Study On Urban Network Connections And Economic Growth Effects In The Yangtze River Delta

Along with economic globalization and regional economic integration,capital and information flows among cities become more frequent.Besides,the spatial structure of urban areas has changed;socio-economic activities have transcended regional restrictions.Traditional hierarchy of cities and the geographical logic that areas controlled by sibling centers do not overlap with each other are broken.The basic theory of the hierarchical system and the basic method of scale distribution gradually lose the rationality basis,and they are difficult to adapt to the basic requirements of the intercity connection problems in the new era.Based on the non-hierarchical horizontal connections,urban network accords with the development of the city better,thus becoming the main performance model of the urban system.Exploring the evolution characteristics and effects of the urban spatial structure from the network perspective has become a hot topic as well as a driving force of urban system researches.Being in the stage of accelerating development of regional integration,the Yangtze River Delta area occupies a very important position in China’s regional development pattern.Cities in this area are also building up close links on economics and have entered a networked development stage with high level.In this way,it would be of much importance to study the connection intensity among the cities in the Yangtze River Delta area,the overall strength as well as the economic effects of the urban network for promoting the economic development of the Yangtze River Delta cities and improving the radiation of the central city to surrounding areas.This article first describes the basic theory of urban network and hackles related researches.Furthermore,it analyzes the economic growth of the Yangtze River Delta area and its inner differences.Based on enterprise spatial organization,an urban network evaluation system is constructed from the multi-dimensional perspectives of urban network connection,structure,and connection intensity to measure the overall characteristics of the urban network in the Yangtze River Delta area and the status of counties.Finally,on the basis of the traditional economic geography analysis framework "pattern-structure-process-mechanism",the content of effects was added.Based on the regression model,this paper measures the urban network economic effects of 214 counties in the Yangtze River Delta area.At the same time,this paper tries to analyze and study from more perspectives in order to draw more updated conclusions and provide some enlightenment for improving the level of economic development in the Yangtze River Delta area and promoting its coordinated development.The conclusions of the study indicate that(1)The overall network strength of the Yangtze River Delta area has been improved to a certain extent during the study period,and the overall urban connection network has gradually improved.In 2004,node connections in peripheral areas were not complete.Network participation of counties such as Shitai County and Jingde County was relatively low.By 2013,the overall urban network in the Yangtze River Delta area has been relatively developed.All 214 counties and districts have access to the urban network.The economic ties between cities have become closer and the balance has improved.However,the closeness of connections between peripheral cities is still low.(2)The urban network structure in the Yangtze River Delta area has evolved toward multiple centers.During the study period,new urban network centers appeared in the Yangtze River Delta area.While the network center status of Pudong New Area was gradually dispersed,Xihu District,Gongshu District,Yinzhou District,Gusu District,Kunshan and other counties increased the intensity of connections.Although the urban network evolved towards a polycentric structure,the radiation range of the central counties and districts needs to be further strengthened.Moreover,the closeness of the connections between peripheral counties and districts such as Shitai County and Jingde County needs to be improved.(3)the level of economic development in the Yangtze River Delta area is relatively high as a whole,and is constantly improving.The economic development among different counties and districts has shown a balanced trend,but the differences are still significant.(4)The connection intensity of urban network in the Yangtze River Delta area has economic effects.An empirical analysis of the regression model shows that in addition to the traditional factors of production,the urban connection network in the Yangtze River Delta area also has a significant positive effect on economic growth,but the degree of influence varies among different provinces.Compared with other provinces,the economic effect of urban network in Anhui Province is relatively low.(5)Urban connections across provincial administrative divisions are still rare in the Yangtze River Delta area.It is necessary to make reasonable use of the economic effect of urban network,eliminate administrative barriers,and promote regional integration.