Creative Industries Agglomeration,Regional Innovation and Productivity Growth in China

This paper falls into the broad area of economic geography and economics of creativity,and it presents an alternative approach to explain why total factor productivity(TFP)growth is different across China′s regions.It establishes an empirical model to estimate the spatial agglomeration effects of creative industries on regional TFP growth,using China′s provincial panel data during the period of 2003 to 2010.We found that the creative industries agglomeration(CIA)has significant and positive impact on regional TFP growth.The result also implies that the CIA can facilitate regional TFP growth through promoting regional innovation instead of improving regional efficiency.Therefore,we argue that policy makers should take some measures to retain and establish more creative zones.

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.

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.

Impact of Anthropogenic Aerosols on Summer Precipitation in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei Urban Agglomeration in China:Regional Climate Modeling Using WRF-Chem

The WRF model with chemistry （WRF-Chem） was employed to simulate the impacts of anthropogenic aerosols on summer precipitation over the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration in China. With the aid of a high-resolution gridded inventory of anthropogenic emissions of trace gases and aerosols, we conducted relatively long-term regional simulations, considering direct, semi-direct and indirect effects of the aerosols. Comparing the results of sensitivity experiments with and without emissions, it was found that anthropogenic aerosols tended to enhance summer precipitation over the metropolitan areas. Domain-averaged rainfall was increased throughout the day, except for the time around noon. Aerosols shifted the precipitation probability distribution from light or moderate to extreme rain. Further analysis showed that the anthropogenic aerosol radiative forcing had a cooling effect at the land surface, but a warming effect in the atmosphere. However, enhanced convective strength and updrafts accompanied by water vapor increases and cyclone-like wind shear anomalies were found in the urban areas. These responses may originate from cloud microphysical effects of aerosols on convection, which were identified as the primary cause for the summer rainfall enhancement.

Exploring Smart Growth Boundaries of Urban Agglomeration with Land Use Spatial Optimization:A Case Study of Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan City Group,China

Urban agglomeration is the main spatial organization mode used by the Chinese government to promote the policy of new urbanization strategy.Hence,a better understanding of the urban growth boundary(UGB)has profound theoretical and practical significance regarding sustainable urban development.This study devised a raster-based land use spatial optimization(LUSO)framework,and utilized ant colony optimization(ACO)algorithm to delimit the smart growth boundaries of the Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan city group(CZTCG)in China.The aim of this study is to design a LUSO model to explore an optimal pattern of urban agglomeration for sustainable growth.Multi growth scenario including a single development center,multipolar development and balanced development patterns are generated by the LUSO model for the year of 2050,and the optimum spatial pattern is chosen based on objectives comparison and the present stage of economic and social development in CZTCG.The main results are listed as the following.1)It is feasible to identify the growth boundaries of the urban agglomeration using the land use spatial optimization model,and the optimal form of the spatial pattern can be defined.2)With the growth trend of the urban agglomeration gradually spreads from a single center to multi-centers and even small towns,the total optimization target performance gradually increases,which means that the traditional pie-shaped development does not meet the maximum comprehensive benefit of the city group.3)Subject to the regional social and economic development stage,absolute fair development or simply developing the central city is not conducive to promoting the coordinated development of the urban agglomeration.Gradient equalization and gradual advancement are the best choice for UGB delineation of urban agglomeration.The findings of this study would be useful to identify the UGB in CZTCG for more sustainable urban development in the future.

Dynamic Evaluation on Regional Tourism Competitiveness:Urban Agglomeration of Shandong Peninsula,Eastern China

The article establishes the appraisal index system for entire urban agglomeration and its interior cities individually,concretely including five aspects:driving forces for tourism development,the level of tourism development,tourism impacts,tourism economic connection and tourism contributions of different cities to the whole urban agglomeration.As tourism competitiveness has the characteristics of comprehensiveness,systematicness and dynamicness,the article attempts to apply the structural prediction means of system dynamics to evaluating tourism competitiveness,aiming to provide some research methods and analysis ideas for tourism competitiveness measurement and trends analysis in urban agglomeration.Taking Shandong Peninsula urban agglomeration as the study area,the article simulates and analyzes the tourism competitiveness trend of the whole region and its interior cities from 2005 to 2020,and the result reflects that integrated development and regional combination of tourism are important means to upgrade tourism competitiveness in this region.

Spatial Agglomeration of Exhibition Enterprises on a Regional Scale in China

During the past two decades, the exhibition industry in China has been developing rapidly and has become an important part of the modern service industry, particularly the agglomeration characteristics of exhibition enterprises highlighted on the regional scale. Although the development of theoretical research on the western exhibition industry has taken place over time, the spatial perspective has not been at the centre of attention so far. This paper aims to fill this gap and report on the agglomeration characteristics of exhibition enterprises and their influential factors. Based on data about exhibition enterprises in the Pearl River Delta(PRD) during 1991–2013, using the Ripley K function analysis and kernel density estimation, this research identifies that: 1) the exhibition enterprise on the regional scale is significantly characterized by spatial agglomeration, and the agglomeration density and scale are continuously increasing; 2) the spatial pattern of agglomeration has developed from a single-center to multi-center form. Meanwhile, this paper profiles the factors influencing the spatial agglomeration of exhibition enterprises by selecting the panel data of nine cities in the PRD in 1999, 2002, 2006 and 2013. The results show that market capacity, urban informatization level and exhibition venues significantly influence the location choice of exhibition enterprises. Among them, the market capacity is a variable that exerts a far greater impact than other factors do.

Research on the Impact of Industrial Agglomeration and Structural Upgrade on County Economic Growth under the New Normal Condition-Based on the Empirical Study of 101 County Counties in Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provinces

In this paper, the method of generalized moments of data and systems for 101 counties in Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provinces is used to analyze the impact of industrial agglomeration and industrial structure upgrading on county economic growth. The real diagnosis result indicated that, the industry gathers with the industrial structure promotes has the forward function to the county territory economic growth rate, in the sample time that had not discovered the industry gathers to the economical growth existence non-linearity in？ uence. On the other hand, the industrial structure promotes to the county territory economy long-term growth power is stronger, later period should break through the present stage in the manufacturing industry mature county territory through the industrial structure promotion strategy the industry to glide down.

Financial and Structural Stimuli for Regional Growth

The economies during the post-industrial era are returning to the classical meaning of manufacturing sector in the process of balanced regional growth and are searching for stimuli for diversifying economic structure and reindustrialization. Expansion of a new growth theory highlighted the necessity for the well-developed so-called innovative manufacturing sector; however, stimuli for realizing the potential of this sector are limited due to relative attractiveness of sectors with lower risks and faster returns especially in regions followers. Moreover, regional success as a result of the previous development can hinder changes and stimulate economic agents to avoid regions and sectors with high potential but weak performance. Generation of regional economic growth can be considered in a framework of two kinds of stimuli as financial and structural. Financial capital as an important factor for supporting structural change in economy helps to stay in harmony with the modern economy; however, existing sectoral composition can be persistent to changes. Latvia is considered as a case study about issues on fmancial and structural stimuli for regional growth because of the bright dominance of capital city region （high regional differentiation） and typical post-industrial economic structure in parallel with an intention to actively participate in reindustrialization and increase the innovativeness of economy. This article searches whether foreign investment stock in a company＇s equity capital provides a stimulus for an industrial change at a micro level （five regions and 12 manufacturing sectors in accordance with statistical classification of economic activities NACE 2 Rev. （Nomenclature generale des Activities economiques dans les Communuates Europeennes） two-digit level） and whether this change contributes to the regional growth. Unbalanced regional growth as a result of reallocation of financial resources among sectors of economic activity and differences in distribution of economic success at a sectoral level provide a useful foundation for testing the impact of foreign direct investments （FDI） on changes in economic structure.

Assessing the impact of manufacturing agglomeration on environmental pollution in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region using spatial panel data model

The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region is the vanguard of economic development in northern China.Its manufacturing industry is more and more developed,but environmental pollution is also more serious.Based on the data of 13 cities in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region from 2017 to 2021,the paper verifies the impact of manufacturing agglomeration on environmental pollution.Both manufacturing agglomeration and environmental pollution are dependent on spatial distribution.Therefore,the paper selects spatial econometric model to study.First,the spatial lag model and spatial error model are constructed,and then the spatial lag model is selected through the results of OLS regression,LM Test and Hausman test,and the empirical process is carried out.Finally,the empirical results are analyzed and the conclusion is drawn.

Analysis of Affecting Factors to the Regional Growth and Poverty Rate in Indonesia： Applying the Heterogeneous Regression

Effective regional budget may significantly affect the development of province in Indonesia. Subsidy from central government heavily composed in regional budget. This shows low real regional income which means districts are still depending on budget from central government in general. This research aims to analyze some local factors that affect the regional growth and poverty in 28 provinces in Indonesia. Data panel and heterogeneous regression would be employed in the research. Real regional income, transfer revenue, and labor are the most significant factors to regional growth differently, but it has a different sign as well as the poverty rate. Heterogeneous regression may give better model analysis than the simple one.

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.

Reconstruction of Industrial Location in View of Industrial Agglomeration

The Industrial Agglomeration Theory has been evolving all the time. The study on the industrial location has become the focus of the massive theoretical location problems about agglomeration since the 1970s. The authors here analyze the evolution and the characteristics of the Industrial Agglomeration Theory and study its effect on the reconstruction of industrial location. The study suggests that the new idea ofrecoustmction of industrial location is to cultivate regional innovative system. On this basis, the authors analyze two cases of old industrial bases on their constniction-Tiexi Industrial District in Shenyang City and Changchun Industrial Economic Development Zone. Finally, the authors put forward some suggestions that should be regarded, which include： 1） to combine industrial location reconstruction and enterprises＇ inner reform; 2） to speed up adjustment of resources and opening to the world; 3） to combine government mechanism with the market mechanism properly.

Impact of Climate Change on Urban Agglomerations in China’s Coastal Region

Climate change and urbanization issues are the two key factors that make humans liable to be affected by disasters, which are overlapped in urban agglomeration. The five big urban agglomerations of China with strong economic power are the important engines for national economic and social development. However, being in the sea-land mutual interaction belts with a vast hazard-bearing body, they are affected by sea-land compound disasters, and are liable to suffer heavy disaster losses with climate change. It is suggested that government departments concerned should fully recognize the impact of climate change on coastal urban agglomerations, propose strategies as soon as possible, and integrate the impact of climate change and adaptation countermeasures into the various kinds of social-economic development plans for coastal urban regions.

Economic Agglomeration Should Not Be Blamed for Widening Income Gaps in China

Agglomeration of economic activities is a common phenomenon across the world. Theoretical and empirical studies have shown that agglomeration promotes dynamic efficiency, which in turn is conducive to the long-term prosperity of a country＇s economy. Compared with most countries, in China is very low, and Chinese cities the spatial concentration of various industries are relatively small and equal-sized. Thus, it is unnecessary to contain the agglomeration of economic activities in China. Widening regional gaps since pro-market reforms and opening-up in China should be ascribed to institutional barriers rather than agglomeration. Therefore, China should refrain from containing agglomeration and instead focus on integrating product and factor markets and improving education and health care in less developed areas.

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.

Agglomeration Shadows amid China’s Urbanization:From a High-Speed Railway Perspective

Using China’s county-level panel data of 2007-2016,this paper verifies the existence of agglomeration shadows from an infrastructure development perspective.With high-speed railway(HSR)launch as a quasi-natural experiment,we find that the launch of HSR lines was followed by a decrease in GDP per capita of counties along the route by 2.6 percentage points.This conclusion remains valid after a series of robustness tests and the treatment of potential endogeneity problem.Mechanism analysis suggests that such effect is the most significant for counties within a distance of 97 to 195 km to the nearest central city,which is a manifestation of the“agglomeration shadows.”We also uncover that HSR would spur economic growth for counties with favorable endowments.However,HSR also has a significant negative impact on permanent population in counties.When change in permanent population is taken into account,HSR’s negative impact on the countywide economy becomes smaller.Shrinking permanent population in counties after HSR launch is a manifestation of such agglomeration shadows.HSR has facilitated the free flow of population.These findings point to the possibility that HSR may have induced regional economic equilibrium amid agglomeration.

A New Method for Comprehensive Evaluation of Air Quality in Urban Agglomeration

In this study, a new method for a comprehensive evaluation of air quality in urban agglomerations was developed based on a prototype used to solve the spatial Steiner-Weber point. With this method, the air quality information of each city in the city group is aggregated into an optimal gathering point, and then the air quality of the city group is then dynamically evaluated each year. According to the relevant data of the China Statistical Yearbook 2018, we applied this method to aggregate the air quality indices of the major cities in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration from 2014 to 2017. Using the plant growth simulation algorithm (PGSA), the optimal assembly points were calculated to be of a higher accuracy, compared to the traditional mean value aggregation method. Finally, the air quality of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration during each year was evaluated dynamically based on the obtained assembly points. The results show that the air quality of the urban agglomeration is ranked as follows: Y2016Y2015Y2017Y2014.