发达国家城市合并的理论研究述评

A Literature Review of Theory and Research on Municipal Amalgamation in Developed Countries

自19世纪以来,各主要发达国家均经历了广泛的城市合并,并引发了学界持续的热议。既有研究围绕城市合并的动机、过程与效果形成了多元的主题与激烈碰撞的观点,然而国内学界对此关注却相对匮乏。本文通过对相关研究文献的梳理,探讨了发达国家在城市合并理论研究方面取得的进展与存在的问题。研究发现,在发达国家城市合并的过程中,公共利益与私人利益间的冲突贯穿始终。如何理解城市合并的政治本质并平衡此类利益冲突,将直接影响到城市合并的成败。发达国家城市合并的经验亦有助于为中国新型城镇化建设以及城市行政区划调整提供有益的借鉴。

Since the 19th century, major developed countries have witnessed a wide range of municipal amalgamations, which has attracted continuous scholarly attention for decades. Existed literature has formed various schools and perspectives focusing on motivation, process, and performance of municipal amalgamation, while domestic scholars’ attention on this issue is still far from sufficient. Through a systematic review of related literature, this paper aims to investigate the progress and problems in theory and research of municipal amalgamation in developed countries. It is found that there exist strong conflicts between collective benefits and selective benefits during municipal amalgamation. How to understand the political nature of municipal amalgamation as well as effectively balance such conflicts may directly determine the outcome of municipal amalgamation. The experience of municipal amalgamation in developed countries can also provide valuable reference to China’s new-type urbanization and urban boundary changes.