Peng Du

With industrial upgrading and increasingly diversified urban functions in small and medium-sized cities in China, the demand for convention and exhibition buildings has been steadily rising. However, current research mainly focuses on the planning and operation of such buildings in large cities, with a lack of systematic and targeted studies on small and medium-sized cities that have relatively limited resources and varied development orientations. According to data collection and field surveys of convention and exhibition buildings in 148 small and medium-sized cities nationwide, this paper constructs a case database and conducts in-depth research on building types and factor guarantee mechanisms. This study first employs cluster analysis to classify 73 typical cases, incorporating comparative analysis from multiple dimensions such as the city’s economic development level, characteristics of the convention and exhibition industry, primary functions, operational focus, service targets, and planning layout, based on literature review and expert opinions. It then proposes four convention and exhibition building positioning models—market type, production-based type, enclave type and comprehensive type—and analyzes the characteristics of their typical cases. Afterward, through surveys, literature reviews, and expert interviews, this study identifies relevant indicators—such as resource factors and development conditions—and applies the importance index method to select 19 core indicators. These are used to establish a factor guarantee indicator system comprising two levels: “city-related factors” and “regional-related factors”. Subsequently, by analyzing the development strategies and core support factors of different building types using the priority diagram method, this study clarifies the resource demands and development paths for each model. The results indicate that the positioning strategy for convention and exhibition buildings in small and medium-sized cities should align with local industrial foundations and stages of urban development, fostering the formation of differentiated and sustainable development models. This research offers theoretical support and practical guidance for the scientific planning and efficient construction of convention and exhibition buildings in small and medium-sized cities, contributing to improved functionality, regional economic growth, and optimized urban spatial structure.

In recent years, the AEC industry has increasingly sought sustainable solutions to enhance productivity and reduce environmental pollution, with wood emerging as a key renewable material due to its excellent carbon sequestration capability and low ecological footprint. Despite significant advances in digital fabrication technologies for timber construction, on-site assembly still predominantly relies on manual operations, thereby limiting efficiency and precision. To address this challenge, this study proposes an automated on-site timber construction process that integrates a mobile construction platform (MCP), a fiducial marker system (FMS) and a UWB/IMU integrated navigation system. By deconstructing traditional modular stacking methods and iteratively developing the process in a controlled laboratory environment, the authors formalize raw construction experience into an effective workflow, supplemented by a self-feedback error correction system to achieve precise, real-time end-effector positioning. Extensive experimental results demonstrate that the system consistently achieves millimeter-level positioning accuracy across all test scenarios, with translational errors of approximately 1 mm and an average repeat positioning precision of up to 0.08 mm, thereby aligning with on-site timber construction requirements. These findings validate the method’s technical reliability, robustness and practical applicability, laying a solid foundation for a smooth transition from laboratory trials to large-scale on-site timber construction.

The environmental quality of conference and exhibition places in small- and medium-sized cities plays a crucial role in attracting exhibitors, fostering the growth of the conference and exhibition industry and enhancing the market competitiveness of these places. However, past decision makers have often adopted planning models from large cities, neglecting the interaction between conference and exhibition places in smaller cities and local lifestyles as well as urban environments. From an “environment-behavior” perspective, this study reveals the unique interaction mechanisms between exhibitors and the built environment within such venues. Moving beyond the limitations of traditional research that focused solely on physical indicators, we place particular emphasis on exhibitors’ behavioral adaptations and their overall exhibition experience in the convention environment. To address this gap, this study employs a mixed-method approach that integrates field surveys, interviews, and questionnaires to systematically collect data from 10 representative cases. First, a preliminary study was conducted to establish an evaluation index system for place environmental quality. Through regression analysis, six key indicators—such as promotional atmosphere, site accessibility, and surrounding urban development conditions—were identified as significant factors influencing place quality. Second, subjective evaluations were conducted based on users’ actual experiences and experts’ professional insights, leading to the development of an importance–performance analysis model to assess value expectations and place environmental performance. The results indicated that users had high expectations for elements such as parking availability, transportation facilities, and the surrounding commercial atmosphere. In contrast, experts emphasized the significance of proximity to urban transportation hubs, site accessibility, and the spatial orientation of public spaces in determining environmental quality. Moreover, differences in evaluations among experts from various fields revealed notable variations in focus and priority considerations. Finally, based on a statistical analysis of the survey results, this study proposes three design recommendations—“adaptation, attraction, and quality enhancement”—to optimize the environmental quality of conference and exhibition places in small- and medium-sized cities, offering both theoretical and practical guidance for future planning, design, and evaluation.

The urban design process is complex and interdisciplinary, especially in the context of high-density cities with high-rise buildings. The design of high-rise buildings requires input from a variety of stakeholders in the city, who often represent conflicting requirements and interests. However, conventional design approaches struggle to address this complexity. This study introduced a generative urban design approach and applied it to a case study for high-rise urban development in Guangzhou, China. Specifically, 7500 urban forms were generated with variables such as street networks, block offset, building typology, and green space, and then were evaluated and optimized via multi-objective evolutionary algorithms. A total of 30,000 performance values were generated through various simulations. This study also presented a two-round, quantitative evaluation process against eight performance objectives from environmental, social, and economic aspects, including urban density, green space area, Daylight Potential, construction cost, Heat Stress, Green Space Accessibility, View Interest, and Shadow Impact.

According to the United Nations 2018 report, cities are projected to be home to 68% of the world's population by 2050; therefore, now is the time to invest in innovative planning and design to make urban areas conducive to human flourishing. One solution that cities have been investigating is increasing density. It is widely accepted that the concentration of people in high-density cities is more sustainable due to proximity to various public transit systems, greater overall energy efficiency, and lower carbon emissions. However, urbanization and densification have resulted in deforestation, habitat loss, and ecosystem destruction, which can decrease biodiversity and species populations and ranges.

This new handbook provides a platform to bring together multidisciplinary researchers focusing on greening high-density agglomerations from three perspectives: climate change, social implications, and people’s health. Written by leading scholars and experts, the chapters aim to summarize the “state-of-the-art” and produce a reference book for policymakers, practitioners, academics, and researchers to study, design, and build high-density cities by integrating green spaces. The topics covered in the book include (but are not limited to) Urban Heat Island, Green Space and Carbon Sequestration, Green Space and Social Equity, Green Space and Public Health, Biophilic Cities, Urban Agriculture, Vertical Farms, Urban Farming Technologies, Nature and Biodiversity, Nature and Health, Biophilic Design, Green Infrastructure, Urban Revitalization, Post-Covid Cities, Smart and Resilient Cities, Tall Buildings, and Sustainable Vertical Cities.

Studies have shown that low-income communities and communities of color are more likely to live in neighborhoods experiencing multiple environmental burdens and disproportionate vulnerability to the impacts of climate change in American cities. The practice of redlining in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania has caused environmental injustice in ways that might not have been obvious at that time however there are neighborhoods that are still affected by this practice. These areas have the lowest median household incomes, lowest life expectancies, and highest population of African American people compared to the rest of the city. The main objective of this research is to map the heat vulnerable neighborhoods in Philadelphia and suggest ways to mitigate urban heat island. Mapping heat vulnerability shows the areas that are more susceptible to the exacerbating effects of heat. The research began with mapping factors that determine vulnerability, such as heat exposure, access to green space/tree coverage, median household income, life expectancy, and race. Mapping these indicators allowed the vulnerable neighborhoods to be pinpointed. The most vulnerable neighborhoods chosen were Tioga and Carroll Park. To conduct a better analysis the least vulnerable neighborhood, Chestnut Hill, was chosen to compare to. Further, overlaying the Homeowners Loan Corporation redlining map to find out that the “hazardous” neighborhoods overlap with the most vulnerable neighborhoods. To continue the analysis with simulations, Rhino and Grasshopper (Ladybug Tools) were used to quantify the urban heat island indicators such as Direct Sun Hours, Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) and Heat Stress Hours in both public spaces and streets. In summary, this research proposes design interventions, including strategies of adding greenery, to mitigate the urban heat island effect. The simulations showed that the neighborhoods that are the most heat vulnerable would have to drastically change their environment to mitigate the urban heat island.

Compared with comprehensive Q&A communities, vertical Q&A communities have more obvious technical, social, intellectual, marketing and scene characteristics. Based on the theory of planning behaviour and the technology acceptance model, a structural equation model of users' willingness to use is constructed by taking tourism Q&A communities as an example, which is helpful to understand the influence mechanism of users' attitude and willingness to use in vertical Q&A communities, and then improve the quality of community knowledge and improve the difficulties of community business operation. This study proves that the users' perceived usefulness, usage attitude, subjective behaviour norms and perceived behaviour control have a positive and significant impact on usage intention. At the same time, ease of use, perceived usefulness and attitude of use have indirect mediating effect on the influence path of intention to use. Finally, the research puts forward some suggestions to improve the sustainable use intention of tourism Q&A community users from the aspects of improving the quality of content, encouraging the production and dissemination of high-quality content, strengthening social attributes, improving community identity, and mining community value.