城市发展比较优势——以民国时期武汉工业中心的嬗变为视角

On the Comparative Advantage of Urban Development--Based on the Evolution of Wuhan’s Position as Industrial Center in the Republic of China

经济学的比较优势在近代中国城市发展过程中发挥着重要作用。清末民初,武汉凭借在交通、贸易和地理位置上的比较优势,一跃成为国内重要的工业中心,并获得“东方芝加哥”的美誉。但是到了20世纪二三十年代,随着沿海地区的发展以及国内新的交通路线的变化、政治风云的影响等原因,武汉之前所具备的比较优势逐渐丧失。即便国内舆论和学界反复强调武汉作为工业中心的重要,但是因为之前所具备的比较优势已不复存在,其工业中心的地位也不可避免地发生了嬗变。

Economic comparative advantage played an important role in the process of urban development in modern China.In the late Qing dynasty and early Republic of China,Wuhan became an important industrial center in China by virtue of its comparative advantages in transportation,trade and geographical environment,known as“Oriental Chicago”.However,by the 1920s and 1930s,with the development of coastal areas,the change of new domestic transportation routes,and the impact of political situations,Wuhan gradually lost its previous comparative advantages.As its previous comparative advantages gone,Wuhan’s position as an industrial center was inevitable to change,in spite of domestic public opinion and academic reiteration of the importance of Wuhan as an industrial center.