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.     

大都市圈的凝聚力与竞争力

都市圈的形成是自然和社会因素长期共同作用的成果,是人类文明的进步。都市圈战略是中国未来区域发展的重要战略。随着全球经济竞争日益激烈,通过调整空间结构来扩展经济效益空间是大势所趋。目前,国内掀起了规划建设都市圈的热潮。然而,从世界都市圈发展的经验和教训来看,人口、经济发展集中于沿海超大城市的现象越来越突出,反映出地区经济发展的不平衡和对海岸带的依赖。都市圈的战略规划应当遵循社会经济发展的自然规律。都市圈的形成是较长时期的历史积淀结果。它们早在农业经济时代就是人口密集、水网发达地区的河港,近代工业经济发展时期,又成为面向大洋的海港,在信息时代,必须再向现代化的航空港和信息港的方向发展。多港融合,才能具备世界级自由港的功能。这是区域经济发展的终极目标。从地缘经济来看,大都市圈一般具备明显的地域经济优势,具有明显的金融中心龙头效应,占有GDP的绝对比重。随着城市通勤圈的不断扩张和大陆腹地的袭夺,大都市圈通过不断的城市扩张,打破了行政区划的时空分布模式,推动了区域经济重组,并促使其向跨国经济发展。都市圈的发展极不平衡,各具特点,总体上表现出发展的阶段性和空间分异的规律性。就目前比较成熟的三大都市圈,从地缘关系上看,京津冀都市圈具有人文优势,珠三角背靠国际大都市香港,具有亚洲优势,而长三角更具“蝴蝶效应”潜质,展现出吸引全球的世界魅力。都市圈内部各城市之间也存在着激烈的中心城市竞争。因城市化的天时(经济发展水平、发展机遇)、地利(区位优势)与人和(人为因素影响程度)的基础不同,都市圈凝聚力和竞争力的提高,需要在科学发展观指引下,因势利导,统筹规划,因地制宜,优势互补,去跨越各自发展中的门槛。都市圈普遍存在大都市的通病,而且应急反应能力十分脆弱。在都市圈规划和发展过程中,必须针对目前存在的各种生态环境问题,从都市圈整体可持续发展的角度,统筹规划,有针对性地研究制定解决方案和应急预案,防患未然。     

Urban regional structures transformation and sustainable development: Case study of Nanjing megalopolis

Since 1978, many changes have happened on the background of urban regional structure in China, such as the economy system restructuring, the social transforming including the population flow accelerating and social demand diversifying and individualizing, the political and economic systems reforms, the rise of the real estate market and the changing relationship between human and nature. From the macroscopic view, these changes make the national urban system to be a newer pattern with a widening gap among the cities in spite of the rising of the cities as a whole. At the same, the urban land use structures are changing with both the trends of intensification and diversification, and the trends of the regional diversification and the economic integration. Besides, urban structures with multiple centers are emerging in several metropolitan areas in China. These changes and trends mentioned above are confirmed by a case study of Nanjing City, a growing metropolitan area in east China. The case study also points out some problems in urban regional structure reforming, especially the poor social and ecological considerations. We should pay more attention to some ideas like balance of intensification and decentralization, development of suburban centers and a reasonable mixing of the functional activities to develop a sustainable urban regional structure. Biography: XU Yi-lun (1971–), male, a native of Zhejiang Province, Ph. D. His research interests include urban geography, urban and regional planning.     

Growth of new designated cities in China

１ＩＮＴＲＯＤＵＣＴＩＯＮＭａｎｙｗｅｓｔｅｒｎｓｃｈｏｌａｒｓｓｕｃｈａｓＣｈａｎｇＳｅｎｄｏｕ（１９６３）,ＣｈｅｎｇＴｉｅｊｕｎｅｔａｌ．（１９９４）,ａｎｄＳｋｉｎｎｅｒＧ．Ｗ．ｅｔａｌ（１９７７）ｐｕｔｔｈｅｉｒｒｅｓｅａｒｃｈｉｎｔｅｒｅ...     

ON DEVELOPMENT OF LARGE CITIES IN CHINA

ＯＮＤＥＶＥＬＯＰＭＥＮＴＯＦＬＡＲＧＥＣＩＴＩＥＳＩＮＣＨＩＮＡ￥ＣｕｉＧｏｎｇｈａｏ（崔功豪）（ＮａｎｊｉｎｇＵｎｉｖｅｒｓｉｔｙ，Ｎａｎｊｉｎｇ２１０００８，ＰＲＣ）Ａｂｓｔｒａｃｔ：ＴｈｅｌａｒｇｅｃｉｔｉｅｓｉｎＣｈｉｎａｈａｖｅｇｒｏｗｎ...     

Hub-and-Spoke System in Air Transportation and Its Implications to Regional Economic Development——A Case Study of United States

1 Introduction Over the past twenty years since the enactment of the Airline Deregulation Act, the major US domestic carriers have developed hub-and-spoke structures for their op- erations. These have been instrumental in helping to reduce the overall costs of air travel to the U.S. public and to increase the travel options that are available. This effect also means that the quantity and quality of air ser- vices vary quite considerably between cities in the United States. The pattern of a…     

Population expansion in China’s metropolises and its scale-control

Metropolises are centers of politics, economy, culture and information, and also economic growth poles in comparatively large areas. After 1949, China’s urban structure have changed greatly, from original "pyramid" shape into "upside-down pyramid" shape, that is, more megalopolises and metropolises, fewer medium-sized and small cities. The most distinguishing feature of urban population growth was the remarkable increase of population in megalopolises and metropolises. The key reason for urban population expansion is to want to obtain the benefits of scale-agglomeration economy of metropolises. The number of urban functions directly determines the quality and quantity of urban population. Metropolises appeal not only agricultural population but also the population of medium-sized and small cities, which put much more population pressure on metropolises. The ideal goals of scale-control of metropolitan population are discussed in terms of economy, society and ecollogy. In order to control the metropolitan population expansion, the following measures should be taken: developing medium-sized and small cities, and satillite cities establishing rationally regional urban system, reasonably distributing industrial enterprises, and greatly developing township enterprises.     

POPULATION EXPANSION IN CHINA''''S METROPOLISES AND ITS SCALE-CONTROL

Metropolises are centers of politics, economy, culture and information, and also economic growth poles in comparatively large areas. After 1949, China's urban structure have changed greatly, from original "pyramid" shape into "upside -down pyramid" shape, that is, more megalopolises and metropolises, fewer medium-sized and small cities. The most distinguishing feature of urban population growth was the remarkable increase of population in megalopolises and metropolises. The key reason for urban population expansion is to want to obtain the benefits of scale -agglomeration economy of metropolises. The number of urban functions directly determines the quality and quantity of urban population. Metropolises appeal not only agricultural population but also the population of medium-sized and small cities, which put much more population pressure on metropolises. The ideal goals of scale-control of metropolitan population are discussed in terms of economy, society and ecollogy. In order to control the metropoli     

Industrial agglomeration externalities,city size,and regional economic development: Empirical research based on dynamic panel data of 283 cities and GMM method

Local governments have long been ardently pursuing the industrial specialization effect (MAR externalities) and industrial diversification effect (Jacobs externalities). Such a pursuit has resulted in severe distortion of resource allocation and negative effect on sustainability of local economic development. Regarding the effect from both MAR and Jacobs externalities on local economic development existing literature records notable disputes. Therefore, for local economic development, one important issue is which externality (MAR or Jacobs) can better bring the effect into play. By studying a panel data of 283 Chinese cities from 2003 to 2012 and applying dynamic plane data GMM method, this paper conducted a regression analysis of the relationship among industrial agglomeration externalities, city size, and regional economic development. The result indicates that with regard to the whole nation, MAR externalities are conducive to regional economy development whereas Jacobs externalities will, to an extent, restrain regional economic development. As regards eastern, middle, and western regions, MAR externalities are conducive only to the economic development of the eastern region; their effects on middle and western regions are insignificant. Moreover, the interaction item between MAR externalities and city size has a significant negative synergistic effect on national economic development and a certain acceleration effect on eastern region as well as a strong negative synergistic effect on the middle region and an insignificant effect on the western region. The interaction item between Jacobs externalities and city size has a positive synergistic effect on only the middle region and has an insignificant synergistic effect on both eastern and western regions. Capital stock and labor input have significant accelerating effects on GDP growth per capita of Chinese cities, whereas material capital and labor input remain primary driving forces for Chinese local economic development. Furthermore, human capital contributes to accelerating urban economic development, whereas government intervention restrains urban economic development.     

Cassini growth of population between two metropolitan cities—A case study of Beijing-Tianjin region, China

The existing models of population distribution often focus on the region with a single city or even multiple centers, and lack the detailed explorations of the common and special type of urbanization areas with two centers. Taking Beijing-Tianjin region of China, which is a distinct dual-nuclei metropolitan area in the world, as an example and choosing Landsat-5 TM image in 2005, population, etc. as the data, this paper devotes to comprehending and illustrating a model of Cassini growth of population between the two metropolitan cities through the research of spatial population distribution pattern, aided with RS and GIS techniques. Main technical processes include Kriging interpolation of the population data and character simulation of the Cassini ovals. According to the calculation of a/b, a key characteristic index of Cassini growth model, the spatial structures of population distribution were given. When a/b<1, it is a curve with two separated loops with a population density more than 3000 persons/km². When a/b=1, it is a lemniscate curve with a population density about 3000 persons/km². When 1<a/b√2, it is a dog-bone shaped concave curve with a population density between 500–3000 persons/km². When a/b=√2, it is an oblate curve with a population density about 500 persons/km². When a/b>√2, there is an oval-shaped convex curve with a population density less than 500 persons/km². The results show that owing to the combined action and influence of the regional dual-nuclei, the population distribution of Beijing-Tianjin region is in accord with Cassini model significantly. There-fore, there is Cassini growth of population between the two metropolitan cities in Beijing-Tianjin region. In addition, the process of Cassini growth has extraordinarily instructive significance for judging the development stages of the dual-nuclei metropolitan areas. Foundation item: Under the auspices of National High-Tech Research and Development Program of China (863 Program) (No. 2007AA12Z235), National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 40471058)     

CHINA＇S REGIONAL DISPARITY IN 1981-2000：OPENNESS AND DEVELOPMENT OF NON-STATE-OWNED ENTERPRISES AND FISCAL DECENTRALIZATION

While China‘s economic growth has been impressive since 1978, regional disparity in terms of provincial per capita GDP has been increasing. On the other hand, this rapid but uneven growth was accompanied by China‘s deepening openness and structural reforms including the development of non-state-owned enterprises (non-SOEs) and fiscal decentralization. Based on quantitative analyses, this paper tries to explore the features of regional disparity in China and the relationships between regional growth and China‘s openness and economic structure reforms in the period from 1981 to 2000, The paper finds that the catching-up of the coastal region to the initially rich provinces, which are mainly located in inland areas, brought about a convergence of the growth pattern across provinces in the 1980s. The subsequent divergence in the provincial growth rates between the coast and the interior generated an enlarging regional disparity in China in the 1990s. The ever-faster growth in the coastal region was benefited by China‘s openness and the development of non-state-owned enterprises. The development of non-state-owned enterprises underlies the higher operational efficiency in the coastal region. Additionally, with the insignificant regression results, fiscal decentralization was observed to facilitate faster growth in the coast region. The findings justify the initiative of the “West Region Development Strategy“ and offer some policy implications for China.     

高铁影响下的珠江三角洲城市群经济空间格局的多维度分析

深入研究高铁对珠江三角洲（简称珠三角）城市群区域经济空间格局的影响,对挖掘高铁与区域经济耦合关系具有一定的科学价值。本文基于2010、2014、2018年珠三角地区城市面板数据,从区域经济联系、区域优势潜力及区域经济空间平稳性3个维度,运用引力模型、区位优势潜力模型、Theil系数等技术模型和方法,综合测度高铁对珠三角城市群区域经济空间格局的影响。研究结果表明：① 珠三角城市间经济联系强度随年份的递增而呈现上升的趋势,南北向联系强于东西向联系,并逐渐出现1个经济联系核心区、3个经济联系副关联区和1个经济增长辐射区;② 珠三角市际间区位优势潜力差距逐渐拉大,其中东莞、中山等经济实力较强、城市地域规模、人口规模较小且地理位置优越的二三线城市在高铁运营过程中获得更大的利益;③ 从珠三角区域经济整体差异性来看,区域经济空间格局异质性呈先扩大后缩小趋势;从区内群体差异性来看,一二线城市之间经济发展水平差异呈先大幅上升后小幅下降趋势;二三线城市之间经济发展水平差异呈下降趋势。该研究将对未来交通规划提供参考。     

THE UNEVEN DEVELOPMENT AND SPATIAL DIFFUSION OF CHINESE CENTRAL CITIES

ＴＨＥ ＵＮＥＶＥＮ ＤＥＶＥＬＯＰＭＥＮＴ ＡＮＤ ＳＰＡＴＩＡＬ ＤＩＦＦＵＳＩＯＮ ＯＦ ＣＨＩＮＥＳＥ ＣＥＮＴＲＡＬ ＣＩＴＩＥＳ ＮｉｎｇＹｕｅＡｎｎ（宁越敏）；ＹａｎＺｈｏｎｇｍｉｎ（严重敏）（ＴｈｅＩｎｓｔｉｔｕｔｅｏｆＧｅｏｇｒａｐ...     

循环经济又好又快促进区域持续发展

循环经济是一种区域可持续发展的生态经济,也是我国全面建设小康社会和加快推进现代化发展阶段的一种新“社会-经济”模式。本文探讨了对循环经济的理念与共识,及其发展基础。同时,以上海、北京等大城市开始萌发的循环经济新模式,评述国内外对循环经济普及开发的案例。指出循环经济是推进区域经济可持续发展,保护资源与环境的重要战略之一。     

City Networks of Online Commodity Services in China: Empirical Analysis of Tmall Clothing and Electronic Retailers

City networks have been a critical topic in the fields of urban geography and regional economics. Numerous studies have explored city networks, focusing mainly on infrastructure and industrial networks. Unlike traditional urban network of which the major measuring indexes are population sizes and entity industries, online commodity service networks could reflect well the influencing of emerging economies, especially the Internet economy, on city networks. This study analyzes and reveals structural features of China’s city networks through online commodity services, providing the internet economic approach on city networks. Results indicate that the core cities of online commodity service networks are mainly concentrated in eastern coastal areas. In addition, spatial polarization and layer structure of network connections are obvious, descending from the centers in eastern China to peripheral cities in central and western China. Online commodity services of different cities show apparent differences and uncertainties in terms of specialization rates of international connection, which presents a tendency toward diversification. Online commodity service networks are not only associated with goods production, supply, and consumption in physical space but also reflect virtual information, capital, and technology flows, thus providing a new empirical approach for understanding city networks in information and internet economic age.     

Empirical study on effect of industrial structure change on regional economic growth of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Metropolitan Region

Based on the data of gross domestic product (GDP), industrial added value and the proportion of industrial employees from 2000 to 2008, this paper studies the effect of industrial structure change on the regional economic growth of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Metropolitan Region in China using the shift-share method. The results show that: 1) In the 21st century, the industrial output of three industries, namely, primary, secondary, and tertiary, and the GDP grew rapidly in the study period. The tertiary industry grew the fastest; it had the largest contribution to the GDP and meanwhile had become the most competitive industry in the metropolitan region. 2) The development of cities within the region was not balanced. Firstly, compared with Tianjin, Beijing, as one of the two core cities, was more rational in the industrial structure. Secondly, the surrounding eight cities, which are Shijiazhuang, Qinhuangdao, Tangshan, Langfang, Baoding, Cangzhou, Zhangjiakou, and Chengde, were all uncompetitive than the two core cities. 3) There was a great industrial gradient in the region (especially between the two core cities and the cities of Tangshan, Baoding, Zhangjiakou, Chengde, Cangzhou, and Langfang). As a result, it is foreseeable that the industry transfer in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Metropolitan Region will be one of the trends in regional development, and the industry transfer is inevitably to promote the regional integration.     

EFFECTIVENESS OF REGIONAL TOURISM INTEGRATION——Case of Quadrangle Economic Cooperation Zone in Great Mekong Region

1INTRODUCTION Quadrangle Economic Cooperation Zone (called the Golden Quadrangle) among China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand is one of the most isolated and troublesome re- gionsinthe world. It hasa longhistoryasone ofthe most politicallysensitive spotsin the world. Wars, refugee mi- grations, drug, closed national borders and lack ofinfras- tructurehavelongbeenconstantbarrierstothisarea. Quadrangle Economic Cooperation Zone is now the focus of Asia. Thailand, Myanmar, Laos and China …     

ON REGIONAL DIFFERENTIATION OF RIVER WATER ENVIRONMENT CAPACITY AND STRATEGIES TO CONTROL WATER ENVIRONMENT POLLUTION IN CHINA

ＯＮＲＥＧＩＯＮＡＬＤＩＦＦＥＲＥＮＴＩＡＴＩＯＮＯＦＲＩＶＥＲＷＡＴＥＲＥＮＶＩＲＯＮＭＥＮＴＣＡＰＡＣＩＴＹＡＮＤＳＴＲＡＴＥＧＩＥＳＴＯＣＯＮＴＲＯＬＷＡＴＥＲＥＮＶＩＲＯＮＭＥＮＴＰＯＬＬＵＴＩＯＮＩＮＣＨＩＮＡ￥ＷａｎｇＨｕａｄｏｎｇ（王华...     

SPATIAL-TEMPORAL ANALYSIS OF REGIONAL DISPARITIES OF INTERNET DEVELOPMENT IN CHINA

This paper attempts to summarize the disparities of lnternet development in China spatially-temporally. The major objective is to measure the differences between Eastern, Central and Western China. Methods of map presentation, correlation, Lorenz curve, Gini Coefficient and location quotient analysis are conductcd in this study.For convenience, the indicator of regional lnternet development is simplified as the number of domain names registered under .CN in each province. The data used are collected from the semi-annual surveys of the Statistical surrey Report on the Internet Development in China since 1999. There are several findings: 1)The number of domain names in each province (city) declines gradually from the east to the west. 2) The gap between the highest growth provinces (cities) and the lowest ones is rather large. 3) Although the absolute differences between the eastern, ccntral and western China have been enlarged, the relative diffcrences in each province (city) have remained constant.4) Provinces (cities) are classified into three types according to location quotient changes, namely, rising type,changeless type and declining type. Compared with industrial and economic growth, lnternet sector in the eastern and western China is relatively ascending, while that in the central China is descending. 5) The number of domain names at provincial level is not statistically consistent with GDP.