City vs. Town residents’ place attachment, perceptions and support for tourism development in a linear World Cultural Heritage Site

This study examines local residents’ place attachment (PA) to the city or town they live and investigates how this attachment influences their perceptions and support for tourism development (ST), as well as comparing the differences of these relationships among the city and town residents in a linear World Heritage Site (WHS) setting. Structural equation model was used to analyze samples of 226 city residents and 235 town residents along the Grand Canal Yangzhou Section, China. The findings suggested that residents’ PA is positively correlated their ST. Results also suggested that the PA-ST effect is partially mediated by residents’ positive perceptions in the city area while fully mediated by residents’ positive and negative perceptions in the town areas. This study could help local governments make heritage development and management policies accordingly for cities and towns along the Grand Canal area.

Linking Ecosystem Service and MSPA to Construct Landscape Ecological Network of the Huaiyang Section of the Grand Canal

Rapid urbanization and drastic land-use change have led to landscape fragmentation and ecological environment deterioration in the regions along the Grand Canal. Building an ecological network is an important means to improve the connectivity of habitat patches and carry out ecological protection and restoration of territorial space, which is of great significance to ensure regional biodiversity and ecological security. In this article, we took the Huaiyang Section of the Grand Canal (Huaiyang Canal) as the study area, used the ecosystem service assessment model, morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA), and the landscape connectivity evaluation method to identify ecological sources, then used the minimum cumulative resistance (MCR) model and the gravity model to extract and grade ecological corridors. Based on these, the ecological network was constructed by combining the identification method of ecological nodes and ecological breakpoints. The aim of this was to provide a reference for the ecological space optimization of Huaiyang Canal and even the entire Grand Canal, the formulation of an ecological protection plan, and the implementation of territorial space ecological restoration. The results showed that the spatial distribution of the water conservation service, soil conservation service, carbon sequestration service, and biodiversity conservation service were significantly different, and the level of ecosystem services showed a trend of continuous degradation from 1990 to 2018. There were 12 ecological source patches comprehensively identified by multiple methods, with a total area of 2007.06 km2. In terms of spatial distribution, large ecological source patches were mainly distributed in the central and western areas adjacent to the Grand Canal, while small ecological source patches were scattered in the eastern and southern border regions of the study area. The total length of ecological corridors was 373.84 km, of which the number of the primary ecological corridor, secondary ecological corridor, and tertiary ecological corridor were 9, 7, and 7, respectively, and the suitable width of the ecological corridor was 200–400 m. After optimization, the proposed ecological network was composed of 3 key ecological source patches, 9 important ecological source patches, 23 terrestrial corridors, 10 aquatic corridors, and 18 ecological nodes. Twenty-nine ecological breakpoints were key areas requiring ecological restoration. The overlap rate of the integrated ecosystem service change area and land-use change area was 99%, indicating that land-use change has a significant impact on regional ecosystem services. This study is of great significance for carrying out the ecological protection and restoration of the Huaiyang Canal and adjusting local land-use policies. It also provides a typical case demonstration for identifying an ecological network and formulating ecological restoration planning for other sections of the Grand Canal and cities along the canal.

SPATIAL PATTERN EVOLUTION AND DRIVING FACTORS OF PM_2.5 CONCENTRATIONS IN THE GRAND CANAL REGION FROM 2000 TO 2018

In recent years, air pollution related to PM2.5 has caused a significant impact on human health. The Grand Canal (GC) is not only a great Cultural heritage created in ancient China but also the longest and largest canal in the world. Based on remotely sensed PM2.5 gridded data in the GC region covering 2000 to 2018, we used the holistic methods of standard deviation ellipse, local moran index, slope trend analysis to reveal the spatiotemporal evolutions of PM2.5 concentrations in the GC regions and investigated the driving factors of PM2.5 concentrations by using the geographically weighted regression (GWR) model. Results show that (1) PM2.5 concentrations in the GC region exhibited an increasing trend and followed by a decreasing trend from 2000 to 2018 (the turning point emerged in 2010). (2) The standard deviation ellipse analyses show that the spatial distributions of PM2.5 concentrations featured more and more concentrated over time, whereas, after the year 2010, the distributions gradually featured scattered. (3) The concentrations of PM2.5 exhibited the strong effects of local spatial autocorrelation and areas with "high-high" agglomeration were mainly located in the central and west regions of the GC region and gradually expanded to the north over time. (4) The areas of regions with rapidly increasing in PM2.5 concentrations gradually decreased over time, however, those with rapidly decreasing in PM2.5 concentrations increased. (5) The influences of the natural factors and socio-economic factors on the distributions of PM2.5 concentrations varied spatially. In detail, the elevation was negatively correlated with PM2.5 concentrations, whereas an opposite relationship between industrial structure and PM2.5 concentrations was observed. The coefficients of rainfall, population density, GDP per capita and foreign investment show different results in positive and negative correlations depending on the position.

Rise and Fall of the Grand Canal in the Ancient Kaifeng City of China: Role of the Grand Canal and Water Supply in Urban and Regional Development

In the long history of the feudal society of China, Kaifeng played a vital role. During the Northern Song Dynasty, Kaifeng became a worldwide metropolis. The important reason was that the Grand Canal, which was excavated during the Sui Dynasty, became the main transportation artery for the political and military center of the north and the economic center of the south. Furthermore, Kaifeng was located at the center of the Grand Canal, which made it the capital of the later Northern Song Dynasty. The Northern Song Dynasty was called “the canal-centered era.” The development of the canal caused a series of major changes in the society of the Northern Song Dynasty that were different from the previous ones, which directly led to the transportation revolution, and in turn, promoted the commercial revolution and the urbanization of Kaifeng. The development of commerce contributed to the agricultural and money revolutions. After the Northern Song Dynasty, the political center moved to the south. During the Yuan Dynasty, the excavation of the Grand Canal made it so that water transport did not have to pass through the Central Plains. The relocation of the political center and the change in the canal route made Kaifeng lose the value of connecting the north and south, resulting in the long-time fall of the Bianhe River. Kaifeng, which had prospered for more than 100 years, declined gradually, and by the end of the Qing Dynasty, it became a common town in the Central Plains. In ancient China, the rise and fall of cities and regions were closely related to the canal, and the relationship between Kaifeng and the Grand Canal was typical. The history may provide some inspiration for the increasingly severe urban and regional sustainable development issues in contemporary times.

The Return

Back in Venice, Girolamo secures housing in Ca’ Morosini, a Gothic palace on the Grand Canal not far from Ca’ Bembo at Santa Maria Nova. Gian Matteo successfully defends himself from charges of improperly spending state funds in Candia and is allowed to stand for election again. His wife Marcella dies in August 1555, a few days after Giulia gives birth to a daughter named after her grandmother. It is a time of droughts and famine in the countryside, celebrations in Venice, and periodic outbreaks of plague throughout the territory. In early 1556, Bona Sforza, Queen of Poland, is feted throughout the territory. The following year the city celebrates the first coronation of a Dogaressa in a century, with more festivities. Two sons, Giovanni and Alvise III, are born to Giulia in 1556 and 1557. Bishop Michele becomes majordomo of the household of Pope Pius IV in Rome and reluctantly engages in papal politics.

Honour and Disgrace

Michele is elected Bishop of Ceneda in 1547 and is dispatched as papal envoy to the King of France. Girolamo, serving as Michele’s procurator, writes Titian a letter of introduction to Cardinal Cristoforo Madruzzo, Bishop of Trent. A surviving portrait of Girolamo, possibly by Paris Bordone, may date to this period. Girolamo’s fortunes change in the winter of 1549: he is exiled to Crete for ten years for engaging in a sword fight with a Savorgnan contingent in Padua, killing two and wounding others. On the eve of Girolamo’s departure, his brother Alvise II and brother-in-law Giambattista Colloredo are assassinated on the Grand Canal by Tristan Savorgnan, seeking to avenge the insult to his family. Girolamo’s departure is postponed and Alvise II is interred in a tomb in the Frari. Girolamo determines to seek a marital alliance that would benefit him politically and allow him to perpetuate the family bloodline.