Natural ventilation plays a crucial role in passive cooling and dehumidification in rural areas. This study uses Sville Vent as a platform to investigate the ventilation mechanism of traditional houses in Rucheng County, Hunan Province, China, from an ecological perspective. The study focuses on the influence of the wind incidence angle and window opening mode on ventilation efficiency. The results indicate that although the village layout is not directly aligned with the prevailing wind, effective ventilation is achieved through adaptive strategies, including utilising topography, constructing water bodies to generate artificial breezes, and designing high walls and narrow lanes to accelerate airflow. For individual buildings, it was found that a wind incidence angle of 30–45° and the use of funnel windows can optimise air inflow. These findings offer valuable optimisation strategies for the ecological design of rural settlements.

Introduction. Recognised as an emerging and advanced mode of productivity, new quality productive forces (NQPF) have significantly contributed to the development of various industries. Investigating their influence on the high-quality development of the construction industry (HDCI) can offer theoretical support and practical guidance for the transformation and upgrading of the industry. This includes improving quality and efficiency, advancing green development, and promoting sustainable practices. Such efforts are of great significance for the high-quality development of the national economy. Aim and tasks. This study aims to develop an index system for assessing the impact of new quality productive forces on the high-quality development of the construction industry, and empirically examines their relationship within the context of industrial structure modernisation. Results. The regression coefficient of NQPF on HDCI was 0.293, and all regression results remained positive after the sequential inclusion of the control variables. The regression coefficient of NQPF on industrial structure upgrading was 0.056, whereas the regression coefficients of NQPF and industrial structure upgrading on HDCI were 0.201 and 0.256, respectively. A bootstrap test involving 1,000 resampling iterations was performed, and the resulting confidence interval was [0.0005, 0.0406], which does not include zero. The results of the regional heterogeneity analysis indicate that the positive effect of NQPF on HDCI was strongest in the eastern region (0.348), followed by the western region (0.132), with the impact on the central region being statistically insignificant. After applying the robustness checks, all regression results remained positive and statistically significant at the 1% level. Conclusions. This study develops a framework for analysing the impact of NQPF on HDCI and provides recommendations for the forthcoming construction industry and related policy research. Under the NQPF policy framework, the impetus to promote high-quality development of China’s economy and construction industry is reasonably policy-driven, featuring industrial upgrading and regional optimisation in synergy with technological popularisation. Policy choices under the NQPF regarding China’s construction industry and the high-quality development of its economy are of critical importance. Moreover, they further contribute to the promotion and enhancement of environmental sustainability.

Rural green development is essential for coordinating ecological protection, rural revitalisation and spatial governance in ecological spaces within urban agglomerations. Taking the Chang-Zhu-Tan Ecological Green Heart region in China as a case study, this study evaluates rural green development in 10 counties, county-level cities and districts from 2013 to 2022. A combined weighting–TOPSIS model is used to measure development levels, while Global Moran’s I, the Theil index and XGBoost–SHAP are applied to examine spatial patterns, regional disparities and key associated factors. The results show that rural green development improved overall, with the regional average index increasing from 0.315 in 2013 to 0.378 in 2022. High-value areas gradually expanded, and the Changsha group formed the main high-value core, but no statistically significant global spatial clustering was identified. Regional disparities narrowed during the study period, although intra-group disparities, especially within the Zhuzhou group, remained the main source of imbalance. Human capital, medical resources, income level, urbanisation level, PM_2.5 concentration and pesticide use intensity were closely associated with rural green development, with socioeconomic factors generally contributing positively and environmental pressures acting as constraints. These findings suggest that rural green development in ecological green heart regions is a spatially differentiated and multi-factor process, providing empirical evidence for differentiated county-level governance, coordinated ecological protection and rural green transformation in urban agglomerations.