Multi-Scale Measurement of Regional Inequality in Mainland China during 2005–2010 Using DMSP/OLS Night Light Imagery and Population Density Grid Data

Huimin Xu,Deren Li,Hutao Yang,Huiran Jin,Xi Li

doi:10.3390/su71013469

Abstract

This study used the Night Light Development Index (NLDI) to measure the regional inequality of public services in Mainland China at multiple scales. The NLDI was extracted based on a Gini Coefficient approach to measure the spatial differences of population distribution and night light distribution. Population data were derived from the dataset of China’s population density grid, and night light data were acquired from satellite imagery. In the multi-scale analysis, we calculated the NLDI for China as a whole, eight economic regions, 31 provincial regions, and 354 prefectural cities for the two years of 2005 and 2010. The results indicate that Southwest China and Northwest China are the regions with the most unequal public services, with NLDI values of 0.7116 and 0.7251 for 2005, respectively, and 0.6678 and 0.6304 for 2010, respectively. In contrast, Northern Coastal China had the lowest NLDI values of 0.4775 and 0.4312 for 2005 and 2010, respectively, indicating that this region had the most equal public services. Also, the regional inequality of Mainland China in terms of NLDI has been reduced from 0.6161 to 0.5743 during 2005–2010. The same pattern was observed from the provincial and prefectural analysis, suggesting that public services in Mainland China became more equal within the five-year period. A regression analysis indicated that provincial and prefectural regions with more public services per capita and higher population density had more equal public services.

Highlights

China has experienced fast economic growth and urbanization since the end of the 1970s when the Reform and Opening policy was officially implemented
The Night Light Development Index (NLDI) is based on the concept of the Gini Coefficient that (1) the regional inequality is high if a minority of residents live in an area producing the majority of the night light; (2) the regional inequality is low if the spatial distribution of night light is highly consistent with the spatial distribution of the population density [56]; and (3) the NLDI is between 0 and 1, where 0 represents perfect equality and 1 represents extreme inequality
The NLDI for Mainland China and the eight economic regions was derived as shown in Table 3 and Figures 9 and 10

Summary

Introduction

China has experienced fast economic growth and urbanization since the end of the 1970s when the Reform and Opening policy was officially implemented. China’s economy is growing rapidly, its uneven spatial pattern is evident. In China, strong contrasts exist between East and West, rural and urban regions, and even between different districts of the same city. Unequal regional development may cause social instability that hinders sustainable development [1,2]. It is important to measure the regional inequality of China. Scholars attempted to measure this inequality with socioeconomic indicators such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP), GDP per capita, consumption, and investment [3,4,5,6,7,8]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion