development. The results show that resource- and capital-intensive industries have obvious advantages in agglomeration, competitive edge, and low-carbon competitiveness, while labor- and technology-intensive industries have weak advantages. The spatial layout of agglomerated industries was analyzed across four types of factor-intensive industries; these industries are the focus of industrial layout in the Bend. Promising industries were observed in all types of factor-intensive industries except capital-intensive industries, and these industries should be cultivated carefully in all provinces. Scale industries were mainly observed in resource- and capital-intensive industries; these industries should be transformed and upgraded to control the total amount and intensity of carbon emissions. The study’s findings provide a basis for optimizing the spatial layout of industries and reducing carbon emissions through industrial transfer in the context of carbon peaking. The relevant industries should be transformed and upgraded to control the total amount and intensity of carbon emissions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urbanization and Regional Economies towards Sustainability)

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25 pages, 1675 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Can New-Type Urbanization Construction Narrow the Urban–Rural Income Gap? Evidence from China

by Jiamin Liu, Xiaoyu Ma, Wenli Jia and Sisi Zhang

Sustainability 2022, 14(22), 14725; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142214725 - 8 Nov 2022

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 1877

Abstract

To promote economic development, an imbalance in urban–rural development has been caused by a policy of favoring urban areas in every county. Recently, breaking the “urban–rural dual structure” and emphasizing urban–rural “integration” have become the ideal models for most countries to realize sustainable urbanization development. In China, the main goals of new-type urbanization construction (NTUC) are to optimize the urban–rural structure and improve the living standards of rural residents, help narrow the urban–rural income gap (URIG), and realize urban–rural sustainable development. This paper mainly studied the effect of NTUC on the URIG, analyzing the dynamic impact and regional heterogeneity. The moderating effect of NTUC on the URIG was also tested. A difference-in-difference model and mediating effect model were used to investigate the impact of the NTUC on the URIG. We found that, firstly, NTUC can significantly reduce the URIG. After a series of robustness tests was implemented, the results still held. Secondly, the effect of NTUC on the URIG was −0.1684 in the short term and −0.1710 in the long term. NTUC can significantly reduce the URIG in the central and western regions, but the negative impact is insignificant in the eastern region. Thirdly, industrial structure upgrades and financial and digital development are all important ways that NTUC narrows the URIG. Finally, based on our research conclusions, we put forward corresponding countermeasures and suggestions related to the policy implementation of NTUC, regional differences, industrial structure upgrading, and financial and digital development. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urbanization and Regional Economies towards Sustainability)

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19 pages, 3382 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Characteristics of High-Technology Industry Migration within Metropolitan Areas—A Case Study of Beijing Metropolitan Area

by Peiyuan Zhang, Jiaming Li and Wenzhong Zhang

Sustainability 2022, 14(19), 12750; https://doi.org/10.3390/su141912750 - 6 Oct 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1725

Abstract

Industrial migration is a hot topic in economic geography. This study traces the migratory process of key high-tech enterprises in Beijing during 2008–2016, revealing the migratory characteristics and patterns of high-tech enterprises within the metropolitan area by using spatial analysis methods and mathematical statistics. The results show that: (1) Migrating enterprises are mainly mixed-ownership and foreign-funded or privately-owned enterprises. Medium-sized enterprises are more likely to relocate than small and large enterprises, especially in lucrative sectors. (2) The migration of high-tech enterprises is mainly based on proximity migration. More than 77.19% of enterprises tend to move to agglomerations or agglomeration expansion areas such as Jiuxianqiao and the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area (BDA) in Daxing District. In addition, 33 enterprises experience varying degrees of scale expansion after relocation. (3) Most high-tech manufacturing enterprises are in the growth stage of their life cycle. They initially relocate between 7 and 16 years after their establishment, which means that there is roughly a 7-year adaptation or development period for firms within a region after their establishment. During the adaptation period, companies do not tend to relocate; afterwards, as they grow, they need to find other spaces in which to do so. For reasons such as familiarity with the environment, enterprises give priority to finding new locations within the agglomeration and the surrounding area. These results deepen the understanding of the temporal and spatial characteristics of the migration of enterprises within the city from the microscopic perspective and provide a scientific basis for the optimization of industrial space in a metropolis. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urbanization and Regional Economies towards Sustainability)

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19 pages, 1319 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Externalities of Urban Agglomerations: An Empirical Study of the Chinese Case

by Juan Yin, Zhong Yang and Jin Guo

Sustainability 2022, 14(19), 11895; https://doi.org/10.3390/su141911895 - 21 Sep 2022

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 1609

Abstract

Urban agglomerations are playing an increasingly important role in regional economic development, and economic externalities are the key factors in the formation and development of urban agglomerations. According to different mechanisms, agglomeration externalities can be divided into pecuniary externality and technological externality, but the literature has not paid enough attention to the differences between them. Based on the case of China’s five representative urban agglomerations, this paper analyzes and compares the origins, mechanisms, and factors of the two types of agglomeration externality. The results indicated that the pecuniary externality of urban agglomerations originates from the intercity flow and allocation of production factors, and its mechanisms include the specialized production brought by industrial division and the cost reduction caused by scale economy. While the technological externality originates from technological spillovers between cities, its mechanisms include knowledge sharing and technology cooperation. Among China’s five representative urban agglomerations, the key factor affecting their pecuniary externality is market size, and the key factor affecting their technological externality is economic density. In other words, the pursuit of a larger market and higher economic density are the two main driving forces for the formation of urban agglomerations in China. By distinguishing core cities from peripheral cities in China’s five representative urban agglomerations, we also find that there is no significant difference in their pecuniary externality. However, their technological externality presents complex differences. There is still much room to improve the externalities of agglomeration in China’s urban agglomerations. For example, the flow of capital does not show a shift to more productive cities. R&D activities are still mainly concentrated within a city, not intercity, in urban agglomerations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urbanization and Regional Economies towards Sustainability)

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