The high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) plays a crucial role in economic transformation in China. Climate change, rapid population growth, and increased urbanization have contributed towards increased pressures on the water, energy, food (WEF) nexus system of YREB. Thus, there is an imperative need to improve the efficiency of WEF in YREB. However, few studies have conducted spatial-temporal heterogeneity exploration of YREB about the input-output efficiency of WEF (IOE-WEF). Using panel data from 2008–2017, a super slack based model (SSBM), combined with the spatial autocorrelation and spatial econometric method, were proposed to calculate the IOE-WEF of YREB’s 11 provinces, the results indicated that: (1) From the perspective of time, the IOE-WEF in YREB was relatively low and displayed a fluctuating downward pattern while considering the undesirable outputs. (2) From the perspective of space, the spatial distribution of IOE-WEF in YREB was uneven. The efficiency values of the three sub-regions of YREB were “the lower reaches > the middle reaches > the upper reaches”. The IOE-WEF of YREB had a prominent positive spatial correlation and also had a spatial spillover effect. (3) The spatial aggregation effect of IOE-WEF of YREB is gradually weakening. The spatial aggregation types of IOE-WEF in YREB were “high-high” cluster areas in lower reaches and “low-low” cluster areas in upper reaches. (4) From the perspective of driving forces, environmental regulation and technological innovation promoted the improvement of IOE-WEF of YREB, while the industrial structure and mechanization level inhibited the improvement of IOE-WEF of YREB. Furthermore, the role of government support of IOE-WEF of YREB was not obvious. The improvement of IOE-WEF in adjacent regions also had a notable positive spatial spillover effect on the region.

Clarification of initial water rights is the basis and prerequisite for a water rights trade-off market and also an effective solution to the problem of water scarcity and water conflicts. According to the new requirements for the most stringent water resources management in China, an initial provincial water rights allocation model is proposed. Firstly, based on analysis of multiple principles for initial provincial water rights allocation including total water use, water use efficiency, water quality of water function zones, regional coordination and sharing, an index system of initial provincial water rights allocation is designed. Secondly, according to dynamic projection pursuit technique, an initial provincial water rights allocation model with the total water use control is set up. Moreover, the self-adaptive chaotic optimization algorithm is applied to tackle the model. Finally, a case study of Taihu Basin is adopted. Considering the multiple scenarios of three different water frequencies (50%, 75% and 90%) and planning year 2030, the empirical results show Jiangsu Province always obtains the most initial water rights. When the developing situation of provinces are given more consideration, Shanghai should acquire more initial water rights than Zhejiang Province; but when the dynamic increment evolving trend of provinces is taken more into account, Shanghai should obtain less initial water rights than Zhejiang Province. The case about Taihu Lake further verifies the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed model and provides a multiple-scenarios decision making support for entitling the initial water rights with the most stringent water resources management constrains in Taihu Basin.

According to the newly introduced water resources management in China, which is the most stringent thus far, pollution limits of water functional zones should be enhanced. In response to this recent change, we propose a provincial initial water rights incentive allocation model with total pollutant discharge constraint. Firstly, three objective functions are set up, namely the maximum comprehensive economic benefits of basin, the optimal fairness and coordination of the provincial pollutant discharge rights, and the minimum losses of basin ecological environment. Based on the objective functions and constraint of total pollutant discharge, we put forward a multiple-objective provincial initial pollutant discharge rights allocation model with a self-adaptive chaotic optimization algorithm. Secondly, according to the incentive mechanism of rewarding excellence and punishing inferiority, we establish a provincial initial water rights allocation model with an incentive function which includes the amount of provincial initial pollutant discharge. Finally, we select the Taihu Basin as a case study to describe the methodology. Under water frequencies of 50%, 75%, and 90%, the empirical results of provincial initial water rights allocation of the Taihu Basin in 2030 show that Jiangsu Province will obtain the most initial water rights, followed by Zhejiang Province and Shanghai city. The incentive allocation model of the provincial initial water rights is effective and the algorithm is feasible. The model may help to assure the most stringent water resources management strategies that are effectively carried out in the Taihu Basin.

From the perspective of system science, in China, an assignment system of initial water entitlements at the river basin-level can be divided into two subsystems, namely the assignment subsystem of initial water entitlements at the province-level and government reserved water at the river basin-level. Under the new backdrop of implementing the strictest water resources management system (SWRMS), we propose a novel methodological framework for addressing the in-coordination of pre-allocation plans between two subsystems for Lake Tai Basin, China. First, considering total water use, pollutant discharge and water use efficiency, we establish several criteria for the discriminant analysis of pre-allocation plans. Whilst based on these criteria, we built a comprehensive discriminant criterion to further verify coupling and coordination of pre-allocation plans between two subsystems. Second, according to uncoordinated or less coordinated situations, we propose adjusted strategies to decide the direction (increase or decrease) of the adjustment for pre-allocation plans of two subsystems. Third, taking coupling and coordination as optimal objectives, and considering total water use, total pollutant discharge and water use efficiency as constraints, we built an adjusted decision-making model for the assignment of initial water entitlements of the basin. Finally, the results of this novel discriminant analysis methodology that were applied to the Lake Tai Basin show that under the water frequency of 75%, in the planning year 2030, Jiangsu Province is assigned the most initial water entitlements at the province-level, followed by Shanghai and Zhejiang Province. In this paper, results are generally in accordance with pilot plans released by China’s Ministry of Water Resources. Apart from pilot plans, our findings also show the assignment plans for government reserved water at the river basin-level, which is coordinated and coupled with assignment plans for initial water entitlements at the province-level. The novel methodological framework of this paper can also be applied as a reference to other similar river basin.

City logistics turns into a foundation and supporting system of city economic development. The ability of city logistics becomes an importation section of city competition capability. In this paper, a dynamic evaluation of city logistics capability is discussed. An index system of city logistics is built which includes basis, support and promotion. A dynamic projection pursuit evaluation model is also developed. Furthermore projection pursuit technology truly makes the synthetic evaluation result more discrete. A panel data set of 12 cities of the Changjiang River delta is used in empirical studies. Demonstration results indicate that the city logistics capabilities of Shanghai, Nanjing, Ningbo and Hangzhou are much higher than other cities and they have stronger logistical capabilities.

Complex networks describe many real systems in nature and society more appropriately. Based on the recent complex networks research, an evolving scale-free local network model with fitness and tunable clustering is proposed in this paper. The result indicates: The analytical and numerical expressions of the model consistent with the numerical simulations well. Furthermore, the model explains the fitter-gets-richer phenomenon in local-world better, and helps us quantificationally comprehend many competitive systems' evolution in nature and society.