{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,9]],"date-time":"2025-10-09T18:44:58Z","timestamp":1760035498600,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":37,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,9]],"date-time":"2025-07-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1752019200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"SHANGHAI MUNICIPAL FOUNDATION FOR PHILOSOPHY AND SOCIAL SCIENCE","award":["2024BJC002","2024STZA05","2023STZA03"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2024BJC002","2024STZA05","2023STZA03"]}]},{"name":"General project of the 2024 Annual Planning Project of the Chinese Association of Business Statistics","award":["2024BJC002","2024STZA05","2023STZA03"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2024BJC002","2024STZA05","2023STZA03"]}]},{"name":"Commercial Statistical Society of the China Planning Project","award":["2024BJC002","2024STZA05","2023STZA03"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2024BJC002","2024STZA05","2023STZA03"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Systems"],"abstract":"<jats:p>As China\u2019s economy grows and travel demand increases, its aviation market has evolved to become the second-largest in the world. This study presents a pioneering analysis of China\u2019s aviation network evolution (1990\u20132024) by integrating temporal dynamics into a network density matrix theory, addressing critical gaps in prior static network analyses. Unlike conventional studies focusing on isolated topological metrics, we introduce a triangulated methodology: \u2460 a network sequence analysis capturing structural shifts in degree distribution, clustering coefficient, and path length; \u2461 novel redundancy\u2013entropy coupling quantifying complexity evolution beyond traditional efficiency metrics; and \u2462 economic-network coordination modeling with spatial autocorrelation validation. Key innovations reveal previously unrecognized dynamics: \u2460 Time-embedded density matrices (\u03c1) demonstrate how sparsity balances information propagation efficiency (\u03b7) and response diversity, resolving the paradox of functional yet sparse connectivity. \u2461 Redundancy\u2013entropy synergy exposes adaptive trade-offs. Entropy (H) rises 18% (2000\u20132024), while redundancy (R) rebounds post-2010 (0.25\u21920.33), reflecting the strategic resilience enhancement after early efficiency-focused phases. \u2462 Economic-network coupling exhibits strong spatial autocorrelation (Moran\u2019s\u00a0I&gt;0.16, p&lt;0.05), with eastern China achieving \u201cprimary coordination\u201d, while western regions lag due to geographical constraints. The empirical results confirm structural self-organization. Power-law strengthening, route growth exponentially outpacing cities, and clustering (C) rising 16% as the path length (L) increases, validating the hierarchical hub formation. These findings establish aviation networks as dynamically optimized systems where economic policies and topological laws interactively drive evolution, offering a paradigm shift from descriptive to predictive network management.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/systems13070563","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,11]],"date-time":"2025-07-11T11:26:37Z","timestamp":1752233197000},"page":"563","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Study on the Complexity Evolution of the Aviation Network in China"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Shuolei","family":"Zhou","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Air Transportation, Shanghai University of Engineering Science, Shanghai 201600, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7912-0643","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Cheng","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Air Transportation, Shanghai University of Engineering Science, Shanghai 201600, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Shiguo","family":"Deng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Air Transportation, Shanghai University of Engineering Science, Shanghai 201600, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,9]]},"reference":[{"doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Rodrigue, J.P. 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