Subsurface multi-physical characterization of mountain excavation and city construction in loess plateau with a fiber-optic sensing system

Mountain excavation and city construction(MECC)projects being launched in the Loess Plateau in China involve the creation of large-scale artificial land.Understanding the subsurface evolution characteristics of the artificial land is essential,yet challenging.Here,we use an improved fiber-optic monitoring system for its subsurface multi-physical characterization.The system enables us to gather spatiotemporal distribution of various parameters,including strata deformation,temperature,and moisture.Yan’an New District was selected as a case study to conduct refined in-situ monitoring through a 77 m-deep borehole and a 30 m-long trench.Findings reveal that the ground settlement involves both the deformation of the filling loess and the underlying intact loess.Notably,the filling loess exhibits a stronger creep capability compared to underlying intact loess.The deformation along the profile is unevenly distributed,with a positive correlation with soil moisture.Water accumulation has been observed at the interface between the filling loess and the underlying intact loess,leading to a significant deformation.Moreover,the temperature and moisture in the filling loess have reached a new equilibrium state,with their depths influenced by atmospheric conditions measuring at 31 m and 26 m,respectively.The refined investigation allows us to identify critical layers that matter the sustainable development of newly created urban areas,and provide improved insights into the evolution mechanisms of land creation.

Urban land expansion and its driving factors of mountain cities in China during 1990–2015

Land expansion of mountain cities in China is not systematically studied yet. This study identified 55 major mountain cities at and above prefecture level, and analyzed the land expansion characteristics and driving forces, based on visually interpreted data from TM images in 1990, 2000, 2010 and 2015. From 1990 to 2015, total built-up land area of the mountain cities increased by 3.87 times, 5.56% per year. The urban land growth was apparently accelerated after 2000, from 4.35% per year during 1990-2000 increased to 6.47% during 2000-2010 and 6.2% during 2010-2015. Compared to the urban population growth, the urban land expansion rate was 44% higher. As a result, the urban land area per capita increased, but it was still within the government control target, and also was much lower than the average of all cities in China. Urban development policy, changes to administrative divisions, GDP and population growth, and road construction were identified as the major driving forces of land expansion. Terrain conditions were not found a relevance to the urban land expansion rate during 1990-2015, but had a significant impact on the layout and shape, and also probably on the urban land efficiency.

The Scale of Constructing Mountainous Cities in Yunnan Province based on “Benchmark” Farmlands

In 2011, Yunnan provincial committee and government proposed the strat- egy of constructing mountainous cities in order to protect farmlands and guarantee crop safety, which makes full use of hills and gentle-slopes and transforms land use pattern. However, social and economic development performs unevenly in Yun- nan, supplemented by varied geographical conditions, so that constructing mountain- ous cities should proceed as per local conditions. The research proposed the con- trol of constructing mountainous cities provided crop safety under the principle of farmland protection and measured the quantities of demanded construction lands ac- cording to science of population prediction and ekistics, based on which the control scales of constructing mountainous cities were determined by multiplying basic farm- land coefficient and the area of newly increased construction lands. The research is of significance for guiding the construction of mountainous cities and avoiding the occupation of construction lands on farmlands.

Geographical Space Development Zone Classification:An Essential Guide for Transformation of Mountain Resource Cities

Sustainable development of mountain areas and resource cities has been a significant issue worldwide. Transformation of mountain resource cities is facing tremendous difficulties. In the context of National Major Function-oriented Zone Planning raised to a national strategic level in China, it is important to effectively implement the planning by studying geographical space development zone classification of prefecture- and county-level cities based on their major function orientation. This research is even more critical for the transformation of mountain resource cities. In this study, we evaluated geographical space development suitability, and classified geographical space development zones for Dongchuan Distric in Kunming City of Yunan Province, China, a typical mountain resource city. A quantitative grid-based evaluation was conducted using key-factor identification and restrictive-supportive comprehensive index determinati based on a geographic information system framework with different source data. The results included a classification of geographical space of Dongchuan into five types: the prohibited development zone, the inappropriate development zone, the controlled development zone, the moderate development zone and the preferential development zone. The distribution characteristics of geographical space development zones showed that the proportion of the prohibited development zone is the highest, while that of the other four development zones is comparatively lower and significantly fragmented. The geographical space development suitability is greatly controlled by the geomorphic pattern. Although Dongchuan is extremely restrained in terms of suitable geographical space for industrialization and urbanization, it still has the certain preferential and moderate development zones with an area of 207.81 km2 with large parts being concentrated and contiguous, which makes these areas the most favorable for development. Only by adapting to this reality and implementing centralized development strategy in the regions with higher suitability may Dongchuan achieve smooth transformation from expansion mode to compact mode and its sustainable development capacity may be improved. Suggestions with an angle of industrial and spatial development pattern were put forward for the transformation of the city in future.

Distribution of primary school based on spatial network comprehensive model in low-income mountainous cities： a case study in Wanyuan, China

Focusing on the peculiarities of urban construction resulting from specific mountain terrains, the purpose of this study is to find out a suitable method based on a Spatial Network Comprehensive Model(SNCM) to reasonably plan and distribute primary schools in low-income mountain cities. The construction principles and advantages of the SNCM method are proposed and the method tested in Wanyuan city of Qinba Mountain area(Southwest China) to verify its feasibility and optimization. Taking account of the mountain terrain and its influence on user behavior, we used the SNCM method to build a comprehensive model which integrates the road slope and the walking speed of pupils into the basic spatial model. The model is used to calculate a reasonable layout of the primary schools and to validate the rationale. The results show that the SNCM method can be effectively applied in low-income mountainous cities. It can not only improve the accessibility and service efficiency of primary schools using as little capital-investment as possible, but also help the city grow in an intensive and efficient way.

Spirit of Mountain Cities: Recalling Mr.Huang Guangyu's Theories About Eco-Planning of Mountain Cities

This paper reviews Mr. Huang Guangyu's major ideas on the eco-planning of mountain cities. The primary principle is that the spatial structure of a mountain city must adapt to its eco-environmental characteristics. The primary foundation is evaluating the natural eco-environments' suitability of a mountain city and integrating urban development with the spatio-temporal pattern of ecological resources. The non-construction land has to be scientifically planned because it is closely related to the ecological security of a mountain city and affects the quality of urban settlements. The working methodology is a multi-disciplinary collaboration and integration, as well as all-round thinking through a combination of theoretical research and practice. These theories have been put into effect in the planning projects by Huang and have had far-reaching impact. In brief, they can be regarded as the spirit of mountain cities.

Planning strategy of gully areas in mountainous cities adapting to ecological process

With the expansion of mountainous cities,many gully areas have been included in the scope of urban construction land.These gully areas will restrict urban construction because of sensitivity and instability caused by the unique ecological processes.This paper attempts to explore a planning and design strategy that combines ecological processes to reduce the risk of urban construction in gully areas.According to the ecological characteristics of gully areas,especially its suitability for urban construction,gully areas can be divided into three categories in the mountainous city:prevention and controlling gully—focusing on gully drainage;conservation gully—focusing on the construction of green space;utilization type gully—focusing on the development of gully towns.The utilization type gully can be used as urban construction land.For utilization type gullies,horizontal and vertical segmented planning strategies can adopt their respective ecological processes by land utilization,landscape construction,spatial layout and traffic organization matching the time-space natural process to form harmony human settlements.

Design of Special-shaped Interchange between Expressway and Urban Road in Mountainous Cities

Driven by the rapid economic development,the development of transportation in China has begun to move towards mountainous areas.The climate environment,topography and landform of mountainous cities are different from those of plain areas.In mountainous cities,the area of opposite interchanges between expressways and urban roads is generally large,which has a certain contradiction with the topographic conditions of mountainous cities.Therefore,it is necessary to reasonably design the opposite interchanges between expressways and urban roads in mountainous cities.The author explores and analyzes the factors restricting the special-shaped interchange between expressway and urban road in mountainous cities and the main fbnns of special-shaped interchange,and puts forward a reasonable design scheme,hoping to make a smooth development of the special-shaped interchange in mountainous cities.

Outdoor thermal environmental research of the mountainous city by GIS

The study of urban outdoor thermal environment was carried out in one of the mountainous cities by using geography information system(GIS) technique which is connected with predicting and evaluating models for the outdoor thermal environment, monitoring data and simulating data. A prediction and evaluation system were set up. A typical mountainous city, i.e., Yunyang city in Chongqing in China, was taken as an example, its urbanization trend and population growth was predicted and evaluated. The heat island intensity and its trend were simulated, the temperature field, velocity field and the humidity field were analyzed. The results show that GIS is an effective tool to deal with the outdoor thermal environment, especially for the mountainous cities with special geographical particularities. GIS can be used in the environmental management and the city planning especially for the mountainous cities.

Chongqing:The Mountain City

CHONGQING,in Southwest China,is one of the four municipalities directly under the central government,the other three being Beijing,Shanghai,and Tianjin.As the city is built on mountains,it has been nicknamed a"mountain city."The integration of mountainous terrain and urban construction creates a special land-

Between plaza and peak: a montological perspective on verticality and urbanization in highland Peru

Under the influence of concentrated and extended urbanization,Andean cities and the different altitudinal zones of their“hinterlands”are experiencing profound changes in land cover—from the central plazas up to the highest peaks.The complex regional-geographic characteristics of these socioecological systems,such as the vertical complementarity of land use,require a montological perspective on verticality and urbanization:it transcends disciplinary approaches and can be crucial to properly interpret the trajectories of land cover change and formulate hypotheses for future practiceoriented research.Which trajectories of land cover change characterized altitudinal zones of Andean cities and their surroundings over the last three decades?Are there similarities that allow for the formulation of more general hypotheses?Using the Peruvian cases of Cusco and Huaraz,and combining a traditional altitudinal zonation model of land use in Peru with direct field observations and GIS-based analyses of remotely sensed data from 1991,2001,2011,and 2021,this study identifies the main trajectories of land cover change in the Quechua(>2300–3500 m),Suni(>3500–4000 m),and Puna(>4000–4800 m)regions—and finds insightful similarities between Cusco and Huaraz:(1)an impressive area of built-up land substitutes grassland in the Quechua,which,following regional altitudinal zonation models,is characterized by irrigated and rain-fed cropland;(2)an unexpected expansion of irrigated cropland takes place in the Suni,which,in theory,often lacks irrigation infrastructure and is mostly used for rain-fed tuber cultivation;and(3)a clear change from“other land”to grassland occurs in the Puna—where grassland is thought to predominate,anyway,since pre-Hispanic times.Hypothesizing that these changes reflect the interplay between speculative fallow,agricultural intensification,and ecological restoration,the results can be read as vertically complementary,local manifestations of concentrated and extended urbanization in a formerly peripheral mountain region of the Global South—and they underscore the need to overcome mental city-mountain dichotomies for a socially inclusive and ecologically balanced Andean development between plaza and peak.

Study on Mountain City Landscape Gradient Characteristics and Urban Construction Coupling: Taking the Yangtze River to the Eastern Ridge Line of Nan Mountain in Chongqing as an Example

China has a vast area of mountains that are of great research interest. Chongqing is a typical mountain city in China. In urban construction, a mountain is not only an important limiting condition for urban development, but also an important condition for shaping the urban form. The area from the Yangtze River to the eastern ridge line of Nan Mountain in Nanan District is strongly representative of mountain cities with a complex landform, fragile ecological environment and a long history and culture. In recent years, the construction and optimization of this area are increasingly closely related to the landscape environment. However, due to the special environments of mountain cities, altitude and landform conditions become the key influencing conditions for further development of the cities. Therefore, this paper takes this region as an example, focuses on remote sensing and field measurement data, combines government data with that from scholarly research, and conducts relevant exploration through GIS, ENVI and some chart processing software. At first, from the perspective of the landscape gradient and urban construction, the characteristics of the urban landscape gradient are sorted out, and the developmental status of each urban area is analyzed. Then, the coupling relationships between the landscape features of each gradient and each urban area are analyzed. Finally, based on the analysis results, three major optimization measures are proposed to maintain ecological harmony in the mountainous area, reconstruct the mountain characteristic culture, and create unique mountain aesthetics, all with the hope of providing some guidance for the future development of the study area and similar mountain cities.