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Although district heating is an energy-effective solution for cold countries, the coal-fired district heating sector is still facing significant challenges as regards sustainable development, during its operational stage. In order to achieve better operational performance, public private partnerships (PPP) have been introduced in relation to managing clean coal district heating, as a value for money (VfM) solution. To date, however, studies of the application of clean coal in district heating operations are rare and the lack of an evaluation framework hinders the effectiveness test on this sustainable solution. This research aims to investigate the effectiveness of PPP as a VfM solution to the operation of clean coal district heating, by developing an assessment framework on the basis of three dimensions of sustainability: economic, social and environmental, and discussing the proposal, by means of a case study. The assessment results show that the PPP operation offers good VfM performance but with room for improvement, including more user engagement. This research contributes to the literature on clean coal district heating and PPP by providing a comprehensive assessment framework for evaluating VfM performance of the concept. The application of the framework can help the authorities with a robust PPP assessment and thus, improve the sustainable performance of the clean coal heating operation.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, understanding the effects of location information of patients has significant theoretical and practical implications for public crisis management and health communication. Based on fear appeal theories, this research proposed a chain reaction model that links physical distance to the nearest patients, which is informed by the location information of patients, citizens’ anxiety, attention to information and preventive behaviors. To test the hypothesized model, we conducted a study during the COVID-19 outbreak in mainland China in March 2020. The survey of 2061 people from 244 cities across 30 provinces showed that physical distance to confirmed cases has a significant influence on citizens’ anxiety, which in turn can improve their preventive behaviors through the mediating factor of attention to information. In addition, this research also revealed the twofold effects of vertical collectivism as a personality trait on anxiety. These findings will provide support to help governments take actions to reduce citizens’ anxiety and promote preventive behaviors.