Study On The Planning Strategy For Coupling The Integration And High-Quality Development Of Xi’an Metropolitan Area

As an advanced form of urbanization,metropolitan area has become the economic growth pole and the core area of population agglomeration in developed countries and regions.It is equally an important manifestation of territorial comprehensive strength and development level.In essence,metropolitan area is a complex giant system(CGS)with high-level openness.Its formation and development is similar to an organism,with its own inherent laws and characteristics.The ultimate goal is to achieve the integration of all parts of the system,while high quality is an important dimension to evaluate the level of integration.Therefore,the integration at both quantity-level and quality-level is important for the development of metropolitan areas.As an important carrier leading the high-quality development across the territory,Xi’an Metropolitan Area(XAMA)still faces such actual problems as weak radiation-driving ability,vicious and homogeneous industrial competition,and tightening resource and environmental constraints.Therefore,it is urgent to speed up its integration and high-quality development.Based on the above research background and actual problems,this dissertation investigated the coupling between the integration and high-quality development of XAMA.First,the dissertation conducted a multi-disciplinary literature review of relevant studies and practices at home and abroad covering economics,ecology,sociology,geography and urban-rural planning.Then,it carried out in-depth analyses of the inner relationship between metropolitan integration and high-quality development,systematically elaborated on the dialectical coupling relationship between integration and high quality characterized by interdependence,mutual restraint and mutual promotion,and summarized the main characteristics of the coupling between integration and highquality development of metropolitan areas,based on the general law of integrated development and evolution of metropolitan areas,combined with the multi-dimensional integration of economy,society,culture,system,space,and planning,as well as the high quality of production,life,and ecological functions in the new era,and from the perspectives of source and composition,existence and change,dynamics and result,and goal and path.Second,a quantitative overlay measurement method was constructed based on multiple dimensions of transportation,economy,population,culture,etc.from the perspective of integration.Then,taking into consideration the historical and cultural spatial pattern and development trajectory of Xi’an,the dissertation carried out a qualitative and complementary verification of the method,so as to scientifically identify the spatial circle structure of XAMA.On this basis,it summarized the spatial expansion process of Xi’an main urban area and the evolution law of the spatial circle structure of XAMA.It comprehensively integrated the orientation of “integration-high quality-level of coupling-satisfaction” and evaluated the comprehensive performance of the coupling of integration and high-quality development.It further confirmed the coupling relationship between integration and high-quality development of metropolitan areas,and investigated in a complementary way the actual problems of XAMA.Third,taking into account fundamental factors such as natural environment,economy and society,transportation facilities,and history and culture,as well as stimulating factors such as policy and institution and information technology,this dissertation identified the impact factors of the coupling between the integration and highquality development of XAMA and constructed a dynamic mechanism model based on factor attributes and action forms.On this basis,by examining the general and composite spatial patterns of metropolitan development and referring to the complex adaptive system theory,it explored the suitable spatial development pattern of XAMA.Based on the systematic analyses of the above research contents,the dissertation came up with the following conclusions and views.First,the integrated development of metropolitan areas should focus on territorial synergy,facility interconnection,industrial division of labor,risk sharing,and market integration.The future high-quality development concept should be people-centered,green,innovation-driven and network-based.The coupling between integration and highquality development of metropolitan areas will show such basic characteristics as industrial collaborative innovation,open and integrated market,green and ecological protection,coordinated and integrated urban-rural development,cultural tolerance and identification,interconnected transportation,co-created and shared services,technologyand knowledge-led,and modern and efficient governance.This is critical to achieve at the spatial level a high-quality integration of elements,structure and functions of metropolitan areas.Second,according to the delimitation of its spatial scope and identification of its circle structure,XAMA is still a single-core metropolitan area composed of Xi’an main urban area,Xianyang main urban area,and Xi’an-Xianyang New Area,showing a trend of axial extension along the main traffic routes and a relatively loose overall territorial spatial connection.By thoroughly examining the current territorial situation and comparing the development patterns of domestic metropolitan areas,it was diagnosed that XAMA currently confronted such problems as imperfect urban system,insufficient industrial cooperation,low-level transportation network,weak ecological protection,excessive concentration of public services,imperfect institutional mechanisms and so on.Through the “coupling-satisfaction” evaluation,it was found that the level of coupling between the integration and high-quality development of XAMA was at a moderate level,and there is still a big room for improvement.Over the past years,both integration and high-quality development have seen a significant improvement.Nevertheless,they were still at an intermediate level due to multi-dimensional factors.The residents within the study area showed a low cognition of XAMA,a weak cognition of the spatial connection between the core and the periphery,and a generally low satisfaction of integration and high-quality development.Third,in line with the proposed suitable spatial development pattern of XAMA,the dissertation put forward such a development pattern as “multi-objective,multi-center,multi-dimension and network”,which was considered as the ideal spatial morphology.Based on a clear understanding of the actual problems and strategic missions of XAMA,it gave full play to the overall leading and coordination role of planning and actively responded to suitable spatial patterns.It proposed guiding strategies,focusing on the functional enhancement and pattern optimization,industrial synergy and innovation drive,cultural preservation and transmission and culture-tourism integration,transportation integration and facility sharing,ecological optimization and green development,etc.At the same time,based on the context of territorial and spatial planning,it emphasized the transformation of planning thinking and the shift of planning goals,thereby strengthening the specific coordination and internal and external linkages of the planning system,optimizing and improving the planning procedures of XAMA,and proposing paths and methods for collaborative governance and institutional response.In so doing,the dissertation can effectively support the coupling between the integration and high-quality development of XAMA and provide a useful reference for the development planning of metropolitan areas in the central and western regions of China.