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• Convolutional Neural Networks based on attention mechanisms can achieve high-precision extraction of urban boundaries. • The urban land use efficiency was predicted by using economic growth model with multi-source fusion. • Spatial-temporal patterns of urban land use efficiency in China's national special economic parks was explored from 2000 to 2030. The effective utilization of urban land plays a significant role in achieving the 11th goal focuses on Sustainable cities and communities. China's national special economic parks (NSEP) have undergone a remarkable process of urbanization over the past 40 years, and the land for future development is becoming increasingly scarce. In this study, a convolutional neural network with attention mechanisms was proposed for extracting built-up area boundaries of NSEP; Additionally, the urban land use efficiency (ULUE) was estimated by combining multi-source nighttime light image and statistical data from yearbooks. Furthermore, we integrate a data-driven model for predicting ULUE. The empirical research involves a comprehensive analysis of the spatial characteristics of urban land expansion by using the Taylor index and spatial analysis. This study reveals the following findings: ① Convolutional Neural Networks based on attention mechanisms can achieve high-precision extraction of urban boundaries with a Kappa value exceeding 0.92; ②There is a significant positive correlation between the brightness of nighttime light imagery and the GDP of the secondary and tertiary industries; ③ ULUE exhibits evident dependence on urban scale; ④ The density-nuclear density curve features of ULUE with the peak gradually decreasing, which indicates a continuous expansion of the distribution range of land use efficiency. This research framework aims to provide the support for the scientific management and sustainable utilization of urban land while serving as empirical reference for future policy formulation and planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the vigorous development of dry ports, there is a lack of evaluation on the practical effects of dry port projects. Considering Ningbo Zhoushan Port as an example, this study employs a Difference-in-Differences approach to investigate the effect of dry port construction on the growth of seaports in China. China Customs foreign trade container data and Chinese prefecture-level city panel data are utilized in this study. Further, the mediation model is used to investigate the impact mechanism of dry port construction on city-port container flows. The findings show that the construction of the dry port has significantly promoted the growth of the city-port container volume, which has increased by 31.5%. Such an impact depends on foreign trade growth and port substitution effects. Thus, the results provide support to the government and port stakeholders in clarifying the benefits and influence channels of dry port construction, ultimately promoting port growth and inland economic development. • The influence of dry ports construction on seaport growth is examined. • The case of Ningbo Zhoushan Port, China is addressed. • DID analysis is conducted to assess the causal impact of the dry port. • Dry ports promote the growth of city-port container volumes. • Foreign trade growth and port substitution effects mediate this growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A sustainable economy through the rational spatial expansion of coastal areas is an increasingly essential global topic. This paper aims to explore the mechanism by which supporting cities influence the spatial expansion of economic development zones (EDZs) in 264 coastal EDZs of China during 1995–2020. Meanwhile, the effects of variations in the distance between supporting cities and coastal EDZs and different city scales are considered. The results provide new explanations for realizing the sustainable development of the coastal economy by planning EDZs at a suitable location from the supporting city. The supporting cities' economic strength can significantly contribute to the spatial expansion of coastal EDZs. The influence shows a distance decay law when the distance is less than 47.692 km, between 47.692 and 58.039 km, and greater than 58.039 km, with impact coefficients of 0.479, 0.393, and 0.212, respectively. The average spatial scale of coastal EDZs varies in an "inverted U–shape" with increasing distance. The average spatial scale of the urban general radiation type (47.692 km ≤ distance <58.039 km) is the largest. Supporting cities' scale affects the economic radiation range of supporting cities. The results suggest three implications for the future development of coastal EDZs. 1) Building the EDZ while incorporating practical development needs; 2) Scientifically planning the spatial layout of EDZs; 3) The synergistic development of supporting cities, transportation hubs, and EDZs. [Display omitted] • Supporting cities can promote coastal economic development zones' expansion. • The contribution of supporting cities to zone expansion shows a distance decay law. • The average spatial scale of coastal zones shows an "inverted U-shaped" change. • Supporting cities scale affects the economic radiation range by supporting cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the fast growth of the Chinese aviation market in recent years, various legacy regulations remain and a few big airlines dominate the domestic market. This study empirically investigates the competition effects of various passenger carriers on leading airlines' profitability and pricing strategy. Our study suggests that different types of carriers, namely low-cost carriers (LCCs), and the high-speed rail (HSR) operator, all bring effective competition to the aviation market by reducing airlines' profitability and prices. HSR services bring much more significant competition than LCCs, especially on short-distance routes below 1000 km. Chinese airline groups' "dual-brand" strategy did not enhance airlines' profitability. These findings suggest that there can be multiple driving forces to increase the competitiveness of Chinese airlines. Any type of market deregulation could potentially lead to gains in consumer welfare. In addition, much of the market dynamics will be driven by HSR operations beyond the control of aviation regulators. Government authorities should consider coordinating the development of HSR services and new airports, and meanwhile promote competition in all forms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study employed the Gaussian Mixture Model to identify the location evolution and two-dimensional morphology of catering clusters in Shanghai in 2016, 2018 and 2020. We used the two-way fixed model to analyze the relationship between the location and type change of catering clusters and the other five land use types (17 types of POIs). The findings revealed that although restaurants follow the agglomeration mode under the principle of cumulative attraction, it is inconsistent with the rolling diffusion mode of traditional industrial clusters. Large clusters with obvious indigenous scale advantages evolve into more clusters with relative scale advantages and agglomeration forms relying on one or more buildings and spreading along the street. While the former has a more substantial economic contribution, the latter has stronger spatial expansion. The spatial combination of urban ring road expansion and residential land, land for commercial services, land for entertainment, and scenic spots determines the location selection and structural differences of catering clusters. Our findings can help Shanghai alleviate the siphoning effect in the central urban area. • Agglomeration and spatial form changes of catering clusters were explored. • Relationship between location and type change of catering clusters was analyzed. • The clusters do not follow the expansion mode of traditional industrial clusters. • Finding can help Shanghai alleviate the siphon effect in the central urban area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2008 global financial crisis led directly to the reduction of seaborne trade volume. Competition for hinterlands by ports has become increasingly fierce, and the hinterlands and driving factors of port growth are constantly evolving. Identifying port hinterlands and the source of port container volume growth is essential to the sustainable development of ports. Taking Shanghai Port as an example, this paper adopts the membership degree-Huff model to analyze the evolution of the foreign trade container hinterlands of the port from 2009 to 2017. The results show that, because the hinterland is constantly being permeated by competing ports, Shanghai Port has gradually begun to expand its hinterland coverage to cities outside the traditional hinterlands, mainly in the northern areas. This paper introduced the Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index decomposition method to port growth research for the first time. The decomposition model of driving factors of port growth was constructed from the perspective of the hinterland. We found that, while the growth effect and spatial structure effect promote the increase of foreign trade containers in the port, the competitiveness effect leads to the decline of these. In future, government departments should promote cooperation among ports in the Yangtze River Delta to facilitate strategic coordination of the free trade (pilot) zone, resource sharing, and policy integration. In addition, Shanghai Port should devote itself to the development of a high value-added shipping services industry cluster to consolidate and enhance its international shipping status and functions. • Shanghai Port was in fierce competition with neighboring ports. • The port growth decomposition was constructed from the hinterland perspective. • The growth effect and spatial structure effect lead to the increase of foreign trade containers in Shanghai Port. • The competitiveness effect leads to the decline of foreign trade containers in Shanghai Port. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Estimated relationship between nighttime stable light data and carbon emissions. • Urban-scale carbon emissions are acquired by weighted-coefficient strategy. • Developed software forms basis for carbon emission mitigation policies in other provinces. • Analyzed carbon emission spatio-temporal patterns of three northeastern provinces in 1998–2013. Climate warming due to carbon emissions has been recognized as a threat to food security, human health and natural ecosystem, and carbon emission reduction is a challenging job for each country in the world. In this study, an ensemble structure-based neural network model (NNEnsemble) is proposed to analyze the nonlinear relationship between the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program Operational Line-Scan System (DMSP-OLS) nighttime stable light (NSL) data, and province-scale statistical data on carbon emissions. Given the challenge of obtaining urban-scale carbon emission data, a weighted coefficient strategy by using the NSL data were employed to analyze the carbon emissions at the urban scale. The performance of the proposed method was found to be superior to that of comparable methods with respect to various evaluation indices. Under these circumstances, a hot spot and Standard deviational ellipse analysis of three northeast provinces in China was conducted from 1998 to 2013. The results can promote a better understanding of the spatio-temporal characteristics of carbon emissions in three northeastern Chinese provinces. Moreover, the developed application software based on NNEnsemble can serve as a basis for the development of carbon emission mitigation policies for other provinces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The boundary lines of the hinterlands of container ports, for as long as these exist, serve as reference points for future port development and infrastructure planning. In earlier efforts to delineate the hinterlands of Chinese ports, either the number of ports considered was limited, or the demarcation of hinterlands was based on aggregate port throughput only. As a result, none of these studies has allowed a clear understanding of the characteristics of shared hinterlands. To address such shortcomings, the membership degree method and the Huff model have been used here to delineate, if at all possible, the hinterlands of China's 20 major foreign trade container ports. The results reveal the existence of fierce port competition for China's hinterlands, with the hinterland characteristics of different types of ports varying in scope and spatial continuity. Our research has important policy implications for central- and local governments, as well as port authorities. In short, ways to strengthen inter-provincial port cooperation should be a top priority to policymakers going forward. Due to the unavoidable onslaught of diseconomies of scale in cargohandling, international hub ports should focus on the development of strong, port-centric maritime clusters and international shipping centres. Regional hub ports should coordinate better their relationship with international hubs and feeder ports. Finally, the latter ports need to plan their development cautiously in order to avoid unfettered and wasteful expansion. • The hinterlands of seaports are mainly concentrated within 350 km off the coastline. • Hinterlands serving international hubs are segmented and discontinuous. • Hinterlands of international hubs, regional hubs, and feeder ports overlap noticeably. • Hinterland boundaries targeting specific goods, rather than aggregate port throughput, could better guide port planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]