A Study On Development Of Cities In The Economic Zone On The Western Coast Of The Taiwan Straits Based On The Perspective Of Urban Hinterlands

Regional development will depend on central cities and their hinterlands, so the reasonable hinterland delimitation, research on spatial pattern of urban influence and hinterlands from multiple perspectives, analysis on competition and cooperation between different cities, and discussion about economic contact and industrial linkage between cities and their hinterlands can not only show an approach to study urban economic region, but also provide the basis for regional decision. The Economic Zone on the Western Coast of the Taiwan Straits has attracted much attention since the government endorsed its construction and set it as one part of the national strategy. As a new regional economy syntheses, the economic zone must shoulder the historical mission to promote exchange and cooperation between the both sides of Taiwan straits, connect the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta and boost regional development. As the only provincial capital city in the economic zone, Fuzhou will play the leading role and occupy an irreplaceable position. Therefore, a study about the economic zone and Fuzhou is of outstanding necessity and profound practical significance.This paper makes the study from multiple perspectives through the method of combining theoretical with empirical research, static with dynamic analysis, spatial with temporal analysis, integral with hierarchical analysis, qualitative with quantitative analysis. (1) Characteristics and structure of urban hinterland system are elaborated after integrating domestic and overseas research about urban hinterland with system theory. (2) Based on field-strength model, the paper calculates the urban influence of twenty cities at prefecture level or above in the economic zone in 2007, points out three strong influence circles of urban agglomeration. Furthermore, this paper delimits urban hinterlands in accordance with the principle of "maximal field-strength choosing". Then, the spatial pattern of urban hinterlands can be discussed from two perspectives:one is the spatial relationship between urban hinterlands and administrative districts; the other is the spatial relationship between different urban hinterlands. (3) The study analyzes the competition of area and human resources of urban hinterland from 2004 to 2007. Meanwhile, Fuzhou is set as a case for intensive research. (4) The economic contact, industrial cooperation, industrial interaction and extent of specialization between Fuzhou and its hinterland are investigated. (5) Finally, the paper proposes several suggestions to accelerate the development of urban agglomeration in the economic zone and Fuzhou.