Spatial Pattern And Integration Development Of Port Cities In Liaoning Province

The spacial organization of cities in a region is one of the primary research contents of urban geography. As the framework of regional economic development, it is the momentum and the core for the growth of regional economy. Located at the border of oceans and continents, port cities have been universally paid much attention to, which are benefited from the trend of the integration of oceanic and global economic developments. In addition, as the tendency of the integration of urban regionalization and regional development is becoming promising, the development of port cities is presenting the tendency of coalition and cooperation. Therefore, the integration and globalization developments have been developed into the trend of“port cities- regions”.The dissertation takes port cities in Liaoning Province as the research objects. By using synthetically the fundamental theories and research techniques of urban geography, economic geography, regional economy, spatial economy, urban and regional planning and following the logic of“pattern→process→regulation”as well as basing on researches concerning the relations between average cities and regions and the relations between port cities and hinterlands, the dissertation analyzes the spacial pattern and the operating condition of port cities in Liaoning Province. In the meantime, this dissertation puts forward strategies that can enhance the integration development by focusing on the evolutions of ports and cities as well as the uncomformity revealed in the evolution processes. There are mainly five chapters in this paper:The first chapter is the introduction. By analyzing systematically the relative studies on port cities domestically and abroad, the demand for the perfection of theories of geography and the practical features and trends of the development of port cities, the introduction part proposes the research plan for the whole dissertation.The second chapter is the theoretical foundation of the dissertation. Respectively, this part defines the core meaning of researches of port cities and concludes the primary theories that will be served as the theoretical supports of this dissertation. In addition, this part constructs the theoretical framework for the empirical research of port cities in Liaoning Province based on the analysis of the relations between ports and cities, average cities and regions as well as port cities and hinderlands.The third chapter is analysis of the spatial pattern for port cities in Liaoning Province. The analysis composes of two aspects. On the one hand, the inner spacial pattern of port cities regions, which is elaborated through the analysis of the urban system of the spatial pattern, size distribution, function structure, urbanization level, and centricity constitution; on the other hand, the functional spacial pattern of urban regions, which is embodied by placing port cities in the regional background, investigating the hierarchical structure of hinderland regions, the regional functional intensity as well as the regional functional direction, etc.The fourth chapter is the analysis of the process of the spatial pattern for port cities in Liaoning Province. Based on the studies on the formation and development of the two crucial elements“ports”and“port cities”and the analysis of the motives, the mechanisms, the patterns, the conditions for the competition and cooperation among port cities as well as the spacial patterns for the competition and cooperation among port cities, this part proposes the process, the result, the features as well as the trend for the development of port cities.The fifth chapter is regulation of the integration development for the port cities in Liaoning Province. Based on the analysis of the features of the spatial pattern and the formation process of port cities in Liaoning Province and the problems existing in their development as well as adopting the experience in collective urban development domestically and abroad, this part proposes the spacial regulation strategies for the future integration and globalization of port cities in Liaoning Province.