Study On The Mechanism Of Urban Spatial Structure Evolution Of The Middle And Lower Reaches Of The Sungari River In Modern Times

As the birthplace of the Qing Dynasty,the policy of prohibition,which was implemented in 1668,hindered the urbanization process in Northeast China.In the meantime,with the gradual acceleration of global urbanization since the industrial revolution,Northeast China was considered as the strategic focus of global competition between such countries as Britain,Russia,Japan and the USA because of the favorable geographical location and abundant natural resources,facilitating the advancement of modernization and urbanization.For this reason,Northeast China was deemed as a representative example in the modern history of human development and the urbanization process.By relying on the favorable shipping conditions,and abundant natural resources such as agriculture,forestry,coal,minerals,etc,the typical example basin-oriented urban system came into being in the middle and lower reaches of the Sungari River.During the Jacques War from1685 to 1688,the urban system of military defense was established based upon Post-Road System,aiming to fight against the eastward expansion of Russia.Therefore,reclamation areas were forged based on military defense in the middle and lower reaches of the Sungari River,and formed the waterway to the Heilongjiang River,creating the linear distribution of spatial structure along the Sungari River.During the border crisis in 1880,the Qing Dynasty recruited immigrant to exploit virgin land in border areas,trained and stationed modern troops,established agencies of local administration,thus building up agricultural and military towns.In 1900,during the construction of the Chinese Eastern Railway,Northeast China became a part of the world’s political and economic system.The modern social system,economic system and the pattern of urban construction played served as positive examples in facilitating urbanization and modernization of Northeast China.In 1907,the Qing Government carried out the“new policy”,established Un-Treaty ports,and promoted business boom and the agriculture industrialization,forest exploitation and coal mining,thus forging the resource-based urban system.In 1919,after the October Revolution of Russia,the population,capital and technology,representing the old Tsarist regime,were introduced to Northeast China on a large scale.In 1920,during international condominium,international capital and technology were imported from countries like the USA and Germany,further improving the urban structures update and forging the port-waterway-hinterland urban spatial pattern in the middle and lower reaches of the Sungari River: Harbin,Sanxing,Kiamusze and Fujin as the core,Sungari waterway and Chinese Eastern Railway as the framework of transportation,and Acheng,Suibin and Fuyuan etc.as the hinterland.Over the past century,with the basis of abundant natural resources and export-oriented economy,the urban structure in the middle and lower reaches of the Sungari River have been gradually forged,transformed and upgraded constantly,providing significant reference value to the construction of urban system in the context of economic globalization and informationization.On such a basis,as China is focusing on carrying out One Belt One Road Initiative and promoting international cooperation,this paper takes the urbanization process in the middle and lower reaches of the Sungari River as the research question,takes the transformation mechanism of space structures as the target of research.Relevant methods are used as well,including literature research,field research and oral history.Moreover,this paper conducts analysis on multiple factors such as natural environment,international political and economic environment,industry,population and urbanization,etc.Based on the GIS platform,the formation and transformation mechanism of urban structures in the Sungari River basin is discussed,thus indicating the following aspects: the industrialization of natural resources is the motive for regional urbanization;the decisive role of regional political and economic environment in the transformation of urban structural system,and general mode of the regional urban structures of the“port-waterway-hinterland” pattern.In the context of economic globalization and informatization,this paper provides theoretical value for the path selections of basin cities according to the development of natural and environmental resources.In addition,this paper demonstrates the practical significance for overall optimization of urban structures of the Sungari River basin and the revitalization of Northeast China.