Factors affecting formation and development of the urban industrial district in China — A case study on caohejing hi-tech park in Shanghai

Abstract

In China, the urban industrial district is usually an organic concentrated district including many factories that are in big, middle or small size, and are coordinated in the process of production, or use infrastructure in common. The formation and development of the urban industrial district in China are affected by not only general factors such as natural factor, transportation factor, labour factor, ecologic factor, but also special factors such as agglomeration factor, technologic factor and social factor. To the district’s formation, both the social factors and natural factors are important, especially the attitude the government have towards the district and the regional natural condition. But the agglomeration, market and transportation costs here are not as important as those in the traditional Industrial Location Theory. Now we must pay great attention to these three factors owing to the new economic conditions in China. In the development of the district, the main factors are technology and agglomeration. This indicates that the technologic factor is gradually the essential condition in the development of the district. Besides, we must also know the affection of the ecologic factor in the development of the district. According to the reality of Caohejing district, this paper gives every factor mark in the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). With the result of the AHP, some suggestions have been put forward to Caohejing Hi-Tech Park and other urban industrial districts as well.