“Dock Village” terrain is, as its name implies, a region that contains settlements reminiscent of docks, in terms of their elongated shape, their outward upward tilt, and their location in the center of low, wide valleys. Dock village terrain features deep, fertile soil suitable for farming. Taihu Lake contains a number of classic examples of dock villages. Dock villages are relatively independent and hidden, characteristics that not only play a role in security and defense, but also, more importantly, are associated with enhanced climate adaptability, a relative lack of cold weather, and equable levels of heat and humidity. The dock village reflects the wisdom and distillation of traditional Chinese ecological practices and is highly valued as a research topic. Based on microclimate theory and ENVI-met software, four microclimate indices, namely, air temperature, wind speed, wind direction, and relative humidity, were simulated and analyzed in this study. The correlation between spatial characteristics and microclimate was studied from four perspectives: plane space, cross-section space, vertical section space, and linear development space. This research summarizes the historical context and evolution of the dock village spatial form in the construction of contemporary human settlements. It also provides scientific suggestions for the protection and sustainable development of ancient villages.

While newly built urban green spaces aim to address environmental concerns, the resulting green gentrification and social inequality caused by escalating property values have become critical topics of urban socio-spatial research. To prevent green initiatives from becoming unaffordable for their intended beneficiaries in rapidly urbanizing cities, it is essential to examine the spatial and temporal relationships between the construction of new green spaces and rising housing prices. This study employs a difference-in-differences methodology to analyze regional disparities, impact periodicity, and the influence of park size on housing prices, using Nanjing, China as a case study. This result reveals that the introduction of new-built parks in Nanjing significantly impacts housing prices within an 800 m radius. The premium effect of these parks is substantially higher in urban core areas compared to suburban locales, demonstrating spatial differentials. Suburban parks temporally exhibit a prolonged lag and a shorter premium impact duration. Moreover, among various park areas, medium-sized parks demonstrate the most pronounced leverage effect, approximately double that of large parks, while small parks do not significantly affect housing prices. To mitigate the exacerbation of premium effects and enhance social justice in green strategies, we advocate prioritizing the development of small parks, particularly in urban core areas, and leveraging the temporal delay in new-built park impacts for urban policy interventions.

In the global effort to address climate change, achieving carbon neutrality has become a central objective in urban planning worldwide. Compact cities, due to their potential for land conservation, resource efficiency, and carbon emissions reduction, have garnered significant attention. This study examines the core mechanisms of carbon reduction in compact cities, using Chinese cities as case studies. By employing machine learning models, we analyze how key features of compact cities—such as population density, land-use mix, and public transportation development—contribute to the achievement of carbon neutrality. Additionally, we simulate future carbon emission levels under various urban development scenarios. The results indicate that an optimal population density (2000 to 2500 persons per square kilometer) and an appropriate land-use mix (entropy value between 0.8 and 0.9) can significantly reduce carbon emission intensity and accelerate the attainment of carbon neutrality. However, excessive density or overly mixed land use may lead to negative effects. Furthermore, the carbon reduction potential of public transportation depends on energy transitions and the adoption of new energy vehicles (NEVs); merely expanding public transit does not automatically lead to a reduction in carbon emission intensity. Scenario simulations further reveal that, due to the implementation of compact development strategies, many Chinese cities have already experienced a deceleration in carbon emission growth. Some economically advanced and industrialized cities are even showing a decoupling trend between economic growth and carbon emissions. This research not only identifies the key pathways for carbon reduction in compact cities but also provides theoretical foundations and empirical evidence to support the formulation of low-carbon urban policies.