This study argues that the coupling between higher education, economic growth, and innovation ability is of great significance for regional sustainable development. Through the experience of Jiangsu Province in China, this study establishes a coupling coordination evaluation index system and applies the coupling coordination model to evaluate interactive relationships among the three. It finds that during 2007–2017, the level of coupling of 13 prefecture-level cities in Jiangsu was increasing over time, which fully verified the previous scholars’ view that the three can improve each other over a long period. However, this study finds that there are obvious differences within Jiangsu. Inadequate investment in higher education has become a crucial constraint on sustainable economic growth in northern and central Jiangsu, which are backward regions of Jiangsu. By contrast, in southern Jiangsu, which is the advanced region of Jiangsu, although the resources of higher education are abundant the growth of innovation ability cannot support sustained economic growth well. Thus, the quality of higher education should be improved to meet the needs of the innovation-based economy. Accordingly, cross-regional cooperation and balanced investment in higher education are the keys to practicing a balanced and sustained regional development. The results of this study’s coupling coordination analysis and evaluation can serve as a reference for governments in enhancing regional sustainable development.

The evaluations of resource and environment carrying capacity and territorial development suitability, also referred to as “double evaluations”, have been taken by China as an important direction in territorial space planning. Based on the evaluation of resource and environment carrying capacity, the double evaluations can contribute to protecting ecological safety and territorial safety and promoting regional sustainable development. The focus of this study was to integratedly evaluate the resource and environment carrying capacity of the Huaihe River Ecological and Economic Belt. First, the overall weights of the factors at the dimension level and the index level in the established integration evaluation system were calculated with the fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (FAHP) method; and then, using the linear weighted function, the overall resource and environment carrying capacities of 25 cities in the belt were calculated. On that basis, the resource and environment carrying capacity evaluation model was established. Through model analysis, this study comprehensively investigated the resource and environment carrying capacity of the Huaihe River Eco-economic Belt and provided a foundation for the future territorial space planning and layout of the Huaihe River Eco-economic Belt.

The frequency, duration, and magnitude of heatwaves and droughts are expected to increase in a warming climate, which can have profound impacts on the environment, society, and public health, and these may be severely affected specifically by compound droughts and heatwaves (CDHWs). On the basis of daily maximum temperature data and the one-month standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI) from 1961 to 2018, the Gan River Basin (GRB) was taken as a case here to construct CDHW identification indicators and quantify the population exposure to CDHWs. We found that ERA5 reanalysis data performed well in overall simulating temperature, precipitation, one-month SPEI, heatwaves, and CDHWs in the GRB from 1961 to 2018. CDHWs during the period from 1997 to 2018 were slightly higher than that in 1961–1997. CDHWs were more likely to occur in the southern parts of the basin due to the relatively high values of drought–heatwave dependence indices. Atmospheric circulation analysis of the 2003 CDHW in the GRB showed a relatively long-lasting anomalous high pressure and anticyclonic circulation system, accompanied by the positive convective inhibition and surface net solar radiation anomalies. These circulating background fields eventually led to the exceptional 2003 CDHW occurrence in the GRB. The population exposure to CDHWs basically increased, especially for the moderate CDHWs in ERA5. The change in total exposure was mainly due to climate change. Compared with the period from 1989 to 1998, the contributions of the population change effect in 2009–2018 gradually increased with the increase in the CDHW magnitude both in the observations and ERA5 reanalysis data.

The Huai River is an important flood control and discharge river in the middle and east of China, and the development of ecological economy with regional advantages is significant for the protection and improvement of the resources and environment of the basin. On the basis of defining the connotation of an ecological economic system, this study constructed an index system, and it applied the methods of data envelopment analysis (DEA) and exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA) to study the ecological economy of the Huai River. This study concluded that (1) the efficiency in most areas was efficient, but inefficient in a few areas; (2) the causes of inefficiency were unreasonable production scale and unqualified production technology, which led to redundant input of resources, insufficient output of days with good air quality, and excessive output of particulate matter with less than or equal to 2.5 microns in diameter (PM_2.5); and (3) the efficiency was different in different regions, so it was necessary to respectively formulate and implement strategies for protection and development of resources and environment. The research results can be used as an important reference for formulating ecological economic policies around the world.

With the rapid development of smart cities all over the world, the evaluation of the smart city has become a new research hotspot in the academic circles. Nevertheless, there still exist a series of common problems in current smart city evaluation, including the cognitive deprivation, lack of experience in planning, low coordination level, etc. Therefore, it is critical to establish a new hierarchy for smart city evaluation indicators, especially in the 5G era. Based on literature review, expert consensus, and the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process, this study developed an innovative smart city evaluation framework. In the framework, an index comprising three dimensions, i.e., smart economy, smart society, and smart environmental protection, as well as several attributes for these dimensions for smart city evaluation were established. Then, taking Jiangsu Province, the fastest-growing province in China, as the research area, the development level of smart city for the cities in Jiangsu was calculated. The results have verified the effectiveness of the framework, which can provide suggestions for sustainable urbanization, and help urban decision-makers to promote the efficient development of smart cities.

In construction safety management practices, identifying key stakeholders and specifying their safety behavior patterns are critical to avoid unsafe practices, which are the major cause of construction accidents. This paper argues that the main contractor and construction workers are key safety stakeholders in the construction safety management in China. The purpose of this paper is to develop an evolutionary game model to explore the safety behavior strategies of the main contractor and construction workers. In this framework, we explored the effects of model parameter changes on the evolution of safety behavior strategies and verify the evolution paths under different initial values by numerical simulations. The findings of this paper are as follows: Firstly, the safety and stability of construction projects are related to the possible losses caused by accidents, the amount of work required by construction workers to comply with safety regulations, the gain of bravado, the probability of accidents, and cost savings from the main contractor’s lax supervision. Secondly, the role of restraining the unsafe behavior of construction workers through the form of fines is limited, and increasing the fines to the main contractor cannot effectively reduce the unsafe behaviors. Thirdly, strengthening safety education, creating a safe atmosphere, and optimizing operating procedures are effective measures to improve the effectiveness of safety behavior. This study further extends the application of evolutionary game theory to construction safety management, and the findings can provide clear guidance for the development of effective incentives and constraints on safety behavior.