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.

International Conference on Environment and Human Health Systems Engineering 2017 Held in Xi＇an

The first International Conference on Environment and Human Health Systems Engineering was held on July 8,2017 in Northwestern Polytechnical University（NPU）,Xi’an.This conference was jointly held by the School of Life Sciences of NPU,the Office of International Cooperation of NPU and the China Aerospace Academy of Systems Science and Engineering（CAASSE）.

Protection and Management for Ancient Villages from the Perspective of Human Settlement Environment——A Case Study of Xichong Village,Sikou Town,Wuyuan County

As urbanization continues, traditional villages are confronted by the conflict between protection and development, especially for ancient villages in living envi- ronment. China landscape is so vast, dominated by rural areas. Human settlement environment of ancient villages is so important for studying domestic human settle- ment environment, including ancient structure analysis and eco-resource organization. The research explored Xichong Village, Sikou Town, Wuyuan County and detailed how to improve its environment, providing references for ancient village development in settlement environment.

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.

A holistic framework for facilitating environmental and human health

In the Anthropocene,health is necessary to achieve global sustainable development.This is a challenge because health issues are complex and span from humans to ecosystems and the environment through dynamic interac-tions across scales.We find that the health issues have been mainly addressed by disciplinary endeavors which unfortunately will not result in panoramic theories or effective solutions.We recommend focusing on the intri-cate interactions between humans,ecosystems and the environment for developing common theoretical under-standings and practical solutions for safeguarding planetary health,with human health as the key indicator and endpoint.To facilitate this paradigm shift,a holistic framework is formulated that incorporates disturbances from inner Earth and our solar system,and accommodates interactions between humans,ecosystems and the environ-ment in a nested hierarchy.An integrative and transdisciplinary health science is advocated along with holistic thinking to resolve our current health challenges and to achieve the health-related sustainable development goals.

Difficulties and Countermeasures of Rural Human Settlement Environment Governance in Tianjin

The course of rural human settlement environment governance in Tianjin could be roughly divided into four stages:germination,initiation,promotion and deepening.After the development for nearly 20 years,rural human settlement environment governance of Tianjin is faced with many difficulties,such as imperfect village construction planning,poor use effect of sewage facilities,low participation of farmers,and insufficient financial investment.Therefore,some countermeasures and suggestions are put forward,such as scientific planning and overall consideration,innovating financing mechanism,encouraging diversified investment of funds,and strengthening the publicity of rural human settlement environment governance.

Fringe View: Problems and Construction of Human Settlement Environment for "Village-in-City"

The construction of human settlement environment is one of the important contents in the domain of sustainable development. We try to annotate human settlement environment for "village- in-city" from the angle of fringe view. According to the macro-system thought of human settlement environment science, the evolvement, which can be generalized into four phases, connotation and problems (including social, economic, and environmental problems) of "village-in-city" are discussed primarily in this paper. Some domestic and international researches and practices are also summarized and assessed in the paper. Based on the analysis, some appropriate clues and suggestions for the construction of "village-in-city" have been put forward.

Ecological strategy analysis of human habitation environment in Shanggantang traditional village,Hunan province,P.R.China

Based on the field survey of the traditional village in Shanggantang,Hunan province,P.R.China,we analyzed ecological strategies in aspects of the whole human habitation environment and vernacular building human habitation environment.The ecological strategies included adapting to the local climate,reducing source consumption,utilizing local materials and so on.The research is to provide a reference to practice and theoretical development of eco-folk houses in the area.

Ambio—A Journal of the Human Environment INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS

NB. Only manuscripts that comply with theAmbio in-house style will be considered forpublication. Papers that do not meet the criteriaoutlined in these Instructions may be summarilyrejected.EDITORIAL POLICYAmbio is an international journal publishingrecent work in the interrelated fields ofecology, environmental management, technology,and natural sciences. Ambio publishespapers of high scientific standard in a formthat is comprehendsible not only to specialists.

Ambio—A Journal of the Human Environment INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS

NB.Only manuscripts that comply with theAmbio in-house style will be considered forpublication.Papers that do not meet thecriteria outlined in these Instructions may besummarily rejected.EDITORIAL POLICYAmbio is an international journal publishingrecent work in the interrelated fields of ecology,environmental management, technology andnatural sciences.Ambio publishes papers of highsci-entific standard in a form that is comprehendsiblenot only to specialists, but also to scientistsin other fields, to students,politicians,professional planners,and interested laymen.Allmanuscripts submitted to Ambio are accepted forconsideration with the understanding that theyhave not been published elsewhere and are

Amblo—A Journal of the Human Environment INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS

NB. Only manuscripts that comply withthe Amblo in-house style will beconsidered for publication. Papers that donot meet the criteria outlined in theseInstructions may be summrily rejected.EDITORIAL POLICYAmbio is an international journal publishingrecent work in the interrelated fields ofecology, environmental management,technology and natural sciences. Ambiopublishes papers of high scientificstandard in a form that is comprehendsiblenot only to specialists, but also

Ambio—A Journal of the Human Environment INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS

NB.Only manuscripts that comply with the Ambio in-house stylewill be considered for publication.Papers that do not meet thecriteria outlined In these Instructions may be summarily rejected.EDITORIAL POLICYAmbio is an international journal publishing recent work in theinterrlated fields of ecology.environmental management,technologyand natural sciences.Ambio publishes papers of high sciendfic standardin a form that is comprehendsible not only to specialists.but also toscientists in other fields.to students,politicians,professional planners,and interested laymen.All manuscripts submitted to Ambio areaccepted for consideration with the understanding that they have

Amblo—A Journal of the Human Environment INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS

NB. Only manuscripts that comply withthe Ambio in-house style will beconsidered for publication. Papers that donot meet the criteria outlined in theseInstructions may be summarily rejected.EDITORIAL POLICYAmbio is an international journal publishingrecent work in the interrelated fields ofecology, environmental management,technology and natural sciences. Ambiopublishes papers of high scientificstandard in a form that is comprehendsiblenot only to specialists, but also toscientists in other ficlds, to students,

Ambio—A Journal of the Human Environment INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS

NB. Only manuscripts that comply with theAmbio in-house style will be considered forpublication. Papers that do not meet the criteriaoutlined in these Instructions may be summarilyrejected.EDITORIAL POLICYAmbio is an international journal publishingrecent work in the interrelated fields ofecology, environmental management, technology,and natural sciences. Ambio publishespapers of high scientific standard in a formthat is comprehendsible not only to specialists,but also to scientists in other fields, tostudents, politicians, professional planners,and interested laymen. All manuscripts submittedto Ambio are accepted for consider-

Ambio—A Journal of the Human Environment Instructions to Authors

NB.Only manuscripts that comply with theAmbio in-house style will be considered forpublication.Papers that do not meet thecriteria outlined in these Instructions maybe summarily rejected.EDITORIAL POLICYAmbio is an international journal publishingrecent work in the interrelated fields ofecology,environmental management,technologyand natural sciences.Ambio publishespapers of high scientific standard in a

Building a Sustainable Environment for Human Rights Development; Earnestly Respecting and Ensuring Human Rights

Constructing an environ- ment for human rights development is a large, comprehensive project as well asa long and arduous mission. Although constructing an environment for human rights development was not mentioned much in the past, in actuality it began early and achieved sustained progress. It is a gradual process that is also a prerequisite for earnestly respecting and ensuring human rights. There are five dimensions to building a sustainable environment for human rights development.

The Idea of“Codification”of Human Rights to Environment

As China has embarked on a new journey to comprehensively build a modern socialist country and marches toward the Second Centenary Goal,improving the protection of human rights in environmental protection has become a key task to meet people's growing demand for a better life.The international community has reached a consensus on the human rights attribute of environmental rights,and China has also recognized it in its National Human Rights Action Plan of China(2021-2025).Early claims for environmental human rights gave birth to modern environmental law at the international level,while the global consensus on sustainable development promoted the new development of environmental human rights.In China,the construction of a"beautiful China"has become the national goal confirmed by the Constitution.The confirmation of environmental rights in the planned environmental code can further clarify the connotation of the value system of the code and help clarify the institutional structure and attribution logic of the code.Based on the subjective right and objective value of environmental rights,the specific scheme for the"codification"of environment rights is to construct the system from three levels of ontological provision,guarantee provision and reliefprovision.

Consider Science, Technology, Environment and Human Rights as a Whole to Achieve Scientific Development

The 18th National Congress of CPC, which concluded not long ago, put forward the ambitious goal ofcompletely building up a better-off society by 2020. Since the reform and opening of 1978, especially in the past decade, the human rights construction of China has made enormous achievements. The complete building up of a better-off society requires taking comprehensive consideration of many aspects, such as the economy, politics, culture,

Ambio-A Journal of the Human Environment INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS

NB.Only manuscripts that comply with the Ambio in-house style will be consideredfor publication.Papers that donot meet the criteria outlined in theseInstructions may be summarily rejected.Ambio has no page charges.EDITORIAL POLICYAmbio is an international journal publishing recentwork in the interrelated fields of ecology,environmental management,technology andnatural sciences.Ambio publishes papers of