The uneven development and spatial diffusion of Chinese central cities

Abstract

The central cities are the political, economic and cultural centers of a country or a region. To make the central cities to play a key role in the national economy is one of the most important tasks in Chinese urban economic reform. This paper firstly approaches the classification of the central cities, then, the features of the development and spatial diffusion of the central cities since the 1980s. The authors think that the central cities have experienced the uneven development, and the effects of economic spread of the central cities in a different hierarchical level are also different. Particularly, the spatial economic pattern of both Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces is taking place a new division under the influence of Shanghai, the largest central city of China. In order to further make the central cities to play a role, the authors make 4 suggestions to different types of the central cities so as to strengthen the development of the central cities in the future.