Assessment of Human Impacts on Vegetation in Built-up Areas in China Based on AVHRR,MODIS and DMSP_OLS Nighttime Light Data,1992–2010

Since the reform and opening-up program started in 1978,the level of urbanization has increased rapidly in China.Rapid urban expansion and restructuring have had significant impacts on the ecological environment especially within built-up areas.In this study,ArcGIS 10,ENVI 4.5,and Visual FoxPro 6.0 were used to analyze the human impacts on vegetation in the built-up areas of 656Chinese cities from 1992 to 2010.Firstly,an existing algorithm was refined to extract the boundaries of the built-up areas based on the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program Operational Linescan System(DMSP_OLS)nighttime light data.This improved algorithm has the advantages of high accuracy and speed.Secondly,a mathematical model(Human impacts(HI))was constructed to measure the impacts of human factors on vegetation during rapid urbanization based on Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer(AVHRR)Normalized Difference Vegetation Index(NDVI)and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer(MODIS)NDVI.HI values greater than zero indicate relatively beneficial effects while values less than zero indicate proportionally adverse effects.The results were analyzed from four aspects:the size of cities(metropolises,large cities,medium-sized cities,and small cities),large regions(the eastern,central,western,and northeastern China),administrative divisions of China(provinces,autonomous regions,and municipalities)and vegetation zones(humid and semi-humid forest zone,semi-arid steppe zone,and arid desert zone).Finally,we discussed how human factors impacted on vegetation changes in the built-up areas.We found that urban planning policies and developmental stages impacted on vegetation changes in the built-up areas.The negative human impacts followed an inverted′U′shape,first rising and then falling with increase of urban scales.China′s national policies,social and economic development affected vegetation changes in the built-up areas.The findings can provide a scientific basis for municipal planning departments,a decision-making reference for government,and scientific guidance for sustainable development in China.     

Spatial spillover and the factors influencing public service supply in Sichuan province,China

This article examines the spatial characteristics of public service supply and the factors influencing such supply in cities of Sichuan Province, China using spatial-autocorrelation and spatial econometric models with statistical data in 2012. The results demonstrate that expenditures on different types of public services present different spatial autocorrelation patterns. Although the spatial differences in basic public service expenditures are relatively small, a clear fan-shaped spillover to the east can be seen in Chengdu City. Chengdu also shows high clustering of advanced public service expenditures, being a typical core-periphery pattern. Post-earthquake reconstruction expenditures are clustered in the ＂5.12 Wenchuan earthquake＂ region and spill over toward cities to the east. The efficiency of public services in the mountainous areas in western Sichuan is low and exhibits a pattern of low-low spatial autocorrelation. The efficiency of public service supply is affected by economic, social, political and geographical factors. Based on the results of this analysis, we recommend a supply strategy that incorporates different types of public services and a specialized public service supply strategy for mountainous areas. Overall public service efficiency should be enhanced by focusing on narrowing the gap in farmers＇ income among regions and accelerating urbanization. Decision-makers should consider moresupportive policies with regard to providing basic public services in mountainous areas to ensure an equalized supply of basic public services. To enhance the efficiency of advanced public service supply, additional growth pole should be encouraged and incentivized; however, investments are required to drive the development of the peripheral regions through regional economic integration. Both software and hardware types of infrastructure are required to supply services efficiently during post-disaster reconstruction.     

Spatial pattern and regional types of rural settlements in Xuzhou City, Jiangsu Province, China

This paper principally focuses on the morphological differences,spatial pattern and regional types of rural settlements in Xuzhou City of Jiangsu Province in China.Using satellite images of Xuzhou City taken in 2007 and 2008 and models of exploratory spatial data analysis(ESDA) and spatial metrics,the paper conducts a quantitative analysis of the morphological pattern of rural settlements,and finds significant characteristics.First,rural settlements in Xuzhou City are significantly agglomerated in terms of their spatial distribution;meanwhile,there is significant variation in the geographical density distribution.Second,the scale of rural settlements in Xuzhou City is larger than the average in Jiangsu Province,and the histogram of the scale data is more even and more like a gamma distribution.There are a significant high-value cluster in the scale distribution,and local negative correlation between the scale and density distribution of rural settlements in Xuzhou City.Third,the morphology of rural settlements in Xuzhou City shows relative regularity with good connection and integrity,but the spatial variation of the morphology is anisotropic.Finally,according to the characteristics of density,scale,and form of rural settlements,the rural settlements of Xuzhou City are divided into three types:A high-density and point-scattered type,a low-density and cluster-like type and a mass-like and sparse type.The research findings could be used as the scientific foundation for rural planning and community rebuilding,particularly in less-developed areas.     

Approach to delimiting metropolitan regions’ boundary and grading urban hierarchy within a metropolitan region—A case study of Shanghai metropolitan region

In metropolitan regions, the change in the strength of＂flows＂ between a core city and surrounding cities reflects the range of the core city＇s influence, while the gravity between core city and other cities reflects the strength of potential relation between them. This article firstly attempts to delimit the boundary of metropolitan regions with the two dimensions measure combining ＂flows＂ and gravitation. The former is measured through the flow of people between the core city and surrounding cities, and the latter is measured through both population and gross domestic products （GDP） of the core city and surrounding cities. The hierarchy of the cities within a metropolitan region is classified in order to emphasize the roles of the cities belonging to the metropolitan regions, different from the general way through population scale and administrative level, and is typical in China. This paper uses the Shanghai metropolitan region as a research case, determining boundary of this metropolitan region clearly and classifying hierarchy of the cities within the region. The final results are significantly different to previous work, even overthrowing the traditional system of urban hierarchy partly. It is helpful to highlight the function of cities in organizing the regional economy, the level structure of metropolitan regions, and each city＇s relative importance in a metropolitan region, which can be taken as scientific basis for planning integrated regions or urban systems.     

Changing rural development inequality in Jilin Province, Northeast China

Rural development inequality is an important practical issue during the course of full establishment of a ′moderately well-off society′ in modern China,and the objective understanding and evaluation of the status and regional inequality of rural development can provide scientific basis for ′building a new countryside′ and coordination development of rural-urban regions.Based on the county-level data of 2000,2005 and 2009,this paper examines the rural development inequality of Jilin Province in Northeast China by establishing a rural development index.The spatio-temporal dynamic patterns and domain factors are discussed by using the method of exploratory spatial data analysis and multi-regression model.The results are shown as follows.Firstly,most of the counties were in lower development level,which accounted for 58.3%,62.5% and 66.7% of the total counties in 2000,2005 and 2009,respectively.The characteristics of spatial inequality were very obvious at county level.For example,rural development level of Changchun Proper and the proper of seven prefecture-level cities were much higher than that of the surrounding regions.The counties in the eastern and northern Jilin Province were the lowest regions of rural development level,while the middle counties were the rapid growth areas in rural economy.Secondly,Moran′s I of rural development index(RDI) was 0.01,–0.16 and –0.06 in 2000,2005 and 2009,respectively,which indicated that spatial agglomeration of RDI was not obvious in Jilin Province,and took on the characteristic of random distribution.The counties of both the units and its adjacent units have higher development level(HH) were transferred from the western areas to the eastern areas,while the countries of both the units and its adjacent units have lower development level(LL) were diffused from the eastern to middle and western Jilin Province.Finally,the result of multi-regression analysis showed that the improvement of agricultural production condition,development of agricultural economics and the adjustment of industrial structure were the domain factors affecting rural development inequality of Jilin Province in the later ten years.     

Evaluating the impact of spatio-temporal scale on CPUE standardization

This study focused on the quantitative evaluation of the impact of the spatio-temporal scale used in data collection and grouping on the standardization of CPUE(catch per unit effort).We used the Chinese squid-jigging fishery in the northwestern Pacific Ocean as an example to evaluate 24 scenarios at different spatio-temporal scales,with a combination of four levels of temporal scale(weekly,biweekly,monthly,and bimonthly)and six levels of spatial scale(longitude×latitude:0.5°×0.5°,0.5°×1°,0.5°×2°,1°×0.5°,1°×1°,and 1°×2°).We applied generalized additive models and generalized linear models to analyze the24 scenarios for CPUE standardization,and then the differences in the standardized CPUE among these scenarios were quantified.This study shows that combinations of different spatial and temporal scales could have different impacts on the standardization of CPUE.However,at a fine temporal scale(weekly)different spatial scales yielded similar results for standardized CPUE.The choice of spatio-temporal scale used in data collection and analysis may create added uncertainty in fisheries stock assessment and management.To identify a cost-effective spatio-temporal scale for data collection,we recommend a similar study be undertaken to facilitate the design of effective monitoring programs.     

Geographical Space Development Zone Classification:An Essential Guide for Transformation of Mountain Resource Cities

Sustainable development of mountain areas and resource cities has been a significant issue worldwide. Transformation of mountain resource cities is facing tremendous difficulties. In the context of National Major Function-oriented Zone Planning raised to a national strategic level in China, it is important to effectively implement the planning by studying geographical space development zone classification of prefecture- and county-level cities based on their major function orientation. This research is even more critical for the transformation of mountain resource cities. In this study, we evaluated geographical space development suitability, and classified geographical space development zones for Dongchuan Distric in Kunming City of Yunan Province, China, a typical mountain resource city. A quantitative grid-based evaluation was conducted using key-factor identification and restrictive-supportive comprehensive index determinati based on a geographic information system framework with different source data. The results included a classification of geographical space of Dongchuan into five types: the prohibited development zone, the inappropriate development zone, the controlled development zone, the moderate development zone and the preferential development zone. The distribution characteristics of geographical space development zones showed that the proportion of the prohibited development zone is the highest, while that of the other four development zones is comparatively lower and significantly fragmented. The geographical space development suitability is greatly controlled by the geomorphic pattern. Although Dongchuan is extremely restrained in terms of suitable geographical space for industrialization and urbanization, it still has the certain preferential and moderate development zones with an area of 207.81 km2 with large parts being concentrated and contiguous, which makes these areas the most favorable for development. Only by adapting to this reality and implementing centralized development strategy in the regions with higher suitability may Dongchuan achieve smooth transformation from expansion mode to compact mode and its sustainable development capacity may be improved. Suggestions with an angle of industrial and spatial development pattern were put forward for the transformation of the city in future.     

Spatial Identification of Housing Vacancy in China

The housing vacancy rate(HVR) is an important index in assessing the healthiness of residential real estate market. In China, it is hardly to take advantage of the basic data of real estate information due to the opaque of those data. In this paper, the HVR is estimated to two scales. At the grid level, urban area ratio was calculated by nighttime images after eliminating outliers of nighttime images and night light intensity of non-residential pixels in mixed pixels by a proposed modified optimal threshold method, and built-up areas in each pixel were extracted from the land-cover data. Then, the HVR is calculated by comparing the light intensity of specific grid with the light intensity of full occupancy rate regions. At the administrative scale, the GCI(‘ghost city' index) is constructed by calculating the ratio of the total light radiation intensity of a city to the total construction land area of the city. The overall spatial differentiation pattern of the vacant houses in the national prefecture level administrative regions is analyzed. The following conclusions were drawn: vacant housing is rare in certain eastern coastal cities and regions in China with relatively fast economic development. Cities based on exhausted resources, some mountainous cities, and cities with relatively backward economic development more typically showed high levels of housing vacancy. The GCI of prefecture-level administrative units gradually declined from north to south, whereas the east-west distribution showed a parabolic shape. As city level decreased, the GCI registered a gradual upward trend. China's urban housing vacancy can be divided into five categories: industry or resources driven, government planned, epitaxy expansionary, environmental constraint and speculative activate by combining the spatial distribution of housing vacancy with the factors of natural environment, social economic development level, and population density into consideration.     

Risk assessment of maize drought disaster in southwest China using the Environmental Policy Integrated Climate model

The East Asian monsoon has a tremendous impact on agricultural production in China. An assessment of the risk of drought disaster in maize-producing regions is therefore important in ensuring a reduction in such disasters and an increase in food security. A risk assessment model, EPIC(Environmental Policy Integrated Climate) model, for maize drought disasters based on the Erosion Productivity Impact Calculator crop model is proposed for areas with the topographic characteristics of the mountainous karst region in southwest China. This region has one of the highest levels of environmental degradation in China. The results showed that the hazard risk level for the maize zone of southwest China is generally high. Most hazard index values were between 0.4 and 0.5,accounting for 47.32% of total study area. However,the risk level for drought loss was low. Most of the loss rate was 0.1, accounting for 96.24% of the total study area. The three high-risk areas were mainlydistributed in the parallel ridge–valley areas in the east of Sichuan Province, the West Mountain area of Guizhou Province, and the south of Yunnan Province.These results provide a scientific basis and support for the reduction of agricultural drought disasters and an increase in food security in the southwest China maize zone.     

Road lateral disconnection and crossing impacts in river landscape of Lancang River Valley in Yunnan Province, China

Roads are conspicuous components in a river landscape;however,their impacts on river landscape patterns and ecological processes have not been systematically studied at the watershed scale.In this paper,the Lancang River Valley in Yunnan Province,China was selected as a case to study road lateral disconnection and crossing impacts and identify river-road network interaction.This study was primarily focused on the road impacts on soil erosion intensity and patch density by using GIS analysis at different scales and explored their distribution with terrain factors.The results showed that river density revealed spatial autocorrelation although both of the roads and rivers were distributed unevenly in the valley.The lateral road(road curvature≥1.1)proportion correlated with soil erosion intensity(p 0.01)at the small sub-basin scale.Soil erosion intensity decreased with increasing lateral road buffer width.Light erosion generally accounted for a large proportion of the erosion in the lateral road buffer zones(1.0–4.0 km),while higher class lateral roads imposed greater impacts on soil erosion than lower class roads,which primarily had a moderate erosion level.In addition,the results of road-river intersection density indicated that road crossing impacts were significantly correlated with patch density at the small sub-basin scale.Topography factor(percent of slope25°in each sub-basin had a close relationship with the ratio of total length of road line with curvature value≥1.1 to the total number of intersections.The correlation(p 0.01)between road impacts and terrain factor revealed that topography affected the road impact distribution in the Lancang River Valley.     

ANALYSIS ON THE SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION VARIATION CHARACTERISTIC OF URBAN HEAT ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY AND ITS MECHANISM——A Case Study of Hangzhou City

Urban heat environmental quality(UHEQ) is affected by the interacting of weather condition and underlying surface framework of urban area .In the last two decades,many researchers from domestic and overseas have studied many problems at the aspect of urban heat environment such as urban heat islands ,urban air temperature and their rela-tion with urban land cover,city population,air pollution etc,In the recent years,Hangzhou,acting as a center city of Zhejiang Province in China,its urbanization quantum and quantity have both changed greatly,in particular ,representing as business affairs building,resident real property and all kins of specialty market having arisen in built-up zone,Based on Landsat TM images data in 1991 and 1999,urban underlying surface temperature value and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) were calculated using image interpreting and supervised classification technique by remote sensing software ERDAS image 8.4,The relation model between urban underlying surface temperature (UUST )and urban air temperature was setup according to the certain correlation patten .Reference to the relational standard of assessing human comfort and other meteorology data of Hangzhou City in summer,the spatial distribution characteristic and the spatial varia-tion degree of human comfort of heat environmental quality are estimated and mapped on a middle scale,that is ,in six districts of Hangzhou City .Then the paper reveals the main characteristic of spatial variation from 1991 to 1999.Lastly,the change mechanism is analyzed and discussed from the viewpoint of city planning,construction and environmental protec-tion.     

.The Studies of Regional Water Circulation Patterns in the Yerqiang River Basin

Based on the characteristic of ＇one river one oasis＇ in the arid areas, the Yerqiang River Basin, which is the largest irrigated area of Xinjiang, is taken as an example in this paper, and the regional water circulation pattern is investigated through the analysis of 60 groups of isotope data in the basin. From the phreatic evaporation data analysis of different soils, we study the law of phreatic evaporation, complete the research of the main consumption path of the groundwater, and improve the assessment precision of water resources. The transformation mount of regional water resources are predicted by calculation, which provides a scientific basis for water resources assessment and allocation in arid regions, and offers a new method for the study of regional water circulation patterns.     

Command and control cities in global space-economy before and after 2008 geo-economic transition

The global economic downturn caused primarily by the US sub-prime mortgage crisis in 2007 engendered revenue loss of the multinational corporations.Existing studies have yet to depict the detrimental impacts on city’s command and control functions induced by the sub-prime mortgage crisis together with its residual wave of global economic recession on the global spatial economy.Recent and previous studies have produced an ’instant history’ of the global spatial economy before the global economic downturn undermines the global economy in late 2008.However,the waxes and wanes of major cities’ command and control functions on the global economic arena before and after the outbreak of financial crisis and its associated geo-economic transitions are still poorly understood.This paper attempts to contribute a new set of customized data to update and fill in the gap in the literature with the investigation of the command and control functions of cities around the world from 2005 to 2009.Particular attentions are paid to the time-space relationship of the geo-economic transition that can capture the recent historical images of the command and control situation of different cities in the world.     

Accuracy comparison of gridded historical cultivated land data in Jiangsu and Anhui provinces

The spatial resolution of source data, the impact factor selection on the grid model and the size of the grid might be the main limitations of global land datasets applied on a regional scale. Quantitative studies of the impacts of rasterization on data accuracy can help improve data resolution and regional data accuracy. Through a case study of cropland data for Jiangsu and Anhui provinces in China, this research compared data accuracy with different data sources, rasterization methods, and grid sizes. First, we investigated the influence of different data sources on gridded data accuracy. The temporal trends of the History Database of the Global Environment(HYDE), Chinese Historical Cropland Data(CHCD), and Suwan Cropland Data(SWCD) datasets were more similar. However, different spatial resolutions of cropland source data in the CHCD and SWCD datasets revealed an average difference of 16.61% when provincial and county data were downscaled to a 10 × 10 km~2 grid for comparison. Second, the influence of selection of the potential arable land reclamation rate and temperature factors, as well as the different processing methods for water factors, on accuracy of gridded datasets was investigated. Applying the reclamation rate of potential cropland to grid-processing increased the diversity of spatial distribution but resulted in only a slightly greater standard deviation, which increased by 4.05. Temperature factors only produced relative disparities within 10% and absolute disparities within 2 km~2 over more than 90% of grid cells. For the different processing methods for water factors, the HYDE dataset distributed 70% more cropland in grid cells along riverbanks, at the abandoned Yellow River Estuary(located in Binhai County, Yancheng City, Jiangsu Province), and around Hongze Lake, than did the SWCD dataset. Finally, we explored the influence of different grid sizes. Absolute accuracy disparities by unit area for the year 2000 were within 0.1 km~2 at a 1 km~2 grid size, a 25% improvement over the 10 km~2 grid size. Compared to the outcomes of other similar studies, this demonstrates that some model hypotheses and grid-processing methods in international land datasets are truly incongruent with actual land reclamation processes, at least in China. Combining the model-based methods with historical empirical data may be a better way to improve the accuracy of regional scale datasets. Exploring methods for the above aspects improved the accuracy of historical cropland gridded datasets for finer regional scales.     

A bi-modal model for Chinese cities: City size,car use and land rent

China is experiencing rapid urbanization and motorization. Urban transport congestion poses a challenge to the cities of China. Policies have been made trying to control the car use and the land use in Chinese cities without sound modelling researches. The existing literature on monocentric city modelling has shown that the parameters are critical for the outcome of the modelling. Following the Alonso-type monocentric model, this paper introduces a bi-modal model to simulate the city size, the distribution of land rent and the modal substitution in Chinese cities. We set the key parameters according to the recent available data of China′s cities, and re-explain the hypothesis of the model. Then we make a sensitivity analysis to reveal the impacts of key parameters on the Chinese cities. According to the results, we find that the wage, the price of car use and the agriculture rent have significant impacts on city size. The land supply for the private transport or the public transport has the strongest impacts on car use and the level of transport congestion. The total population of the city and the wage level have strong impacts on land rent. Some results are counter-intuitive, but explainable. We also discuss implication of these results for policy making.     

Impacts of Migration on Urban Environmental Pollutant Emissions in China: A Comparative Perspective

In recent years,researchers have devoted considerable attention to identifying the causes of urban environmental pollution.To determine whether migrant populations significantly affect urban environments,we examined the relationship between urban environmental pollutant emissions and migrant populations at the prefectural level using data obtained for 90 Chinese cities evidencing net in-migration.By dividing the permanent populations of these cities into natives and migrants in relation to the population structure,we constructed an improved Stochastic Impacts by Regression on Population,Affluence and Technology model(STIRPAT)that included not only environmental pollutant emission variables but also variables on the cities’attributes.We subsequently conducted detailed analyses of the results of the models to assess the impacts of natives and migrants on environmental pollutant emissions.The main findings of our study were as follows:1)Migrant populations have significant impacts on environmental emissions both in terms of their size and concentration.Specifically,migrant populations have negative impacts on Air Quality Index(AQI)as well as PM2.5 emissions and positive impacts on emissions of NO2 and CO2.2)The impacts of migrant populations on urban environmental pollutant emissions were 8 to 30 times weaker than that of local populations.3)Urban environmental pollutant emissions in different cities differ significantly according to variations in the industrial structures,public transportation facilities,and population densities.     

Impacts of transportation arteries on land use patterns in urban-rural fringe: A comparative gradient analysis of Qixia District, Nanjing City, China

Integrated transportation and land use studies are of major interest to planners because they consider the interaction between transportation development and land use change. Quantifying the impact of transport infrastructure on land use change is necessary for evaluating the role of transportation development in the process of land use and land cover change in the urban-rural fringe. Taking Qixia District of Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province, China as a typical urban-rural fringe area, this paper analyzes the patterns and characteristics of land use change along three major transportation arteries using land use data from 2000 and 2008. We examine the spatial differentiation and gradient of land use pattern around railway, expressway, and highway corridors to investigate whether land use change in the urban-rural fringe is related to distance from transportation arteries and to clarify the varying impacts of different forms of transport infrastructure on land use patterns. We find that construction land generally tends to be located close to major transportation arteries, and that railways have the most obvious influence on land use change in the urban-rural fringe, while the impact of expressways was not significant. We conclude that there exists a causal relationship between the presence of transportation arteries and land use change in the urban-rural fringe, but this relationship varies across different types of linear transport infrastructure.     

Origin distribution patterns and floating population modeling: Yiwu City as a destination

Existing quantitative migration studies are mainly at the inter-region or inter-province level for lacking of detailed geo-referenced migration data.Meanwhile,few of them integrate explorative spatial data analysis and spatial regression model into migration analysis.Based on aggregated registered floating population data from 2005 to 2008,the phenomena that population floating to Yiwu City in Zhejiang Province is analyzed at the provincial and county levels.The spatial layout of Yiwu’s pull forces is proved as a V-shaped pattern excluding Sichuan Province based on map visualization method.Using the migration ratio in 2007 as an explanatory variable,two models are compared using ordinary least square,spatial error model and spatial lag model methods for county-level data in Jiangxi and Anhui provinces.The model with migration stock provides an improved fitting over the model without migration stock according to the model fitting results.The floating population flocking into Yiwu City from Jiangxi is determined mostly by migration stock while the determinant factors are migration stock and distance to Yiwu City for Anhui.The distance-decay effect is true for migration flow from Anhui to Yiwu City while the distance rule is not confirmed in Jiangxi with the best fitting model.The correlation between per capita net income of rural labor forces and migration ratio is not significant in Jiangxi and significant but at the 0.1 level only in Anhui.Further analysis shows that the distance,income and man-land ratio are important factors to explain population floating at earlier stage.However,as the dynamic population floating process evolves,the determinant factor would be migration stock.     

Scale-free Structure of Town Road Network in Southern Jiangsu Province of China

From the viewpoint of Graph Theory this paper builds a town road network graph of regional scale, and proposes numerical vertex degree (Di), rank vertex degree (Dr) and population size vertex degree (Dp) on the base of vertex degree (D). Then the indicators of Di, Dr, Dp and mathematical statistics methods are applied to investigating scale-free structure of town road networks in the southern Jiangsu Province. The results show that the distribution of Di does not exhibit scale-free properties, but Dr and Dp do. Additionally the correlation coefficient between Dp and Di is only 0.569, but the spatial correlation between Dp and Dr is very evident on the base of correlation analysis and spatial analysis of GIS. The mutual mechanism between Dp and Dr spatially represents a "Core-Belt" model of town development of regional scale. The town development model is open and clustered, and beneficial to both economic development and ecological protection. And then we suggest that Suzhou City, Wuxi City, Changzhou City and Wujin City control towns' high-density pattern by conducting centralization and consolidation policies, and properly controlling and planning higher rank roads; whereas Nanjing City, Zhenjiang City, Jintan City and Liyang City must strengthen the development of towns along higher rank roads.     

Measurement and spatial distribution of urban agglomeration industrial compactness in China

Urban agglomeration （UA） compactness means spatial concentration degree of physical entities, such as cities （towns）, industries, resources, funds, traffic and technologies, whose concentration is formed according to specified economic and technologic association in the process of UA formation and development. The UA industrial compactness means the concentration degree of industry and industry clusters with reference to the industrial, technological and economic relations among the cities in the UA in the process of rational industrial division and with the extension of industrial chain. After analyzing the researches on compactness, this paper finds that the relevant measurement coefficient and methods reflecting industrial geographical concentration fail to link industries spatial concentration with urban spatial concentration. Taking 23 UAs as samples and classifying them by development degree, this paper probes into UA compactness and spatial distribution characteristics from the perspective of industry by adopting UA index systems of industry and measurement models. The research finds out： 1） there is obvious positive correlation between UA industrial compactness and UA development degree; 2） the spatial distribution difference of UA industrial compactness is relatively great; and 3） UA industrial compactness shows a gradually decreasing tendency from the eastern part, the middle part to the western part of China. From the research thoughts and approaches, this article suggests that studies on the UA integrated compactness measurement should be enhanced from a multidimensional per- spective involving space, traffic, population density and so on.