In recent years, environmentally-friendly, sustainable, and compact development has become increasingly popular with governments. An extensive body of literature has focused on the influence on housing prices from an economic perspective. Although residential urban planning from the perspective of individual needs must be considered, little attention has been paid to residents’ demands in high-density and compact urban areas. In this study, we selected Hong Kong as the case and adopted a reliability interval method to rank residential attitude metrics, which indicated residents’ neighborhood needs in densely populated cities. The influences of location attributes on residents’ demands and residential value were compared. A hedonic price model was used to estimate the impacts of the attributes on housing prices. The results showed that both access to metro stations and median household income had important influences on residents’ preferences and housing prices. However, access to the central business district contributed largely to housing prices but not to residents’ attitudes. These findings support urban planners and policy makers during sustainable residential planning and policy formation by understanding residents’ needs in compact urban areas, help them to optimize the match between housing attributes and residents’ expectations, and balance the relationship between residents’ needs and economic interest.

Commercial space locations are a long-term investment for developers, and they are crucial for sustainable profitability. The distribution of commercial spaces in Paris has undergone a constant evolutionary process over the past few centuries, influenced by various socioeconomic factors. This study investigates the evolution of commercial space locations in Paris over three historical stages—1690, 1860, and 2023, using Space Syntax and Cluster Analysis. By examining the historical progression of Parisian commercial spaces from an urban planning perspective, this article aims to provide insights for urban developers to strategically plan for commercial spaces. The first part of the study is an analysis of the centrality and accessibility of commercial space locations within the urban street network using Space Syntax. Next, Cluster Analysis is employed to further examine the distribution patterns of commercial spaces with high centrality. By comparing the results from three different historical stages, the study reveals two major patterns. One is a full-scale optimization of commercial space centrality within the historical core of Paris. Another one is the fission and consolidation of commercial spaces into multi-centric clusters and a geographical dispersal from central Paris. Finally, a multi-disciplinary discussion is conducted to decode the socioeconomic motivations behind these patterns and provide guidance for future commercial planning.

The Cross-Regional Cultural Heritage (CRCH) is a continuous, large-spanned, and comprehensive system with a large number and diversity of components. To support the integrated conservation of CRCH, an analytical approach with simple structure and easy operation is needed. Therefore, this paper aims to conduct risk maps to interpret, understand, and manage the slow degradation of built heritage in the daily environment. The hazard factors of slow degradation in the environment are extracted and translated into meteorological data for mapping with the Geographic Information Systems (GIS). A risk map to evaluate the risk level of the heritage is obtained by overlapping the vulnerability and hazard factors. With the case study of the Chinese Eastern Railway (CER), the risk maps revealed the risk condition and spatial distribution pattern of CRCH, based on which a network-connected working platform is developed, and suggestions for solutions are proposed. In terms of the operational plan for conservation works, the graded architectural risk sections are delineated. The priority and extent of intervention are proposed according to the degree of urgency and preventive conservation measures can be implemented in advance by using weather forecast data. In terms of social management strategy, through a level-by-level penetration education model, the social awareness of heritage conservation can be cultivated, the technical methods for restoration and maintenance will be trained, and the operating system for monitoring and inspection can be established. Relevant stakeholders, such as government officials, experts, users, and visitors can participate together in the preventive conservation process of the heritage.

The Chinese Eastern Railway (CER) is a 2,489 kilometers-long infrastructure network constructed by Russia in northeast China at the turn of the twentieth century, which is still actively in use nowadays. A large number of remarkable architectonic structures, as important geostrategic heritages, are placed on both sides of the track. However, most of them had fallen into disrepair because the value of these diverse tangible elements remains under-appreciated through the years. By discerning and analyzing historical documents, this paper clarified and synthesized the background and construction process of the CER, together with the various types of material heritages built during that period. Moreover, a full-scale field survey was conducted, from which nearly 2000 existing engineering facilities and buildings were discovered and documented. Based on systematic functional classification and distribution statistics, they were marked, analyzed, and mapped. This research provides a comprehensive understanding of the CER and reveals its tremendous heritage values. In addition to constructing the regional culture of northeast China, as a living and evolving heritage, the heritagisation process of the CER may be able to facilitate and reflect the development of the current cultural heritage in China. Meanwhile, it is of significant importance to promote heritage use practically and improve the living environment for local people.

Street markets play a vital role in revitalizing cities, especially within urban villages, which are unique neighborhoods characterized by dense migrant populations and complex social dynamics. This study addresses the underexplored relationship between street market vitality and the built environment, aiming to promote sustainable urban growth and inclusivity. A comprehensive framework embraces both macro-structural and micro-experiential perspectives, integrating urban morphology, functionality, and human perception indicators, to investigate the relationship between multidimensional vitality and the built environment in Shangxia Sha urban village street markets, Shenzhen, China. Utilizing multi-source data, geographic information systems, street view semantic segmentation, and space syntax, the study applies Geographically and Temporally Weighted Regression (GTWR) and Multiscale Geographically Weighted Regression (MGWR) models to explore spatiotemporal and multi-scale spatial heterogeneity. Findings reveal the pivotal role of urban functionality in shaping multidimensional vitality. Specifically, social vitality is most positively correlated with bus convenience and most negatively with street length. In terms of commercial vitality, point of interest (POI) density shows a strong positive relationship, while life service facility density is most negatively associated. This research provides insights into how the living street scenes shaped by low-income and migrant populations interact with the urban environment, offering guidance for fostering urban inclusivity and diverse communities.

Because urban retail faces challenges in sustaining vitality and viability, risking decay in urban centers, retail space resilience (RSR) has become a pressing concern. Retail location presents an opportunity because it aligns with RSR in maximizing store vitality and adopting a long-term perspective. This study uses PLS-SEM to examine the complex impact mechanism of retail location attributes (LAs) on retail space resilience (RSR), based on 304 retail spaces in central Shanghai. LAs and RSR are assessed based on a metrics system, followed by Random Forest for variable selection. An impact pathway framework grounded in key theoretical models is then constructed. The results from the PLS-SEM analysis show that Amenity exerts the strongest direct influence on RSR (β = 0.383), followed by Agglomeration (β = 0.294) and Accessibility (β = 0.291), while the results of the mediation effect further reveal that RSR is primarily shaped by consumers’ trip-chaining behaviors, with agglomeration effects and the spatial interaction model playing secondary roles. Notably, the scale of the retail space negatively affects RSR (β = −0.016), suggesting that large retail centers may be less resilient due to weaker consumer attachment. Overall, our research suggests that consumers’ perceptions and behaviors play key roles in RSR. Based on this insight, this study proposes placemaking strategies aimed at fostering consumer attachment and developing neighborhood-oriented retail nodes aligned with consumers’ preferences.