Study On The Spatial Evolution Mechanism And Regulation On The Urban-Rural Integrated Area

City is an important venue for human activities. By assembling materials, funds and technologies to a certain geographic scope, it evolves into the political, economic and cultural center of a state or region. In this sense the development of city is the key and core element in social and economic progress of the state or region. Furthermore, social progress and IT advancement strengthen the urban spatial diffusion. Such diffusion effect and the increasingly constant exchanges between city and its surrounding areas accelerate the extension of city and the integration of urban and rural areas. In this process, a transitional zone where urban and rural land use interlocked and economic and social structures dramatically changed, come into being. That is the so-called urban-rural integrated area. Located between central urban areas and peripheral rural areas and featured by dual characteristics, it is the transitional belt of city to village. This new spatial pattern is a result of the interaction and influence of urban and rural geographic systems and societies. Thus it carries great significance to the urban development. Given limited domestic research and studies on urban-rural integrated area and topics, such as its definition , theoretical framework, structure and function, spatial evolution mechanism and regulations, this paper is trying to provide a thorough study on the theories in this field. To this end, the author starts from the perspective of relevancy between city and region and then gleans theories and approaches from relevant disciplines such as economic geography , urban geography , urban sociology. By reviewing the research achievements at home and abroad and incorporating theoretical research and empirical study, dynamic process and comparative static analyses, quantification and qualification, comparative study and synthetic integration, it concludes by putting forward the theoretical framework and major elements in influencing spatial diffusion, functions and structures. On the basis of the theoretical study, this paper is also dedicated to a case study of the spatial evolution of urban-rural integrated area in Changchun city. Through process coupling analysis and spatial evolution mechanism study, it identifies the goals and focuses of regulation on Changchun urban-rural integrated area. In view of this, the study is shedding lights on two aspects:First, in terms of theoretical study, the paper puts emphasis on the establishment of theoretical framework of urban-rural integrated area. By prioritizing the connotation of definition, it identifies the structures, functions and geographic patterns of urban-rural integrated area. To this end, the paper first defines the urban-rural integrated area as a special economic geography unit composing urban geographic pattern with central urban areas and...