Analysis of the Characteristics of City Scale Distribution and Evolutionary Trends in China

Based on the urban resident population statistics from 2005 to 2018, this paper analyzes the distribution and evolution of city scale in China by screening city samples according to the threshold criteria and using empirical research methods such as the City Primacy Index, the Rank-Scale Rule, the Gini coefficient of city scale, Kernel Density Estimation and Markov transfer matrix. The results show that: the most populous city in China has obvious advantages. The population distribution is concentrated in high order cities and in accordance with the law of order-scale;the economic scale of cities is in a concentrated state, the gap between the economic development levels of different types of cities is large, and the megacities are more attractive, which to a certain extent limit the development of the scale of the rest of the cities;the number of China’s city population is increasing, however, the gap between the population scale of other cities and the most populous city continues to be large, and the structure of city population scale is not reasonable enough;megacities and megalopolises keep their original scale levels unchanged to a large extent, and the scale transition between the two types of cities is rather difficult. Finally, based on the explanatory framework of the dynamics of city scale evolution, policy recommendations are proposed to promote a more balanced distribution of city scale.

Impact of City Scale and Regional Difference on Small & Medium-Sized Cities' Development and Its Implication

By studying the relationship between urban development performance and city scale and regional difference, this paper aims at revealing the real challenges faced by small and medium-sized cities(referred to as SMSC hereafter) in China. It analyzes the growth of different-sized cities, their positions in China's overall urban system, the influence of city scale on their capability in migrant absorption, economic development, public service, and environmental remediation, as well as the capability difference among SMSCs. Results show that city scale is less a determinant in economic development capability and per capita ownership of public service than in economic performance, quality of public service, and environmental remediation capabilities. Besides, there are many other factors determined by regional differences instead of city scale. Therefore, in the context when SMSC plays an increasingly important role in the process of urbanization, relevant parties should avoid the "trap of scale," and re-position urbanization within the framework of sustainable development.

The Scale of Constructing Mountainous Cities in Yunnan Province based on “Benchmark” Farmlands

In 2011, Yunnan provincial committee and government proposed the strat- egy of constructing mountainous cities in order to protect farmlands and guarantee crop safety, which makes full use of hills and gentle-slopes and transforms land use pattern. However, social and economic development performs unevenly in Yun- nan, supplemented by varied geographical conditions, so that constructing mountain- ous cities should proceed as per local conditions. The research proposed the con- trol of constructing mountainous cities provided crop safety under the principle of farmland protection and measured the quantities of demanded construction lands ac- cording to science of population prediction and ekistics, based on which the control scales of constructing mountainous cities were determined by multiplying basic farm- land coefficient and the area of newly increased construction lands. The research is of significance for guiding the construction of mountainous cities and avoiding the occupation of construction lands on farmlands.

Impacts of land-use change on ecosystem service value in Changsha,China

Changsha,a typical city in central China,was selected as the study area to assess the variations of ecosystem service value on the basis of land-use change. The analysis not only included the whole city but also the urban district where the landscape changed more rapidly in the center of the city. Two LANDSAT TM data sets in 1986 and 2000 and land use data of five urban districts from 1995 to 2005 were used to estimate the changes in the size of six land use categories. Meanwhile,previously published value coefficients were used to detect the changes in the value of ecosystem services delivered by each land category. The result shows that the total value of ecosystem services in Changsha declines from $1 009.28 million per year in 1986 to $938.11 million per year in 2000. This decline is largely attributable to the increase of construction land,and the conversion from woodland and water body to cropland to keep the crop production. In the five districts,there is $6.19 million decline in ecosystem service value between 1995 and 2005. Yuelu District has the highest unit ecosystem service value while Yuhua District has the lowest one. This may be attributed to the greater conversion from cropland and grassland to woodland and water body with the increase of construction land in Yuelu District. It is suggested that the increase rate of construction land should be controlled rigorously and the area of woodland and water body should be increased or at least retained in the study area.

Evaluating the Influence of Multisource Typhoon Precipitation Data on Multiscale Urban Pluvial Flood Modeling

Based on station precipitation observations,radar quantitative precipitation estimates(QPE), and radar fusion data during Typhoon Fitow(2013), the influence of multisource precipitation data on multiscale urban typhoon pluvial flood modeling is studied. Using Shanghai, China,as the study area, a simplified 2D hydrodynamic model is applied to simulations. Combined with actual flood incidents reported by the public and soil moisture data, we perform multiscale verifications and determine the applicability of three precipitation datasets in the modeling. The results are as follows:(1) At the city scale, although QPE have higher spatial resolution, these estimates are lower than station observations. Radar fusion data have both high accuracy and high spatial resolution. For flood depths above 5 cm, the radar fusion precipitation scenario can improve the matching probability by 6%.(2) At the neighborhood scale, the radar fusion precipitation scenario can effectively mitigate the problems of an uneven spatial distribution of stations and a weak QPE to accurately capture pluvial details.(3)One fixed-point assessment shows that different precipitation data have little influence on the temporal characteristics of the modeling result-all three types of data can accurately reflect flood occurrence times. This work can provide a scientific basis for constructing effective urban pluvial flood monitoring systems.