Mega-city Regions In China Research Articles

High-Speed Railway Facilities, Intercity Accessibility and Urban Innovation Level—Evidence from Cities in Three Chinese Megacity Regions

This paper investigates the impact of high-speed railways (HSR) on urban innovation levels by improving intercity accessibility. We employ prefecture city-level data within three megacity regions in China from 2009 to 2018. Using the number of invention patents granted as a proxy for the innovation level of a city, we find that HSR facilities significantly improve urban innovation levels through better regional intercity accessibility and that there is a diminishing effect as commuting time increases. The impact mechanisms of innovation improvement can be explained by an ever-increasing potential of interaction activities among talents and technology investment opportunities among cities. We contribute to the literature by highlighting the spatial attenuation impact of HSR on urban innovation levels as well as the underlying mechanisms. Particularly, talent interaction exerts a larger effect on urban innovation levels than technology investment opportunities. Moreover, we unravel the heterogeneous effects that more innovative cities and cities with double first-class universities gain more from the improved intercity accessibility brought by HSR. This research has policy implications that promoting HSR facilities improves innovation levels of cities with different resources.

Assessing route redundancy of freeway networks in Mega-city regions

• Assess the route redundancy of freeway networks in mega-city regions. • Propose diversity and dispersion of alternative paths as two complementary measures. • Assess route redundancy of mega-city freeway networks at network and city levels. • Consider three major mega-city regions of China in the case studies. In this paper, we investigate the performance of freeway networks in mega-city regions from the perspective of route redundancy—the provision of alternative routes for travelers when their primary routes are disrupted by disasters. Specifically, route redundancy is assessed with two complementary dimensions: the diversity and dispersion of alternative routes. The former represents the number of alternative routes without disruptions, and the latter reflects the robustness of this number during disruptions. Three typical mega-city regions in China, namely the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and the Yangtze River Delta—are examined as case studies. Results indicate that travelers in first-tier cities (i.e., national economic or political centers) may have inadequate route redundancy. Route diversity increases when more topological cycles are traversed by numerous alternative routes. Additionally, alternative routes of the peripheral cities in mega-city regions are less dispersed, which cause their lack of redundancy and should be improved.

The impacts of urban vitality and urban density on innovation: Evidence from China's Greater Bay Area

Urban vitality and urban density have recently been the subject of intense debates in China, but their broader economic impacts have been neglected. Urban vitality can foster innovation by increasing interaction potential and efficiency, which can be amplified by the catalyst function of a favorable dense urban environment. This paper examines the impacts of urban vitality and density on innovation using a panel dataset for nine cities in the Greater Bay Area, which is one of the most prominent mega-city regions in China. The number of cafes is used to measure urban vitality and creation patent and utility model patent application to measure incremental and radical innovation, respectively. The current study has unveiled that urban vitality is positively associated with incremental and radical innovation. Results have indicated that one unit increase in the number of cafes is associated with a 3.92 and 7.29 unit increase in creation patent and utility model patent application, respectively. Moreover, urban vitality bolsters incremental innovation when urban density is high, while radical innovation benefits from urban vitality when urban density is low. These findings are robust to a set of sensitivity checks, including the use of various specifications and alternative datasets. We conclude with policy implications for innovation development from the perspective of urban vitality and urban density.

The multi-level governance of formulating regional brand identities: Evidence from three Mega City Regions in China

The emergence and expansion of clusters of large metropolitan areas also known as Mega City Regions (MCRs) is a worldwide phenomenon. In China, governmental attempts are made to develop so-called regional brand identities for them. Regional brand identities, as a subspecies of place brand identities, differ from regional identities in the sense that they are the result of conscious branding efforts on the part of public authorities rather than more historically evolved regional identities as experienced by citizens. In this study, the establishment of regional brand identities for three MCRs in China is examined, as these are constituted through and institutionally embedded in intergovernmental relations. We map the perceptions of national, provincial and municipal governments of regional brand identities based on planning documents and relevant interviews. The emergence and stabilization of the regional profiles for China's largest MCRs Pearl River Delta (PRD), Yangtze River Delta (YRD) and Jing-Jin-Ji (JJJ) are featured in their dynamic territorial boundaries, centralized institutionalization and various symbolic meanings. The national government promotes the regional brands to reinforce the strategic awareness and future direction of the region, and these profiles are diffused at the provincial and municipal level.

From cities to super mega city regions in China in a new wave of urbanisation and economic transition: Issues and challenges

A mega city region comprises a cluster of highly networked urban settlements anchored by one or more large cities. Substantial studies have been conducted in the 21st century to theorise the development of mega city regions from two perspectives: one focuses on the rationale/challenges of planning and governance while the other focuses on the economic forces that generate the mega city regions. In China, the outstanding position of mega city regions in China’s economic development has been accentuated in both academic research and recent policies. Recent studies have unpacked the political dynamics of mega city regions in China and identified challenges for planning and governance. The present study approaches this issue through another theoretical lens and deciphers the economic process underneath the recent upsurge of Chinese mega city regions. By unfolding the economic transition since the late 1970s to trace the footprints of mega city region development, the paper contributes a discourse of how different waves of economic transition – that is, rural industrialisation, land-centred development and urban tertiarisation – have been steering individual cities towards super mega city regions. The paper also identifies the distinctive challenges confronting the future development of China’s mega city regions, including jurisdictional fragmentation, socio-spatial inequality and environmental externalities, which were created because of the strong bottom-up initiatives in land development during rural industrialisation. New policies and planning are required in response to these challenges as well as to the emerging new industries in the new wave of economic transition (i.e. from labour-intensive industries to the development of high-tech industries).

Analyzing Mega City-Regions through Integrating Urbanization and Eco-Environment Systems: A Case Study of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region.

The high-speed economic growth of mega city-regions in China has been characterized by rapid urbanization accompanied by a series of environmental issues ranging from widespread soil contamination to groundwater depletion. This article begins with an analysis of the interaction between urbanization and the ecological system and reviews existing frameworks for analyzing urban and ecological systems. By taking the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region as an example, the article introduces a conceptual framework to analyze mega city-regions and forecast possible interactions between urbanization and eco-environment by applying simulation model. The proposed framework and its components can provide guidance to identify the impacts of urbanization and external forces such as globalization on eco-environment by integrating the internal and external factors, synthesize the complex components of mega city-regions in databases, understand and diagnose the casual relationship between urban policies and ecological consequences.

Producer service linkages and city connectivity in the mega-city region of China: A case study of the Pearl River Delta

This paper examines the intra- and inter-firm producer service linkages and city connectivity of the Pearl River Delta (PRD), one of the fastest growing and globalising mega-city regions in China. The study reveals that the rapid growth of producer services in the recent two decades has emerged as a crucial contributor to the formation of the regional network that was previously shaped mainly by manufacturing activities. To provide a better understanding of the mechanisms of mega-city regions, a nexus between the literature on globalisation and mega-city regions and the studies on the service economy must be developed to consider not only intra-firm office connections, but also the linkages of producer services between different firms and economic sectors. Through a questionnaire survey covering 1020 producer service firms in three major PRD cities, we provide evidence that in a manner different from manufacturing activities, producer services linkages, both intra-firm and inter-firm, bind the cities into a hierarchical and localised regional system.