Abstract
Despite various studies regarding polycentric development at metropolis or even larger spatial scales, there is little systematic analysis regarding the rapid urbanization area at the county-level scale. Therefore, this study explored polycentric development in 52 county-level administrative units in Zhejiang Province, China, from a public service perspective. Based on point-of-interest data, our analysis detected the intra-county urban centers and measured their polycentric characteristics. According to the number, scale, and equilibrium value of intra-county polycentricity, the 52 county-level units were classified into three types using a two-step cluster algorithm method. The empirical results suggest that polycentric characteristics vary in the rapid urbanization area, and the spatial distribution of typological units is characterized by agglomeration. Topographical condition, fixed assets investment, public transportation, and residential consumption ability are highly associated with the classification of polycentric urban areas. The conclusion of this study would help local governments initiate better urban development policies and provide potential research directions for further studies about the relationship of inter-county urban centers.
Highlights
IntroductionUrban areas have become the major habitat of human beings
As urbanization continues worldwide, urban areas have become the major habitat of human beings
115 county-level urban centers were identified using the aforementioned measurement in Zhejiang Province, with an average of two urban centers per administrative unit
Summary
Urban areas have become the major habitat of human beings. A group of economists and geographers, including Hurd and Alonso, explored this spatial structure model from the perspective of land economics [2,3]. In the concentric ring model, the urban center is the only core area of a city and contains retail and service sectors. With the continuous expansion of the urban scale, agglomeration diseconomy would promote the dispersion of economic activities, and suburbanization would lead the urban population to migrate to the periphery of cities [5,6]. Nearby cities with various types and scales have formed urban agglomerations via transportation networks in North America and Western Europe [7]. Both megalopolises and urban agglomerations blur the boundaries between cities. The urban spatial structure transformation must adapt to much wider and more diverse geographical scales, instead of only the intra-city scale
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