Urban green open space is a valuable resource for physical activities of urban inhabitants and has the potential to reduce chronic illness and improve health. Research on the relationships between green open space and physical activity is incomplete and limited in China. Thus, the study examines how the urban green open space contributes to physical activity. A questionnaire was designed based on the social ecology theory to investigate the physical activity of 513 residents in urban green open space. We use the time and frequency of residents exercising in urban green space to measure physical activity, and use the factor analysis to synthesize a large number of original factors (i.e., infrastructure, safety, accessibility, landscape quality, and space environment) into relatively few composite indicators. Based on the collected data of the cross-sectional population, the Order Probit regression model was constructed to analyze how urban green open space affects the residents’ physical activity from the perspective of social ecology. ① in community factors: accessibility is significantly positive correlation with residents’ physical activity, and there is no significant correlation between safety and physical activity; ②in natural factors: space environment and landscape quality are not significantly correlated with residents’ physical activity; ③ in built environmental factors: infrastructures, the area of green space, the size of open space, and entertainment facilities are significantly correlated to residents’ activity. Basketball courts, volleyball courts, swimming pools, and sports equipment will promote physical activity; ④ apart from the attributes of green open space, other factors are significantly correlated to physical activity in the green open space, e.g. having a companion. Urban green open space plays an important role in promoting physical activity especially among the women and the old, and improving the attributes (such as accessibility, infrastructures, the area of green space, the size of open space and entertainment facilities) of the urban green open space and trying to set up group sports proper to play with companion (like “square dancing” and “Tai Chi”) can promote Chinese residents’ physical activity so as to improve public health. The results are significant to facilitate environment health.

In the 2018 Global Environmental Performance Index, China’s global air quality rank was fourth from last, indicating a more pronounced conflict between the environment and development compared with other countries. Because of the vastness of China’s land area, the development of different regions is imbalanced. The achievement of the stipulated goal to be among the top innovative countries in the world by 2035 not only depends on the economically developed eastern part of China but also on the relatively economically underdeveloped central, western, and northeastern parts. In this context, this paper uses time-varying qualitative comparative analysis to explore how the coupling paths of environmental regulation affect regional innovation. The results show that: (1) In most cases at the overall level of China, the Porter hypothesis is supported, and environmental regulation can play the role of a “booster” and stimulate regional innovation. In a few cases, however, the Porter hypothesis is not supported. (2) The Porter hypothesis is also supported in most cases at the regional level, where environmental regulation is mostly a “booster” for regional innovation in the east, center, west, and northeast. (3) Comparison of regional heterogeneity shows that environmental regulation is more important for stimulating regional innovation in the east than in the center, west, and northeast. This study helps to identify the role of environmental regulation in regional innovation. Moreover, it also helps to understand the emphasis China placed on environmental management during the early stages of its economic development.

China’s growth plans include a carbon emission peak policy, which is a restriction that indirectly impacts land use structure. In this study, we simulate different paths for achieving policy objectives, and explore the linkages between those paths and land use change. The IPAT model was used to simulate the carbon emissions generated from a natural development scenario, an ideal policy scenario, and a retributive carbon emission scenario in China from 2020 to 2030. The simulation results were incorporated into the CLUMondo model as a demand driver to simulate the land use change in 2030. The results show that carbon emission peak policy can somewhat reduce carbon emissions and increase building land in a regulated way. However, the policy may also lead to a short-term surge in carbon emissions, a reactive expansion of arable land and building land. This may reduce losses in economic development when carbon emissions are limited, but does not achieve the integration of social, economic, and ecological goals. This study links the carbon emission peak policy with land use change and provides a fresh perspective on the Chinese government’s carbon reduction policy.

As an important part of ecological externalities, the spatial spillover effect has attracted the attention of researchers in the field of environmental economics. However, the traditional view that the spillover mechanism of ecological externalities generally decreases in line with increases in distance remains to be thoroughly proven. Effective ecological management requires an understanding of the relationship between the natural environment and human communities. In this study, the concept of geographical accessibility and a two-step mobile search model are introduced in order to connect ecosystems and humans by a spatial distance. This model can fully demonstrate the external spatial spillover effect of ecology. Based on research from the Beihai Wetland Reserve, Guangxi, China, this study found that the change in the ecological externality spillover mechanism is not only affected by spatial distance but is also affected by the pro-environmental attributes of individual residents around the region. Under the same conditions, residents with a high degree of interaction with ecological protection zones can display a stronger spatial spillover effect. The conclusion of this study provides a more accurate understanding of the changes in the spillover effect of ecological externalities, which in turn can help managers to formulate more adequate ecological protection policies that are based on the specific conditions of different residents. This is crucial for the successful management of protected ecological areas that are highly linked to human communities.

Energy distribution justice is of primary concern within the energy justice framework and it is crucial to increase public acceptance of offshore wind energy and further advance its development. The rapid development of offshore wind energy in China has inevitably impacted the livelihoods of coastal vulnerable groups (CVGs) engaged in fisheries and tourism in the coastal zone. While current policies often compensate for livelihood losses through cash payments, the fiscal strain caused by COVID-19 renders this approach unsustainable. Consequently, this research pioneers the exploration of Chinese tourist groups’ landscape preferences towards offshore wind farms (OWFs). This study proposes a new approach to enhance OWF landscapes for tourism development, thereby balancing the distribution of costs and benefits between CVGs and tourists. The research focuses on Beihai City in the Beibu Gulf Economic Region, utilizing a combination of Q-methodology and choice experiments that incorporates cut-offs. Answers to eighty Q-methodology questionnaires and 1324 choice experiment questionnaires are obtained. The findings indicate that this region can achieve energy distribution justice by compensating for the livelihood losses of CVGs through tourism. Contrary to traditional assumptions about wind farm noise preferences, Chinese tourists prefer proximity to OWFs, as an appropriate coastal acoustics landscape can enhance their tourism experience. In light of these findings, this paper presents policy recommendations towards energy distribution justice.