During the progress of urbanization in China, a large number of natural landscapes have been replaced by impervious surfaces. The strong interference from human activities has led to the intensification of urban heat island (UHI) effects and has had a negative influence on the health of residents. Zhengzhou, as a new representative city of rapid urbanization, can be used as a case study for UHI. This study built an inversion model of the land surface temperature (LST) of Zhengzhou in 1996, 2000, 2006, 2010 and 2014. On this foundation, the four indicators of land use/land cover (LULC), density of the population, urban construction, and industrial development were chosen to establish a quantitative analysis model between them and the LST. The conclusions were as follows: (1) From 1996–2014, the average LST in Zhengzhou increased by 2.939 °C, and the standard deviation decreased from 4.08 to 2.64. (2) Since 2006, the development zone far from the center of city has become a new urban high temperature zone. The distribution characteristics of the UHI have changed from “centralization in downtown” to “downtown and suburban distribution”. (3) Construction land and vegetation had the most significant impacts on the UHI effect. The construction land was positively correlated with LST, and the vegetation showed the opposite effect. The population density, urban construction and industrial development have strong driving effects on the UHI effect, of which the driving force of industrial development is the most intense.

The degree of population–economy coupling and coordination is an important indicator of a region’s balanced development. This study examines the evolution of the population–economy coupling coordination pattern in the Yangtze River Economic Belt spanning from 2000 to 2019. It draws from the economic growth stage and related theories, and employs methods such as geographic concentration, center of gravity analysis, and the coupling coordination model. Accordingly, the population and economy of the Yangtze River Economic Belt form a core–periphery, with a decreasing center toward the periphery, and the east higher than the west. The spatial coupling situation of the population-economic center of gravity yields an inverted U-shaped curve, where their center of gravity separates and then converges, and the difference in regional development expands and then shrinks. Moreover, the population center of gravity lags behind that of the economy. The population–economy coupling and coordination degree shows a decreasing trend after rising fluctuations. Further, the study finds that regional economic development, government role, and market-led capital agglomeration are significant drivers of the population–economy coupling and coordination, with the industrial structural influence being spatially heterogeneous.

Regional inequality in western China has been rarely examined and has risen as an important issue in the Chinese academic circle. This study, taking Xinjiang as a case, investigated regional inequality in Xinjiang since the 1990s. The results show that the interregional inequality became more prominent, while the overall regional disparities among counties and cities have experienced an inverted U‐shape path and have been mainly caused by the inequality of the intra‐north part of the province. Counties with high economic development levels were mainly located in northern Xinjiang and had a high probability of further moving economic levels. We further found that the regional development pattern in Xinjiang was significantly associated with spatial accessibility, followed by population density and urbanization factors. This paper deepens our understanding of the complex pattern and mechanism of regional inequality in western China, and local specific policies, therefore, are needed to solve the problem.

This paper presents a spatial analysis of likely/potential hotspots of sustainability issues in Mainland China through an empirical investigation of patterns of ecological vulnerability in and of China’s megaregions. To be specific, this paper assesses the level of patterns of the ecological vulnerability of 16 megaregions through an indicator system, which includes soil erosion, desertification, ecosystem vulnerability, key ecological areas, and water and land resources. Empirical results reveal that while most megaregions are located in the less vulnerable areas, there are a couple of megaregions with a vulnerable basis of ecological environment. These megaregions consist of Chengdu-Chongqing, Guanzhong Tianshui Economic Zone, Shandong Peninsula, Wuhan City Circle, Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, and Liaoning Coastal Belt. Furthermore, a typology of these megaregions is identified based on their development level and ecological vulnerability.