Urban Agglomerations in China: Characteristics and Influencing Factors of Population Agglomeration

Urban agglomeration(UA)is an advanced spatial economic form formed and developed in the process of rapid industrialization and urbanization,and an important carrier of urbanization and economic development.The economy has developed rapidly in the recent decades of China,and the UAs have also developed rapidly.However,as a large population country,the population distribution and changes of UAs in China has unique characteristics.Using the fifth,sixth and seventh population census data,spatial auto-correlation and spatial econometric models,we analyzed the spatial-temporal evolution characteristics and influencing factors of population agglomeration in China’s UAs.Results revealed that:1)from 2000 to 2020,the population gradually converged into UAs,and the characteristics of population agglomeration in different development degree of UAs differ.The higher the development degree of UA,the higher the population agglomeration degree.Besides,UAs are the main area with the most significant population agglomeration degree,and the spatial autocorrelation show that the cities with similar degree tend to be concentrated in space.The urban population gathering in UAs has a certain positive spillover effect on population size of neighboring cities.2)Economic development and social conditions factors are important factors affecting population agglomeration degree in UAs.The main factors of population gather into UAs are similar with the outside UAs,but the positive promotion of urbanization rate and proportion of tertiary industry in GDP on population agglomeration of UAs in China are enhancing from 2000 to 2020.Meanwhile,the other factors,such as high-quality public services,good urban living environment conditions,high-quality medical and educational resources,are also important factors to promote urban population gather into UAs.This study provides a basis for formulating the development planning of UAs in China,and enriches the relevant theoretical research of population evolution and influencing factors of UAs.

Surface Regional Heat(Cool) Island Effect and Its Diurnal Differences in Arid and Semiarid Resource-based Urban Agglomerations

With the rapid development of urban agglomerations in northwest arid and semiarid regions of China, the scope of the urban heat island(UHI) effect has gradually expanded and gradually connected, and has formed a regional heat island(RHI) with a larger range of impact to the regional environment. However, there are few studies on the heat island effect of urban agglomerations in arid and semiarid regions, so this paper selects the urban agglomeration of Hohhot, Baotou and Ordos(HBO) of Inner Mongolia, China as the study area. Based on the 8-day composite Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer(MODIS) surface temperature data(156scenes in all) and land use maps for 2005, 2010, and 2015, we analyze the spatiotemporal distributions of regional heat(cool) islands(RH(C)I) and the responses of surface temperatures to land-use changes in the diurnal and interannual surface cities. The results showed that: 1) from 2005 to 2015, urban areas showed the cold island effect during the day, with the area of the cold island showing a shrinking feature;at night, they showed the heat island effect, with the area of the heat island showing a first decrease and then an increase.2) From 2005 to 2015, the land development(unutilized land to building land) brings the greatest temperature increase(ΔT = 1.36°C)during the day, while the greatest temperature change at night corresponds to the conversion of cultivated land to building land(ΔT =0.78°C) exhibited the largest changes at night. From 2010 to 2015, the land development(grassland to building land) bring the greatest temperature increase(ΔT = 0.85°C) during the day, while the great temperature change at night corresponds to the conversion of water areas to building land(ΔT = 1.38°C) exhibited the largest changes at night. Exploring the spatial and temporal evolution of surface urban heat(cool) islands in urban agglomerations in arid and semiarid regions will help to understand the urbanization characteristics of urban agglomerations and provide a reference for the formulation of policies for the coordinated and healthy development of the region and co-governance of regional environmental problems.

Spatial Distribution and Influencing Factors of Urban Shrinkage from the Perspective of Factor Flow - A Case Study of National Urban Agglomerations

This paper examines national urban agglomerations by taking factor flows as the focal point as the research subject.By dividing the stages of urban agglomeration development,a comprehensive framework of urban shrinkage is constructed,encompassing economic,population,and social shrinkage.The study explores the spatial distribution characteristics of urban shrinkage during different stages of urban agglomeration and investigates the influencing factors using a geographic detector model.The findings reveal that urban shrinkage within urban agglomerations is widely spread,predominantly in peripheral areas.During the diffusion stage,urban shrinkage is scattered,with population shrinkage concentrated in peripheral regions,economic shrinkage concentrated on old industrial cities,and social shrinkage concentrated on the northeast.The outcomes of the geographic detector model indicate that traffic flow,capital flow,information flow,node importance,network connectivity,government investment,openness,and environmental regulations all play significant roles in shaping the spatial distribution of urban shrinkage.

Impact of Anthropogenic Heat Release on Regional Climate in Three Vast Urban Agglomerations in China

We simulated the impact of anthropogenic heat release （AHR） on the regional climate in three vast city agglomerations in China using the Weather Research and Forecasting model with nested high-resolution modeling.Based on energy consumption and high-quality land use data,we designed two scenarios to represent no-AHR and current-AHR conditions.By comparing the results of the two numerical experiments,changes of surface air temperature and precipitation due to AHR were quantified and analyzed.We concluded that AHR increases the temperature in these urbanized areas by about 0.5℃-1℃,and this increase is more pronounced in winter than in other seasons.The inclusion of AHR enhances the convergence of water vapor over urbanized areas.Together with the warming of the lower troposphere and the enhancement of ascending motions caused by AHR,the average convective available potential energy in urbanized areas is increased.Rainfall amounts in summer over urbanized areas are likely to increase and regional precipitation patterns to be altered to some extent.

Reductions of PM_(2.5) in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Urban Agglomerations during the 2008 Olympic Games

The Atmospheric Environmental Monitoring Network successfully undertook the task of monitoring the atmospheric quality of Beijing and its surrounding area during the 2008 Olympics. The results of this monitoring show that high concentrations of PM2.5 pollution exhibited a regional pattern during the monitoring period （1 June-30 October 2008）. The PM2.5 mass concentrations were 53 μg m-3, 66 p.g m-3, and 82 μg m-3 at the background site, in Beijing, and in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomerations, respectively. The PM2.5 levels were lowest during the 2008 Olympic Games （8-24 August）： 35μg m-3 at the background site, 42 μg m-3 in Beijing and 57 μg m-3 in the region. These levels represent decreases of 49%, 48% and 56%, respectively, compared to the prophase mean concentration before the Olympic Games. Emission control measures contributed 62% 82% of the declines observed in Beijing, and meteorological conditions represented 18%-38%. The concentration of fine particles met the goals set for a ＂Green Olympics.＂

Evaluation of coordinated development of regional resources and economy around Shandong Peninsula urban agglomerations

Promoting coordinated development of resources and environment is an important aspect of building a harmonious society and ecologically sustainable civilization. Here we provide scientific basis to promote the development of ecologically sensitive civilization, via a mathematical statistics method that calculates the degree of coordinated development. This model is of great practical and social significance, providing strength to research around coordinated development of resources and economy. Based on evaluation of characteristics of the present resource environment and economic development of Shandong Peninsula city group, a coordinated measure of resource environment and economic development was calculated. Overall, the highest coordination measurement was found for Weihai, followed by Yantai, Qingdao, Ji'nan, Weifang, Rizhao, Zibo and Dongying. According to evaluation results of coordination measures for each city, we put forward suggestions for sustainable development of Shandong Peninsula region.

Polarization or Diffusion?Spatio-temporal Evolution of Urban Technological Innovation Capacity in China's Five Urban Agglomerations

Under the background of collaborative innovation,innovation spillovers at urban agglomeration(UA)level is an important issue but rarely discussed.Using balanced panel data of innovation activities in China’s five UAs from 2003 to 2016,this paper shows spatio-temporal evolution process of their technological innovation capacity with discussing polarization-diffusion patterns,and simultaneously examines driving factors of that evolution processes.We report three main findings:1)there is a high degree of concentration in technological innovation capacity distribution within all China’s five UAs,linked by economic and innovation collaboration.2)Innovation capacity increase of China’s five UAs is driven by government’s investment in science and technology(S&T)to a large extent,followed by influences of infrastructure facilities construction,human capital for S&T,as well as transformation of industrial structure,with great disparities emerged between UAs in our sample period.3)While the intra-region innovation gaps are reducing in Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration(YRD)with obvious innovation diffusion,urban agglomeration in middle reaches of the Yangtze River(MYR)is still dominated by innovation polarized growth.Differences in polarization-diffusion patterns between these two UAs may be explained by opposite returns of industrial structure and internet infrastructure.Our findings contribute to more effective policy making in promoting innovation development when reducing regional inequality through innovation diffusion.

Cooperative Game Among Cities in Urban Agglomerations and Economical Sustainable Development

This paper analyses redounded profits of cooperation and non-cooperation among cities in urban agglomerations based on game theory. It discusses the problems of economical development among cities with feeble cooperation, and deduces the conclusion that only cooperation of cities produces the maximum profits and realizes Pareto efficiency for cities and urban agglomerations. The paper states that cooperation is the cornerstone of economic sustainable development in urban agglomerations in profits produced by cooperation among cities. Some suggestions to accelerate cooperation among cities are proposed.

Assessing economic performance of the three major urban agglomerations in China by using Malmquist productivity index

Forty years of reform and opening up,China has become to the world’s second-largest economy with great success.However,it is an undoubted actuality that the economic mode of Chinese development is still at the extensive stage.China’s economy has shifted from a high-speed growth phase to a high-quality development phase.In this study,we analyzed three major urban agglomerations’total factor productivity index dynamically by means of Malmquist productivity i?ndex method.The results showed that MPI of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration was the highest,as the reasons of the effectiveness of dual-wheel driving both the technology progress and the cluster scale.The mean of MPI of Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration was fallen into decline by an average of 1.3%annually due to the rate of increase of the size of the cluster towards to optimal frontier was inferior to the relative risk reduction of technology progress.Pearl River Delta urban agglomeration MPI declined by an average of 2.2%annually as a result of the contribution of technology progress reducing.The study of the economic performance of three major urban agglomerations provides a theoretical basis and important practical value for urban development of high quality optimization.

Input and output efficiency of urban agglomerations in China using DEA multi-stage model

In this study, we apply the data envelopment analysis(DEA) model to quantitatively measure the input and output efficiency of 19 urban agglomerations in China from 2011 to 2016. The results show that the input and output efficiency of urban agglomerations is relatively not high, only a small number of that reach the optimal DEA efficiency. It is clearly revealed that there are the regions from the east that presents the better performance, followed by regions from the central and the west. The peer counts show that Zhusanjiao is taken into account 12 times which shows the importance here of the Zhusanjiao model.Considering the values for radial movements and the slack movements, respective urban agglomeration has their improving orientation towards the capital slack, the labor slack or the land slack. It offers a scientific decision-making of for healthy urbanization and high quality development.

Spatiotemporal Variations and Regional Transport of Air Pollutants in Two Urban Agglomerations in Northeast China Plain

Characteristics of air pollution in Northeast China(NEC) received less research attention in the past comparing to other heavily polluted regions in China.Spatiotemporal variations of six criteria air pollutants(PM10, PM2.5, SO2, NO2, O3 and CO) in Central Liaoning Urban Agglomeration(CLUA) and Harbin-Changchun Urban Agglomeration(HCUA) in NEC Plain were analyzed in this study based on three-year hourly observations of air pollutants and meteorological variables from 2015 to 2017.The results indicated that the annual mean concentrations of air pollutants are generally higher in the middle and southern regions in NEC Plain and lower in the northern region.Megacities such as Shenyang, Harbin and Changchun experience severe air pollution, with a three-year averaged air quality index(AQI) larger than 80, far exceeding the daily AQI standard at the first-level of 50 in China.The annual mean PM and SO2 concentrations decrease most significantly in NEC urban agglomerations from 2015 to 2017, followed by CO and NO2, while O3 shows a slight increasing trend.All the six pollutants exhibit obvious seasonal and diurnal variations, and these variations are dictated by local emission and meteorological conditions.PM2.5 and O3 concentrations in NEC urban agglomerations strongly depend on wind conditions.High O3 concentrations at different cities usually occur in presence of strong winds but are independent on wind direction(WD), while high PM2.5 is usually accompanied by weak winds and poor dispersion condition, and sometimes also occur when the northerly or southerly winds are strong.Regional transport of air pollutants between NEC urban agglomerations is common.A severe haze event on November 1–4, 2017 is examined to demonstrate the role of regional transport on pollution.

Size structure of urban agglomerations in China:rationality evaluation,patterns, and implications

This paper establishes a diagnostic model for assessing the rationality of size structure of urban agglomerations(UAs) in China. The model is designed to determine from a three-dimensional index including size distribution index(SDI), size compactness index(SCI), and size efficiency index(SEI). The spatio-temporal pattern of size structure involving the studied 19 UAs and its implications are explored. The results indicate that size structure of China's UAs advanced from a low rationality development stage to a moderate rationality development stage in 1995-2015.Among them, the SDI and SEI were reasonably high, and the SCI was relatively low. Spatially, the high rationality UAs were distributed across eastern China, while the low rationality UAs were located in western China. UAs with positive size structure possessed typically a dual-or multicenter urban structure, while UAs with negative size structure usually presented as a single-center structure. The evolutionary trajectories of rationality of size structure of UAs can be summarized as four different stages. Our findings suggest that, in addition to consolidating the status of national-level UAs, the development of regional-level UAs should be promoted. Also, the fostering focus and direction should be oriented toward an UA with dual-or multicenter spatial structure.

Review of Domestic Studies of Urban Agglomerations

Urban agglomeration is the mainstream and trend of global urban development,and it is also the ' major form' of China’s new urbanization. Based on the evolution of the concept of urban agglomeration,this paper focuses on the identification of urban agglomeration,benefit assessment,developmental rules and future trends. This paper sorted out the research process of domestic scholars on urban agglomerations,and summarized the problems in the existing research status of urban agglomerations in China. Finally,it came up with recommendations that the urban agglomeration life development theory system should be established with the cultivation base,network flow,quality core,and energy radiation circle as evaluation criteria,to study the three representative urban agglomerations in China from the perspective of regional function evaluation.

Measurement of Urban Economic Gravity of China’s Three Major Agglomerations and Its Implications for the Coordinated Development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region

This paper adopts the perspective of urban economic linkage and the modified urban economic gravity model to conduct a comparative analysis of the economic gravity among cities in China’s three major urban agglomerations,including the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region,the Yangtze River Delta,and the Pearl River Delta.The results show that,despite the ever-tightening economic linkages among cities in the urban agglomerations,the development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region falls behind that of the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta in terms of coordination,closeness,and balance.The economic linkages among cities in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region are not as cohesive as they could be and display a significant“siphon effect”through Beijing and Tianjin as well as a prominently unidirectional economic flow.This study suggests that efforts should be put into directing the orderly flow of resources from Beijing and Tianjin to cities in Hebei and promoting a balanced economic flow among cities,thus facilitating the coordination of regional development.

Coordination mechanism of developing unification of urban agglomeration: A case study of south Sichuan urban agglomerations

With the expansion of the urbanization, the urban agglomeration is forming in the region and showing a unification trend. The development of urban agglomeration and its unification depends on the coordination of the division of labor. It is significant to the further development of urban agglomeration that the coordination mechanism was constructed. Taking the south Sichuan urban agglomerations(SSUA) as an example, the research analyzes the current situation and problems of cities' unification, studies the industrial distribution layout and designs the framework of the regionally coordinated development. Then the author constructs the coordination mechanism of urban agglomeration development and presents strategies for the coordinated development of urban agglomeration and its unification.

Dynamic changes in urban land spatial inequality under the core-periphery structure in urban agglomerations

Relatively coordinated development among cities can typically promote the integration of the whole urban agglomeration,while urbanization of land has been found important to economic development in developing countries.Numerous studies have measured the urban land expansion in urban agglomerations.However,urban land spatial inequality under a specific spatial structure remains poorly understood.Here,we combined theβ-convergence model and the core-periphery structure to explore the dynamic changes in urban land spatial inequality in urban agglomerations.The Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration(YRDUA)in China was selected as the study area.Indicators of urban land have been applied in conjunction with a modified conditionalβ-convergence model,while the existence of the core-periphery structure was tested by analyzing coefficients of the control variable.The results show that although the spatial inequality of urban land area had decreased during 2000–2020,the whole YRDUA had still shown an obvious core-periphery structure.Compared with urban land area,the spatial inequality of urban land economic density and population density had decreased more rapidly,and the core-periphery structure was less obvious.Our findings can help to improve our current understanding of urban agglomeration and serve as a scientific reference for the coordinated development of urban agglomerations.

Fiscal Pressure, Inter-Industrial Allocation of Land and Agglomerations Effects

Land is a production factor that supports industrial development and also an important resource for increasing local government revenue.The scientific allocation of land has a positive effect on applying a new development philosophy.Based on the data of China's micro land transaction,this paper constructs the industrial dispersion indicator of land transfer to discuss about how short-term fiscal pressure affects allocation of land resources among industries and then analyzes its impacts on agglomeration effects.The results show that the greater the short-term fiscal pressure,the higher the dispersion of land transfer among industries,which holds true after going through a series of robustness tests.Further analyses show that the dispersion of land transfer among industries deteriorates the policy orientation of giving priority to key industries.Finally,the practice of dispersion of land transfer among industries weakens agglomeration economies.The research results of this paper show that local governments'strategy of land transfer among induestries for coping with short-term fiscal pressure has the characteristics of"increasing fiscal revenues and weakening the role of industrial guidance."This means that in the new stage of development,local governments urgently need to enhance their understanding of the multiple functions of land and avoid impairing industrial development for addressing the shortterm fiscal pressure.

Spatial characteristics of development efficiency for urban tourism in eastern China： A case study of six coastal urban agglomerations

The traditional data envelopment analysis（DEA）, bootstrap-DEA and Malmquist models are employed to measure different tourism efficiencies and their spatial characteristics of 61 cities in six coastal urban agglomerations in eastern China. The following conclusions are drawn.（1） The comprehensive efficiency（CE） of urban tourism using the bootstrap-DEA model is lower than the CE level using the DEA-CRS model, which confirms the significant tendency of the DEA-CRS model to overestimate results.（2） The geometric CE averages of urban tourism in the Yangtze River Delta（YRD） and the Pearl River Delta（PRD） have changed from ineffective to effective since 2000, the averages in the Beijing-TianjinHebei（BTH） and the Shandong Peninsula（SDP） have changed from ineffective to moderately effective since 2000, and those in the Central and Southern Liaoning（CSL） and the West Bank of Taiwan Strait（WBTS） have been ineffective since 2000.（3） The CE values of urban tourism in the PRD, the YRD, the BTH and the SDP have been slightly affected by the pure technical efficiency（PTE）, whereas the CE values in the CSL and the WBTS have been slightly affected by the scale efficiency（SE） since 2000.（4） Spatially, the range of geometric averages of the total factor productivity（TFP） for the PRD, the YRD, the BTH, the SDP, the WBTS and the CSL has decreased sequentially, while the one for most cities in six urban agglomerations has exhibited a downward trend since 2000.（5） Collectively, the natural conditions, the economic policies and the tourism capital drive the SE change of urban tourism of the CSL and the WBTS. The tourism enterprises for increasing returns to scale and imitating innovative technology have an effect on the CE change of urban tourism in the BTH and the SDP. The tourism market competition drives the PTE change of urban tourism in the PRD and the YRD. Although the PTE and the SE of urban tourism in six coastal urban agglomerations suffer from uncertain events, the CE maintained overall sound momentum since 2000.

Comparison of aerosol characteristics during haze periods over two urban agglomerations in China using CALIPSO observations

Using CALIPSO （cloud-aerosol lidar and infrared pathfinder satellite observation） vertical observation data during haze periods from January 2007 to December 2008, we analyzed differences in aerosol char- acteristics near the surface, as well as in the middle troposphere between the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei metropolitan region （Area A） and the Yangtze River Delta region （Area B） in China. One significant dif- ference was that haze pollution in Area A was related to local and non-local aerosols, while in Area B it was related to local anthropogenic sources. In all seasons apart from autumn, aerosol pollution in Area A was more severe than in Area B, both near the surface and at higher altitudes, In Area A, non-spherical aerosols were dominant from 0 to 4 km in spring, summer, and winter; while in autumn, there were con- siderably high numbers of non-spherical aerosols below 0.5 km, and near-spherical aerosols from 0.5 to 4 km. In Area B, both near-spherical and non-spherical aerosols were common in all seasons. Moreover, aerosols with attenuated color ratios of 0-0.2 were more common in all seasons in Area A than in Area B, indicating that fine particle pollution in Area A was more serious than in Area B. Finally, relatively large aerosols linked to gravity settling appeared more frequently near the surface in Area A than in Area B.

Effect of hafnium and molybdenum addition on inclusion characteristics in Co-based dual-phase high-entropy alloys

Specific grades of high-entropy alloys(HEAs)can provide opportunities for optimizing properties toward high-temperature applications.In this work,the Co-based HEA with a chemical composition of Co_(47.5)Cr_(30)Fe_(7.5)Mn_(7.5)Ni_(7.5)(at%)was chosen.The refractory metallic elements hafnium(Hf)and molybdenum(Mo)were added in small amounts(1.5at%)because of their well-known positive effects on high-temperature properties.Inclusion characteristics were comprehensively explored by using a two-dimensional cross-sectional method and extracted by using a three-dimensional electrolytic extraction method.The results revealed that the addition of Hf can reduce Al_(2)O_(3)inclusions and lead to the formation of more stable Hf-rich inclusions as the main phase.Mo addition cannot influence the inclusion type but could influence the inclusion characteristics by affecting the physical parameters of the HEA melt.The calculated coagulation coefficient and collision rate of Al_(2)O_(3)inclusions were higher than those of HfO_(2)inclusions,but the inclusion amount played a larger role in the agglomeration behavior of HfO_(2)and Al_(2)O_(3)inclusions.The impurity level and active elements in HEAs were the crucial factors affecting inclusion formation.