Urban fringes, as transitional zones between urban and rural systems, have played a pivotal role in China’s rapid urban expansion. Though there have been very rich urban fringe studies in China, little efforts have been made to introduce this research progress to global peers. To fill this gap, this paper presents an idiosyncratic synthesis based on the relevant Chinese literature, from a spatial perspective—with urban fringes as a land system type of its own kind. We first recap the historical trajectory of urban fringe research in China, revealing its progression from early international influences to context-specific investigations shaped by China’s unique governance and socio-economic conditions. We then introduce, in more detail, the main research progresses on revealing the spatial patterns, underlying mechanisms, and governance practices of China’s urban fringe areas. We argue for studying urban fringes as part of and the critical zone for coupling urban–rural systems, and call for a holistic, inclusive approach in future studies. Specifically, we identify three research prospects: (1) understanding the new patterns of social-environmental dynamics in China’s New Era; (2) promoting spatial governance from a coupled urban–rural system perspective; and (3) leveraging artificial intelligence for producing spatially actionable knowledge.

Extreme climate events have emerged as a critical threat to the economic resilience and environmental sustainability of urban systems. As a central pillar of the low-carbon transition, improvements in carbon emission efficiency (CEE) are increasingly recognized as a potential pathway to mitigate the occurrence and intensity of such events. Drawing on a balanced panel dataset of 163 cities from 2006 to 2022, this study integrates an Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) model augmented with SHAP (Shapley Additive Explanations) analysis and a Geographically and Temporally Weighted Regression (GTWR) framework to examine the nonlinear and spatially heterogeneous effects of CEE on the Climate Physical Risk Index (CPRI). The results reveal a distinct two-stage dynamic pattern, in which CEE initially exacerbates and subsequently mitigates climate risk, indicating a nonlinear transition from short-term intensification to long-term alleviation. This relationship shows clear differences across city levels and climate types. The strongest effects appear in peripheral cities and in areas with extreme rainfall dominance (ERD). Spatial analysis based on GTWR also shows a clear north–south pattern. The effect of CEE in reducing risk becomes stronger from the south to the north. Based on these results, the study suggests different land-use policy strategies for different city types and climate conditions. The results give actionable insights for designing targeted carbon governance policies. These policies aim to deal with the growing challenges caused by extreme climate events under ongoing climate change.