Evaluating the corresponding relationship between the characteristics of resource utilization and the level of urbanization: a case study in Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle, China

New insight into the spatiotemporal distribution and ecological risk assessment of endocrine-disrupting chemicals in the Minjiang and Tuojiang rivers: perspective of watershed landscape patterns

This study evaluated the pollution characteristics, spatiotemporal distribution, and ecological risks of eight endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in the Minjiang and Tuojiang rivers. Utilizing 3S technology (ArcGIS, remote sensing, GPS) and Fragstats, the research calculated eight landscape pattern indices related to land use types along the Minjiang river and established correlations between landscape factors and EDC distribution through stepwise multiple regression. The results indicated that bisphenol A (BPA) and nonylphenol (NP) were the most concerning EDCs, with detection frequencies of 97-100% and peak concentrations up to 63.35 ng L-1, primarily located in the middle and lower reaches of the Minjiang river and the upper reaches of the Tuojiang river. There was a significant correlation between the spatial distribution of pollutants and landscape patterns, where increased fragmentation, a higher number of patches, and complex patch shapes within a 10-kilometer buffer zone were associated with elevated levels of river pollution. By integrating four classical mathematical models to fit curves for acute and chronic toxicity data of BPA and NP, the findings suggested that BPA posed a higher ecological risk. This interdisciplinary research provided essential theoretical insights for investigating river pollution and its influencing factors, offering a new perspective on simultaneous river pollution control, urban functional zoning, and adjustment of watershed landscape spatial patterns from an urban planning standpoint.

Synergistic evolution of water-energy-food system resilience and efficiency in urban agglomerations

With increasing internal and external risks to the WEF system, a single emphasis on efficiency or a lopsided pursuit of resilience can lead to difficulties in adapting to complex changes and resource redundancy. Revealing the synergistic evolutionary characteristics between efficiency and resilience of the WEF system is an effective method to deal with systemic internal and external risks. However, the current study of the WEF system lacks a synergistic perspective on resilience and efficiency. Thus, taking Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle (CCEC) as the research object and its geospatial boundary as the system boundary, this paper adopted the entropy-topsis model to evaluate the WEF resilience, and applied the super-efficient SBM model to measure the WEF efficiency accurately, which fully considered the non-expected outputs in the process of resource utilization. Then, applying the development coordination degree model, the synergistic relationship between the two was measured. The results indicated that: the average value of WEF resilience in CCEC increased from 0.414 to 0.485 and showed spatial characteristics of west＞east＞central. The WEF efficiency interval was 0.79-0.93, and cities with average WEF efficiency reaching the effective production frontier accounted for only 37.5%. The clustered distribution of the synergy levels intensified. The number of cities with primary, medium, more advanced, and advanced levels was 6, 6, 1, and 3, respectively, with primary and medium synergy levels dominating. The findings suggest that cities should strengthen regional exchanges and formulate targeted measures based on their own situations. In addition, CCEC should possess a comprehensive understanding of the interdependencies and conflicts that arise between resilience and efficiency throughout the decision-making procedure.

Differences in energy-saving benefits between the rich and poor: data-driven method to study equity of mandatory energy efficiency policy in Chongqing

The equity of mandatory building energy efficiency design standards (BEEDSs) has not received sufficient attention, for there is little study emphasizing the equity between the rich and the poor from the perspective of mandatory energy policies. Therefore, this study is aimed at evaluating the heterogeneous effect of BEEDSs on the energy consumption of households with varying incomes based on household-level data (n = 1196) from Chongqing in China. The study indicates that the actual energy efficiency of the high-income group is 47%, whereas those of the middle- and low-income groups are 32% and 25%, respectively, compared to groups in the absence of BEEDSs. Furthermore, the energy-saving benefits of the rich are approximately twice that of the poor. Also, the Lorenz curve is used to describe the inequality in the distribution of energy-saving benefits, showing that the inequality coefficient is 0.25. This study provides a strong reference for the research and policy-making related to building energy efficiency.

Fiscal decentralization, government innovation preference, and haze pollution

Local governments are the dominant players in haze pollution control; furthermore, financial power reconstruction affects the effectiveness of haze control. Government innovation preference achieves win-win results for environmental protection and economic development by increasing innovation support. Therefore, a moderating variable for government innovation preference was added to the fiscal decentralization effect on haze pollution, and their interactive effect on haze pollution was studied. This study was conducted in 30 provincial regions. Thus, the severity of regional haze pollution differs because of temporal heterogeneity and asynchronous development. Furthermore, we analyzed the impact on haze pollution from the perspectives of the temporal and spatial differences in different regions of China. The results indicate that (1) fiscal decentralization increases haze pollution, while government innovation preferences control it. (2) In a local evaluation model with a diversified background, fiscal decentralization restrains haze pollution, and pollution source complexity reduces government innovation preference's control pollution function. The interaction term revealed that government innovation preferences had a significant moderating effect. (3) Fiscal decentralization and government innovation preferences control the heterogeneity of haze pollution in different regions.