Proportion Of Cities Research Articles

Investigating spatiotemporal patterns and determinants of land resource misallocation in prefecture‐level China

AbstractThe misallocation of land resources is an important factor restricting the high‐quality development of China's economy. Based on the perspective of supply and demand matching, this study proposed a measurement method for the spatial misallocation of land resources and constructed two models for the testing and decomposition of factors affecting land resource spatial misallocation. We used this measurement method and these two models to explore the spatiotemporal characteristics and determinants of the spatial misallocation of land resources in China from 2000 to 2018 with the aim of providing policy recommendations for the correction of land resource misallocation in China and other developing countries. The results showed that the spatial misallocation of land resources in China showed an upward trend with evident spatial differentiation and the proportion of cities with high and severe misallocation increased. Industrial isomorphism and market misallocation are the main driving factors of land misallocation. Government misallocation and factor market abnormal development aggravate land resource misallocation. Extensive economic development and excessive factor agglomeration have a small effect on land resource spatial misallocation. Therefore, strengthening the land supply‐side reform, and implementing differentiated land allocation policies are effective pathways to control land resource misallocation in China.

A Study on the Changes of Green Total Factor Productivity in Chinese Cities under Resource and Environmental Constraints

Confronting the dual challenges of excessive resource consumption and environmental pollution, the traditional extensive economic development pattern significantly impeded the high-quality development of the Chinese economy. Examining variations in green total factor productivity across different types of cities holds substantial practical significance for promoting coordinated regional development and facilitating the green transformation of urban economies. Panel data from 283 cities in China spanning the years 2006 to 2020 were selected for analysis. The window-Malmquist–Luenberger index model, incorporating a mixed distance function, was employed to assess changes in green total factor productivity among the sample cities. The results were then categorized and analyzed based on different city attributes. The findings indicate that (1) the variation in green total factor productivity across China’s four major regions from 2006 to 2020 is generally characterized by an initial decline followed by an increase; (2) the proportion of cities with significantly improved green total factor productivity decreases from the east to the central, western, and northeastern regions; (3) the increase in green total factor productivity is positively correlated with city size, suggesting that larger cities experience higher growth in green total factor productivity; (4) first- and second-tier cities exhibit a relatively high mean value of green total factor productivity growth, while third-, fourth-, and fifth-tier cities demonstrate relatively lower growth.

Synergistic effect of combating air pollutants and carbon emissions in the Yangtze River Delta of China: spatial and temporal divergence analysis and key influencing factors.

Synergizing the reduction of air pollutants and carbon emissions (APCE) has become a critical tactic alternative to address the issue of climate change. Taking the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region of China as a case study, this paper explores the spatial and temporal distribution pattern of the coupling coordination degree (CCD) of combating APCE from 2011 to 2022, analyzes the dynamic change in CCD using the convergence test, and investigates the key factors affecting CCD via the Tobit regression model. The results show that (1) from 2011 to 2022, the air pollutants (AP) and CO2 emission (CE) in the YRD region decrease at the annual rate of 10.32% and 0.85%, respectively; (2) the CCD of reducing APCE in the YRD presents a W-shaped fluctuation before 2016 and then steps into a steady increase status after 2016; (3) the order of CCD in four provincial-level units by 2022 is Shanghai > Zhejiang > Jiangsu > Anhui. The proportion of cities where the CCD of reducing APCE enters the high-coordination period has reached 87.8%; and (4) the Tobit regression results affirm that economic growth, industrial structure, and green technological innovation exacerbate the CCD of combating APCE, while opening-up level mitigates it. The findings offer policymakers valuable insights into the importance of pursuing collaborative governance over APCE and ensuring sustainable development.

Analysis of coupling coordination and obstacle factors between tourism development and ecosystem services value: A case study of the Yellow River Basin, China

The rapid development of tourism has caused a series of impacts on the ecosystem. Although studies on the relationship between tourism development (TD) and the ecological environment are rich, few scholars have focused on the coupling coordination between them from the perspective of ecosystem services value (ESV). Given this research gap, we evaluated the levels of TD and ESV in 78 cities of the Yellow River Basin (YRB), China based on statistical and land-use data. Then, the coupling coordination degree (CCD) model, exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA), the spatial variogram model, and the obstacle degree model were used to analyze the spatiotemporal evolution of coupling coordination between TD and ESV and its obstacle factors. The results show the following: (1) The comprehensive TD level shows an upward trend and presents significant spatial differentiation characteristics. The total ESV of the YRB shows a fluctuating upward trend, and the average ESV presents the spatial pattern of uplift in the middle reaches. (2) The comprehensive CCD of the YRB has gradually improved, but the gap between cities has widened. The global spatial autocorrelation of CCD is significantly positive, and the spatial variability has gradually increased. An “uplift area” in southern Shaanxi always exists and has gradually expanded to Shanxi and western Henan, while eastern Henan and western Shandong become a “subsidence area”. The coupling coordination level has changed from uncoordinated to coordinated in most counties, but the problem of TD and ESV imbalance generally exists. (3) For the whole basin, TD is always the main obstacle factor at the system layer, and tourism scale and tourism economic benefit are the most significant obstacles at the category layer. At the city level, the proportion of cities where TD is the main obstacle factor exceeds 80% by 2019. Specifically, insufficient tourism scale and low tourism economic efficiency restrict the improvement of CCD in most cities. This research provides valuable references for studying the coupling coordination relationship between TU and ESV in big river basins worldwide.

The Evaluation Prediction System for Urban Advanced Manufacturing Development

With the rapid development of the economy, it is important to reasonably evaluate the development status of the regional manufacturing industry. Given this, this article expands the evaluation indicators of urban advanced manufacturing (UAM) from the perspective of the push–pull-mooring (PPM). Then, it uses a machine learning (ML) method to predict the evaluation results of other cities through a small amount of sample data. The results show that: (1) From the current development status of UAM in Guangdong Province (GD), cities in the Pearl River Delta region occupy a dominant position. However, cities in eastern, western, and mountainous regions have strong development potential and lead cities. Therefore, each region has cities with high levels of development and has a demonstrative role. (2) By comparison, it was found that the overall development level of UAM in GD is not significantly different from that of the Yangtze River Economic Belt. However, due to significant differences in their extreme values, the proportion of cities above the average in the overall population is relatively small. This indirectly proves that GD’s UAM not only has a phased nature, but also has a demonstrative role. (3) The prediction effect of the perceptron model is better than other methods. Although neural network models have better prediction performance than other machine learning models, they should not overly rely on complex network structure prediction data. By comparing the results, the reliability is verified. Finally, according to the life cycle theory, we propose a targeted development path for different UAM.

Relationship between the degree and spatial pattern of urban shrinkage based on nighttime light data: a case study of the old industrial area in Northeast China

ABSTRACT Urban shrinkage is a common phenomenon worldwide, but the relationship between the degree and spatial pattern of urban shrinkage is unclear. This paper takes the old northeastern industrial base, a region with a concentration of shrinking cities in China, as the study area. With the help of multi-source remote sensing images, this study first identified the degree and spatial pattern of urban shrinkage, and then investigated their relationship using the chi-square test. A total of 63 physical urban areas were identified as shrinking cities during the period 2013–2018. Among them, the proportion of cities with moderate and severe shrinking was relatively high. The spatial patterns of urban shrinkage are classified as central shrinkage, peripheral shrinkage, perforation shrinkage and global shrinkage. The results of the chi-square test proved that the spatial pattern and degree of urban shrinkage are correlated. Mild shrinkage was usually peripheral shrinkage; moderate shrinkage was usually central and perforation shrinkage; and severe shrinkage was usually global shrinkage. Identifying the degree and spatial pattern of urban shrinkage and investigating their relationship help deepen the understanding of the urban shrinkage phenomenon at a theoretical level and help urban planners and policy makers propose multidimensional strategies to alleviate the development dilemma of shrinking cities on a practical level.

Evaluation of Tourism Ecological Security and Its Driving Mechanism in the Yellow River Basin, China: Based on Open Systems Theory and DPSIR Model

Tourism ecological security (TES) has gradually become a frontier topic because it is related to the virtuous circle of ecosystems and sustainable development, especially in river basins with fragile ecosystems. Based on the Driver–Pressure–State–Impact–Response (DPSIR) model and open systems theory, we constructed a TES evaluation system in the Yellow River Basin (YRB), China. Then, the TES index was measured from 2004 to 2019 and its spatio-temporal characteristics and driving mechanism were analyzed. The results show that: (1) In terms of temporal evolution, the comprehensive TES index shows a steady upward trend, but the difference between cities increases over time. Moreover, the proportion of cities with low status levels of TES declined rapidly, while the proportion of cities with high status levels of TES has grown slowly. (2) Spatially, low-TES value cities have always been in the majority, and the high-value cities show a scattered spatial distribution, most of which are along the river. Moreover, TES is randomly distributed in space before 2013, but it shows a significant positive spatial clustering feature thereafter. Specifically, the range of hot spots extends from the intersection of the middle and upper reaches to downstream, while the cold spots are always scattered. Furthermore, the trend surface in the east–west direction is always smooth, while it gradually manifests an inverted U-shape in the north–south direction. (3) In the dynamic transfer, TES lacks the vitality of transfer, but the probability of shifting upward becomes more significant when adjacent to higher-level cities; the opposite is true when adjacent to lower-ranked cities. (4) In terms of the driving mechanism, the factors related to tourism and the economy are the most important driving forces, and the effect of tourism-related factors on TES is becoming increasingly significant. Moreover, the driving mechanism is constructed. Finally, this study provides targeted policy implications for improving TES in the YRB, which has reference value for the development of ecological protection and high-quality tourism.

Unveiling the Regional Differences and Convergence of Urban Sprawl in China, 2006–2019

There is an obvious imbalanced regional development among eastern, central, and western China. This is also a fundamental problem that policy makers and planners need to address. Specific to urban development, we wondered whether there were regional differences in urban sprawl and whether this trend was under control. By using the urban sprawl index (USI), this paper investigated the spatiotemporal pattern of urban sprawl from 2006 to 2019, and its regional difference and convergence among eastern, central, and western China. It finds that the cities with high, medium, and low sprawl in the east and west regions are distributed with a clear geographical pattern, while the distribution in the central region has no intuitive geographical features. Also, the proportion of cities with high sprawl in the eastern region is more than that in the other regions, with low sprawl in central China and medium sprawl in the western region. Moreover, urban sprawl in all three regions showed a downward trend, but this process was fluctuating and had obvious phase characteristics. It can be concluded that there is a convergence trend in urban sprawl in China over the research period, and the club convergence effect exists in the eastern, central, and western regions.

Dynamics, Risk and Management Performance of Urban Real Estate Inventory in Yangtze River Delta

(1) Background: Inventory management is a key point in the achievement of the virtuous cycle and sustainable development of the real estate industry. In response to the practical needs of city-based policies, this paper constructs a new research approach of “evolution dynamics—risk analysis—performance evaluation—policy design” of real estate inventory, and conducts a case study on the Yangtze River Delta. (2) Methods: This paper studies the change characteristics, trends and spatial patterns of real estate inventory changes in the Yangtze River Delta based on Geographic Information System software, and quantitatively evaluates the risk level and management performance of real estate inventory by introducing the Boston Consulting Group Matrix for corporate management and the Super- Data Envelopment Analysis Model for operations research, providing a basis for policy design. (3) Results: First, the “destocking” policy has gained results to some extent and diversified the inventory evolution, thus alleviating or curbing the negative trend in most cities. Second, the real estate inventory in the Yangtze River Delta is divided into high, low, potential and zero pressure zones by risk levels, and the proportion of cities with increased, decreased and unchanged risk levels is essentially the same. Third, the average real estate inventory management performance index has been steadily improving, but overall, it is still unsatisfactory, with cities in an effective state accounting for 40% and below for a long time. Fourth, real estate inventory and its management performance both show significant spatial effects, with cold and hot spot cities characterized by a “center-periphery” spatial pattern in geographical distribution, and the cities in the study area are classified into four types: super-efficiency, efficiency, inefficiency, and super-inefficiency. Fifth, the real estate inventory in most cities is continuing to grow positively, and a small number of cities have been in the high-risk zone for a long time or become new members of the high-risk zone, making the government and enterprises still faced up with great pressure and challenges in inventory management with the risk level further increased but management performance growing slowly. (4) Conclusions: The study area is divided into four types of policy areas, that is, red key area, yellow important area, green auxiliary area, and path-dependent area, and suggestions for optimization are made from the perspectives of risk control, performance improvement, benchmarking recommendation, and redundancy governance, providing a basis for the government’s real estate inventory management policy design and the enterprise’s high-quality development decision.

Spatial-temporal evolution of the allometric growth between economic scale and carbon emissions in China's cities and its driving mechanism.

Exploring the relationship between economic development and carbon emissions is a hot issue of concern to academia. Taking Chinese cities as the research object, this study constructed an allometric growth model of economic scale and carbon emissions to analyze the spatial–temporal evolution of their allometric growth from 2000 to 2017. Additionally, the geographical detector model was used to reveal the driving mechanism of allometric growth. The findings were as follows. (1) The spatial–temporal patterns of economic scale and carbon emissions were dominated by hot spots. Additionally, their size distribution was in an equilibrium stage. (2) The gap between the economic growth rate of Chinese cities and the growth rate of carbon emissions grew, reflecting the remarkable achievements in carbon emission reduction in Chinese cities as a whole. The scaling exponent declined from east to the west during 2000–2008, but showed the opposite trend during 2009–2017. The proportion of cities with negative allometric growth in the sample cities increased from 76.49 to 97.86%. (3) The influence of city investment intensity, energy utilization efficiency, technological development level, social consumption level, fiscal investment level and economic development level on allometric growth gradually decreases. These factors were also the main factors affecting the spatial–temporal heterogeneity of allometric growth. (4) The impact of various factors had a synergetic enhancement effect. These factors can be classified as economic factors, environmental factors and a combination of them. Under the nonlinear coupling of multiple factors, a spatially differentiated pattern of allometric growth was formed.

Spatiotemporal Characteristics and Influencing Factors of Tourism-Urbanization-Technology-Ecological Environment on the Yunnan-Guizhou-Sichuan Region: An Uncoordinated Coupling Perspective.

The tourism, urbanization, technology, and the ecological environment both promote and restrict each other. Coordinating the relationship between the four is of great significance to the realization of high-quality sustainable regional development. Taking the Yunnan–Guizhou–Sichuan region as an example, this paper constructs an uncoordinated coupling model for the tourism–urbanization–technology–ecological environment system. Using exploratory spatial analysis and geographic information systems, this paper reveals the temporal and spatial evolution law affecting the uncoordinated coupling relationship between tourism, urbanization, technology and the ecological environment in the Yunnan–Guizhou–Sichuan region from 2010 to 2020, before establishing a panel Tobit model that is used to explore the factors affecting the four systems. The research shows the following: (1) The level of comprehensive development for tourism, urbanization, technology, and the ecological environment in Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan has increased rapidly. Of all these, the tourism industry was the most affected by COVID-19 in 2020, while the level of urbanization, technology, and ecological environment developments in the three provinces has become similar over time. (2) Uncoordinated development between cities is a prominent problem; while the uncoordinated coupling spatial agglomeration in various regions is relatively stable, the proportion of cities with no significant agglomeration form amounts to more than 70%, with mostly low–low (L–L) and high–high (H–H) agglomeration types. (3) The degree to which uncoordinated coupling exists among the four systems in the Yunnan–Guizhou–Sichuan region is affected by many factors. Only eco-environmental pressure has a significant positive correlation with the degree of uncoordinated coupling, while the tourism scale, economic urbanization, eco-environmental response, and investment in technology have a significant negative correlation. These results provide a theoretical basis and practical references for strengthening the government’s macro-control and promoting collaborative regional development.

Study on the development patterns of ecological civilization construction in China: An empirical analysis of 324 prefectural cities

Ecological civilization construction is a task of paramount importance for China's sustainable development. To explore the performance and development patterns of ecological civilization construction in China, this study established an indicator system to evaluate the ecological civilization construction at the city-level. A double-benchmark progressive method and the key functional zone weighting assignment were used to improve the evaluation process. On this basis, this study analyzed the levels of ecological civilization construction and its changes in 324 prefecture-level cities in mainland China from 2015 to 2019. Furthermore, criteria for classifying the development patterns of ecological civilization construction were proposed based on the socio-economic development and eco-environmental performance of cities. According to the findings: (1) China's ecological civilization construction had made great progress with the scores increase of approximately 8%. The score of China was 71 in 2019 and more than half of the evaluated cities scored higher than 70. (2) Cities under “harmonious coexistence” (both economy and environment performing well) and “antagonistic development” (economy developing with environment requiring improvement) patterns accounted for the highest proportion with a total of 62%. The proportion of cities under the “harmonious coexistence” pattern constantly increased, while that of cities under the “antagonistic development” pattern declined 28% from 2015 to 2019. This study analyzed the patterns of China's ecological civilization construction in prefecture-level cities, providing a mode for green and sustainable development of areas with different natural endowments.

Economic, Social, and Ecological Impact Evaluation of Traffic Network in Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei Urban Agglomeration Based on the Entropy Weight TOPSIS Method

In recent years, with the rapid development of urban transportation network in China, many problems have been exposed, especially in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei (BTH) region. Under the call of sustainable development, it is of great significance to evaluate the economic, social, and ecological (ESE) impact of transportation network in BTH urban agglomeration for promoting the sustainable development of transportation ESE in BTH urban agglomeration. In this paper, 12 indicators in the field of transportation are selected to build the evaluation index system of ESE effects of transportation network in BTH urban agglomeration. By using entropy weight TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution) model and the Jenks natural breaks classification method, the ESE impacts of transportation network in 13 cities of BTH from 2013 to 2017 are analyzed from the temporal and spatial dimensions. The research shows that: (1) From 2013 to 2017, the economic impact degree of traffic network shows an annual fluctuation trend, the social impact degree increases year by year, and the ecological impact degree decreases year by year; (2) For the cities of BTH, the ESE impact assessment results of transportation network from 2013 to 2017 can be divided into seven clusters. Except Handan City, the ESE impact assessment categories of other cities’ transportation network have been improved, but the proportion of cities in the transition period is still large, especially the “Low-Low-Low” cities. The types of cities in the transitional period need to be focused. It is still a heavy burden to realize the ESE coordination and sustainable development of BTH urban agglomeration transportation network.

Spatial patterns and determinant factors of population flow networks in China: Analysis on Tencent Location Big Data

Despite the rising interest in understanding the population flows across cities, few empirical studies have paid close attention to their network characteristics and determining factors. Using the Tencent Location Big Data, this paper first analyzes the spatial patterns of interregional population mobility among 328 Chinese cities and aims to identify the influential factors associated with population flows based on the exponential random graph model (ERGM). Supported by social network analysis method, we found that the spatial distribution patterns of population flows were relatively stable, showing a diamond shape with 7 central points, with the most attractive cities located in east developed urban agglomerations. Nevertheless, the proportion of cities with a positive population inflow in the west increased. The subgroup structure gained by Walktrap algorithm suggested that the intra-province flows comprised the majority. Furthermore, variants of ERGMs were used to determine geographic, demographic, economic, natural, and linguistic factors, as well as others related to the level of facilities. The results are in line with the neoclassical economics theory and the amenity-led theory, while amenities' factor played a more significant role. Our research can provide important insights for strengthening network connections among cities to achieve more balanced regional development.

Governance networks and local economic development policy during the Great Recession in the US

ABSTRACT Research shows that US cities increased their use of business incentives during the Great Recession. Drawing from governance-based theories’ emphasis on mutual resource dependency and the resourcefulness of larger networks, the analysis presented in this study examines whether expanding governance networks influenced this change in cities’ use of incentives. The dataset includes 162 council-manager cities that responded to both the 2004 and 2009 ICMA Economic Development Surveys. Most governance networks contracted during the recession. A large proportion of cities increased their use of business incentives regardless of any changes to the sizes of their decision-making networks. These findings suggest that the explanatory power of governance theories weaken during times of economic crisis. When facing severe resource constraints, many private actors abandon the network undoubtedly to focus on self-preservation instead of citywide development initiatives while cities attempt to subsidise their way out of economic decline.

Влияние трансграничных оптоволоконных переходов на информационно-коммуникационную связность городов России

The Russian cities are connected by many telecommunication lines. The information flow between any two cities can be sent via multiple routes, including those running through the networks of other countries. Cross-border transitions are created to connect the Russian lines with the international networks. The effect of these transitions on the connectivity of the cities has not been analysed earlier, either for Russia or for any other country. Using my own database on the Russian telecommunication lines, the Rosstat data on the cities’ population, and the results of the scanning of the Internet topology, I attempt to assess the effect of these transitions on the connectivity of the Russian cities. The assessment is carried out at the physical, economic, and digital levels of connectivity. For each level, I calculate the proportion of cities and their residents interacting directly with international telecommunication networks. Of the three categories of physical connectivity, the system of the Russian cities is associated with the worst option — the exogenous connectivity. This is explained by the impossibility of connecting the Kaliningrad region with mainland Russia without using international networks. An analysis of the traffic redistribution between the core cities of the autonomous systems shows that closed flows and internal economic connectivity are predominant in Russia. The calculation of information flow delays between all the Russian cities and the cores of the national and international digital agglomerations makes it possible to establish what cities are affected by the international cores. I conclude that the cross-border transitions have little effect on the information and communication connectivity of the Russian cities.

Peculiarities of the resettlement of the first generation offspring of the exposed Techa River population

The objective of this study was to assess main regularities of resettlement of the first generation offspring of the exposed Techa River population. In the given paper the information on places and periods of residence of the population exposed on the Techa River and their offspring, obtained from the medical-dosimetric database of the URCRM was used. Groups of the first generation offspring of exposed people living at various distances from the Techa River were identified. Main regularities of resettlement of a large group of offspring of the exposed Techa River population (26 300 persons) over the period 1950-2010 were revealed. Chelyabinsk Oblast is the main resettlement area of the first generation offspring of the exposed Techa River population. The proportion of offspring living outside of their primary resettlement area is gradually increasing. Offspring outflow from the Kurgan Oblast is greater than that from the Chelyabinsk Oblast. The main part (45.9%) of the first generation offspring of the exposed Techa River population alive as of 2010 was gathered in cities. Migration of the exposed population promoted increase in the number of marriages between exposed and unexposed persons, to the birth of offspring whose one parent (either mother or father) was exposed and led to decrease in the number of offspring whose both parents were exposed. In the current study for the first time peculiarities of resettlement of two generation of people residing on radioactively-contaminated territories, exposed people and their offspring, were compared. Marked differences in the nature of resettlement of the Techa River exposed population offspring relative to their parents were registered. Offspring migrated more frequently, which is expressed in the increase in their proportion in cities up to 45.9% as compared to that of exposed persons – 30.8% (p<0.001). At the same time the proportion of the first generation offspring of the exposed Techa River population, who reside in Techa riverside settlements, is decreasing as compared to that of the exposed persons. In contrast to first generation offspring alive as of 2010, a bigger part of deceased offspring as of 2010 (30.7%) was registered in Techa riverside villages.

City size distribution and its spatiotemporal evolution in China

Based on the National Land Use/Cover Database of China (NLUD-C) in the end of the 1980s (the 1980s, hereafter), 1995, 2000, 2005, and 2010, 665 cities were selected to study the size distribution and its changes of urban lands in China. In this study, the spatiotemporal evolutions of urban land size distribution as well as the influence of administrative-level on these cities were explored by combining urban spatial positions and administrative-levels. Results indicate that: 1) City size distribution using urban lands was more practical and reasonable than using non-agricultural population. 2) In the 1980s, cities with ascending urban land rank were centralized in Eastern China, specially the Changjiang (Yangtze) River Delta, the Zhujiang (Pearl) River Delta, and Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. Cities in Central, Western, and Northeast China mainly indicated descending urban land rank. 3) The transfer of national development focus resulted in cities with ascending urban land rank becoming evenly distributed nationwide; however, this trend was slightly centralized around Chengdu, Chongqing, and Wuhan in different periods. 4) During the 1980s to 2010, the proportion of cities with ascending urban land rank in provincial capitals, municipalities, and special administrative regions (high-level cities, hereafter) was consistently higher than those in prefecture- and county-level cities except for 2005–2010. The ranks of the majority of the prefecture- and county-level cities were mainly descending, supported by ascending; the proportion of cities with unchanged rank is small. This study breaks through the bottleneck of traditional research in the area of city size distribution by examining urban land replacing the non-agricultural population. The current study also provides scientific explanation for the healthy and reasonable development of urban land as well as the coordinated development of population urbanization and land urbanization.