Progress and prospects of applied research on physical geography and the living environment in China over the past 70 years (1949–2019)

Physical geography is a basic research subject of natural sciences. Its research object is the natural environment which is closely related to human living and development, and China’s natural environment is complex and diverse. According to national needs and regional development, physical geographers have achieved remarkable achievements in applied basis and applied research, which also has substantially contributed to the planning of national economic growth and social development, the protection of macro ecosystems and resources, and sustainable regional development. This study summarized the practice and application of physical geography in China over the past 70 years in the following fields: regional differences in natural environments and physical regionalization; land use and land cover changes; natural hazards and risk reduction; process and prevention of desertification; upgrading of medium- and low-yield fields in the Huang-Huai-Hai region; engineering construction in permafrost areas; geochemical element anomalies and the prevention and control of endemic diseases; positioning and observation of physical geographical elements; and identification of geospatial differentiation and geographical detectors. Furthermore, we have proposed the future direction of applied research in the field of physical geography.