A Study On The Features Of The Evolution Of Small Towns And Their Adaptive Optimization Strategies In Wuhan Metropolitan Area

As China’s urbanization enters a new stage of connotation and quality improvement,metropolitan areas have become the main battlefield for China’s new urbanization practice and innovative exploration.Small towns in metropolitan areas,as an important node of “connecting cities and rural areas”,play an important role in unraveling the various factors gathered in the central urban area,orderly guiding the urbanization of agricultural transfer population in metropolitan areas,and equaling public services in metropolitan areas.Wuhan,as one of the metropolises in the central region of China,has a resident population of more than 10 million.Small towns in its metropolitan area are in the background of the polarization effect of the central urban area,continuous improvement of infrastructure,network of regional division of labor,and rapid flow of urban and rural factors,which making the content and function of its main functions has changed.Due to the multiple influences of the urbanization regional background and the internal and external dynamic mechanisms,small towns in Wuhan have gradually exhibited type differentiation characteristics in the process of function evolution.Based on the above background,this paper studies the evolution process,mechanism,type differentiation,typical problems and targeted optimization strategies of small town functions in the metropolitan area of Wuhan.The main content of the study is divided into four parts.The first part is a summary of theories and research related to the development of small towns and their functions in metropolitan areas at home and abroad.It is found that the economic relationship between the active interaction of small towns and metropolises in foreign metropolitan areas and the development experience as a satellite city construction have certain reference significance for the functional positioning of small towns in China’s metropolitan areas.At the same time,the existing domestic research scope of the functional evolution of metropolitan areas in China is mainly from the national level,the provincial level or the regional level which focusing on either the metropolitan area of the eastern part or the eastern part of China.According to the characteristics of the central region,combining the development of the metropolitan area with the evolution and optimization of the functions of small towns,the results of thematic research are relatively lacking.The research on the evolution and optimization of the functions of small towns in the Wuhan metropolitan area needs to be combined with basic theory,domestic and foreign research experience,field research and interpretation of the development background of the Wuhan metropolitan area.The second part examines and analyzes the overall characteristics of the evolution of the functions of small towns in the metropolitan area of Wuhan,which divides the leading functions of small towns into service functions,production functions and transmission functions and analyzes them according to their role and status in metropolitan areas.On this basis,the overall development model and characteristics of the Wuhan metropolitan area are summarized,combined with empirical data to further analyze and summarize the overall characteristics of the evolution of the function of small towns in the Wuhan metropolitan area,the study found that the conduction of public service functions in small towns has increased,the production function has shifted from self-organization to specialized division of labor,the transmission function has become more passive and the evolution of the functions of small towns in the metropolitan area of Wuhan is significantly different due to the influence of major factors such as regional division,geographic location,transportation links,and factor circulation.The third part summarizes the type characteristics and connotation of the function evolution of small towns in the metropolitan area of Wuhan.Based on the differences found in the previous section,the third part combines the POI data of small towns in Wuhan metropolitan areas in 2012 and 2019,and uses the system clustering analysis tool of SPSS software to obtain the evolution of small town functions during the two years to find out the basic mechanism of differentiation.Then it combines the results with on-site investigation and understanding,and divides the evolution of small town functions into four groups,which are namely urban-embedded type,urban-town complementary type,specialized division of labor type and rural service type.Combined with empirical materials and relevant data collected by the investigation,further in-depth research on the evolution of the functions of different types of small towns has been carried out.The study finds out that the development of the function of urban embedded small towns presents a continuous upward movement from town to urban,the urban-town complementary towns reflect the synergy of functions in the development process,specialized division of labor type towns reflect its specialized division under the strong intervention of the metropolis,the core functions of rural service-oriented change from management to service.The fourth part discusses the adaptive optimization strategy of the function of small towns in Wuhan metropolitan area under the goal of urban-rural integration development.On the basis of summarizing the evolution of the functions of small towns in Wuhan metropolitan areas,with the goal of achieving urban-rural integration,it puts forward the overall principles of regional integration,division of labor and cooperation,adapting to the situation,strengthening services and healthy development.And then it propose a preliminary strategic framework for the optimization of various small town functions.The urban-embedded towns focus on actively integrating into the city and improving service levels,the urban-town complementary towns emphasize the integration of new city resources and shared service markets,the specialized division of labor towns tend to integrate into the division of labor system and strengthen professional services,and the rural service towns further strengthen basic services and enhance their ability to coordinate and stabilize production,ecology and living resources and environment.