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Urban-Rural Integration and Ecological Environment Change

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A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Earth Science and Medical Geology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2023) | Viewed by 22715

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Jintao Li

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Guest Editor

Center for Quality of Life and Public Policy Research, Institute of Public Governance, School of Political Science and Public Administration, Shandong University, Qingdao 266237, China
Interests: sustainable development; spatial analysis; social governance; ecosystem services; environmental governance; land use planning and management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Zongfeng Sun

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Guest Editor

School of Political Science and Public Administration, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237, China
Interests: digital government; public policy; public administration; organization theory; performance management

Dr. Long Cheng

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Guest Editor

School of Political Science and Public Administration, Shandong University, Qingdao 266237, China
Interests: integrated urban-rural development; land use policy and land economics; displacement and resettlement; sustainable livelihood; urban and regional planning; urban governance

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

With the rapid development of industrialization and urbanization, the gap between urban and rural areas has been widening and the ecological environment has been severely damaged. Urban-rural integration is to take industry and agriculture, cities and villages, urban residents and rural villagers as a whole, make overall planning and comprehensive research, and is an important development model to narrow the gap between urban and rural areas. The ecological environment is an important factor restricting urban-rural integration. Only a good ecological environment can provide well-being for urban-rural residents. At the same time, urban-rural development also has an important impact on changes in the ecological environment such as overuse of land, water and air pollution, etc. In the process of urban-rural development, human beings have gradually strengthened their attention to the ecological environment. Therefore, we consider that it is very necessary to carry out research on the urban-rural integrated development, the impact of urban-rural development on the ecological environment, and the assessment and protection of the ecological environment. In the process of promoting urban-rural integration, we must focus on the quality of the ecological environment, and we must protect ecological environment while developing.

This Special Issue aims to collect literature on the integration of urban-rural integration and ecological environment change from different research perspectives and different fields, with the ultimate aim of contributing to the global sustainable development and a community of shared future for humankind. We eagerly seek original and innovative academic papers concerning urban-rural integration development and ecological environment change, preferably using advanced spatial analysis technology, econometric analysis model, scenario simulation, etc., and also welcome policy analysis and theoretical studies. The research results will play an important role in the sustainable development and ecological environment protection of many countries around the world.

Original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

Urban-rural integration;

Rural revitalization

Sustainable development;

Land use planning and management;

Ecology environment;

Policy of urban-rural integration

Simulation and optimization of ecology environment;

Assessment of ecology environment.

I Dr. Jintao Li
Prof. Dr. Zongfeng Sun
Dr. Long Cheng
Guest Editors

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Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

sustainable integrated urban-rural development
sustainable livelihood and rural revitalization in China
spatial governance and rural revitalization
urban-rural environment pollution control
urban-rural environment protection
ecological well-being of urban-rural residents
land use planning and management
changes in ecosystem services
impact of urbanization and industrialization on the ecological environment
policy of ecological environment protection and urban-rural integration development

Published Papers (13 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 844 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Effect of Left-Behind Women on Fertilizer Use: Evidence from China’s Rural Households Engaging in Rural-Urban Migration

by Kai Tang

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(1), 488; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20010488 - 28 Dec 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1488

Abstract

Rural-urban migration in developing countries has required left-behind women to assume the role of key decision makers and take increasing responsibility for agricultural production. However, little is known about the effect of rural-urban migration on fertilizer use when left-behind women assume key decision-maker roles. This study highlights the effect of left-behind women on fertilizer use, drawing on nationwide household survey data in China. The results indicate that households with recognized left-behind women heads use less fertilizer than those with recognized men heads, while households with de facto left-behind women heads use more fertilizer. Moreover, the average nexus between households with recognized left-behind women heads whose major agricultural income comes from grain crops and fertilize use is negative but small in size and statistically insignificant. The findings indicate that future policy efforts aimed at decreasing rural environmental degradation should place greater emphasis on left-behind women’s empowerment in socioeconomic decision-making within and outside the household, thereby contributing to an environment in which left-behind women farmers can succeed in a sustainable way. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban-Rural Integration and Ecological Environment Change)

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16 pages, 9185 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Rural Spatial Differentiation and Revitalization Approaches in China: A Case Study of Qingdao City

by Xiaohua Cheng, Difei Xu, Hui Sun, Meiyi Zheng and Jintao Li

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(24), 16924; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192416924 - 16 Dec 2022

Viewed by 2265

Abstract

Rural revitalization, as a major strategy with the goal of realizing the overall development of strong agriculture industries, beautiful rural areas, and rich farmers, is an effective way of alleviating the loss of talent, land, capital, and other elements in rural areas and a possible cure for “rural diseases”. However, “rural diseases” faced by villages are very different, and thus exploring suitable strategies for rural revitalization is beneficial to the implementation of rural revitalization strategies and the promotion of urban–rural integration. Based on location theory, this paper constructs a point–axis–domain three-dimensional spatial location theory model that integrates market location, traffic location, and natural location and combines the coupling coordination model to comprehensively study the vitality and development directions of Qingdao’s rural areas. Results found that Qingdao’s high-level and medium–high-level coupling coordination areas are the main types of coupling coordination, accounting for 45.19% and 47.48%, respectively. Based on the development status of Qingdao, this study explores development directions for rural revitalization poles as well as high-level, medium–high-level, and medium-level coupling coordination areas and suggests the following: rural revitalization poles should play a demonstration role in rural revitalization in terms of industrial development, rural civilization, social governance, public service construction, etc.; high-level coupling coordination areas should focus on building modern hi-tech agriculture and rural marine tourism industries; medium–high-level coupling coordination areas should strengthen the building of satellite towns and promote industrial transformation and upgrading; medium-level coupling coordination areas should actively develop ecological environment conservation models and establish a characteristic mountainous eco-tourism industry. Thus, the findings provide important scientific reference for the implementation of rural revitalization. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban-Rural Integration and Ecological Environment Change)

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17 pages, 4657 KiB

Open AccessArticle

How Has Climate Change Driven the Evolution of Rice Distribution in China?

by Guogang Wang, Shengnan Huang, Yongxiang Zhang, Sicheng Zhao and Chengji Han

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(23), 16297; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192316297 - 05 Dec 2022

Viewed by 1483

Abstract

Estimating the impact of climate change risks on rice distribution is one of the most important elements of climate risk management. This paper is based on the GEE (Google Earth Engine) platform and multi-source remote sensing data; the authors quantitatively extracted rice production distribution data in China from 1990 to 2019, analysed the evolution pattern of rice distribution and clusters and explored the driving effects between climatic and environmental conditions on the evolution of rice production distribution using the non-parametric quantile regression model. The results show that: The spatial variation of rice distribution is significant, mainly concentrated in the northeast, south and southwest regions of China; the distribution of rice in the northeast is expanding, while the distribution of rice in the south is extending northward, showing a spatial evolution trend of “north rising and south retreating”. The positive effect of precipitation on the spatial distribution of rice has a significant threshold. This shows that when precipitation is greater than 800 mm, there is a significant positive effect on the spatial distribution of rice production, and this effect will increase with precipitation increases. Climate change may lead to a continuous northward shift in the extent of rice production, especially extending to the northwest of China. This paper’s results will help implement more spatially targeted climate change adaptation measures for rice to cope with the changes in food production distribution caused by climate change. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban-Rural Integration and Ecological Environment Change)

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20 pages, 2395 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Promote or Demote? Investigating the Impacts of China’s Transferable Development Rights Program on Farmers’ Income: A Case Study from Chongqing

by Long Cheng, Zhengchun Xu and Jintao Li

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(21), 13751; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192113751 - 22 Oct 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1567

Abstract

China has been undergoing rapid urbanization and industrialization process since the adoption of economic reform and open-door policy in 1978, which is leading to tremendous urban growth and encroachment on rural farmland. To address the conflicts between urban development and farmland protection, the Chinese government introduced the transferable development rights (TDR) program named the Link Policy, and it was popularized nationwide given the tremendous land revenue from policy implementation. However, as farmers are the key stakeholders, the impacts of the policy on farmers’ income need to be examined and justified. Thus, this paper aims to fill this gap by taking Chongqing as a case study. The synthetic control method was introduced to construct a synthetic Chongqing without the policy implementation using the 49 municipal cities and Chongqing during 2000–2017. Findings from the analysis indicate that Chongqing’s TDR program significantly promoted farmers’ income at the beginning of the policy implementation, while the positive impacts became weak afterward. Based on these findings, a few policy suggestions including a fair revenue distribution scheme and protection of farmers’ land use rights are offered to facilitate the policy implementation and increase farmers’ household income in the coming future. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban-Rural Integration and Ecological Environment Change)

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20 pages, 2597 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Spatiotemporal Variations of Carbon Emissions and Their Driving Factors in the Yellow River Basin

by Shiqing Wang, Piling Sun, Huiying Sun, Qingguo Liu, Shuo Liu and Da Lu

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(19), 12884; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191912884 - 08 Oct 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1436

Abstract

The Yellow River Basin (YRB) is a significant area of economic development and ecological protection in China. Scientifically clarifying the spatiotemporal patterns of carbon emissions and their driving factors is of great significance. Using the methods of spatial autocorrelation analysis, hot-spot analysis, and a geodetector, the analysis framework of spatiotemporal differentiation and the driving factors of carbon emissions in the YRB was constructed in this paper from three aspects: natural environment, social economy, and regional policy. Three main results were found: (1) The carbon emissions in the YRB increased gradually from 2000 to 2020, and the growth rates of carbon emissions in the different river reaches were upper reaches > middle reaches > lower reaches. (2) Carbon emissions have an obvious spatial clustering character from 2000–2020, when hot spots were concentrated in the transition area from the Inner Mongolia Plateau to the Loess Plateau. The cold spots of carbon emissions tended to be concentrated in the junction area of Qinghai, Gansu, and Shaanxi. (3) From 2000 to 2020, the driving factors of spatial differentiation of carbon emissions in the YRB and its different reaches tended to be diversified, so the impacts of socioeconomic factors increased, while the impacts of natural environmental factors decreased. The influence of the interactions of each driving factor showed double factor enhancement and nonlinear enhancement. This study will provide a scientific reference for green and low-carbon development, emphasizing the need to pay more attention to environmental protection, develop the green economy vigorously, and promote the economic cycle, so as to achieve green development and reduce carbon emissions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban-Rural Integration and Ecological Environment Change)

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18 pages, 1957 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Villagers’ Satisfaction Evaluation System of Rural Human Settlement Construction: Empirical Study of Suzhou in China’s Rapid Urbanization Area

by Lu Ye, Zihao Wu, Ting Wang, Kangle Ding and Yu Chen

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(18), 11472; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191811472 - 12 Sep 2022

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1628

Abstract

Continuous improvement of rural human settlements is a major realistic requirement of China’s economic and social development in the context of rural revitalization. Tracking and evaluating the phased progress of human settlement construction in stages represent important techniques for ensuring continual improvement. To improve the current objective data-based index system, this paper focuses on the villager-centered evaluation system at the village level. Factor analysis is used to screen the original data from the questionnaire and minimize the dimensions to synthesize common factors on the basis of empirical results. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) according to weight, the satisfaction evaluation system includes five common factors: living support facilities, nonagricultural industry income, agriculture production income, transportation infrastructure, and comprehensive ecological improvement. The results show that construction investment is beneficial, but not directly proportional to the villagers’ satisfaction. Actual improvement is not keeping up with the demand for public fitness, cultural, and recreational facilities. On the other hand, changes in villagers’ lifestyles may reduce the need for commercial facilities; (2) according to the evaluation model, the indicators can be classified into four categories on the basis of the weight assessment score, all of which can provide differentiated construction strategies to avoid duplication and inefficient resource waste. The survey data’s indicators of major differences between villages, such as public transportation and sanitation, need further discussion; (3) the gap between actual improvement actions and villagers’ needs gives an optimization path for rural construction. The experiences of sample villages in well-developed areas can be used as a model for policy formulation in other regions, and a long-term follow-up investigation should be included in future studies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban-Rural Integration and Ecological Environment Change)

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15 pages, 382 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Impact of Financial Deepening on Carbon Reductions in China: Evidence from City- and Enterprise-Level Data

by Kai Tang, Qianbo Chen, Weijie Tan and Yi Jun Wu Feng

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(18), 11355; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191811355 - 09 Sep 2022

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 1556

Abstract

This study extends the limited evidence of the China context by establishing a panel fixed-effect model to identify the nexus between financial deepening and carbon emissions. Using newly compiled city-level (287 prefecture-level and above cities) and enterprise-level (resource enterprises listed on the Chinese A-shares) datasets from 2007 to 2019, this study quantitatively evaluated finance deepening and analysed the impact of financial deepening on carbon emissions in China, with a particular consideration of green innovation. Our results document that financial deepening contributes to carbon reductions, as shown by the considerably decreased carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions. Both the city-level and enterprise-level estimates argue that financial deepening has a promoting effect on green innovation. Stimulating green innovation is identified as an important mechanism through which financial deepening can contribute to carbon reductions. Policy implications are presented based on the empirical results. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban-Rural Integration and Ecological Environment Change)

14 pages, 4691 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Effect of the Referral System on the Accessibility of Healthcare Services: A Case Study of the Wuhan Metropolitan Development Zone

by Ying Chen and Jiale Wu

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(16), 10441; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191610441 - 22 Aug 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1696

Abstract

The geographical accessibility of public healthcare institutions is the key factor affecting the equity of healthcare services. Based on the hierarchical medical system and referral system in China, we analyzed the referral accessibility of hospitals in the Wuhan Metropolitan Development Zone. Before the implementation of the referral system, only 7.91% of the total communities met the accessibility standard for secondary and tertiary hospitals, which meant that there was significant inequality in high-level healthcare. Moreover, 5.4% of the total communities did not meet the accessibility standard for primary hospitals, which meant that there were insufficient primary hospitals. After the implementation of the referral system, the proportions of communities meeting the accessibility standards for the first-stage referral, second-stage referral and cross-level referral were 92.6%, 99.9% and 98.3%, respectively. The results show that the referral system has improved the accessibility of healthcare, but it has not completely solved healthcare inequality. The first-stage referral accessibility of healthcare services in the northern, western and eastern groups does not meet the accessibility standard, which is due to the inefficient layout of secondary hospitals. The Wuhan government should construct secondary hospitals in these groups and primary hospitals in the central urban area and the southeastern, southern, western and eastern groups. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban-Rural Integration and Ecological Environment Change)

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14 pages, 501 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Spatial Interaction Effect of Green Spaces on Urban Economic Growth: Empirical Evidence from China

by Hailing Zhou, Yan Liu and Miao He

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(16), 10360; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191610360 - 19 Aug 2022

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1569

Abstract

This paper measures the impact of urban green space construction rate on urban economic growth from the perspective of spatial interaction. To this end, we collect panel data of 31 provincial capital cities in China from 2001 to 2020 and use spatial economics models for empirical testing. The research results are summarized as follows: the level of green space construction can attract talents and investment by improving the environmental level of the city, and these financial expenditures, foreign investment, and talents are conducive to urbanization, thus having a significant positive impact on urban economic development. In addition, it also has a significant positive spatial spillover effect. In addition, the construction of urban green space will also stimulate the environmental protection of neighboring cities, which has a significant positive spatial dependence. At this time, talents and investment are affected by the environmental construction of neighboring cities, and the economic development of the city has also been significantly improved. The spatial spillover effect of green space construction on the economic level of surrounding cities is also positive. The empirical conclusions provide references for implementing green development strategies and promoting high-quality economic development. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban-Rural Integration and Ecological Environment Change)

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21 pages, 4740 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Revealing Impacts of Human Activities and Natural Factors on Dynamic Changes of Relationships among Ecosystem Services: A Case Study in the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain, China

by Longyun Deng, Yi Li, Zhi Cao, Ruifang Hao, Zheye Wang, Junxiao Zou, Quanyuan Wu and Jianmin Qiao

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(16), 10230; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191610230 - 17 Aug 2022

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1462

Abstract

Understanding the dynamic changes of relationships between ecosystem services (ESs) and their dominant factors can effectively adjust human activities to adapt proactively to global climate change. In this study, the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain (HHHP) was selected to assess the dynamics of four key ESs (NPP, net primary productivity; WY, water yield; SC, soil conservation; FP, food production) from 2000 to 2020. The constraint lines of interactions among ESs were extracted based on a segmented quantile regression model. On this basis, the effects of both human activities and natural factors on the key features of the interactions between ESs were quantified with the help of automatic linear model. The results indicated that two types of constraint relationships, including exponential and humped-shaped, existed among the six pairs of ESs. In the past two decades, small changes in NPP thresholds would lead to large variations in other ESs thresholds. Precipitation and normalized difference vegetation index were the key factors to determine the constraint strength of ESs in the HHHP. The potential maximum value of WY in the HHHP could be increased by adjusting landscape shape to make it more complicated. This study helps to improve the potential of target ESs and provides a decision-making basis for promoting regional sustainable development. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban-Rural Integration and Ecological Environment Change)

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16 pages, 929 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Study on the Coupling Coordination between New-Type Urbanization and Water Ecological Environment and Its Driving Factors: Evidence from Jiangxi Province, China

by Daxue Kan, Xinya Ye, Lianju Lyu and Weichiao Huang

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(16), 9998; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19169998 - 13 Aug 2022

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 1509

Abstract

With the rapid development of urbanization, problems such as the degradation of water ecological environment have emerged. How to improve the water ecological environment in the process of urbanization has become one of the urgent problems facing policy makers. This paper studies the coupling coordination relationship between new-type urbanization and water ecological environment, with the purpose of using insights gained from the study to help improve the quality of water ecological environment and promote sustainable development of water ecological environment. We take 11 cities in China’s Jiangxi Province as the research object, and construct the coupling coordination evaluation indicator system of new-type urbanization and water ecological environment, then using the coupling coordination degree model to examine the state of coupling coordination between new-type urbanization and water ecological environment from 2009 to 2019. We further explore its driving factors employing random effect panel Tobit model. The results show that: (1) The level of new-type urbanization in Jiangxi Province shows a steady upward trend, and the water ecological environment level tends to rise steadily and slowly, although the comprehensive score of water ecological environment in most cities is lower than 0.1, indicating that the situation of water ecological environment is not optimal yet and there is room for improvement. (2) In 2009, 2014 and 2019, the coupling coordination development level between new-type urbanization and water ecological environment in Jiangxi Province showed an upward trend, from moderate maladjustment recession to mild maladjustment recession, and from low coupling coordination to moderate coupling coordination, although the overall coupling coordination degree was low. (3) The investment in scientific and technological innovation, degree of opening-up and government capacity are positively correlated with the coupling coordination degree, while economic development level, resource agglomeration ability, education level and industrialization level are negatively correlated with the coupling coordination degree. These results can provide insights to support new-type urbanization and water ecological environment in the future, and hold great significance for urban sustainable development. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban-Rural Integration and Ecological Environment Change)

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16 pages, 703 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Promoting Farmers’ Participation in Rural Settlement Environment Improvement Programmes: Evidence from China

by Dan Liu and Qianwen Gong

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(14), 8585; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19148585 - 14 Jul 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1641

Abstract

A rural settlement environment improvement programme is a livelihood project involving the vital interests of farmers. However, whether farmers should take the main responsibility for improving the rural settlement environment is an open issue. This study constructs an evaluation index system for farmers’ participation in rural settlement environment improvement on the basis of policy cognition, participation behaviour, and participation awareness. Using survey data from 909 farmers in eight provinces in China, this study empirically analyses farmers’ participation in a rural settlement environment improvement programme. The study’s results indicate that farmers have a high awareness of participation, a low level of policy cognition, and low involvement in the action regarding the rural settlement environment improvement. The participation of farmers in the rural settlement environment improvement is generally low and decreasing in the eastern, western, and central regions, in that order. Farmers’ participation in rural settlement environment improvement decreases in the order of suburban integration villages, characteristic protection villages, agglomeration and upgrading villages, and relocation and evacuation villages. To increase farmers’ participation in rural settlement environment improvement, the government can clarify the tasks in which farmers can participate, and establish an organisation and system to guide farmers’ involvement. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban-Rural Integration and Ecological Environment Change)

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15 pages, 3915 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Association of Environmental Elements with Respondents’ Behaviors in Open Spaces Using the Direct Gradient Analysis Method: A Case Study of Jining, China

by Jing Zhao, Linshen Wang, Qing Ye, Qiang Zhao and Shutong Wei

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(14), 8494; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19148494 - 12 Jul 2022

Viewed by 1593

Abstract

Following rapid urban development, higher demands are now being placed on urban open spaces in China, and the relationship between environmental elements and respondents’ behaviors in open spaces has become a common concern for researchers. Current research using geographic information systems has yielded macroscopic portraits of the behavioral trends and outcomes of research subjects, but evaluating their actual needs is complex. This paper proposes a new method to analyze the relationship between open spaces and respondents’ behaviors from a detailed perspective. Direct gradient analysis was employed with stratified sampling to select sample points in open spaces. Environment quality, ancillary facilities, and canal culture were selected as subjective evaluation factors. The greatest advantage of the proposed procedure is that it produces a ranking diagram, which compensates for the shortcomings of research methods that cannot directly express the actual needs related to respondents’ behaviors. From a case study in Jining, China, a location’s environmental quality and ancillary facilities were found to have the greatest influence on the behaviors of those using open spaces. Finally, strategies for improving environmental quality in open spaces are proposed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban-Rural Integration and Ecological Environment Change)

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