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Waterfront resources are an important support system for the social and economic development within the region along the Yangtze River. Container ports are an important component of the Yangtze River port system, as well as for the growth point of waterfront utilization. Based on the summary of remote sensing images and relevant data, this paper calculates the waterfront utilization of the container ports along the Yangtze River in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD), analyzes the waterfront organization pattern and change characteristics, and puts forward the enlightenment and countermeasures for the sustainable development of the port waterfronts. Extending the study of port resources from coastal areas to inland areas is an academic contribution of this paper. At the same time, it has practical significance for the high-quality development of port and shipping and the development and protection of land resources along the Yangtze River. In the YRD, the waterfront utilization of container ports has increased along the Yangtze River, showing a decrease from downstream to upwards, and it has formed dense zones attached to the central cities and major manufacturing bases. The ports with higher length of waterfront are mostly located in the shipping central cities and the Yangtze River estuary. The development direction of container ports is large-scale and specialized. The utilization of the container port waterfront is approaching the periphery of the city and areas with convenient transportation. The utilization of container port shorelines will be close to the periphery of the city and convenient transportation areas. The container port waterfronts occupy the ecological reserve, and the conflicts are expanding with the development of shipping, mainly distributed in the Yangtze River estuary. Based on the empirical analysis, this paper puts forward four enlightenments. First, the exploitation and utilization of the port waterfront has experienced multiple stages of "exploitation—conflict—mitigation". With the transformation of productive waterfront utilization, the pattern of sustainable development along the Yangtze River has changed. Secondly, the conflict between waterfront utilization and protection is inevitable. Additionally, it is necessary to face up to the temporary rapid rise of encroachment on the reserve. Third, through the horizontal coordination of the port system along the river, the original focus on the hub cities will be transferred to the comprehensive consideration of the port cities in the whole region, and the waterfront load of different types of container ports can be balanced. Fourth, the Yangtze River Delta integration mechanism can solve the barriers between higher and lower levels or between different departments and cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking the Yangtze River Delta in China as an example, this paper analyzes the spatial characteristics of passenger rail service in different stages, discusses the evolution of regional multi‐level spatial organization structure under the guidance of passenger rail, and explores the ways to realize efficient and well‐organized regional integration through modern railway infrastructure configuration. Rail transport leads to the formation of several urban subgroups within the Yangtze River Delta. The regional spatial structure is a multi‐level "core‐periphery" nested structure coupled with the internal spatial organization of subgroups and their mutual spatial correlation structure. The organization of intra‐subgroup and inter‐subgroup determine the evolution direction of the whole spatial structure. The development model of constructing a high‐speed railway network with the regional political and economic center cities as hubs has led to each subgroup that starts to rely on these cities to form clusters and achieve spatial reconstruction. In this process, the connection between the "core" areas and the "periphery" areas, as well as among the "periphery" areas within the spatial scope of each level has been strengthened. However, although the gap between the "core" areas and the "periphery" areas has narrowed, it still persists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]