Impact of human settlements quality on urban vitality based on multisource data:A case study of Shahekou District,Dalian,China

Urban geography has always been concerned about the influence of human settlements on urban vitality,but few studies reveal the influence of human settlements on urban vitality at a micro-scale.This paper analyzes the spatial distribution characteristics of human settlements’quality and urban vitality at the micro-scale using Geodetectors and geographic weighted regression to analyze the relationship between human settlements and urban vitality.The results are shown as follows:there is still a significant development space for human settlements quality in Shahekou District,with obvious spatial dependence characteristics and significant gaps between various systems;the urban vitality of Shahekou District has obvious timeliness,and the urban vitality undergoes significant changes over time,which is related to the human settlements quality.The spatial distribution presents a single core spatial distribution structure with strong relative stability.The spatial distribution of cold and hot spots shows a pattern of“high in the north and low in the south,high in the east and low in the west”,with an increasing trend from southwest to northeast;the reachability of public transport has a significant impact on urban vitality.Its synergy with other variables is the leading force forming the spatial distribution of urban vitality.The environmental system,support system and social system are the significant factors affecting the urban vitality of Shahekou District.

Natural environment suitability for human settlements in China based on GIS

With the degeneration of environment and acceleration of urbanization,human environment has attracted great attention worldwide.This paper sets up the Human Settlements Environment Index(HEI) model and evaluates the natural environment suitability for Human Settlements in China based on GIS technology.The results show that the HEI of China decreases from southeast to northwest in general,HEI is significantly correlated with population density at grid size and the correlation coefficient(r) between them reaches 0.93,which indicates that natural environment suitability for Human Settlements has a significant influence on population distribution.Most people in China mainly concentrate in areas with high natural environment suitability.The total suitable area is 430.47×104 km2,which accounts for nearly 45% of the total land area in China,while the proportion of people living in the area reaches 96.56%.With a population density of 18 people per square kilometer,the critical area is the transitional region for people to live in China.The critical area covers 225.11×104 km2 with a population of 41.12 million.The non-suitable area covers 304.42×104 km2 with a population of only 2.49 million.

Human Settlements in Rural-urban Fringe

On basis of human settlements theory, the research explored status quo of human settlements theory in rural-urban fringe, and analyzed and concluded predicaments confronted by rural-urban fringe, laying foundation for human settle- ments theory of rural-urban fringe.

Climate Suitability Assessment of Human Settlements for Regions along the Belt and Road

Climate is one important environmental variable that affects human life.As the regions along the Belt and Road(B&R)encompass vast territories and large populations,it is significant to assess climate suitability for human settlements,which will influence the migration of various surrounding countries.We selected seven regions including 65 countries along the B&R for the research area and adopted the temperature-humidity index(THI),to assess the climate suitability.We analyzed the spatial characteristics of THI and the correlation between population distribution and THI,the results of which enabled us to adjust the THI classification criteria.We finally assessed the climate suitability of each region.The results reveal that outside the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau,the THI values generally tend to decrease from west to east as longitude increases and downward with increasing latitude.The population distribution is significantly correlated with the THI.Regions with relative suitable climate,including high suitability areas(HASs),moderately suitable areas(MSAs)and low suitability areas(LSAs),account for 50.62%of the total area and encompass in excess of 90%of total population.These areas are widely distributed in the southern regions of 45°N latitude,again with the exception of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.Critical suitable area includes 19.48%of the entire area and 8.98%of total population.The non-suitable area accounts for less than 30%of total area,concentrated in the cold high-latitude and high-altitude areas.

Evaluation and Improvement Measures of Rural Human Settlements in Licheng District of Jinan City

Based on the data of rural human settlements in Licheng District of Jinan City in 2016,the evaluation system of rural human settlements composed of four subsystems（ social economy,infrastructure,public environment,and construction management） was constructed. According to the comprehensive scores of various administrative villages calculated by means of multi-index comprehensive evaluation method and fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method,the human settlements of 521 administrative villages in Licheng District were divided into four types： excellent,good,average,and poor. Moreover,the spatial differences in the evaluation results of rural human settlements were analyzed using GIS spatial analysis technology. Finally,based on the evaluation results of rural human settlements in Licheng District,some measures to improve and control rural human settlements in different types of villages at various development stages were proposed to fully improve the quality of rural human settlements.

Water Adaptability of Traditional Mountainous Human Settlements in Mentougou of West Beijing

The climatic environment,landscape environment and settlement environment of traditional mountainous human settlements in Mentougou of west Beijing are summarized.Based on the analysis from the perspective of water adaptability,the spatial database of water adaptability of traditional mountainous human settlements in Mentougou of west Beijing is constructed,and the experience of water adaptability construction of settlement location,irrigation and water conservancy,flood control and soil fixation in river beach and gully areas is summarized.The landscape system of water adaptability of traditional mountainous human settlements in Mentougou of west Beijing embodies the typical wisdom of water adaptability construction contained in traditional mountainous human settlements,and has high reference value in the related research of water adaptability.

The Natural Environment Suitability and the Suitability Degree of Human Settlements in Mid-southern Liaoning Urban Agglomerations,China,in Relation to the Population Distribution

Human settlement is a necessary factor for human survival and development.The scientific assessments of the natural suitability and appropriateness of human settlements contribute to addressing the discord between ecological environments and economic development and fostering sustainable development in the relationship between humans and nature.Building upon established methods for assessing human settlement suitability,this study investigated the natural suitability of the living environment in the urban agglomeration of mid-southern Liaoning.Based on this exploration,the suitability of the degree of human settlements for the population distribution in the study area from 2000 to 2020 was calculated.The results revealed three important points.(1)Nearly one-fifth of the study area,the area around the offshoot of Changbai Mountain,is a critically suitable area.More than half of this area,generally the buffer zone connecting the Liaohe Plain and the offshoot of Changbai Mountain,is generally suitable for human settlements.The proportion of suitable areas is only 25.53%,mostly on the Liaohe Plain along the Liaodong Peninsula by the Yellow Sea.(2)The overall spatial distribution of human settlement exhibits a pattern that is moderate-low in the middle and high on both sides;and higher in the southern part and lower in the northern part.(3)The human settlement suitability degree is higher in the western regions and lower in the eastern regions,with Shenyang and Panjin in the west having the highest suitability,while Benxi in the east exhibits the lowest habitat suitability.From 2000 to 2020,except for Shenyang and Panjin where suitability remained constant,the suitability degree of other cities has improved.Among them,Dandong experienced the most significant increase in suitability.

A GIS-based Study on Sustainable Human Settlements Functional Division in China

在中国1km×1km栅格尺度人居环境自然适宜性分类评价和分县尺度人口空间集聚程度分级评价的基础上,结合中国分县资源环境承载力和区域经济发展水平和发展潜力,确立了中国可持续的人居功能分区评价模型,提出了中国可持续发展的人居功能分区方案。研究表明:中国可持续的人居功能分区空间分布呈现东南半壁优于西北半壁的格局;人居功能强可持续地区面积约139.75×104km2,占国土面积的14.66%,相应人口4.3亿,接近总人口的1/3,主要分布在东南沿海、长江中下游地区、四川盆地、黄淮海平原以及东北平原的部分地区;人居功能较强可持续地区面积约193.61×104km2,占国土面积的1/5,相应人口3.2亿,接近总人口的1/4,主要分布在三江平原、辽河平原、山东半岛等地;可持续地区面积210.19×104km2,约占国土面积的22%,相应人口3.7亿,占总人口的28.24%,主要分布在呼伦贝尔高原、黄土高原和云贵高原等地,零星见于藏东南谷地和柴达木盆地等地区;较弱可持续地区,面积约145.85×104km2,占国土面积的15.30%,人口1.4亿,约占总人口的11%,零散分布于黄土高原、川滇高原和云贵高原的部分地区;弱可持续地区面积约263.86×104km2,约占国土面积的27.68%,相应人口0.4亿,接近总人口的3%,主要分布在青藏高原、西北荒漠以及川滇高原北部地区。

Changes in human settlement environments and their drivers in valley cities located in arid and semi-arid regions:A case study of Lanzhou in Western China

Development of urban human settlement environments(HSEs)is an integral part of promoting high-quality and sustainable regional development and constructing a beautiful China.The city of Lanzhou,located at the geometric center of China,is the only provincial capital traversed by the Yellow River.Given the constraints posed by the valley topography and the need for economic development,the development of this HSE,which is located within an arid region,poses considerable challenges.Evidently,an understanding of the evolution of HSEs and drivers of changes in them contributes to high-quality,sustainable urban development in arid and semi-arid regions.An analytical model was developed using the parameters of relief degree of land surface,human comfort days,the land cover index,nighttime light index,and precipitation.This model was used in combination with population density and the gross domestic product to analyze the spatial distribution of Lanzhou's HSE and its drivers.The results showed that landscapes in Lanzhou underwent significant changes between 2000 and 2022,with an increase in building-up land(+0.946%),cultivated land(+0.134%),and forest land(+0.018%)and a decrease in grassland(-1.10%).There was significant outward expansion of the main urban zone of Lanzhou and of various county towns,with the increase in building-up land being most prominent.During this period,there were significant changes in the periphery of the core urban area and county towns in Lanzhou,with decreases moving from the urban center(the highest value)to the surrounding areas(Yongdeng County had the lowest value).The correlation between the HSE and population density grew stronger in Anning and Chengguan Districts but became weaker in Xigu and Qilihe Districts.Spatiotemporal variations in the HSE were primarily caused by climate change,followed by human activities,and were also influenced by the valley topography.Overall,the spatial distribution of population density and the HSE in Lanzhou demonstrated good consistency under the in-fluence of economic development and urbanization.

Reflections on the Improvement of Rural Human Settlement Environment from the Perspective of Beauty and Livability

The construction of beautiful and livable villages is one of the important tasks of ruralrevitalization in the new era, and the development of rural areas attaches more and more importanceto the improvement of human settlement environment. By investigating the construction status andexisting problems of Zhaoba Village in Nanjing, it tries to take “beauty” and “livability” as the planningrequirements. The village positioning is planned accurately, and the functional layout is carried outreasonably. According to the characteristic industries, landscape features and infrastructure of ZhaobaVillage, humanized construction strategies are put forward, thus improving the quality of human settlementenvironment in Zhaoba Village.

Model-Based Systems Engineering Approach to Design a Human Settlement to Better Serve Displaced People

The challenge of transitioning from temporary humanitarian settlements to more sustainable human settlements is due to a significant increase in the number of forcibly displaced people over recent decades, difficulties in providing social services that meet the required standards, and the prolongation of emergencies. Despite this challenging context, short-term considerations continue to guide their planning and management rather than more integrated, longer-term perspectives, thus preventing viable, sustainable development. Over the years, the design of humanitarian settlements has not been adapted to local contexts and perspectives, nor to the dynamics of urbanization and population growth and data. In addition, the current approach to temporary settlement harms the environment and can strain limited resources. Inefficient land use and ad hoc development models have compounded difficulties and generated new challenges. As a result, living conditions in settlements have deteriorated over the last few decades and continue to pose new challenges. The stakes are such that major shortcomings have emerged along the way, leading to disruption, budget overruns in a context marked by a steady decline in funding. However, some attempts have been made to shift towards more sustainable approaches, but these have mainly focused on vague, sector-oriented themes, failing to consider systematic and integration views. This study is a contribution in addressing these shortcomings by designing a model-driving solution, emphasizing an integrated system conceptualized as a system of systems. This paper proposes a new methodology for designing an integrated and sustainable human settlement model, based on Model-Based Systems Engineering and a Systems Modeling Language to provide valuable insights toward sustainable solutions for displaced populations aligning with the United Nations 2030 agenda for sustainable development.

Evaluation on the human settlements environment suitability in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area of Chongqing based on RS and GIS

To explore geographical differences in quantitative characteristics and spatial pattern of human settlements environmental suitability （HSES） in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area （TGRA）, terrain, climate, hydrology, vegetation and other natural factors were selected to build the livable environmental evaluation, and the quantitative analysis was conducted through Remote Sensing（RS） and Geographic Informational System （GIS） to reveal geo- graphical characteristics and spatial patterns of HSES. The results are obtained as follows： （1） inhabitants of the TGRA of Chongqing are concentrated in the area with moderate h.igh HSES, which is 78% of the total population distributed in 48% of the study area; （2） the HSES is closely related to the terrain, and it forms an arc-banded spatial succession pattern： relatively low in the northeast and the southeast while comparatively high in the west and the south; （3） large numbers of people are distributed in the area with low suitability （with higher population density than the average of the western China）, but economic development level in these areas is quite low. Moreover, these areas are ecological sensitive and fragile, many kinds of eco-environmental problems have been caused by human activities. Therefore, population migration and layout are reasonable options for the development of these areas.

Assessment of Climate Suitability for Human Settlements in Tibet,China

Climate is an important factor that affects the livability of a region.The climate suitability of a region’s environment for human settlement profoundly affects the regional socio-economic development and the population distribution.Tibet is an area that is sensitive to climate change.Given the impact of global climate change,the climate suitability of Tibet has undergone significant changes.In this study,the temperature humidity index(THI)values for Tibet were calculated,and the relationships between the population distribution and the THI were analyzed quantitatively.In this way,the zoning standards for climate suitability in Tibet were determined such that the climate suitability could be evaluated.The results show that the average annual temperature in the southeast of Tibet,where the population was densely distributed,was relatively high.The mean annual relative humidity showed a trend of gradually decreasing from south to north.Regions with a suitable climate,including the high suitability areas(HSAs),the moderately suitable areas(MSAs)and the low suitability areas(LSAs),accounted for only 7.90%of the total area but accommodated over 40%of the total population.The critically suitable areas(CSAs)accounted for 37.81%of the land area and 48.24%of the total population.Non-suitable areas(NSAs)were widely distributed in Tibet and accounted for 54.29%of the total area and 11.33%of the total population.The results of this study may provide a reference for guiding the reasonable distribution of population and promoting the optimization of the spatial planning in Tibet.

In Search of Humanity in Human Settlements

This paper explores the relationship between humans,human settlements,and cities from the perspectives of citizen participation,migration of population,sustainability,etc.,and puts forward some suggestions to improve humanity through judicious planning and people-centered urban planning and design.

New-Type Urbanization and the Development of the Sciences of Human Settlements in China

As urbanization is an evolutionary process of the open giant system of complex spaces,solutions should be sought based on the scientifi c method of "limited solutions to complex problems." Firstly,as people are the core of human settlements,urbanization should show its care for humans and thus for human settlements; secondly,a human settlement civilization should be cultivated on the basis of ecological civilization; thirdly,rural development should be promoted in units of county,in order to coordinate the urban-rural development; fourthly,it should encourage the decision-makers and think tanks to improve the management mechanism. As transformation becomes the general trend of this era,we need also to understand the Sciences of Human Settlements from the perspective of scientifi c transformation,which is expected to break new grounds in the Sciences of Human Settlements.

Changes in the Geographical Distributions of Global Human Settlements

In recent decades,the continuous growth in the population has significantly changed the area of human settlements across the globe.The change of human settlements has brought great challenges to human development,environmental change,resource allocation,and disaster prediction and prevention.In the current paper,we integrate data products provided by the European Commission,Joint Research Centre with multi-source remote sensing data to analyze the changing trends of global human settlements under varying geographical distributions from 1990 to 2014.The results demonstrate that on the global scale,human settlements are generally distributed in Europe,East Asia,Southeast Asia,South Asia,the eastern United States,the Gulf Coast and the coast of Oceania,with most of them distributed in urban agglomerations and coastal areas.Global human settlements have continued to grow over the past 25 years,mainly in East Asia,Western Europe and the United States.The area of human settlements in eastern Europe has been slightly reduced.The distribution of human settlements is affected by climate,water and terrain conditions.Humans were more likely to have settled in temperate regions with wetter climates,and most of the human settlements are located within 500 km of the coastline and 30 km of land-based water sources.Our results can provide insights into further investigations of the spatio-temporal dynamics of human settlements and its connections to ecological and environmental issues in a changing world.

Seeking Urbanization Routes for Fragile Human Settlements in Mountainous Areas:A Peculiar Practice for China's Western Region

Based on a deep understanding of the significant strategic role of urbanization during the development of China's western region, this paper sets out to investigate the characteristics of urbanization in the west from the perspectives of population and demographic growth, the level of urbanization, migration, and so forth, and then moves on to examine the major constraints to urbanization and suggest priorities for coordinated development in terms of protection of the ecological environment, poverty elimination, ethnic prosperity, and border security. By summarizing the typical urbanization modes, the paper argues that the healthy urbanization of China's western region should be promoted in a scientific way under the guiding thoughts of "amenable to state intervention, oriented to people's livelihood, suitable for local conditions, and subject to orderly progression."

Constructing Human Settlements to Achieve Scientiic Development:Yunfu's Experiment

In the background of development mode transformation, the city of Yunfu has carried out the experiment of the Sciences of Human Settlements, which takes Scientific View of Development as the guiding ideology and the Sciences of Human Settlements as the theoretical basis. "Joint development of beautiful environment and harmonious society" is the epistemology and methodology of the experiment and its framework includes the vision of human settlements, major function enlargement of county region, construction guideline for integrated community, and action outline of joint development of beautiful environment and harmonious society. Through a series of actions, Yunfu has made remarkable achievements which include the improvement of human settlement quality in urban-rural areas, the promotion of socio-economic development, and the harmonious relationship between the Party and the people.

Development of Human Settlements in China in 1980s

During 1980s, China experienced an unprecedented settlement development which wastriggered by a major change of policies. lmplication of this development in the overall nationalsocio-economic development has been profound and lasting. It is no exaggeration to say that thesuccess of this settlement development has been playing an incomparable role in keeping the so-cial, political and economic stability of our country in the past volatile decade. The author of this paper has an intention to present readers with essentialmatter-of-facts about this development through the use of statistics and figures; to dis-cuss the reasons or momemturns including reforms and innovations that promoted therealization of this development; to explore issues relating to further development.