Carbon emissions from land use change are the leading causes of the greenhouse effect. Exploration of the progress and hotspots of research on land-use carbon emissions (LUCE) is crucial for mitigating global climate warming. However, a comprehensive and systematic review of LUCE research from a global perspective is still lacking. We used the WoS Core Collection Database to analyze the current status of research on LUCE from a global perspective with the aid of a bibliometrix tool, aiming to reveal research hotspots and future development trends. We found that (1) the process of LUCE research has gone through a nascent exploration stage (1992–2001), a problem-focused stage (2002–2011), and a prosperous development stage (2012–2022) under different policy orientations. European and North American countries prioritize LUCE research more than others. (2) Overseas research hotspots mainly focus on the climate effects of land-use change, the impact of deforestation and fire on carbon stocks, the impact of soil organic carbon stocks on climate change and biodiversity, and agricultural carbon emissions. Research hotspots in China mainly focus on the study of the influencing factors of land-use carbon emissions, the path to achieving the dual carbon goal, and the transition to a low carbon economy. (3) Research frontiers show that China mainly researches low-carbon land use intensification in the context of a “dual carbon” strategy; carbon emission reduction based on energy transition; and the multi-dimensional, dynamic, and accurate tracking and monitoring of land-use carbon emission systems using remote sensing satellite data. Other countries have shifted from measuring historical land-use carbon emissions, deforestation, degradation and fire carbon emissions to biomass combustion and global warming mitigation research. This study enhances the depth and breadth of LUCE research, which can provide a theoretical foundation and scientific reference for subsequent research on LUCE.

Environmental regulation (ER) plays an important role in urban low-carbon development (ULCD). First of all, we evaluate the ULCD level of 282 cities in China from 2005 to 2020 by constructing an index group and entropy method. Two panel models are then used to test the spillover effects and threshold effects of ER and industrial structure on ULCD. The results show that the ULCD level of most cities is still in grade III (0.27–0.38) or IV (0.38–0.49), and the level of central-western cities is generally lower than that of eastern cities. Furthermore, the spillover effect of ER and industrial structure upgrading (UIS) on ULCD is positive in eastern cities (0.038) but opposite in central or western cities (−0.024). Further results show that the positive effects of optimization of industrial structure (OIS) and UIS are gradually increasing with the improvement of ER. However, the positive effects are more beneficial to the eastern cities. Therefore, the conclusions of this study can provide a decision-making reference for local government to comprehensively formulate environmental and industrial policies to enhance the low-carbon development of cities.

Residential carbon emissions are one of the critical causes of climate problems such as global warming. It is significant to explore the development and evolution trend of residential carbon emissions research for mitigating global climate change. However, there have been no studies that comprehensively review this research field. Based on the research papers on residential carbon emissions included in the Web of Science core database and China National Knowledge Infrastructure database, the CiteSpace bibliometric analysis software was used in this paper to draw the visual knowledge map of residential carbon emissions research and reveal its research status, research hotspots, and development trend. We found that residential carbon emissions research has gone through the stage of “emergence–initiation–rapid development”, and the research in the United States and the United Kingdom has played a fundamental role in developing this research field. Research hotspots mainly focus on analyzing energy demand, quantitative measurement, and impact mechanisms of residents’ direct and indirect carbon emissions and low-carbon consumption willingness. The focus of research has gradually shifted from qualitative analysis based on relevant policies to the analysis of quantitative spatiotemporal measurements and drive mechanisms of direct and indirect carbon emissions from residential buildings, transportation, and tourism based on mathematical models and geographic information system technologies. Modern intelligent means such as remote sensing technology and artificial intelligence technology can improve the dynamics and accuracy of this research, but there are few related types of research at present. Based on these research status and trends, we proposed that the future research direction of residential carbon emissions should focus more on spatial analysis and trend prediction based on intelligent methods under a low-carbon background.

The transfer of urban land is an important means for the government to optimize the allocation of resources and promote economic development, and its impact on high-quality economic development (HQED) in the new era is worthy of attention. Based on the panel data of 108 cities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt from 2004 to 2017, the entropy method and panel regression model are used to analyze the direct, indirect, and non-linear effects of land transfer on HQED. The study found that: (1) The HQED level of the Yangtze River economic belt increased steadily from 2004 to 2017, but the overall level was low, showing the spatial characteristics of high downstream and low middle and upstream. (2) Urban land transfer (ULT) has a significant positive direct impact on HQED, especially in the upper and middle reaches, while the indirect impact is more beneficial to the downstream areas. The impact of industrial structure upgrading (uis) and urbanization (urb) on HQED is significantly negative in the upstream area, while significantly positive in the downstream area. (3) There is a significant threshold effect in ULT, and its positive impact on HQED decreases with the expansion of the threshold scale, but increases in the upstream and midstream areas. The overall impact of uis and urb shows inverted “U” characteristics and significant differences in different areas. The conclusion is that the government should first further reform the land resource management system, and then improve the efficiency of construction land use, to reduce the dependence on land resources, and finally promote the upgrading of industrial structure and improve the quality of urbanization.