The transfer of urban development goals from two-dimensional land to three-dimensional space leads to the dilemmas of the functional adjustment of partial space in the building, such as an unclear property right system, vague land financial expropriation method, uncertain economic value, etc. This study aims to understand land-development-right pricing based on spatial characteristics in spatial function regeneration. Especially, we deal with the following questions: (1) How do we identify the spatial development rights and their pricing? (2) How do we develop an effective method to evaluate the value of local spatial-oriented development rights? Answering these questions helps to establish a sustainable land finance mode, which enables the public and private sectors to share the rising value of the urban functional adjustment. Thus, employing mixed methods, the study analyzes the characteristics of property rights and the economic value of spatial-development rights. We find the following: (1) The main institutional obstacle restricting local regeneration is the inconsistency between the local spatial ownership and use right of land. (2) The technical shortcomings of land finance result from the lack of an evaluation method of the spatial characteristics. Our study motivates the transition of urban economics from a two-dimensional surface to three-dimensional spaces. Meanwhile, for countries with similar land property rights and leasing systems to China, the study also provides a useful reference to deal with the property right and land finance issues in the renewal of local spatial functions.

To achieve the carbon neutrality target, China has proposed “dual control” policies on provincial energy consumption. However, inter-provincial trade drives significant embodied energy flows beyond local demand. How do we identify key energy consumers driving through other provinces? And how does energy, especially from coal, flow to other provinces? Current studies analyzed regional and sectoral energy flow, which are always separated. And seldom was attention paid to coal flow. Intending to identify the critical energy-consuming province in China and investigate how energy and coal flow out from it, this study applied the EE-MRIO model to measure energy and coal embodied in provincial trades. The results suggest the following: (1) The energy embodied in provincial trade was mostly from energy-rich regions to provinces that lacked energy but had developed economies. Shanxi is a critical embodied-energy export province; (2) neighboring provinces and economically developed provinces drive the most embodied energy from Shanxi, and embodied energy mainly flows from the energy sectors and high-energy-intensity sectors; and (3) the provincial and sectoral coal flow in Shanxi presents consistent characteristics of embodied energy flow. We contributed to understanding the energy equity affected by embodied energy flow and propose energy consumption as a relieving measure.