Insights and perspectives on population and talent research from the opportunity perspective

Entering a new stage of development, the interaction between human beings and geo-space and its complexity have become more profound than ever as a result of great technological and economic progress, and the importance of demographic talent as a core of development has been further highlighted. The complex population-talent-space interaction has been continuously reshaped under the trend of population reduction and the evolution of development stages in China, which has provided new issues and challenges for related research, and has constantly called for new theoretical extensions to strengthen the ability to cope with the evolving realities. Therefore, this paper comprehensively reviews the research on the geographies of opportunity, clarifies the conceptual link between opportunity and space, and understands the theoretical and practical significance of opportunity as a tool for promoting spatial research. By tracking the current progress and trend of population and talent research, analyzing the new challenges facing population and talent research in the new stage of development, this paper tries to use geographies of opportunity as a new theoretical perspective to enter population and talent research, and explores the important inspiration and contribution that the spatial connotation of opportunity can play in coping with the new stage and new challenges. We argue that, in the face of China's social and demographic transformation, a profound understanding of the interaction between population-talent and space requires an important supplement based on the opportunity perspective, in order to innovate the understanding of human-land relations and to scientifically guide the formulation of population and talent policies as well as the direction of regional development.