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Previous research has documented the ways that migration contributed to the rise of Hong Kong as a global city by the early 1990s. Much academic attention has been paid to the causes of labor migration and issues related to the adaptation of migrant workers in Hong Kong. Based on a review of such studies, the purpose of this paper is to describe three representative groups of migrant workers in Hong Kong and discuss how research on migrant workers in Hong Kong has provided new insights to the global city literature and to the study of development and migration.

This paper reviews published works regarding migrant workers in Hong Kong since 1996. Discussion focuses on three representative groups: high-skilled immigrants from developed countries, low-skilled migrant workers from less developed regions and mainland Chinese immigrants.

Findings suggest that the migration patterns and challenges of the adaptation of migrant workers in Hong Kong correspond largely to the social polarization thesis proposed by global city literature. However, Hong Kong is unique compared to core global cities in the USA and Western Europe due to its special power relationship with mainland China and its colonial history, which have a significant impact on immigrants’ decision to migrate and their post-migration integration.

This review paper provides a better understanding of migration and development, and highlights new factors that contribute to reasons for migration and challenges of integration for migrant workers in the host society.

Five different structural reactive dyes (Reactive Brilliant Blue K-3R, Everacion Blue H-ERD, Moderzol Blue FBR, Atuzol Black B and Moderzol Blue HEGN) were treated with laccase (Denilite II US) in order to determine the optimum decolouration conditions. The experiments showed that laccase had distinct decolouration effects on these five dyes. Under optimum conditions, the colour removal rates of Everacion Blue H-ERD and Moderzol Blue HEGN were over 90%. Furthermore, the effects of different additives, such as acid ion, metal ion, and surfactants on the decolouration rate of Reactive Brilliant Blue K-3R were discussed. The results show that the decolouration rate is significantly promoted through the addition of Cu²⁺ and Al³⁺, while it is inactivated with Fe²⁺ and ion surfactants. Moreover, the COD removal rates of the five dyes are more than 75%.

The purpose of this paper is to improve the mechanical and tribological properties of Si₃N₄ ceramics and to make the application of Si₃N₄ ceramics as tribological materials more extensive.

Si₃N₄-based composite ceramics (SN-2L) containing nitrogen-doped graphene quantum dots (N-GQDs) were prepared by hot press sintering process through adding 2 Wt.% nanolignin as precursor to the Si₃N₄ matrix, and the dry friction and wear behaviors of Si₃N₄-based composite against TC4 disc were performed at the different loads by using pin-on-disc tester.

The friction coefficients and wear rates of SN-2L composite against TC4 were significantly lower than those of the single-phase Si₃N₄ against TC4 at the load range from 15 to 45 N. At higher load of 45 N, SN-2L/TC4 pair presented the lowest friction coefficient of 0.25, and the wear rates of the pins and discs were as low as 1.76 × 10⁻⁶ and 2.59 × 10⁻⁴mm³/N·m. The low friction and wear behavior could be attributed to the detachment of N-GQDs from the ceramic matrix to the worn surface at the load of 30 N or higher, and then an effective lubricating film containing N-GQDs, SiO₂, TiO₂ and Al₂SiO₅ formed in the worn surface. While, at the same test condition, the friction coefficient of the single-phase Si₃N₄ against TC4 was at a range from 0.45 to 0.58. The spalling and cracking morphology formed on the worn surface of single-phase Si3N4, and the wear mechanism was mainly dominated by adhesive and abrasive wear.

Overall, a high-performance green ceramic composite was prepared, and the composite had a good potential for application in engineering tribology fields (such as aerospace bearings).

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-05-2024-0161/

Land is the basis for economic development as well as tourism development. There is a close relationship between tourism development and the land market. However, research on the effect of tourism development on land prices is insufficient. This paper aims to investigate the effect and mechanism of tourism development on land prices.

The econometric paradigm is the main research method. Fixed effect models, instrumental variable models and mediating effect models are introduced to examine the impact of tourism development on land prices. The data include three types: land transaction data, city-level data and scenic spot data. More than 360,000 samples of land transactions for 284 prefecture-level cities in China from 2007 to 2021 are applied.

Tourism development can significantly increase land prices. This conclusion holds after using instrumental variables to address endogeneity and testing for robustness. Meanwhile, tourism development’s effect on land price is influenced by land type, city type, city tier and city location. The land price increase effect of tourism is more significant for tourism land, tourist cities, central cities and Western cities. The paper also reveals the mechanisms of the public service enhancement effect, infrastructure upgrading effect and environmental optimization effect in tourism development’s effect on land price.

The study contributes to the literature on the relationship between tourism development and land market. The generality and specificity of tourism development’s effect on land price are revealed from the micro and macrolevel research level. The findings enrich the literature on tourism price effects, point to rational ways to optimize and regulate land prices and provide new ideas for land-market development.