Applied Spatial Analysis and Policy最新文献

{"title":"National and Local Dynamics of Higher Education Mobility: A Complex Network Analysis on China’s Independent Admission Program (2015–2018)","authors":"Wei Luo","doi":"10.1007/s12061-025-09697-9","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s12061-025-09697-9","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Existing research on student mobility in higher education has largely focused on macro-level trends, overlooking micro-level structures that shape access and inequality. This study addresses the gap by reconstructing China’s Independent Admission Program (IAP) field from 2015 to 2018 using school-level student mobility data and complex network analysis, combined with Bourdieu’s field theory and proximity theory from economics. The analysis reveals a distinct core-periphery structure: elite universities attract students nationally with minimal spatial constraint, while eight regional clusters rely heavily on geographic proximity. Regression models show consistent effects of key school status and administrative hierarchy across clusters, but also highlight localized differences in how economic and cultural capital influence student mobility. Path dependency analysis further illustrates how high schools reinforce their comparative advantages by sending students to structurally similar universities over time. While the IAP tends to amplify educational inequality—favoring urban, resource-rich schools—it also plays a compensatory role in certain regional clusters by offering access routes to disadvantaged schools. These findings reveal the dual logic—national and local—underpinning the IAP, and demonstrate the value of complex network methods for uncovering hidden structures and informing policy on educational equity and institutional stratification.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":46392,"journal":{"name":"Applied Spatial Analysis and Policy","volume":"18 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s12061-025-09697-9.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145168073","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Temporal and Spatial Analysis of Production Demand-Driven Water use in China's Urban Agricultural Sector","authors":"Xinye Yu,&nbsp;Xi Chen,&nbsp;Chenyang Shuai,&nbsp;Bu Zhao","doi":"10.1007/s12061-025-09657-3","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s12061-025-09657-3","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Water scarcity poses a significant challenge to China's sustainable economic and social progress. Despite its critical importance, the impact of the agricultural sector’s production demand on water consumption across regions and sectors through supply chains (known as water footprint) has been largely overlooked, particularly at the city level. This study provides a detailed analysis of the agricultural water footprint at the urban scale, using data from 2012, 2015, and 2017 for 313 Chinese cities. Our findings reveal that agricultural water footprints in Chinese cities exhibit clear spatial heterogeneity, with higher footprints in the central and eastern regions compared to the northwest and southwest. Over time, cities with high water footprints have gradually shifted from north to south. We also identified that hotspot cities are mainly located in the central, eastern, and southern regions of China, such as Beijing, Tianjin, Wuhan, and Nanjing. Based on these insights, we provide policy recommendations aimed at promoting sustainable water resource management at both the sectoral and city levels. These recommendations are intended to mitigate water scarcity and ensure water security in China. To achieve sustainable water resource management, agricultural water footprints must be integrated into urban water management systems. Key policies include optimizing water footprint management in eastern regions through precision irrigation and IoT systems, improving water use efficiency in water-scarce agricultural areas, and enhancing agricultural trade between regions with different water resources. Urban agricultural development should focus on balanced water usage and collaborative governance through cross-city water rights platforms. Industry structure optimization is essential, with a focus on promoting water-efficient technologies and practices. Additionally, encouraging water-saving behaviors through education, subsidies, and policy incentives will help reduce agricultural water footprints and support sustainable water use.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":46392,"journal":{"name":"Applied Spatial Analysis and Policy","volume":"18 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145167967","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"How Renewable Energy Expansion Affects Carbon Emissions from the Perspective of Spatial Correlation—Evidence in China","authors":"Wenqi Wu,&nbsp;Ming Li,&nbsp;Yujia Wang,&nbsp;Han Huang,&nbsp;George Q. Huang","doi":"10.1007/s12061-025-09698-8","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s12061-025-09698-8","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The proportion of renewable energy has increased in the context of zero-carbon targets, highlighting the need to explore its role in carbon emission reduction. This study first calculated Moran's I to assess the existence of spatial autocorrelation in carbon emissions. Next, the geographical detector method was employed to evaluate the contributions of six factors to the temporal-spatial dynamics of carbon emissions. Finally, the role of these factors in driving carbon emissions was assessed using the Spatial Durbin Model (SDM). The results indicate that carbon emissions exhibit significant spatial autocorrelation characteristics. The analysis revealed that private car ownership (q = 0.2993) emerged as the dominant driving force influencing the evolution of carbon emission patterns. Additionally, the interaction detector identified interaction links between pairs of factors as either enhanced and bivariate (EB) or enhanced and nonlinear (EN). The findings from the Spatial Durbin Model revealed an inverse U-shaped relationship between the expansion of renewable energy and carbon emission outcomes.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":46392,"journal":{"name":"Applied Spatial Analysis and Policy","volume":"18 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s12061-025-09698-8.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145167462","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"COVID-19 and the 15-Minute City: Evolving Public Service Dynamics in Response to Pandemic Policies","authors":"Yu Wang,&nbsp;Zeru Yu,&nbsp;Peng Zeng","doi":"10.1007/s12061-025-09684-0","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s12061-025-09684-0","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The 15-min city model promises hyper-local accessibility to essential services, yet its resilience faces unprecedented challenges during systemic crises. This study investigates how COVID-19 pandemic policies disrupted public service dynamics in Tianjin, China—an early adopter of the 15-min city framework—through a mixed-methods approach combining policy analysis, GIS spatial mapping, and questionnaire surveys across pandemic phases. The diminished accessible ranges of a 15-min walking distance and quantity of available services were largely observed. Changes in open areas and operating hours of facilities influenced service capacity. The factors of accessibility, quantity, and capacity together caused a cascading effect of service supply alterations. The results reveal essential life and health care services were universally overwhelming demands during lockdowns, but attention needs to be paid to the vulnerabilities of groups and areas where potential demand–supply imbalances and variations may have occurred. The pandemic exposed the 15 min city model’s spatial disparities and inflexibility in service elasticity. We argue that future 15-min cities must integrate: 1) Hybrid digital-physical service delivery to maintain access during mobility restrictions, 2) Equity-centered crisis governance prioritizing high-risk areas and groups 3) Adaptive planning protocols enabling rapid conversion of spaces. Consequently, we advocate for further institutional adaptations to ensure that the existing 15-min city can effectively adapt and transform to enhance system resilience in response to epidemics or emergencies.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":46392,"journal":{"name":"Applied Spatial Analysis and Policy","volume":"18 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145166964","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"How COVID-19 Policy Shift Affects Mental Wellbeing? Assessing the Effect Heterogeneity of Urban Water Body Exposures","authors":"Longfeng Wu,&nbsp;Jie Zhang,&nbsp;Chenjie Jia,&nbsp;ChengHe Guan","doi":"10.1007/s12061-025-09686-y","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s12061-025-09686-y","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>During the COVID-19 pandemic, increased exposure to water bodies positively impacted residents’ mental health in densely populated urban areas under lockdown. However, the effects during the transition from strict lockdown to reopening within this context remain understudied. This study employed a Regression Discontinuity Design (RDD) with a dataset (N = 2,545) from Beijing and Shanghai to investigate the impact of the COVID containment policy on mental health proxied by Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), self-rated happiness and health. Subgroup analyses examined the variation in effects based on exposure to water bodies. The findings confirm that the policy adjustment did not significantly promote residents’ mental health. Proximity to water bodies also showed no significant effect. Residents without waterfront spaces visits presented higher CES-D scores after the policy change, whereas visual exposure to water bodies through home windows significantly lowered CES-D scores. However, residents visited parks with high-quality water features reported poorer self-rated health (SRH), while those without such exposure experienced increased self-assessed happiness after the policy intervention. These findings underscore the crucial role of different urban water bodies in buffering the mental impacts during major policy changes, highlighting their significance in urban planning and promoting well-being promotion strategies.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":46392,"journal":{"name":"Applied Spatial Analysis and Policy","volume":"18 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145166965","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Exploratory Spatial Analysis of Relationships between Crimes and Socioeconomic Factors in St. Louis, Missouri","authors":"Tianyu Li","doi":"10.1007/s12061-025-09699-7","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s12061-025-09699-7","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>St. Louis, Missouri as the major metropolitan area in the Midwest, has faced persistent challenges related to violent crimes and property crimes. Existing research suggests that crime and socioeconomic status influence each other; however, empirical studies specifically focused on the St. Louis area remain limited. This study utilized data on crime patterns across the St. Louis area to explore the complex interrelationships among five types of crime—assault, auto theft, burglary, homicide, and robbery—and various socioeconomic characteristics, including housing conditions, poverty levels, transportation access, educational attainment, and employment rates. An exploratory regression analysis was conducted to identify the independent variables that would construct the best-fitting model. Both Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) results indicate that, whether considered collectively or individually, the five crime types do not fundamentally alter the overall relationship between crime and the selected socioeconomic factors. However, the socioeconomic factors affecting crime statistics varied by crime type, with each type being associated with different combinations of independent variables. Additionally, Multiscale Geographically Weighted Regression (MGWR) results reveal that model performance varies spatially across all crime types, with local R² values being higher on the east side of St. Louis city and gradually decreasing toward the west side of St. Louis county. Moreover, in zip codes to the north of downtown St. Louis, which are perceived as less safe than average, socioeconomic indicators are relatively poor. This suggests that policies should be formulated based on the spatial distribution of crime.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":46392,"journal":{"name":"Applied Spatial Analysis and Policy","volume":"18 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145167673","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Towards Realistic Assignments Between Residents and Urban Public Green Spaces by Considering the Recreational Quality","authors":"Amirmohammad Ghavimi,&nbsp;Annika Bonerath,&nbsp;Jan-Henrik Haunert","doi":"10.1007/s12061-025-09690-2","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s12061-025-09690-2","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Ensuring the quality of urban life necessitates the provision of urban public green spaces (UPGSs) in ample measure. These UPGSs serve as critical components of urban environments, contributing to the well-being and sustainability of cities. Hence, urban planners and decision-makers need to evaluate this supply. A recent method for such an evaluation is based on an optimal assignment between the residents and the UPGSs of an urban area. The method constrains the assignment such that the capacities of the UPGSs (i.e., the number of residents they can supply) are respected. These capacities are assumed to be proportional to size. In this study, we challenge and relax the prevailing assumption, redefining its constraints for a more accurate evaluation of UPGS capacities. We propose a novel approach for modeling the capacity of urban public green spaces (UPGS) by incorporating ten supplementary recreational criteria, including: responsiveness, safety and security, variety of activities, social interactions, residents’ perception, facilities, symbolic value, water body, aesthetic value, and connectivity, which we quantify using data derived from social media platforms. Our experiments show that the new model yields assignments that are more consistent with the actual use of UPGSs by residents. This innovative methodology allows us to gain deeper insights into the multifaceted aspects that influence the utilization and potential of UPGSs, paving the way for more informed and data-driven decision-making in urban planning and design.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":46392,"journal":{"name":"Applied Spatial Analysis and Policy","volume":"18 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s12061-025-09690-2.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145166291","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A Multi-Layer Approach to Assess Urban Innovation Districts","authors":"Yanxu Jiang,&nbsp;Teemu Makkonen,&nbsp;Naixia Mou,&nbsp;Linfei Han","doi":"10.1007/s12061-025-09692-0","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s12061-025-09692-0","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Clustering of innovation– the driving core behind regional innovation systems (RISs)– is a crucial contributor to economic prosperity. Such clusters are often denoted as innovation districts. While spatial characteristics, including accessibility to innovation services, rich amenities, and mixed land-use, have been associated with heightened regional innovativeness in previous studies, there is a gap in our knowledge on how to identify the boundaries of innovation districts within RIS. To fill this research gap, we propose a (data-driven) multi-layer approach consisting of a set of indicators depicting four RIS sub-systems (knowledge generation, knowledge exploitation, regional policy, and living environment sub-systems) and three different levels of spatial characteristics (clustering, coupling and coordination, and spatial mixing). The feasibility of the suggested “innovation district evaluation framework” is tested based on multi-source point of interest and patent data collected in Qingdao, China. The paper argues that the framework is a valuable tool assisting evidence-based development of specialized or diversified planning strategies to enhance the innovativeness of cities and to facilitate knowledge-based urban development.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":46392,"journal":{"name":"Applied Spatial Analysis and Policy","volume":"18 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s12061-025-09692-0.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145166292","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effects of National Development Zones on Economic Growth and Urban Sprawl in China","authors":"Di Lyu,&nbsp;Chuanming Zhang,&nbsp;Chunlai Yuan","doi":"10.1007/s12061-025-09693-z","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s12061-025-09693-z","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>As a major regional economic policy, national development zones (NDZs) aim to promote China’s economic growth while also profoundly changing the spatial layout of cities. However, the effects of this policy urgently require comprehensive evaluation. Using the data of 225 cities from 2003 to 2017, this paper investigates the relationship and transmission mechanism among NDZs, economic growth, and urban sprawl using staggered difference-in differences (DID) model. The study finds that: First, the NDZs promote regional economic growth, but at the same time exacerbates urban sprawl. Specifically, the NDZs promote economic growth by increasing industrial scale, and increase urban sprawl by accelerating industrial and residential land development. Second, for NDZs with areas ranging between 500 ha and 1500 ha, the government faces a more difficult trade-off between the goals of promoting economic growth and optimizing urban layout. In the eastern city, the NDZs have a more significant impact on economic growth, while in the western city, its impact on urban sprawl is more pronounced. In addition, economic and technological development zones (ETDZs) contributes more to economic growth, while high-tech industrial development zones (TIDZs) has a greater promoting effect on urban sprawl. Finally, according to the result of the threshold effect, moderate urban sprawl can fully unleash the economic growth-boosting effect of NDZs. This study helps to accurately assess the impact of NDZs on urban economic growth and spatial structure, and provides some policy directions for the promotion of high-quality economic development and new urbanization.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":46392,"journal":{"name":"Applied Spatial Analysis and Policy","volume":"18 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145166176","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Planar vs. Vertical Dominance? A Nonlinear Analysis of the Urban Landscape-Land Surface Temperature Nexus","authors":"Chaohui Yin,&nbsp;Jinlong Yan,&nbsp;Qian Wen,&nbsp;Yang Zhang,&nbsp;Zihao An,&nbsp;Yueyang Wang","doi":"10.1007/s12061-025-09687-x","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s12061-025-09687-x","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Urban landscape modifications are proposed as a potential solution to mitigate urban heat islands (UHIs). Previous research has explored the effects of planar and vertical urban landscape characteristics on land surface temperature (LST). However, these studies predominantly assume a yet-to-be-validated linearity in these effects, and overlook the multifaceted nature of these characteristics. As a result, the nuanced impact of urban landscapes and the accurate relative importance of planar versus vertical characteristics in shaping LST remain unclear. This study, focusing on Wuhan, China, investigates the nonlinear associations between planar and vertical urban landscapes and LST using random forest models. Our findings indicate that planar landscape characteristics contribute more significantly to LST variation than vertical characteristics (73% vs. 11%). Nevertheless, despite the seemingly small contribution of vertical characteristics, their impact is nearly equivalent to that of location characteristics (12%) and substantially surpasses that of socioeconomic factors (4%). Water area proportion, building density, greenspace proportion, and floor area ratio emerge as the most influential urban landscape characteristics. Moreover, our results reveal prevalent but distinct nonlinear relationships between urban landscapes and LST, identifying four patterns: L−/inverted-L- shape, stepwise-decline−/increase, inverted-U-shaped, and N-shaped patterns. Our research provides valuable insights into multidimensional urban planning strategies for effective UHI mitigation. Taking into account the revealed nonlinearity, we also propose planning strategies to address the complex challenges of regulating urban thermal environments.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":46392,"journal":{"name":"Applied Spatial Analysis and Policy","volume":"18 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s12061-025-09687-x.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145165143","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}