基于人口规模的肯尼亚城市体系演变及空间联系

Evolution Characteristics of Urban System and Spatial Connections of Cities in Kenya Based on Population Scale

肯尼亚是非洲城市化速度较快的国家之一,也是“一带一路”倡议的重要覆盖区域。自1963年独立以来,肯尼亚的城市体系不断演变。随着中—肯投资合作的不断深入,肯尼亚的城市化发展迎来了新的机遇。文章基于肯尼亚1969—2019年的人口普查资料和人口密度栅格数据,对肯尼亚的人口分布特征和城市体系演变过程进行了分析,并对城市体系结构进行了系统的划分。结果表明:①肯尼亚人口分布整体呈现“西、南高,东、北低”的空间格局,近20年来,人口重心持续西移。②肯尼亚城市体系规模较为集中,城市首位度过高。③肯尼亚城市体系中的节点城市空间分布不均,北部是人口的主要流出地缺少增长极核,城市空间联系松散。④城市发展受交通廊道驱动作用显著,南部地区已形成了蒙巴萨—内罗毕—基苏木东西向的城市发展轴线。文章还对种族隔离制度、“城市至上”发展理念和交通基础设建设等因素对肯尼亚不同时期城市体系演变的影响进行了讨论,并结合我国“一带一路”在非投资项目特点,提出了优化肯尼亚城市体系格局的建议。

Kenya is one of the rapidly urbanizing countries in Africa,and also an important coverage area of the Belt and Road Initiative.The urban system in Kenya has continued to change since 1963.The urbanization in Kenya has ushered in new opportunities with the deepening of China-Kenya investment cooperation.On the basis of the census data and population density raster data of Kenya from 1969 to 2019,this study investigates the population distribution characteristics and the evolution of the urban system in Kenya,and systematically divides its urban system structure.The results show that:1)The overall population distribution in Kenya shows the imbalance spatial pattern,which is higher in the west and south than in the east and north.In the past 20 years,the population gravity center has continued to move westward.2)The scale of Kenya’s urban system is more concentrated,and the urban primacy ratio is too high.3)The spatial distribution of key cities in Kenya’s urban system is uneven,it has some disadvantages in the northern region,such as the main outflow place of population,lack of the growth pole and the loose urban spatial connections.4)Urban development in Kenya is significantly driven by traffic corridors.It has formed the Mombasa-Nairobi-Kisumu urban development axis in the southern region.This paper also discusses the influencing factors of the evolution of the urban system in different periods,such as apartheid,"city first"development policy and infrastructure construction,and makes recommendations for optimizing the structure of the Kenyan urban system,combining with the characteristics of China’s the Belt and Road investment projects in Africa.