Empirical Study Of The Determinants Of Urban Growth And Its Spatial Effects In Pan-yangtze River Delta

With the rural population pouring into city, China’s urbanization rate iscontinuously improving, by an increase from17.92%in1978to51.27%in2011,urban growth has become the theme of the century instead of economic growth. Theadvantages in land and labor that used to support economic development in the last20years of rapid development in Yangtze River Delta region, is gradually disappear,a large number of enterprises are beginning to transfer target markets or productionbases to the surrounding (Northern, western Zhejiang) and inland (central andwestern regions), which speed up the pace of the transfer of industry from theYangtze River Delta region to the Pan-Yangtze River Delta. To analyze thedeterminants and spatial effects of urban growth,the paper constructs panel datafrom1994to2010by selecting30prefecture-level cities in Pan-Yangtze RiverDelta. Accordingly, based on the theory of urban economics and geographicaleconomics, through the usage of geographical weighted regression model, the paperexplores the spatial heterogeneity and the drivers of urban growth in Pan-YangtzeRiver Delta.The paper concludes that，firstly, there are significant spatial effects of urbangrowth in the Pan-Yangtze River Delta. That is, the growth of a city depends notonly on their own endowments and inputs, but also on the growth of neighboringcities, and generally positive radiation effect. Secondly, the expansion of the scaleof investment in fixed assets is the main driving force of urban growth. With thedeepening of cooperation in the Pan-Yangtze River Delta region, spatial correlationin the region is becoming more and more significant, and the evolution trend of thedriving forces of urban growth shows a wide range evolution trend.According to the conclusions, the paper suggests that, while maintaining thegrowth in fixed assets investment, transportation, human resources, institutionaland industrial cooperation should be strengthened to promote the accumulation ofhuman capital and regional economic integration in the region. Also, in order tooptimize the industry structure, to relocate the soft and hard environment, tocontinue to reduce business costs and transaction costs, to attract more industries inthe region gathering to form economies of scale, something should be done tovigorously improve the ability to attract foreign capital of Jiangxi and AnhuiProvinces, Finally, to promote regional independent innovation, there should bechanges in the direction of government financial support,.