Exploring the spatial characteristics of abandoned mining sites at the urban scale using a case study of Handan,...

Research on spatial characteristics is the foundation for exploring the regeneration pathways of abandoned mining sites (AMSs) at the urban level. It aims to reveal their distribution status and regeneration laws, providing maximum support for the subsequent research stages such as the regeneration priority evaluation, direction decision-making, and strategy formulation. However, there are two important problems in current research on spatial characteristics: the lack of comprehensive and systematic research synthesis , which makes it difficult to grasp the study's focus, significance, and methodology; and the lack of targeted research on AMSs. In most cases, the AMS is only a part of the research object and is commonly found in other fields, such as brownfields, resulting in conclusions that fail to match the AMS's uniqueness accurately. To address these issues, this study advances research from both theoretical and practical perspectives. Theoretically, by synthesizing the research findings of AMSs and related fields (e.g., industrial heritage, mining heritage, brownfields, and urban vacant land) through the WOS and CNKI databases, we establish a theoretical system containing three dimensions of spatial structure, distribution and correlation characteristics, laying the foundation for comprehensive and systematic research. Practically, a case study on AMSs was conducted in Handan, China. This study revealed that, in addition to distance to urban areas, other urban location factors had little driving force on the regeneration priority of AMSs. This result differs greatly from those of brownfield and other fields, indicating that AMS regeneration is more likely driven by internal factors. This provides a basis for the selection of indicators for regeneration priority evaluation. In addition, we demonstrate a dynamic evaluation logic to evaluate the rationality of the regeneration progress of AMSs. This method is more scientific than the previous evaluation methods, which are based on regeneration quantity or area. On the basis of differences in regional evaluation results can guide the differentiated formulation of regeneration strategies. Overall, this study's theoretical system and empirical findings will provide valuable references for research on spatial characteristics and subsequent research stages.