Analysis on the situation and countermeasures of water resources supply and demand in the cities of small and medium-sized river basins along southeast coast of China-taking Xiamen City as an example

The small and medium-sized river basins along southeast coast of China hold comparatively abundant water resources.However,the rapid resources urbanization in recent years has produced a series of water problems such as deterioration of river water quality,water shortage and exacerbated floods,which have constrained urban economic development.By applying the principle of triple supply-demand equilibrium,this paper focuses on the estimation of levels of water supply and demand in 2030 at different guarantee probabilities,with a case study of Xiamen city.The results show that water shortage and inefficient utilization are main problems in the city,as the future water supply looks daunting,and a water shortage may hit nearly 2×10^(8)m^(3)in an extraordinarily dry year.Based on current water supply-demand gap and its trend,this paper proposes countermeasures and suggestions for developing and utilizing groundwater resources and improving the utilization rate of water resources,which can supply as a reference for other southeast middle-to-small-sized basin cities in terms of sustainable water resources and water environment protection.

Five-force Analysis and Market Strategies of Budget Hotels in Small and Medium-sized Cities --ake Xuchang Jinjiang INN for Example

Budget hotels, as an emerging hotel model, were started and attained a rapid development in China in the last ten years, and have proven to be important part of China抯 hotel industry. As competitions in the hotel industry become increasingly fiercer, budget hotel brands launch a fight for seizing more market share. Therefore, it is necessary for Xuchang Jinjiang INN as a famous hotel brand to be distinguished from the hotel product strategies of the developed economic areas in the development environment of the small and medium-sized tourism cities, so as to adapt to the characteristics of regional market.

International Arts Festivals Visitors＇ Motives and Profile Characteristics： The Case of Two Medium-Sized Greek Cities

This paper presents an analysis of two renowned international arts festivals visitors＇ motives and profilecharacteristics, in two medium-sized Greek cities： the Kalamata International Dance Festival （KIDF） and theDrama International Short Film Festival （DISFF）. The purpose of the study was to determine the reasons visitorsattend these festivals, which is necessary for building more concise marketing strategies and, therefore,more successful and sustainable events, with long-term benefits, ranging from the local to the national levels.The research addresses international arts festivals that share four main characteristics： （1） they host internationalprofessional artists; （2） they feature explicitly-stated artistic visions and objectives; （3） they are publicly funded;and （4） they have achieved a consecutive 23 years of successful presence in each city. These two case studiesrepresent two cultural events which have managed to maintain their popularity and high status, on the Europeanfestival map, as well as to raise their host cities＇ cultural and tourism standards, despite the serious economiccutback they have both faced. Due to limited available funds, the festivals lack marketing resources andspecifically data collection on visitor motivation, a gap which this study aims to remedy. Primary datawere collected with the aid of online structured questionnaires, distributed and collected during autumn2016. Altogether, 130 questionnaires were answered by visitors of the DISFF and 186 questionnaires wereanswered by visitors of the KIDF. Even though both festivals share similar characteristics regarding theirorganization and their aims, our analysis emphasized the heterogeneity of the motives of attendance in connectionwith the visitors＇ profile characteristics, for each event. While some similarities were found, especially betweendemographic sample characteristics and visitors＇ profiles, the general picture to emerge from the findingsindicates significant differences between the two cases. Arts festivals-goers do not appear to constitute a singlehomogeneous market; rather, each event appears to attract different audiences for different reasons. Theimplications of these findings, deriving from statistical analysis, are discussed and suggestions for further researchare outlined. This research aims to contribute to knowledge concerning the marketing strategies of internationalarts festivals in medium-sized cities, useful for research and academic purposes, as well as to local and nationalauthorities and other agencies and bodies, responsible for urban tourism and cultural city/town planning andmanagement.

Surface Thermal Environment and Water Temperature Regulation of Rapidly Developing Small and Medium-Sized Cities

[Objective] This study aimed to investigate the temperature regulation effect of surface thermal environment and waters on the temperature, as well as the influencing factors, in Binzhou City, Shandong Province, so as to provide scientific basis for layout planning of urban waters. [Method] Based on the Landsat image of 2009 and 2014, the surface temperature was retrieved using mono-window algorithm and the distribution characteristics of surface temperature of different land types were analyzed. By arranging temperature points on the temperature line and water characteristic statistics, the temperature regulation effect of waters, as well as the influencing factors was analyzed. [Result](1) The order of surface temperature of different land types in summer was building land > cultivated land > woodland > water body, while in winter, the order was cultivated land > woodland > building land > water body. In terms of summer-winter average thermal level, the order was building land > cultivated land > woodland > water body.(2) The temperature regulation effect of waters showed a strong nonlinear relationship with the distance.(3) Large-area water bodies had better cooling effect. Under the condition of same area, the temperature regulated area of multiple small-area water bodies was larger than that of single large-area water body.(4) The increase in the proportion of non-building land around the water body increased the range of water cooling.(5) When the area of water bodies was small, the smaller the ratio of perimeter to area was, the larger the influence range of water cooling was. [Conclusion] The temperature regulation effect of waters in Binzhou City showed a strong nonlinear relationship with the distance, and was affected by the size of the water body, the complexity of the boundary and the composition of the surrounding land.

Discovery and inspiration of large-and medium-sized glutenite-rich oil and gas fields in the eastern South China Sea:An example from Paleogene Enping Formation in Huizhou 26 subsag,Pearl River Mouth Basin

Based on the practice of oil and gas exploration in the Huizhou Sag of the Pearl River Mouth Basin,the geochemical indexes of source rocks were measured,the reservoir development morphology was restored,the rocks and minerals were characterized microscopically,the measured trap sealing indexes were compared,the biomarker compounds of crude oil were extracted,the genesis of condensate gas was identified,and the reservoir-forming conditions were examined.On this basis,the Paleogene Enping Formation in the Huizhou 26 subsag was systematically analyzed for the potential of oil and gas resources,the development characteristics of large-scale high-quality conglomerate reservoirs,the trapping effectiveness of faults,the hydrocarbon migration and accumulation model,and the formation conditions and exploration targets of large-and medium-sized glutenite-rich oil and gas fields.The research results were obtained in four aspects.First,the Paleogene Wenchang Formation in the Huizhou 26 subsag develops extensive and thick high-quality source rocks of semi-deep to deep lacustrine subfacies,which have typical hydrocarbon expulsion characteristics of"great oil generation in the early stage and huge gas expulsion in the late stage",providing a sufficient material basis for hydrocarbon accumulation in the Enping Formation.Second,under the joint control of the steep slope zone and transition zone of the fault within the sag,the large-scale near-source glutenite reservoirs are highly heterogeneous,with the development scale dominated hierarchically by three factors(favorable facies zone,particle component,and microfracture).The(subaqueous)distributary channels near the fault system,with equal grains,a low mud content(<5%),and a high content of feldspar composition,are conducive to the development of sweet spot reservoirs.Third,the strike-slip pressurization trap covered by stable lake flooding mudstone is a necessary condition for oil and gas preservation,and the NE and nearly EW faults obliquely to the principal stress have the best control on traps.Fourth,the spatiotemporal configuration of high-quality source rocks,fault transport/sealing,and glutenite reservoirs controls the degree of hydrocarbon enrichment.From top to bottom,three hydrocarbon accumulation units,i.e.low-fill zone,transition zone,and high-fill zone,are recognized.The main area of the channel in the nearly pressurized source-connecting fault zone is favorable for large-scale hydrocarbon enrichment.The research results suggest a new direction for the exploration of large-scale glutenite-rich reservoirs in the Enping Formation of the Pearl River Mouth Basin,and present a major breakthrough in oil and gas exploration.

Understanding the Relationship Between Shrinking Cities and Land Prices:Spatial Pattern,Effectiveness,and Policy Implications

Urban shrinkage has emerged as a widespread phenomenon globally and has a significant impact on land,particularly in terms of land use and price.This study focuses on 2851 county-level cities in China in 2005–2018(excluding Hong Kong,Macao,Taiwan,and‘no data’areas in Qinhai-Tibet Plateau)as the fundamental units of analysis.By employing nighttime light(NTL)data to identify shrinking cities,the propensity score matching(PSM)model was used to quantitatively examine the impact of shrinking cities on land prices,and evaluate the magnitude of this influence.The findings demonstrate the following:1)there were 613 shrinking cities in China,with moderate shrinkage being the most prevalent and severe shrinkage being the least.2)Regional disparities are evident in the spatial distribution of shrinking cities,especially in areas with diverse terrain.3)The spatial pattern of land price exhibits a significant correlated to the economic and administrative levels.4)Shrinking cities significantly negatively impact on the overall land price(ATT=–0.1241,P<0.05).However,the extent of the effect varies significantly among different spatial regions.This study contributes novel insights into the investigation of land prices and shrinking cities,ultimately serving as a foundation for government efforts to promote the sustainable development of urban areas.

A Study on the Symbol-Based Narrative in the International Communication of Cities

Cultural symbols,a manifestation of cities’cultural resources,are not only signs that frame concepts but also forms that express meanings.Exploring the international communication of cities from the perspective of symbols,this paper analyzes in depth how cities create their cultural symbols in the dynamic process of international communication in an era of symbol-based digital media,and how they develop their narratives and explain meanings through the dissemination of symbols when telling their stories to international audiences,thus enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of their international communication efforts.

Formation of large-and medium-sized Cretaceous volcanic reservoirs in the offshore Bohai Bay Basin,East China

Based on the geological and geophysical data of Mesozoic oil-gas exploration in the sea area of Bohai Bay Basin and the discovered high-yield volcanic oil and gas wells since 2019,this paper methodically summarizes the formation conditions of large-and medium-sized Cretaceous volcanic oil and gas reservoirs in the Bohai Sea.Research shows that the Mesozoic large intermediate-felsic lava and intermediate-felsic composite volcanic edifices in the Bohai Sea are the material basis for the formation of large-scale volcanic reservoirs.The upper subfacies of effusive facies and cryptoexplosive breccia subfacies of volcanic conduit facies of volcanic vent-proximal facies belts are favorable for large-scale volcanic reservoir formation.Two types of efficient reservoirs,characterized by high porosity and medium to low permeability,as well as medium porosity and medium to low permeability,are the core of the formation of large-and medium-sized volcanic reservoirs.The reservoir with high porosity and medium to low permeability is formed by intermediate-felsic vesicular lava or the cryptoexplosive breccia superimposed by intensive dissolution.The reservoir with medium porosity and medium to low permeability is formed by intense tectonism superimposed by fluid dissolution.Weathering and tectonic transformation are main formation mechanisms for large and medium-sized volcanic reservoirs in the study area.The low-source“source-reservoir draping type”is the optimum source-reservoir configuration relationship for large-and medium-sized volcanic reservoirs.There exists favorable volcanic facies,efficient reservoirs and source-reservoir draping configuration relationship on the periphery of Bozhong Sag,and the large intermediate-felsic lava and intermediate-felsic composite volcanic edifices close to strike-slip faults and their branch faults are the main directions of future exploration.

Enhanced Cooling Efficiency of Urban Trees on Hotter Summer Days in 70 Cities of China

Increasing the urban tree cover percentage(TCP) is widely recognized as an efficient way to mitigate the urban heat island effect. The cooling efficiency of urban trees can be either enhanced or attenuated on hotter days, depending on the physiological response of urban trees to rising ambient temperature. However, the response of urban trees' cooling efficiency to rising urban temperature remains poorly quantified for China's cities. In this study, we quantify the response of urban trees' cooling efficiency to rising urban temperature at noontime [~1330 LT(local time), LT=UTC+8] in 17summers(June, July, and August) from 2003–19 in 70 economically developed cities of China based on satellite observations. The results show that urban trees have stronger cooling efficiency with increasing temperature, suggesting additional cooling benefits provided by urban trees on hotter days. The enhanced cooling efficiency values of urban trees range from 0.002 to 0.055℃ %-1 per 1℃ increase in temperature across the selected cities, with larger values for the lowTCP-level cities. The response is also regulated by background temperature and precipitation, as the additional cooling benefit tends to be larger in warmer and wetter cities at the same TCP level. The positive response of urban trees' cooling efficiency to rising urban temperature is explained mainly by the stronger evapotranspiration of urban trees on hotter days.These results have important implications for alleviating urban heat risk by utilizing urban trees, particularly considering that extreme hot days are becoming more frequent in cities under global warming.

Do companies influenced by smart cities pay more attention to green governance?Mechanism and optimal spatial correlation

Smart cities are a way for China to construct an innovative and environmentally conscious nation.The paper examines the impact of smart cities on corporate green governance and provides a theoretical foundation for formulating and executing smart city policy in China.Based on panel data from Chinese A-share listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen from 2008 to 2020,this study constructs a multiperiod double-difference model to examine the influence of smart cities on corporate green governance.Additionally,it uses a spatial double-difference model to investigate the spatial spillover effect of smart cities on neighboring areas.The findings indicate that smart cities effectively enhance corporate green governance.Analyzing the influencing mechanisms reveals that resource allocation efficiency,technological innovation,management environmental awareness,and regional environmental enforcement efforts act as mediators.Furthermore,the study reveals that the impact of smart cities on promoting corporate green governance is more pronounced in regions with lower levels of marketization and resource-based cities.Moreover,the research explores the spatial spillover effects of smart cities,with an effective radius of approximately 350 km.The optimal spatial correlation zone for green governance of businesses in neighboring areas in relation to smart cities is within a range of 250-350 km.This is manifested by the significant promotion of green governance in neighboring area businesses facilitated by smart cities.

Factors Influencing the Spatial Variability of Air Temperature Urban Heat Island Intensity in Chinese Cities

Few studies have investigated the spatial patterns of the air temperature urban heat island(AUHI)and its controlling factors.In this study,the data generated by an urban climate model were used to investigate the spatial variations of the AUHI across China and the underlying climate and ecological drivers.A total of 355 urban clusters were used.We performed an attribution analysis of the AUHI to elucidate the mechanisms underlying its formation.The results show that the midday AUHI is negatively correlated with climate wetness(humid:0.34 K;semi-humid:0.50 K;semi-arid:0.73 K).The annual mean midnight AUHI does not show discernible spatial patterns,but is generally stronger than the midday AUHI.The urban–rural difference in convection efficiency is the largest contributor to the midday AUHI in the humid(0.32±0.09 K)and the semi-arid(0.36±0.11 K)climate zones.The release of anthropogenic heat from urban land is the dominant contributor to the midnight AUHI in all three climate zones.The rural vegetation density is the most important driver of the daytime and nighttime AUHI spatial variations.A spatial covariance analysis revealed that this vegetation influence is manifested mainly through its regulation of heat storage in rural land.

Ensemble Deep Learning Based Air Pollution Prediction for Sustainable Smart Cities

Big data and information and communication technologies can be important to the effectiveness of smart cities.Based on the maximal attention on smart city sustainability,developing data-driven smart cities is newly obtained attention as a vital technology for addressing sustainability problems.Real-time monitoring of pollution allows local authorities to analyze the present traffic condition of cities and make decisions.Relating to air pollution occurs a main environmental problem in smart city environments.The effect of the deep learning(DL)approach quickly increased and penetrated almost every domain,comprising air pollution forecast.Therefore,this article develops a new Coot Optimization Algorithm with an Ensemble Deep Learning based Air Pollution Prediction(COAEDL-APP)system for Sustainable Smart Cities.The projected COAEDL-APP algorithm accurately forecasts the presence of air quality in the sustainable smart city environment.To achieve this,the COAEDL-APP technique initially performs a linear scaling normalization(LSN)approach to pre-process the input data.For air quality prediction,an ensemble of three DL models has been involved,namely autoencoder(AE),long short-term memory(LSTM),and deep belief network(DBN).Furthermore,the COA-based hyperparameter tuning procedure can be designed to adjust the hyperparameter values of the DL models.The simulation outcome of the COAEDL-APP algorithm was tested on the air quality database,and the outcomes stated the improved performance of the COAEDL-APP algorithm over other existing systems with maximum accuracy of 98.34%.

Defining Cities by Water: Addressing Capital Misallocation in a Race to Conserve Resources

As part of its efforts to promote a sustainable and high-quality development,China has pledged to reduce water consumption and create a water-efficient society.On the basis of identifying the institutional root causes of excessive capital allocation and excessive water consumption in China’s water-intensive industrial sectors,this study elaborates how the national water-efficient cities assessment contributes to optimized capital allocation.Our research shows that national water-efficient cities assessment has motivated local governments to compete for water efficiency.To conserve water,local governments regulated the entry and exit of water-intensive enterprises,discouraged excessive investments in water-intensive sectors,and phased out obsolete water-intensive capacities within their jurisdictions.This approach has resulted in mutually beneficial outcomes,including improved allocation of capital,enhanced water efficiency,and reduced emissions.This paper offers policy recommendations for establishing a water-efficient society throughout the 14^(th) Five-Year Plan(2021-2025)period by presenting empirical evidence on the policy effects of resource efficiency evaluation.

Impact of coupling coordination development of port and city environments on urban economic competitiveness:Evidence from the coastal port cities in eastern China

Promoting the coupling coordination development of port and its hinterland city environments is an important way to improve urban economic competitiveness.Based on relevant data of 13 coastal port cities in eastern China from 2000 to 2018,this study explores the coupling coordination development of port and city environments and its impact on urban economic competitiveness by constructing the coupling coordination degree model and the panel threshold model.The research results show that:(1)In terms of the coupling coordination development of port and city environments,most coastal ports and their hinterland cities are in a state of moderate or serious disorder.Overall,the degree of coupling coordination of port and city environments needs to be further improved;(2)The coupling coordination degree of port and city environments has a significant impact on urban economic competitiveness,and this effect gradually increases with the development of the ports and the urban economy.Among the variables that impact the urban economic competitiveness,fixed assets investment and foreign trade are significant factors that can enhance urban economic competitiveness.(3)At present,there is a“U-shaped”relationship between the coupling coordination degree of port-city environments and the urban economic competitiveness.This relationship lies on the right side of the inflection point of the“U-shaped”curve.Therefore,following the concept of assigning priority to ecological development,expanding fixed assets investment and actively developing foreign trade can further enhance the urban economic competitiveness.

Commuting Space of Primary and Secondary Schools in the Context of Child Friendly Cities:A Case Study of Bajiao Street of Shijingshan District

With the continuous promotion of the construction of child friendly cities,the school commuting space is an important component of the construction of child friendly roads.Based on the background of child friendly cities,the commuting space of 11 primary and secondary schools in Bajiao Street is analyzed through literature analysis and field research methods.Firstly,the relevant literature on school commuting space is sorted out,and the characteristics of school commuting space are summarized,including transportation,landscape,culture,leisure,and security.Secondly,the characteristics of commuting space of primary and secondary schools in Bajiao Street are analyzed from three aspects:in front of the school gate,path space,and node space.This paper aims to provide reference and guidance for the future construction of children’s walking school commuting and promote the construction of a child friendly city.

Influence of Lightning Disaster on Cities and Lightning Defense Measures

Under the influence of special terrain and climatic conditions,lightning weather in Ulanqab City is more frequent from June to August,and lightning disaster has become one of the important tasks of disaster prevention and mitigation.In this paper,based on the characteristics of lightning weather in Ulanqab City,the impact of lightning disaster on the city was analyzed,and lightning protection measures,such as strengthening supervision of lightning protection safety,establishing a long-term lightning protection mechanism,doing a good job in lightning protection construction and detection in key places,and further improving public awareness of lightning protection,were put forward to reduce and avoid urban lightning disasters as much as possible and ensure urban safety.

Green transformation paths of resource-based cities in China from the configuration perspective

Green transformation is an unavoidable choice for resource-based cities(RBCs)that face resource depletion and environmental pollution.Existing research has focused primarily on specific RBCs,making it challenging to apply green transformation strategies universally across cities.The fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis(fsQCA)is a combination of qualitative and quantitative analyses that can handle multiple concurrent causality problems and determine how different conditions combine into configurations and generate an outcome.Thus,to address this gap,in this study,we established a research framework for green transformation and utilized the fsQCA to examine the configurations of 113 RBCs in China.By incorporating the element of time,this study explored the dynamic evolution of solutions in 2013,2016,and 2019.The main findings indicate that individual elements do not constitute the necessary conditions for improving the green transformation efficiency(GTE),and the systematic combination of multiple conditions is an effective path for realizing the improvement of the GTE in RBCs.Green transformation paths of RBCs exhibit the same destination through different paths.Additionally,the combination of system environment elements and system structure elements is both complementary and alternative.Differences in RBCs have led to various factor combinations and development paths,but there are some similarities in the key elements of the factor combinations at different stages.Economic environment,government support,and technological innovation are key factors that universally enhance the GTE in RBCs.These insights can assist city managers in formulating policies to drive green transformation and contribute to a better theoretical understanding of green transformation paths in RBCs.

Application Strategies of Spatial Refinement Design in Ancient Cities Supported by Digital Te-Zhaoyu Ancient City in Qixian County as an Example

Digital technology provides a method of quantitative investigation and data analysis for contemporary landscape spatial analysis,and related research is moving from image recognition to digital algorithmic analysis,providing a more scientific and macroscopic way of research.The key to refinement design is to refine the spatial design process and the spatial improvement strategy system.Taking the ancient city of Zhaoyu in Qixian County,Shanxi Province as an example,(1)based on obtaining the integrated data of the ancient city through the drone tilt photography,the style and landscape of the ancient city are modeled;(2)the point cloud data with spatial information is imported into the point cloud analysis platform and the data analysis is carried out from the overall macroscopic style of the ancient city to the refinement level,which results in the formation of a more intuitive landscape design scheme,thus improving the precision and practicability of the landscape design;(3)Based on spatial big data,it starts from the spatial aggregation level,spatial distribution characteristics and other evaluation index system to achieve the refinement analysis of the site.Digital technology and methods are used throughout the process to explore the refined design path.

Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Digital Management Facing Difficulties and Solutions

The advent of the digital era has provided strong technical support for the high-quality development of the social economy.The integration of the social economy with Internet technology has given rise to new industries.However,the traditional development model of small and medium-sized enterprises(SMEs)is increasingly unable to meet the demands of economic growth,and digital management has gradually become a key approach for these enterprises to achieve their development goals.Currently,SMEs face challenges such as talent shortages,insufficient funds,and a lack of awareness regarding transformation.This paper will analyze the difficulties SMEs encounter in implementing digital management and explore potential development paths for their digital transformation.

Research on the Coordinated Development of Inclusive Finance and Financing for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises

As an important force in promoting economic and social development,small and medium-sized enterprises play a crucial role in enhancing China’s economic strength,creating employment opportunities,and promoting industrial structural transformation.However,due to their inherent weaknesses,small and medium-sized enterprises often face difficulties in financing within the traditional financial service system.This makes it difficult for small and medium-sized enterprises to inject vitality into the development of the market economy by expanding their financing scale.Since 2013,China has vigorously developed inclusive finance and extended the services of traditional financial institutions to small and medium-sized enterprises,providing policy guidance,resource support,and technical support to alleviate the financing difficulties of small and medium-sized enterprises.Based on this,this article focuses on the current financing problems faced by small and medium-sized enterprises and specifically elaborates on how to lower the financing threshold for small and medium-sized enterprises and broaden their financing channels through inclusive finance,in order to promote the development of inclusive finance and a virtuous cycle of financing for small and medium-sized enterprises.