Exploring the spatial-temporal evolution and driving mechanisms for coupling coordination between green transformation of urban construction land and industrial transformation and upgrading: a case study of the urban agglomeration in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River.

With the acceleration of urbanization and industrialization, the increasingly prominent contradiction between urban industrial development and urban land supply and demand highlights the need to explore the intricate interplay between the green transformation of urban construction land (GTUCL) and industrial transformation and upgrading (ITU). This exploration carries significant practical implications for fostering the harmonious development of industry and land use and achieving sustainable urban growth. In this study, we constructed evaluation indicator systems for GTUCL and ITU, drawing on the analytical frameworks of "dominant-recessive" transformation theory and "dynamic structure benefit" theory, respectively. We employed an enhanced entropy method, an improved coupling coordination model, and a geographic detector to unveil the coupling coordination relationship, the spatiotemporal evolution patterns, and the driving mechanisms of GTUCL and ITU within the urban agglomeration of the mid-Yangtze River region. The results are as follows: (1) during the research period, the comprehensive index of ITU exhibited substantial growth, increasing from 0.159 to 0.408, reflecting a remarkable 157% surge. Simultaneously, the comprehensive index of GTUCL witnessed an increase from 0.171 to 0.285, signifying a 66.66% upswing, lagging behind that of ITU. (2) The degree of coupling coordination between ITU and GTUCL demonstrated a consistent upward trajectory. It rose from 0.402 to 0.579 by 2020, marking a significant 44.2% increase. The overall development now resides within the stage of coordinated progress, although it remains at a relatively modest level, and the pace of development has moderated somewhat. Regional disparities within the urban agglomeration consistently manifest a trend of initial reduction followed by amplification, accentuating the polarization effect of internal coupling relationships. (3) The spatial differentiation pattern centered around "Wuhan, Changsha, and Nanchang" has become increasingly pronounced. The radiation linkage model following the "core-periphery" paradigm has stabilized further. Nevertheless, the relatively loose spatial connection structure has led to a more conspicuous inadequacy in radiation impact. (4) The core driving factors have transitioned from emphasizing economic development to focusing on technological support. The composition structure has shifted from the initial stage of an "economically sensitive" driving model, which centers on economic development, to the second stage of an "ecologically sensitive" driving model, which prioritizes ecological development.

Impact of the intensive use of urban construction land on carbon emission efficiency: evidence from the urban agglomeration in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River.

Urban construction land, as the main carrier of socioeconomic activities, is also a land type that is associated with large carbon emissions. This study uses statistical data of the urban agglomeration in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River (UAMRYR) from 2006 to 2020 to examine the mechanism of the intensive use of urban construction land (IUUCL) on carbon emission efficiency (CEE) from the perspective of urban land resource utilization. The study shows that the capital-intensive and technology-intensive use of urban construction land can significantly increase CEE, while increased labor and energy intensification inhibits CEE. In addition, there is regional heterogeneity in the effect of the IUUCL on CEE. The external control factor industrial structure has the most obvious inhibiting effect on the CEE of the Wuhan urban circle, the intensive use of energy has become the crucial constraint on the carbon emission reduction of the city cluster around Poyang Lake, and the intensive use of science and technology is the key factor in realizing the green and low-carbon development of the Chang-Zhu-Tan city cluster. This study innovatively constructs a theoretical framework of IUUCL versus CEE and conducts a heterogeneous study on the CEE of intensive use of construction land from the perspective of urban agglomerations. By providing a better understanding of the intrinsic influence mechanism of both these processes, this study provides a new perspective for reducing carbon emissions.

Study on characteristics and microscopic mechanism of composite environment-friendly dust suppressant for urban construction site soil fugitive dust based on response surface methodology optimization.

Soil fugitive dust pollution caused by urban construction sites is a significant problem. To improve the dust suppression efficiency on the urban construction sites, hydroxypropyl guar (HPG), dodecyl dimethyl amine oxide (OB-2), and hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) were selected as individual components of the composite dust suppressant using a single-factor test. The response surface methodology (RSM) was used to determine the optimal mixing proportions. After preparation, the characteristics of the composite dust suppressant were tested. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to characterize the composite dust suppressant and explore its mechanism. The results showed that 0.327% HPG, 0.6% OB-2, and 0.5% HPMC were the best compound concentrations. Under optimum conditions, the viscosity of the composite dust suppressant was 151.1 [Formula: see text], penetration time was 61.4 s, and water retention rate was 30.67%. Compared with traditional dust control by spraying water, it showed better resistance to evaporation at high temperatures and better wind erosion resistance. The antievaporation rate was 39.42% at 60 °C. After 11 d of continuous wind erosion at level 7, the wind erosion resistance rate was as high as 98.24%. The reason for the excellent dust suppression effect of the composite dust suppressant is that the methyl and hydroxyl groups in the solution diffuse to the surface of the soil fugitive dust particles using Brownian motion and gradually approach the corresponding groups in the soil fugitive dust particles. When the distance between the two reaches 10 [Formula: see text], adsorption occurs, causing small dust particles to stick together. Because of the stability of the covalent bonds in the methyl and hydroxyl groups, a stable solidified layer is formed on the soil fugitive dust surface after the evaporation of the composite dust inhibitor solution, thereby avoiding secondary dust. In addition, the composite dust suppressant is noncorrosive and friendly to the construction site environment. Therefore, the composite dust suppressant can effectively reduce soil fugitive dust, alleviate environmental pollution, and provide a reference for preventing and controlling soil fugitive dust on urban construction sites and preparing composite environment-friendly dust suppressants.

They live under our streets: ant nests (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in urban pavements.

In the context of global insect decline, the urbanisation process plays a key role. However, urban pavements, which are considered to be impervious to biodiversity, can harbour ground-nesting insects under certain conditions. Recent observations have revealed the presence of Formicidae nests under urban pavements. The aim of this work is to determine the species richness of Formicidae nesting under urban pavements in the Brussels-Capital Region (Belgium) and to characterise their nest environment and soil texture. Seven ant species were identified in 120 nesting sites: Lasiusniger, Lasiusbrunneus, Lasiusflavus, Lasiusfuliginosus, Tetramoriumcaespitum, Tetramoriumimpurum and Myrmicarugulosa. Concrete slabs or natural stones with a sandy sub-layer are the main structures in which ants nest. In addition, nests were mainly found under modular pavements with degraded rigid joints. The results of this work highlight the capacity of urban structures to host part of ant biodiversity in cities.

Evaluation Methods for Water Resource Suitability in Territorial Spatial Planning: A Case Study of Baiyin City in a Semi-Arid Region.

Water resources are a major factor in the spatial layout of agricultural production and urban construction, which is an important part of China's ongoing territorial spatial planning. In order to assess the constraining and guiding effects of water resources on territorial spatial planning, water resources suitability evaluation needs to be carried out at the grid scale. Traditional basin or regional-scale indicators of water resources cannot satisfy the requirements with high spatial accuracy in territorial spatial planning, because the internal differences could not be described. In this study, irrigation water supply cost index (CIA) and urban water supply cost index (CIU) were evaluated to characterize the affordability of potential water supply costs by simulating of optimal water supply path. Further, grid-scale indexes of water resource suitability for agricultural production (WRSA) and for urban construction (WRSU) were constructed. The grades of WRSA and WRSU were classified at a 20 m grid scale in Baiyin City. The areas of water resources that were suitable, relatively suitable, less suitable, and unsuitable for agricultural production were 381.0 km2, 3354.7 km2, 3663.9 km2, and 12,700.7 km2, respectively, accounting for 1.9%, 16.7%, 18.2%, and 63.2% of the total area of Baiyin City. The areas of water resources that were suitable, relatively suitable, less suitable, and unsuitable for urban construction were 1657.7 km2, 4184.5 km2, 1177.7 km2, and 13,075.7 km2, respectively, accounting for 8.2%, 20.8%, 5.9%, and 65.1% of the total area of Baiyin City. Coupling analysis with land use and land resources suitability were carried out in this study, which showed that the grid-scale WRSA and WRSU could well characterize the spatial differences of water resources suitability for agricultural production and urban construction. The results of the Geodetector-based study show that the WRSA and WRSU indicators have better explanatory power for the land-use spatial distribution compared to indicators such as water distance. Therefore, the indexes could provide scientific support to delimit agricultural space and urban space, and are effective means of "determining regional functions by water resources" in territorial spatial planning. Furthermore, the indexes could be applied to other arid and semi-arid areas, and also hilly areas, where water supply suitability plays a restrictive role in agricultural production and urban construction.

[Effects of urban construction on Oncomelania snails control in Wuhan City].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness of urban construction projects on Oncomelania snails control in Wuhan City, so as to provide insights into the development of an integrated control strategy for urban schistosomiasis. METHODS: The data pertaining to the endemic situation of schistosomiasis, schistosomiasis control data, the construction of the Yangtze River Bridge, marshland management and park constructions were collected from Wuhan City from 1990 to 2020. The changes of areas of snail habitats and high-risk settings were compared before and after implementation of these urban construction projects to evaluate the effectiveness of urban construction projects on Oncomelania snails control. RESULTS: The number of schistosomiasis cases decreased by 97.35%, and the number of cattle with schistosomiasis decreased by 100% in Wuhan City from 1990 to 2020, with a 41.99% reduction in areas of snail habitats, including 94.97% and 34.40% reductions in snail habitats inside and outside the embankment decreased. During the period from 1990 through 2020, a total of 10 Yangtze River bridges were built in Wuhan City, and areas of snail habitats around the bridges reduced from 11 699.05 hm2 before the bridge building to 8 726.14 hm2 after the building (a 25.41% reduction), while the areas of high-risk settings reduced from 411.69 hm2 before the bridge building to 276.78 hm2 after the building (a 32.77% reduction). Following treatment of three marshlands in Hankou, Hanyang and Wuchang, the areas of snail habitats reduced from 225.80 hm2 before the management to 199.47 hm2 after the management (a 11.66% reduction), and the areas of high-risk settings reduced from 23.14 hm2 before the treatment to 17.73 hm2 after the building (a 23.38% reduction). Following the building of 5 parks in snail-infested settings, the areas of snail habitats reduced from 319.61 hm2 before the construction to 280.80 hm2 after the construction (a 12.14% reduction), and the areas of high-risk settings reduced from 35.00 hm2 before the construction to 27.73 hm2 after the construction (a 20.77% reduction). CONCLUSIONS: Simultaneous implementation of urban construction projects and schistosomiasis control measures is effective to shrink snail-infested setting and high-risk settings and control the endemic situation of schistosomiasis in endemic foci in Wuhan City.

Extraction of urban built-up area based on the fusion of night-time light data and point of interest data.

The accurate extraction of urban built-up areas is an important prerequisite for urban planning and construction. As a kind of data that can represent urban spatial form, night-time light data has been widely used in the extraction of urban built-up areas. As one of the geographic open-source big data, point of interest (POI) data has a high spatial coupling with night-time light data, so researchers are beginning to explore the fusion of the two data in order to achieve more accurate extraction of urban built-up areas. However, the current research methods and theoretical applications of the fusion of POI data and night-time light data are still insufficient compared with the dramatically changing urban built-up areas, which needed to be further supplemented and deepened. This study proposes a new method to fuse POI data and night-time light data. The results before and after data fusion are compared, and the accuracy of urban built-up area extracted by different data and methods is analysed. The results show that the data fusion can avoid the shortage of single data and effectively improve the extraction accuracy of urban built-up areas, which is greatly helpful to supplement the study of data fusion in urban built-up areas, and also can provide decision-making guidance for urban planning and construction.

Evolution and restoration of water quality in the process of urban development: a case study in urban lake, China.

Urban development has positive and negative effects on the evolution of enclosed lake water quality. This study aims to quantitatively analyze the water quality evolution of a typical urban lake, the Sha Lake, in the process of urban development. The land use degree comprehensive index (I) was calculated to reveal the level of urban development; water quality index (Smid) and eutrophication index (Tmid) were used to evaluate the water quality changes by fuzzy comprehensive-quantifying assessment (FCQA) method. The urban construction process and the water quality changes in 2000-2018 in the Sha Lake Basin were divided into three stages: (1) in 2000-2006, with the slow urban development, water quality remained stable and the degree of eutrophication improved slightly; (2) in 2007-2009, I increased rapidly to reach 300, Smid and Tmid increased from 90.62 to 92.83 and 75.06 to 87.52, respectively. Water quality deteriorated because of the failure to implement environmental protection measures in time; (3) in 2010-2018, although urban development reached a high level (I > 300), the water network connection project, dredging project, exogenous pollutant control, and sewage pipe network renovation since 2009 were critical measures to improve water quality for a long time. Due to the lag effect on improving water quality, the implementation of environmental protection measures should be synchronized with or even before urban construction. The research results can provide a scientific basis for the urban lake water environment protection in the process of urban development.

Effects of urban construction on Oncomelania snails control in Wuhan City / 中国血吸虫病防治杂志

Objective To evaluate the effectiveness of urban construction projects on Oncomelania snails control in Wuhan City, so as to provide insights into the development of an integrated control strategy for urban schistosomiasis. Methods The data pertaining to the endemic situation of schistosomiasis, schistosomiasis control data, the construction of the Yangtze River Bridge, marshland management and park constructions were collected from Wuhan City from 1990 to 2020. The changes of areas of snail habitats and high-risk settings were compared before and after implementation of these urban construction projects to evaluate the effectiveness of urban construction projects on Oncomelania snails control. Results The number of schistosomiasis cases decreased by 97.35%, and the number of cattle with schistosomiasis decreased by 100% in Wuhan City from 1990 to 2020, with a 41.99% reduction in areas of snail habitats, including 94.97% and 34.40% reductions in snail habitats inside and outside the embankment decreased. During the period from 1990 through 2020, a total of 10 Yangtze River bridges were built in Wuhan City, and areas of snail habitats around the bridges reduced from 11 699.05 hm2 before the bridge building to 8 726.14 hm2 after the building (a 25.41% reduction), while the areas of high-risk settings reduced from 411.69 hm2 before the bridge building to 276.78 hm2 after the building (a 32.77% reduction). Following treatment of three marshlands in Hankou, Hanyang and Wuchang, the areas of snail habitats reduced from 225.80 hm2 before the management to 199.47 hm2 after the management (a 11.66% reduction), and the areas of high-risk settings reduced from 23.14 hm2 before the treatment to 17.73 hm2 after the building (a 23.38% reduction). Following the building of 5 parks in snail-infested settings, the areas of snail habitats reduced from 319.61 hm2 before the construction to 280.80 hm2 after the construction (a 12.14% reduction), and the areas of high-risk settings reduced from 35.00 hm2 before the construction to 27.73 hm2 after the construction (a 20.77% reduction). Conclusion Simultaneous implementation of urban construction projects and schistosomiasis control measures is effective to shrink snail-infested setting and high-risk settings and control the endemic situation of schistosomiasis in endemic foci in Wuhan City.

Risks related to heavy metal pollution in urban construction dust fall of fast-developing Chinese cities.

Urban construction is a major contributor to air pollution, but few studies have examined heavy metal pollution in urban areas caused by construction dust fall. We measured the concentrations of Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd, and Hg and particle size distribution in dust fall from various construction activities in seven fast-developing cities in China and conducted a health risk assessment. Mean metal concentrations in construction dust fall were on the order of Zn (246.3 mg/kg) > Cr (94.2 mg/kg) > Pb (56.5 mg/kg) > Cu (53.6 mg/kg) > Ni (22.8 mg/kg) > Cd (0.68 mg/kg) > Hg (0.08 mg/kg). Cu and Zn were positively correlated in areas of subway and building construction, and Pb and Cd were positively correlated in areas of road construction, likely because of the materials specific to these activities. Enrichment factors for heavy metals at all sampling sites were on the order of Cd (10.4) > Zn (6.37) > Cu (4.25) > Pb (3.84) > Hg (2.41) > Cr (2.02) > Ni (1.32). The enrichment factors for all metals except Zn indicated that heavy metal pollution was highest in road construction, followed by building and subway construction. Non-carcinogenic risks to children (hazard index >1) were 1.01-1.08 in four of the seven sampling sites, indicating possible risk from deposition of construction dust fall. In contrast, the hazard index for adults was <1 at the seven cities and total carcinogenic risks (<1 × 10-6) were at acceptable levels. An integrated ecological risk assessment demonstrated that heavy metal particles in construction dust fall in two of the cities (Shijiazhuang and Qingdao) were likely to be suspended in the atmosphere. Our study of heavy metal pollution in construction dust fall provides data on ecological and human health impacts and suggests that extensive measures are required to control construction dust fall in China.