Territorial function differentiation and its comprehensive regionalization in China

During the sustainable development of land surface system,different territories undertake different functions.The understanding and representation of territorial differentiation of the land surface system is the main purpose of comprehensive function regionalization research.Focusing on the theoretical gap of comprehensive geographical regionalization,that is,the spatial decoupling of the physical environment and human activities,the non-nested relationship of spatial scale transformation,and the persistence and uncertainty of the dynamic evolution of territorial functions,this research proposed the identification principles and division methods of comprehensive functional regions.Based on the major function zoning in China,the systematic classification method with function orientation was employed to delineate the comprehensive functions of each territory,such as ecological security,food production and urban development.Then,the geographical regionalization method,which follows the principles of interconnection of different regionalization objectives at different levels and a combination of top-down decomposition and bottom-up aggregation,was used to determine the geographic boundaries.To meet the objective requirements of flexible and dynamic boundaries,two sets of land regionalization schemes for 2035 and 2050 were finally formed,each of which had three spatial levels.The first-level regionalization identified four major regions,which comprehensively represented the relatively stable state of China’s land development and protection pattern under the leading role of physical environment differentiation.The second-level regionalization identified 12 regions,which comprehensively represented the spatial layout of a new development pattern of multi-and inter-provinces coordinating the innovation chain,industrial chain and supply chain based on a relatively independent and complete natural carrier.The third-level regionalization identified 80 sub-regions,which comprehensively represented the functional differentiation patterns of sub-provinces during sustainable development.Compared with the current geographical differentiation research,the study of territorial function differentiation has academic values for the development of integrated geography in exploring the territorial system of the humanenvironment relationship,and it can provide a scientific basis for determining the territorial model of sustainable development and optimizing the pattern of spatial development and protection in China.

中国主体功能区空间结构的多尺度解析

The spatial structures of China’s Major Function Zoning are important constraining indicators in all types of spatial planning and key parameters for accurately downscaling major functions.Taking the proportion of urbanization zones,agricultural development zones and ecological security zones as the basic parameter,this paper explores the spatial structures of major function zoning at different scales using spatial statistics,spatial modeling and landscape metrics methods.The results show:First,major function zones have spatial gradient structures,which are prominently represented by latitudinal and longitudinal gradients,a coastal distance gradient,and an eastern-central-western gradient.Second,the pole-axis system structure and core-periphery structure exist at provincial scales.The general principle of the pole-axis structure is that as one moves along the distance axis,the proportion of urbanization zones decreases and the proportion of ecological security zones increases.This also means that the proportion of different function zones has a ring-shaped spatial differentiation principle with distance from the core.Third,there is a spatial mosaic structure at the city and county scale.This spatial mosaic structure has features of both spatial heterogeneity,such as agglomeration and dispersion,as well as of mutual,adjacent topological correlation and spatial proximity.The results of this study contribute to scientific knowledge on major function zones and the principles of spatial organization,and it acts as an important reference for China’s integrated geographical zoning.

Measuring the past 20 years of urban-rural land growth in flood-prone areas in the developed Taihu Lake watershed, China

There is growing interest in using the urban landscape for stormwater management studies, where land patterns and processes can be important controls for the sustainability of urban development and planning. This paper proposes an original index of Major Hazard Oriented Level （MHOL） and investigates the structure distribution, driving factors, and controlling suggestions of urban-rural land growth in flood-prone areas in the Taihu Lake watershed, China. The MHOL of incremental urban-rural land increased from M 31.51 during the years 1985-1995 to M 38.37 during the years 1995-2010 （M for medium structure distribution, and the number for high-hazard value）. The index shows that urban-rnraI land was distributed uniformly in flood hazard levels and tended to move rapidly to high-hazard areas, where 72.68% of incremental urban-rural land was aggregated maximally in new urban districts along the Huning traffic line and the Yangtze River. Thus, the current accelerating growth of new urban districts could account for the ampliative exposure to high-hazard areas. New districts are driven by the powerful link between land financial benefits and political achievements for local governments and the past unsustainable process of ＂single objective＂ oriented planning. The correlation categorical analysis of the current development intensity and carrying capacity of hydrological ecosystems for sub-basins was used to determine four types of development areas and provide decision makers with indications on the future watershed- scale subdivision of Major Function Oriented Zoning implemented by the Chinese government.

1Chinese human geography and its contributions

The aim of this paper is to sift through examples of outstanding contributions made by Chinese human geography in terms of social applications and explain the basic concepts and theoretical methods explored by human geography that are behind the applications of results with major social influence, so as to be able to summarize the main school that represents developments in contemporary Chinese human geography. Chinese human geography upholds the subject＇s designation as being integrated and interdisciplinary. Research focuses on interactions between the natural and human spheres of the Earth＇s surface, and it is guided by the understanding and effects of the processes of regional sustainable development at different spatial scales. Chinese human geography has innovatively established the following development paradigm： ＂To be guided by application requirements, refine key issues of the discipline in the course of solving major issues of human geography in national and regional development, and by solving those key issues, to enhance its ability to provide scientific and technological support to serve national and local needs while promoting its own development.＂ Results from early Chinese human geography studies on land use and agricultural zoning, recent research results on point-axis system models and T-shaped national spatial development patterns, and current research results on territorial function theory and major function oriented zones have all continued and strengthened the mainstream school of Chinese human geography and have avoided the global tendency for human geography to become rapidly human-oriented, while results have been applied at the highest level of decision-making management. Chinese human geography can provide lessons for developing countries and may play a leading role in the future development of global human geography.