Review and prospect of research on the spatial pattern of China's urban system

Abstract

Creating a scientifically-sound spatial pattern of urban system is an important content of promoting the "new urbanization" strategy in China. In this article, we discuss the progress of research on the overall characteristics, evolution, and development mechanisms of the spatial pattern of China's urban system. These include the research progress on the spatial distribution and structure of China's urban system, the spatial pattern of city scales, the spatial pattern of functional structure, as well as the spatial pattern of urban network of China's urban system. This review concludes that although much research has been done on the spatial pattern of China's urban system based on socioeconomic development, further in-depth and improved research is still needed. Less research has been done on the spatial pattern of China's urban system based on ecological environment and natural resources security concerns, and this fails to meet the practical needs of urban development. Research on optimization theory and evaluation of the spatial pattern of China's urban system is overall insufficient. System simulation and optimization mode research is relatively weak. Accordingly, in addition to deepening and improving studies on current research themes, future studies should focus on the spatial coupling of the ecological security pattern, resource and environment pattern, and economic and social development pattern of China's urban system. The research on optimization theory, evaluation methods, system simulation models, and optimization modes and strategies of the spatial pattern of China's urban system should be highligted. Finally, an integrated system of theory and methodology on the spatial pattern of China's urban system should be developed.