Dynamic Mechanism Of Urban Expansion In The View Of Regional Economics

In essence, urban expansion as one of the basic characteristics of urbanization is a spatial motion caused by the forces from inside and outside with two expanding forms: extension and infilling. Along with rapid urbanization in China, Urban spatial pattern of China's cities have got a great change, which was representative of increasing extent of land use and durative varying urban spatial structure at a rapid pace. There are respective dynamic mechanisms and economic influences for different types of city. As the primary impetus of urban expansion, the development of urban economy distributes all the urban resources in virtue of marketing mechanism and leads the urban constructions and patterns of urban expansion.Based on theoretic economic analyses, the thesis tried to draw an economic mechanism to explain how urban expansion occurred. Agglomeration of economic factors, variation of urban land use, transformation of industrial structure, impulse of investment to city, and technical progress were represented as drives of urban expansion. Data for 8 cities of Shandong Peninsula Megalopolis from 1990 to 2005 was presented and analyzed in this thesis. Comprehensive index of urban expansion was presented to measure the extents of urban expansion and accordingly spatial-temporal characteristics of urban expansion and structural evolutions were concluded. Econometric models that sought to explain the variation in urban extent and expansion in the universe of cities were constructed with the help of panel data, and several economic drives from theoretic analyses were tested in cities of Shandong Peninsula Megalopolis. The policy implications of the analysis are presented and discussed.The thesis consists of six parts, which were organized according to the logical sequence from the classification for urban expansion to theoretical explanation and econometric analysis of dynamic economic mechanism then to the policy implications.Background and objectives of the study, classification of urban expansion, contemporary progress of the study on urban expansion, as well as research design were presented in Part 1. Development of urban economy was represented as the primary impetus of urban expansion, and economic mechanism constructed by agglomeration of economic factors, variation of urban land use, transformation of industrial structure, impulse of investment to city and technical progress was theoretically analyzed in Part 2.In Part 3, external background of urban expansion of cities in Shandong Peninsula Megalopolis was discussed and data in population, built-up area and GDP for the cities was obtained and measures of urban extent were calculated in virtue of Comprehensive Index of Urban Expansion. Accordingly, Spatial-temporal characteristics of urban expansion and structural evolutions of cities in Shandong Peninsula Megalopolis were concluded.Dynamics of urban expansion was modeled in Part 4. Index of relativity between economic drives and squares of built-up areas, as well as structure of newly- constructed land was discussed to explain the effects of the economic driving factors; Econometric model and panel data were presented. Development of economy and increase of population was proved as the most significant factors that result in urban expansion. Transformation of industrial structure and fluctuation of agricultural rent had a prominent function in developed cities. Besides, decline of commuting cost had contributions as well.The policy implications based on Smart Growth from western academe were presented and discussed in Part 5, with the central spirit of intensive land use, urban functional efficiency, and urban resistant developmentCreativities and Shortages were presented as preparations for the following research in Part 6.