As rapid industrialization, urbanization, and globalization heighten the urgency for ecological security worldwide, China faces a critical challenge in balancing economic development with environmental preservation. In response, China has implemented various ecological initiatives, with the establishment of ecological red lines as a cornerstone of its environmental governance and a fundamental strategy to safeguard ecological security. This study provides a comprehensive examination of the evolution of ecological protection red lines and the recent release of the Technical Guidelines for the Delineation of Ecological Protection Red Lines to develop a technical plan for regional ecological protection red-line management and control. It focuses on ecological security concerns, and the key considerations encompass defining essential concepts, highlighting the adverse impacts of human activities to justify the adoption of restrictive systems, recognizing regional disparities in resources, environment, and socioeconomic context, and employing multi-scale research methodologies for comprehensive data acquisition. The study addresses diagnosing ecological security issues, establishing prevention objectives and management goals, categorizing types of regional ecological protection red-line management and control, delineating spatial boundaries, and incorporating historical insights to propose scientifically grounded response strategies. These strategies aim to address ecological security challenges threatening ecological protection red lines while integrating extensive social feedback to ensure practicality and effectiveness.

The protection and development of the cultural heritage of temple settlements, the utilization of cultural resources, and the inheritance of settlement characteristics are pressing issues that require urgent attention. To address these challenges, this study employs the spatial syntax research method to delve into the spatial form of the cultural heritage of temple settlements on the western Sichuan plateau. Specifically, the study focuses on four distinct settlement types in Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, China: Baiyu Temple, Ganzi Temple, Dongga Temple, and Gesang Temple. Using Depthmap software, the study quantifies settlement parameter values and analyzes connection value, integration degree, and comprehensibility, to reveal their syntactic structural characteristics. Our findings indicate that these four temple settlements present an organic whole in terms of spatial form. However, there are distinct differences in their syntactic structures, which are closely linked to factors such as settlement scale, historical inheritance, and other contextual influences. Based on our spatial syntax analysis, the study proposes a series of protective measures and development strategies. First, emphasis should be placed on preserving the overall spatial layout and organic integrity of temple settlements to prevent overdevelopment and the disruption of original patterns. Second, planners must strengthen the protection and management of internal spatial elements to maintain their interrelationships. Finally, planners should formulate differentiated protection and development plans tailored to the unique characteristics and values of each temple settlement type. While the study focuses on traditional settlement spatial forms and their relationship with human behavior, further exploration is needed to investigate the impact of political, economic, and environmental factors on these forms.

Rapid urban expansion is transforming rural areas globally, prompting scholars to challenge the traditional urban-rural dichotomy and focus on transitional zones such as the rural-urban fringe and peri-urban areas. This article documents the evolution of architectural morphology in traditional Hakka settlements in peri-urban areas of southern China and coins the hybrid architectural landscape combined with urban and rural characteristics in these ambiguous territories as the “Middle Ground.” Fieldwork was conducted in four Hakka villages in Heyuan, northeast Guangdong, China, between 2021 and 2023. An explorative case study was employed to analyze the architectural morphology of the Middle Ground by mapping village fabric, dwellings, and street markets through aerial photography. A participatory perspective was also incorporated, involving observation, interviews, and documentation of the daily life of local villagers. This research examines how authority and mobility have shaped the Middle Ground, potentially leading to a state of “placelessness,” and explores the role of rural heritage in this context. This research contributes to the broader discourse on peri-urban areas by offering an architectural heritage atlas as an addition to existing research.

Calligraphic landscapes, as distinctive cultural symbols and landscapes with Chinese characteristics, are widely used in urban design, placemaking, and tourism promotion. In cultural heritage tourism, tourists’ perceptions of the symbolic meanings of landscapes significantly influence their travel experiences. This study primarily utilizes social media text analysis to explore the perceptual characteristics and symbolic meanings of calligraphic landscapes in different touristic contexts. Using Python tools, user-generated content was extracted from the Xiaohongshu app and analyzed with ROST CM6, VOSviewer, and NVivo 20 to conduct systematic quantitative and qualitative analyses, including content analysis, semantic network analysis, and co-occurrence clustering. The findings indicate that cultural exchanges on social media significantly enhance public perception of the symbolic meanings of touristic spaces. As online check-in behavior becomes increasingly popular, calligraphic landscapes have gained new esthetic-symbolic meanings among young tourists, becoming part of fashion culture and reflecting the digitalization of a sense of place. In addition, user-generated content reveals that tourists’ perceptions of calligraphic landscapes are intricately linked to place recognition, cultural symbolism, calligraphic appreciation, heritage value, and esthetic experiences. As a significant cultural symbol, calligraphic landscapes are frequently encountered during travel, with their symbolic meanings varying according to the surrounding environment, thereby influencing tourists’ preferences in diverse settings. Furthermore, this study proposes several innovative strategies for designing calligraphic landscapes. This research not only validates the feasibility of web text analysis for exploring the symbolic meanings of cultural landscapes but also enhances theoretical perspectives on how symbolic landscapes shape tourists’ psychological and behavioral responses.

The National Development and Reform Commission’s 14th 5-year Plan for New Urbanization aims to enhance the integrated development of urban agglomerations and promote coordinated growth among large, medium, and small cities to improve the comprehensive development capacity of urban agglomerations. This study examines the systemic coupling and coordination of land use benefits and the concept of balanced territorial space utilization. A comprehensive evaluation index system is constructed, employing the coupling coordination degree model and the land development imbalance index model to assess both the comprehensive benefits of land use and the balance of land development in the nine cities of the Pearl River Delta urban agglomeration in 2019. The findings are as follows: (i) Shenzhen has the largest territorial space development scale, with minor differences indicating balanced development; (ii) the territorial space development scale and urban economic benefits in the Pearl River Delta urban agglomeration are generally in a coordinated development stage. While Guangzhou and Shenzhen exhibit lagging input, the other cities demonstrate lagging output; and (iii) there is an extreme imbalance in territorial space development. Based on these findings, the study recommends the following: (i) maintain coordinated development between territorial space development scale and urban economic benefits by adjusting inputs and outputs across different cities to control land development intensity and enhance the economic output of land; and (ii) for cities facing overdevelopment, prioritize improving urban land supply capacity, control the expansion of construction land, and explore the redevelopment of existing land; for cities facing underdevelopment, provide preferential access to construction land quotas to support efficient land development.

With a growing interest in liveable cities, scholars and urban planners are increasingly studying the characteristics of child-friendly cities, including the ability to walk and move freely in public spaces. While machine learning techniques and street view imagery analysis have enabled the systematic analysis of streets, they have not yet been applied to assess street environments from a child’s perspective. This study explores the use of deep learning models to address this gap by developing a machine-simulated human scoring model to assess health and safety indicators in urban streets. Using a high-density, old urban district in Hong Kong SAR, China, as a case, the study used semantic segmentation to analyze street environmental features and extract elements related to safety, such as greenery, vehicles, and fences. Subsequently, the model generated safety ratings, which were compared with scores provided by volunteer caregivers. The results indicate that natural elements and fences enhance safety, whereas an excess of buildings diminishes it. In contrast to European cities, where high visibility and larger sky proportions are considered beneficial for health, these factors were less relevant in the high-density, tropical context of Hong Kong. This analysis highlights the robustness and efficiency of the model, which can assist researchers in other cities in collecting empirical user rating data and informing strategies for more child-friendly urban planning.

Since the late 19^th century, foreign influences have shaped modern Chinese architecture, prompting early 20^th-century Chinese architects to blend Western modernism with local traditions. This article focuses on the adaptations and transformations in modern Chinese architecture during this period, exploring how the concept of the “modern” was embraced by both Western and Chinese architects. At the time, modern architecture in China faced a wide array of critiques, including concerns about excessive cost and impractical designs. In the early 1920s, Western architects began experimenting in Chinese cities such as Tianjin, Hankou, and Hong Kong, introducing various new design forms and attempting - often in vain - to convince their Chinese clients to integrate local characteristics into the architecture. Meanwhile, other architects entered a stage of exploration, debating distinctions between restoring traditional Chinese architecture and adapting Chinese features for modern purposes. According to Dong Dayou (1899 - 1973), a prominent first-generation modern architect, they were seeking a new style of architecture. Finally, this article addresses how Chinese architects responded to modern international expositions, particularly the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes (International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts) in Paris, highlighting Liu Jipiao (1900 - 1992), another first-generation Chinese architect, and his experiments with Art Deco.

Commercial ports are vital regional intersections in the era of globalization, relying on maritime networks and local convergence to facilitate the movement of goods, people, and ideas. The term “The Five Treaty Ports” marks the beginning of foreign territorial leases for trade in China. During this period, the spatial planning and infrastructure development of commercial ports dynamically responded to the rapid progress of globalization. This article uses the commercial port cities of Fuzhou (Foochow) and Xiamen (Amoy) as case studies, examining how advancements in shipping technology influenced the evolution of port spaces. It traces the transformation of urban port spatial landscapes through the “sailing ship era,” “steamship era,” and “oil tanker era.” These eras not only carried the enlightenment of mercantilist ideas and featured characteristics of “industrialization for the nation,” but also reflected the significant influence of capitalist “market expansion” ideas in spatial configurations. Furthermore, the article argues that the spatial representation of modern commercial ports embodies the collaborative forces of mercantilism, colonialism, and capitalism, promoting globalization through trade. This research aims to explore the evolution of modern commercial port spaces, analyze the progressive transition from mercantilism to capitalist production modes, and ultimately enhance understanding of the globalization process within port spaces.

Red industrial heritage represents historical evidence and important revolutionary cultural relics of Chinese-style modernization under the leadership of the Communist Party of China. It possesses distinct characteristics in terms of its temporal, conceptual, and value dimensions. Beyond serving as a repository of media memory, red industrial heritage functions as a vibrant medium for the dissemination of mainstream culture. Its defining features include the “Gaze-Immersion” effect, which evokes a return to historical scenes; the “Abstraction-Embodiment” process, which fosters material perception; and the “History-Reality” connection, which highlights contemporary relevance. However, current management practices for industrial heritage often follow the principle of “age priority,” resulting in challenges for the effective protection of red industrial heritage. Furthermore, when the cultural tourism industry intervenes in the protection and utilization of industrial heritage, it frequently emphasizes age value, location value, or esthetic appeal, while inadequately exploring and developing the cultural significance of red cultural resources. This oversight diminishes the role of red industrial heritage in disseminating mainstream culture. In recent years, increased attention to industrial heritage has expanded the pathways for mainstream culture dissemination, including conservation and renewal, intellectual property empowerment, and community participation. These approaches have generated valuable experiences and insights into enhancing the cultural and social functions of red industrial heritage.

The Thirteen Factories in Guangzhou were a product of economic globalization and China’s foreign trade policies in the 18^th century. Previous studies have discussed the Westernization of their building façades but overlooked their global and local origins. This article examines the Western origins of the Guangzhou factories, their local prototypes, and how they integrated Western and local architectural elements. The origins of the Thirteen Factories trace back to funduqs or fondacos, Mediterranean commercial establishments from the late Middle Ages, which spread globally with Portuguese overseas trade after the Age of Discovery. Built along the Pearl River, the Thirteen Factories were modeled on local hangs, characterized by narrow frontages, large depths, storage on the 1^st floor, and accommodation above. Western merchants, leasing these hangs, transformed them into factories by adding Western architectural elements, such as columns, arches, colonnades, and triangular pediments while reorganizing interiors with arched corridors. This integration demonstrates the global mobility of architectural forms driven by economic globalization. The Qing dynasty’s (1644 - 1912) strict regulation confined foreign factories to a designated area along the Pearl River, forming the Thirteen Factories quarter. Continuous planning by Western merchants introduced early elements of “modernity,” making the quarter a site of architectural and functional innovation. Globalization and modernization were central to the Thirteen Factories’ development, blending architectural traditions and influencing Guangzhou’s evolution. These forces profoundly impacted the site’s transformation and contributed to the globalization of Guangzhou today.

This study, framed within the context of the Harmonious and Beautiful Countryside policy, focuses on optimizing the living environment of rural housing by addressing the loss of diverse heritage in rural architecture and landscapes. Through fieldwork and importance-performance analysis methods, the research investigates the façades and environments of rural houses in Suzhou, Jiangsu, China. By incorporating the “vernacular” evaluation factors identified in previous studies, this study adopts a user-centered perspective to provide practical insights into rural cultural landscapes, thereby augmenting existing literature. The study reconstructs elements of rural residences and their environments to enhance residents’ comprehension and yield more objective evaluation outcomes. Analysis reveals that both native and non-native residents share similar views on the importance and performance of various factors. Environmental quality and building functionality emerge as top priorities for residents, while Suzhou’s efforts to preserve traditional architectural esthetics are notably effective. However, field observations also highlight urbanization’s impact on rural housing, such as the use of non-native materials that compromise traditional rural architectural styles. To tackle these challenges, this study proposes the following strategies for rural regeneration: (i) permit integration of new materials, technologies, and spatial configurations with traditional rural architecture; (ii) incorporate historical context, cultural continuity, traditional materials, and lifestyle needs into building renovations; and (iii) establish a dynamic regulatory mechanism for rural residential architecture to aid residents in optimizing their buildings and surroundings. These strategies aim to mitigate the effects of excessive urbanization and provide a user-centered approach for future research on rural cultural landscapes.