Accelerating the construction of green ports and promoting the green transformation of the economy and society are important trends in port and regional development today. This research explores the interaction between the green competitiveness of coastal ports and the hinterland economy from 2007 to 2019 by taking the 10 largest coastal ports in China as the research object and combining the Super-SBM Model with the panel data model. The results show that the green competitiveness of coastal ports is fluctuating, and the green competitiveness of Qingdao and Shanghai ports is stronger in the production frontier surface. Compared with the size of ports, the level of port technology is an important factor to improve the green competitiveness of ports. In terms of interaction, the total economic volume of the hinterland, the proportion of the added value of the tertiary industry, and the waterway transportation between the port and the hinterland have a significant positive impact on the green competitiveness of the port, and the improvement of the green competitiveness of the port and the waterway transportation between the port and the hinterland effectively drive the economic development of the hinterland. This study provides an important basis for the rational use of the port–hinterland interaction and promotes the coordinated and healthy development of both.

The healthy development of railway container transport is an important part of railway freight transport and is key for promoting the green transformation of China's transport and supporting a new pattern of transport development. In this study, railway container handling station (RCHS) data, kernel density analysis, standard deviation ellipse, Herfindahl–Hirschman index (HHI), trend surface analysis (TSA), and R index were applied to examine the evolution characteristics of container transport patterns after the market-oriented reform of China's railway freight transport in 2013. The results are as follows: First, the overall scale growth trend is obvious, and the double-center effect of transport scale on the Bohai Rim region and Chengdu–Chongqing Economic Zone is evident, with the transport center of gravity moving northward. Second, the amount of attraction/occurrence is consistent in spatial distribution, and the aggregation effect of both is similar, essentially exhibiting a tendency of being high in the northwest and low in the southeast. Third, the pattern of “export-oriented in the north and import-oriented in the south” has taken shape; nearly half of cities in China have stable traffic functions, stable traffic supply, and demand relationships, and the change of functions shows that the industrial structure is constantly upgrading. This study elucidates the pattern of railway container transport in cities in China and provides empirical guidance for adjusting the functions of urban freight transport, thereby promoting the healthy development of urban freight transport and optimizing urban transport planning.

Multisource data, spatial density analysis, and a gravity model were used to evaluate and analyze differentiation and controls of human settlement locations in Jinan, China. The results indicate the following. (a) The spatial distribution of human settlements follows a block-style, is axially extended, and has a multicenter development pattern with a significant circular structure. (b) The distributions of many settlement types are similar to the total settlement distribution. Residential space exhibits the highest correlation with public space, whereas financial space has the smallest correlation with business space. A high matching value for human settlement is found at the junction of the five districts in Jinan, whereas the Pingyin and Shanghe counties exhibit the lowest value. (c) Areas with human settlement exhibit typical hierarchies. Performance is dominated by the five districts, Zhangqiu is subdominant, and other districts represent an edge-dependent hierarchical system. Radial spatial settlement structures are centered on the five districts, with a centripetal and multicentric “western dense, eastern sparse” regional pattern. (d) Topography is the main factor that generates differentiation. Road network density affects the distribution and grade of human settlement areas, gross domestic factor is a key factor that affects the formation of human settlement structures, and population aggregation is a prerequisite for human settlement distribution, as well as a catalytic factor for differentiation of human settlements.

The composition of human settlements is important to resolving urban issues, such as land shortage, and to rationally distributing human settlements and social resources. Based on the demand hierarchy theory, this paper comprehensively used the methods of location entropy, information entropy, and geographic detector to analyze the characteristics and driving mechanism of the specialization, composition, and compatibility of human settlements at all levels. (1) The composite characteristics of human settlements were influential; that is, clear concentration differences were found among various types of human settlements, with the specialization of primary human settlements having the highest concentration. The specialization of human settlements was characterized as center–periphery; that is, the centrality of basic and high-level human settlements was obvious and the discreteness of primary human settlements was obvious. (2) The spatial differences in the north–central–south compositions of human settlements were also influential. These spatial differences showed that the composite characteristics of the basic high-level and intermediate high-level human settlements were similar, and the composite features were weakly affected by the scale of the elements. (3) Furthermore, single human settlements were dominant, and the multi-level human settlements that were compatible with the comprehensive composite form were the primary form of expression. The interactions between the primary and other human settlements were relatively high. Finally, (4) the high-level human settlement elements and regional economic vitality were the dominant factors of the composite characteristic heterogeneity of human settlements. Residential self and social attributes have an impact on the diversity of their needs, and they interact with human settlements through human settlement elements. The results of the study are of great significance to the rational allocation of human settlements and the promotion of the composition of human settlements.

China is advancing a strategic transport shift to establish railway container transport as a key logistics pillar, supporting its dual carbon goals through sector restructuring. However, empirical research on its low-carbon efficacy remains limited. Based on the spatial Dobbin model, and combining the data from railway container loading and unloading stations, night lighting and socio-economic factors, this study deeply studies the remarkable characteristics of regional changes of railway container transportation and carbon emissions in China, and comprehensively discusses how railway container transportation affects regional carbon emissions at different scales. Key findings: (1) Urban carbon emissions are rising, with eastern cities emitting most intensely and western regions showing widespread high emissions. Railway container flows exhibit spatial disparities, creating “oligarchic cities” with concentrated transport activity. (2) Railway container transportation notably curbs the production of carbon emissions, thereby facilitating the attainment of regional low-carbon objectives. Moreover, when comparing across regions, the suppressive impact of railway container transportation on carbon emissions stands out more prominently in both the eastern and western regions. The railway container transportation conducted in the Yangtze River Delta Economic Zone and the Bohai Rim Economic Zone demonstrates a more pronounced suppressive effect on regional carbon emissions.