The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) launched the conservation initiative of the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) in 2002, providing a new solution to current global problems such as widening gap between rich and poor, environmental pollution, biodiversity destruction and degradation of agro-ecological functions. However, since the implementation of GIAHS, few studies have evaluated the role of GIAHS in regional sustainable development. To fill this research gap, this paper attempts to build an evaluation index system that integrates economic, social and environmental sustainability by matching the 169 subgoals and 232 indices of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with five FAO-GIAHS selection criteria and selecting the indices. The index weights are determined through Delphi method (expert scoring) and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). Then the GIAHS site of the Kuaijishan Ancient Chinese Torreya Community in Shaoxing City, Zhejiang Province is taken as an example for evaluation to enhance the empirical study. The results show that the comprehensive score for this heritage site is 77.90 points, of which economic, social and environmental sustainability scores 88.27, 86.12 and 69.71 points respectively, showing a descending trend. Thus, ecological protection of the Kuaijishan Ancient Chinese Torreya Community should be strengthened and be given prominence in the future. As for the contribution to further research, this SDGs-based GIAHS sustainability evaluation framework can serve as an important guide for assessing the approaches and effects of GIAHS in promoting the achievement of the SDGs. It can also be used for future international GIAHS sustainability assessment and comparison and provide a basis for adjusting the development model of GIAHS sites.

The study examines the influence of the urban spatial structure on smog pollution and its mechanism of action using the panel data of Chinese cities from 2012 to 2017. Research suggests that the multi-center development of Chinese cities has aggravated regional smog pollution. Robustness test results support this finding. Results of the interaction term shed light on the fact that multi-center spatial development in backward regions can exert a greater influence on smog pollution. Meanwhile, suppose the research samples are divided by different zones. In that case, it can be observed that an inverted-U shape characterizes the multi-center development of regions of East China and smog pollution. This indicates that worsening smog pollution appears only as a periodical phenomenon of the pre-stage multi-center development of Chinese cities, which can be ushered into a turning point through certain paths. Analysis of the influence mechanism shows that the transport mode and the energy consumption intensity constitute two major channels for multi-center development of Chinese cities to affect regional smog pollution.

PurposeIntellectual property right constitutes play a forceful role to promote economic growth and create a fortune. However, it is not yet clear to what extent the agricultural intellectual property rights represented by geographical indications of agricultural products (AGIs) can affect the development of regional economy. The purpose of this paper is to analyze this impact and its mechanism as well as to draw policy implications from this empirical analysis.Design/methodology/approachUsing county-level panel data from 2006 to 2020, this paper employed the difference-in-differences (DID) model.FindingsThe authors find that AGIs can significantly improve economic development at the county level. The AGIs can stimulate the flow of commercial and industrial capital to the countryside, thus fueling county-level economic development. Unlike AGIs for cereals and cash crops, AGIs for aquatic products and animal products cannot influence or have a negative impact on county-level economic. Compared with Eastern regions, the acquisition of AGIs in Western regions can more significantly boost county-level economic development. Therefore, AGIs can pronouncedly narrow down the gap of cross-county economic growth.Originality/valueConclusions of this paper can provide references for building the county-level countryside into a main ground of agricultural economic development and brand construction, continuously promoting the agricultural supply-front structural reform and boosting realization of all-around rural revitalization.