城市群空间性质的透视与中原城市群的构建

The nature of urban agglomeration space and the construction of Zhongyuan Urban Agglomeration

区域是地理学理论建构的核心论题。在地理学发展进程中,对区域的论争主要围绕地域空间、网络空间和空间的生产展开,并呈现出由单一维度向多维度转变的趋势。城市群空间是一种新的区域空间,具有地域空间、网络空间、空间的生产与建构等多重属性。空间具有社会性和历史建构性,对空间的关注正从空间中的生产向空间本身的生产转变。空间生产离不开权力运作,空间是话语建构的产物。中国对城市群概念的认知和范围界定的争议源于区域概念的多重属性。以中原城市群的构建过程为实证案例,提出了中原城市群构建过程中存在的问题,围绕"城市群究竟是什么?"这一核心论题,透视了城市群空间的多重性质。最后,针对单一维度的局限性,提出了认知和界定城市群的多维度框架,包括领土(Territory)、地方(Place)、尺度(Scale)、网络(Network)和功能(Function)五个方面,并指出了今后进行城市群研究需要关注的理论重点。

Regional research is one of the core topics of Geography. In the development process of geography,the debate on region is broadly divided into two categories—territorial space and network space—and there has been a trend of change from one-dimensional space to multidimensional space. Regions were often considered as a space that has one or more common features among its components, and a region is bounded, closed. With the advancement of globalization and information society, regional relations continue to strengthen. Therefore some scholars put forward the concept of network space, which highlights the interactions and relationships between regions. A network space is open, dynamic, and with uncertain boundaries. Increasingly, the single dimension to regional definition was viewed as biased. The space of Chinese urban agglomerations is a new type of region. It has multiple properties, not only as a territorial space and network space, but also as the place where space is produced and created. There is a great difference in perspective between territorial space and network space.Attention of regional research is shifting from production in space to the production of space itself. The production of space cannot take place without the operation of power, and space is also the product of the discourse construction. Based on the debates of a region as a territorial space, or a network space, and the production of space, this article discusses the debates on the concepts and construction of Chinese urban agglomerations. Taking the Zhongyuan urban agglomeration as an example, this research examined some practical problems in its construction, and addressed the vital question: What is an urban agglomeration and its nature? In order to coordinate and combine the varied dimensions on Chinese urban agglomeration, we put forward a TPSNF framework to integrate the five dimensions for defining urban agglomeration: territory, place,scale, network, and function and proposed some key research focus in the future.