Dynamic Development Characteristics and Driving Factors of High Quality Development Level in China’s Five Major Urban Agglomerations

High-quality development is the primary task of comprehensively building a socialist,modern country,as well as the primary task of building urban agglomerations in China.Based on the five development concepts,this paper used the entropy method to measure the High Quality Development Index(HQDI)of the five major urban agglomerations.The results showed that the HQDI of the five major urban agglomerations shows a fluctuating upward trend.First,using the Dagum Gini coefficient to explore the sources of HQDI development differences in urban agglomerations,we found that the main source of HQDI differences in urban agglomerations was inter-regional differences,while intra-regional differences were not important.Second,kernel density estimation was used to test the dynamic evolution trend of HQDI within urban agglomerations.There was a polarisation phenomenon in the HQDI of urban agglomerations,such as the Pearl River Delta urban agglomeration and the Chengdu-Chongqing urban agglomeration.But overall,the degree of imbalance had decreased.Third,using geographic detectors to examine the driving factors of HQDI in urban agglomerations,we found that the main driving forces for improving HQDI in urban agglomerations were economic growth,artificial intelligence technology and fiscal decentralisation.All the interaction factors had greater explanatory power for the spatial differentiation of HQDI,which can be divided into two types:two-factor improvement and non-linear improvement.This study is conducive to improving and enriching the theoretical system for evaluating the high quality development of urban agglomerations,and provides policy references for promoting the high quality development of urban agglomerations.

Analysis of Urban Agglomeration Network Structure Based on Baidu Migration Data: A Case Study of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Urban Agglomeration

The inter-city linkage heat data provided by Baidu Migration is employed as a characterization of inter-city linkages in order to facilitate the study of the network linkage characteristics and hierarchical structure of urban agglomeration in the Greater Bay Area through the use of social network analysis method.This is the inaugural application of big data based on location services in the study of urban agglomeration network structure,which represents a novel research perspective on this topic.The study reveals that the density of network linkages in the Greater Bay Area urban agglomeration has reached 100%,indicating a mature network-like spatial structure.This structure has given rise to three distinct communities:Shenzhen-Dongguan-Huizhou,Guangzhou-Foshan-Zhaoqing,and Zhuhai-Zhongshan-Jiangmen.Additionally,cities within the Greater Bay Area urban agglomeration play different roles,suggesting that varying development strategies may be necessary to achieve staggered development.The study demonstrates that large datasets represented by LBS can offer novel insights and methodologies for the examination of urban agglomeration network structures,contingent on the appropriate mining and processing of the data.

Land Use Dynamics and Ecosystem Service Value Changes in the Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration Under Different Scenarios

Urban agglomerations,serving as pivotal centers of human activity,undergo swift alterations in ecosystem services prompted by shifts in land utilization.Strengthening the monitoring of ecosystem services in present and future urban agglomerations contributes to the rational planning of these areas and enhances the well-being of their inhabitants.Here,we analyzed land use conversion in the Yangtze River Delta(YRD)urban agglomeration during 1990-2020 and discussed the spatiotemporal response and main drivers of changes in ecosystem service value(ESV).By considering the different development strategic directions described in land use planning policies,we predicted land use conversion and its impact on ESV using the Future Land Use Simulation(FLUS)model in three scenari-os in 2025 and 2030.Results show that:1)from 1990 to 2020,land use change is mainly manifested as the continuous expansion of con-struction land to cultivated land.Among the reduced cultivated land,82.2%were occupied by construction land.2)The land use types conversion caused a loss of 21.85 billion yuan(RMB)in ESV during 1990-2020.Moreover,the large reduction of cultivated land area led to the continuous decline of food production value,accounting for 13%of the total ESV loss.3)From 2020 to 2030,land use change will mainly focus on Yangzhou and Zhenjiang in central Jiangsu Province and Taizhou in southern Zhejiang Province.Under the BAU(natural development)and ED(cultivated land protection)scenarios,construction land expansion remains dominant.In contrast,under the EP(ecological protection)scenario,the areas of water bodies and forest land increase significantly.Among the different scenarios,ESV is highest in the EP scenario,making it the optimal solution for sustainable land use.It can be seen that the space use conflict among urban,agriculture and ecology is a key factor leading to ESV change in the urban agglomeration of Yangtze River Delta.There-fore,it is crucial to maintain spatial land use coordination.Our findings provide suggestions for scientific and rational land use planning for the urban agglomeration.

Study on Spatial Structure of Rural Tourism in Wuhan Urban Agglomerations

Spatial structure of rural tourism in the urban agglomerations of Wuhan was analyzed by comprehensively studying relevant documents about rural tourism,and reviewing previous researches on the concept and spatial structure of rural tourism.Through investigating rural tourist resources in the study area,resource advantages and characteristics of 9 cities were introduced,and the Gini Coefficient was taken to quantitatively analyze spatial patterns of its rural tourist villages,the obviously imbalanced concentration of these villages was pointed out.By measuring connectivity and accessibility of regional spaces in the study area,its traffic connectivity was proved moderate,and accessibility of each tourist village and town was fine.Then an optimized spatial structure was proposed for the rural tourism development in Wuhan Urban Agglomerations,that is,"one core,one belt and three districts".

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.

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.＂

Optimization Transmission Theory and Technical Pathways that Describe Multiscale Urban Agglomeration Spaces

Urban agglomerations are spatial entities that promote the development of ‘new urbanization' processes within China. In this context, the concept of ‘multiscale urban agglomeration spaces' encompasses three linked levels: macroscale urban agglomerations, mesoscale cities, and microscale urban centers. Applying a series of multidisciplinary integrated research methods drawn from geography, urban planning, and architecture, this paper reveals two intensive utilization laws that can be generalized to apply to multiscale urban agglomeration spaces, top-to-bottom ‘positive transmission' linkage and inside-to-outside ‘negative transmission' movement. This paper also proposes optimization transmission theory and policy decision technical pathways that can be applied to these three urban agglomeration spatial scales. Specific technical pathways of transmission include intensive expansion and simulated decision-making in macroscale urban agglomerations, ecology, production, and living space intensive layout and dynamic decision-making in mesoscale cities, and four cores(i.e., ‘single, ring, axis, and pole core') progressive linkage and intensive optimization decision-making in microscale urban centers. The theory and technical pathways proposed in this paper solve the technical problem of optimization and provide intensive methods that can be applied not only at the individual level but also at multiple scales in urban agglomeration spaces. This study also advances a series of comprehensive technical solutions that can be applied to both compact and smart growth cities as well as to urban agglomerations. Solid theoretical support is provided for the optimization of Chinese land development, urbanization, agricultural development, and ecological security.

Environmental influence of Wuhan urban agglomeration development and strategies of environmental protection

In Wuhan urban agglomeration （WUA）, the population growth and concentration, the industrial development and urban sprawl have been affecting the environment ftmdamentally. Comparing with Yangtze delta metropolitan region, the level of urbanization and industrialization of WUA has lagged behind for about 10 years; but the problems in environmental protection and rehabilitation are commonly serious. In the future, WUA should avoid unnecessary mistakes and seek a win-win strategy for economy and environment in its large-scale development stage. Based on the analysis of the changing of main environmental pollutants and the coupled curves in past decades, the paper discussed the important links among the urban environmental pollutions, industry growth and urban sprawl in WUA. It is concluded that the integration of economic and environmental policies in urban development is more required and significant at the large urban agglomeration region. Four proactive and long-term strategies need to be adopted to provide prior guidance and better protection for the development of WUA.

Using ecosystem service supply and ecosystem sensitivity to identify landscape ecology security patterns in the Lanzhou-Xining urban agglomeration, China

The construction of an ecological security pattern(ESP)is an important way to ensure regional ecological security and to achieve sustainable regional development.It is also one of the hotspot topics of landscape ecology research.This paper identifies the ecological source through the evaluation of the ecosystem service and ecosystem sensitivity of the Lanzhou-Xining(Lan-Xi)urban agglomeration.The minimum cumulative resistance(MCR)model modified by night light data NPP/VIIRS(National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System Preparatory Project/Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite)was used to measure the relative resistance of the materials and energy circulation between the source areas,and to establish the resistance surface of the ecological source area expansion.Then ecological corridors were identified based on ecological sources and resistance surface.The ecological strategic node is the ecological fragile point in the ecological corridors.The ecological strategic node is identified with hydrological module by superimposing the"ridge line"of cumulative ecological resistance with the ecological corridor.Combined with ecological sources,corridors and strategic nodes,the ESP of the Lan-Xi urban agglomeration can be constructed.The ecological source of the Lan-Xi urban agglomeration accounts for 28.42%of the total area,most of which is distributed within Qinghai Province.The nature reserves in the area are all located within the ecological source area.A total of 41 potential ecological corridors have been identified in the study area.The total length of the potential corridors is 1201.03 km,comprising 23 source corridors and 18 radiation corridors.There are 30 strategic nodes identified in the Lan-Xi urban agglomeration.These locations are the most vulnerable areas of the ecological corridors.Ecological engineering should be applied in the construction of corridors.Affected by the ecological source,the potential ecological corridor extends from the northwest to the southeast,which is basically consistent with the direction trend of the mountains in the region.

Stability of Spatial Structure of Urban Agglomeration in China Based on Central Place Theory

This paper brings forward the concept of stability of the spatial structure of urban agglomeration(UA)based on Central Place Theory by introducing centrality index and fractal theory.Before assessment,K=4 is selected as parameter to calculate centrality index and fractal dimension(K represents the quantitive relationship between city and the counties in Central Place Theory),and then found the number of nodes,the type of spatial structure,the spatial allocation of nodes with different hierarchy affecting the stability of spatial structure.According to spatial contact direction and the level of stability,UAs in China are classified into five types.Finally,it is posed as a further question that how to use hierarchical relation K=6 and K=7 in central place system to coordinate with the assessment of stability of soatial structure is brought forward.

FORMATION MECHANISM AND SPATIAL PATTERN OF URBAN AGGLOMERATION IN CENTRAL JILIN OF CHINA

Urban agglomeration is made up of cities with different sizes to be linked by traffic network in a given area, and it is an inevitable result when urbanization reaches a certain level. Taking urban agglomeration in central Jilin (UACJ) as an example, this article analyzes the formation mechanism and spatial pattern of urban agglomeration in the less-developed area. First, the dynamics of UACJ has been analyzed from the aspects of geographical condition, economic foundation, policy background, and traffic condition. Then the development process is divided into three stages-single city, city group and city cluster. Secondly, the central cities are identified from the aspects of city cen- trality, and the development axes are classified based on economic communication capacity. Finally, the urban agglo- meration is divided into five urban economic regions in order to establish the reasonable distribution of industries.

Eco-spatial Structure of Urban Agglomeration

In terms of ecological theory, this paper makes a comprehensive analysis of the mutualism and co- evolutionary mechanism between the eco-spatial structure and socio-economic development of the urban agglomeration, and maps out optimized modes of the eco-spatial structure of the urban agglomeration. The analysis is a case study of the urban agglomeration on different levels of global, national, provincial and local scales, on the basis of those conclusions are drawn: 1) Within the scope of the urban agglomeration, the cities should be reasonably sized and appropriately densified; the spatial combination of the urban agglomeration ought to be orderly, and its eco-spatial structure ought to be optimized and efficient; the relationship between the economic society and eco-spatial environment ought to be that of mutual benefit and co-evolution. 2) “The mode of corridor group network” is a certain trend evoked from the spatial structure of urban agglomeration. 3) The eco-spatial structure of urban agglomeration under “the mode of corridor group network” can further increase the environmental capacity of urban agglomeration, and is in favor of the harmonious relationship between man and nature.

Spatial Pattern Evolution and Casual Analysis of County Level Economy in Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan Urban Agglomeration, China

In order to evaluate whether or not the county units′ economy in the Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan(Chang-Zhu-Tan) Urban Agglomeration was growing as expected, this study analyzed the spatial economy pattern at county-level by using the Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis(ESDA) method. In this process, the global Moran′s I and local Getis-Ord G*i indexes were employed to analyze indicators including per capita GDP and three industrials(i.e. primary, secondary and tertiary industry) from 2000 to 2010. The results show that: 1) the county units′ economy in the Chang-Zhu-Tan Urban Agglomeration has exhibited a strong spatial autocorrelation and an accelerated integration trend since 2008(Moran′ s I increased from 0.26 to 0.56); 2) there is a significant difference in economy development between the northern and southern county units in the Chang-Zhu-Tan Urban Agglomeration: the hotspot zone with high economic level was formed among the northern county units whereas the coldspot zone with low economic level was located in the southern areas. This difference was caused primarily by the increasingly prominent economic radiation effect of Changsha ′upheaval′; 3) town density, secondary industry, and the integration policy are the major contributors driving the evolution of the spatial economy pattern in the Chang-Zhu-Tan Urban Agglomeration.

The Structure and Pattern of Urban Network in the Lanzhou-Xining Urban Agglomeration

In this paper,we use factor analysis to evaluate the urban comprehensive quality of each city in the Lanzhou-Xining(Lan-Xi)urban agglomeration.The time distance was obtained by using GIS spatial analysis,and the structure and pattern of the spatial network were analyzed by using the gravity model and social network analysis method.The results show that:1)The scale effect of the Lan-Xi urban agglomeration is gradually emerging,and it is gradually forming the urban agglomeration with Lanzhou and Xining as the core,the Lan-Xi high-speed railway as the axis,and a high-dense connection.2)Lanzhou and Xining are at the core of the Lan-Xi urban agglomeration,which has a strong attraction and spreads to neighboring cities.3)In the network structure of the Lan-Xi urban agglomeration,Lanzhou,Baiyin,Gaolan,Yuzhong,Yongdeng,Dingxi,Lintao,Xining,Ledu,Huangzhong,Ping’an,Minhe and Datong are located in the network core position,which have the superiority position and lead to the entire regional communication enhancement and the regional integration development.4)This urban agglomeration has significant subgroups,eight tertiary subgroups and four secondary subgroup;the tertiary subgroups which compose secondary subgroup have a close connection and mutually influence each other.5)The Lanzhou Metropolitan Area and the Xining Metropolitan Area have an important impact on the surrounding cities,and the peripheral cities are basically controlled by the central city.The Dingxi subgroup,Lintao-Linxia subgroup,Gonghe subgroup have more structural holes than the subgroups within the Lanzhou Metropolitan Area and the Xining Metropolitan Area,so the peripheral cities of these subgroups have relatively less connection with surrounding cities.

Urban Agglomeration Formation and Its Spatiotemporal Expansion Process in China: From the Perspective of Industrial Evolution

Urban agglomeration research has received increasing attention in China’s national development strategies, and has become a hot topic in academic research. This study develops a theoretical framework that explores the formation mechanism and expansion process of urban agglomerations from the perspective of industrial evolution, and identifies the development issues and their causes by taking Yangtze Delta and Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomerations as case studies. In the process of urban agglomeration formation within a free market, as has happened in Yangtze Delta region, the central city develops first, its secondary industry is then transferred to its neighboring cities, and the work division and cooperation with the neighboring cities is gradually established. However, in the 1990 s, aiming to become an international metropolis, Beijing implemented a series of administrative policies to encourage the reduction of the secondary industry and the development of the tertiary industry, before its secondary industry were fully developed and transferred to its neighboring cities. This delayed the integration process and the development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration. This study builds a good foundation for the construction of the theoretical system’s urban agglomeration study, and provides references for decision making in an urban agglomeration development.

Simulation of Urban Land Expansion Under Ecological Constraints in Harbin-Changchun Urban Agglomeration,China

Under the demand of urban expansion and the constraints of China’s’National Main Functional Area Planning’policy,urban agglomerations are facing with a huge contradiction between land utilization and ecological protection,especially for HarbinChangchun urban agglomeration who owns a large number of land used for the protection of agricultural production and ecological function.To alleviate this contradiction and provide insight into future land use patterns under different ecological constraints’scenarios,we introduced the patch-based land use simulation(PLUS)model and simulated urban expansion of the Harbin-Changchun urban agglomeration.After verifying the accuracy of the simulation result in 2018,we predicted future urban expansion under the constraints of three different ecological scenarios in 2026.The morphological spatial pattern analysis(MSPA)method and minimum cumulative resistance(MCR)model were also introduced to identify different levels of ecological security pattern(ESP)as ecological constraints.The predicted result of the optimal protection(OP)scenario showed less proportion of water and forest than those of natural expansion(NE)and basic protection(BP)scenarios in 2026.The conclusions are that the PLUS model can improve the simulation accuracy at urban agglomeration scale compared with other cellular automata(CA)models,and the future urban expansion under OP scenario has the least threat to the ecosystem,while the expansion under the natural expansion(NE)scenario poses the greatest threat to the ecosystem.Combined with the MSPA and MCR methods,PLUS model can also be used in other spatial simulations of urban agglomerations under ecological constraints.

AGGLOMERATION AND RADIATION EFFECT OF THE PULL OF URBANIZATION

In order to explore the train of thought for China’s urbanizing development and coordinated rural economic development, and to find good ways of solving rural problems through urbanization, this paper absorbs the push-and-pull forces theory and the systematic dynamic theory in the traditional population migration theories, views urbanization as a dynamic system, makes research on the push-and-pull mechanism of urbanization. The pulling power of urbanization is analyzed according to two aspects, the agglomeration effect and the radiation effect of cities. The agglomeration effect provides continuous propelling force for urbanization, and the radiation effect further accelerates the urbanization process by pushing forward the development of rural economy. Of course, the slow development of urbanization can result in the hindrance to rural economic development.

The spatial-temporal differentiation of green land use in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration

As the space carrier of the construction of ecological civilization, land's green and efficient utilization is an important guarantee for realizing national sustainable development. Based on traditional land evaluation, this paper scientifically defines the green land use, puts land as one of the production factors, and brings energy consumption, environmental pollution, etc. into the input-output system to measure the green land utilization efficiency of the urban construction land of Beijing-TianjinHebei Urban Agglomeration from 2006 to 2016. The study shows that the overall efficiency variation of the urban agglomeration is related with the land and environment policies. Efficiency of 2016 is higher than that of 2006, and energy and environment are the principal factors affecting the green land use. The efficiency of each city is positively correlated with its economic development, negatively correlated with the construction land expansion. Efficiency gaps in different cities are expanding.There is positive correlation with overall weak space between cities, and the partial spatial agglomeration phenomenon appears. Therefore, the green land use efficiency could be improved by improving land utilization efficiency, coordinating economic growth of construction land utilization with environmental protection and taking feasible ways to transregional renovation of the stock ecological land utilization, etc.

STUDY ON ECOLOGICAL SPACE OF URBAN AGGLOMERATION-Taking Wuxi City as an Example

From the angle of ecology,urban agg lomeration presents relevant types of landscape structure,which in-clude Patch,Corridor and Matrix.There are different landscape feature s and different problems in differen t development phases.This paper has put forward fi ve basic conditions for security pattern of landscape ecology of urban agglomeration,described quantitatively the featu res for landscape ecology in Wuxi,an d analyzed ecological background of spatial expan-sion and spatial organization of urb an development in Wuxi.From the angle of ecological land use and non-ecological land use,the paper has analyzed the featu res of land use and ecological distribution of land in the urban area.The s patial mod-el of cities and towns in Wuxi is composed of one metropolis,two urban zones and three development axes.This th esis has planned preliminarily ecologic al protection network at four levels in the urban region according to four layers.At last,combining landscape ecology with ur ban space,a tentative security pattern of landscape ecology has been pla nned in Wux-i,namely Source-Buffer Zone and Metropolis,Radiating Routes and Expan sion Direction of City,Strategic Point and Interac-tion between Cities and Towns,Inter-Source Linkage-Corridor of a Stabl e Landscape Structure.