The sustainable development of innovative cities in China: Comprehensive assessment and future configuration

doi:10.1007/s11442-014-1141-z

Abstract

Abstract:

Innovative cities not only constitute an important basis for innovation activities, but also play a strategically critical role in constructing an innovative country, producing new forms of urban development, and fostering urban sustainable development. Currently, China is marching toward the goal of establishing an innovative country by 2020, but in the start-up phase of this process of innovative city construction, the fundamental transition from factor-driven development to innovation-driven development is not being realized. As a result, a wide gap currently exists between China’s innovative cities and the advanced innovative cities in developed countries. This paper argues that this necessary transition is being constrained by a series of bottlenecks in investment, income, techniques, contributions, and talents. The article takes 287 prefecture-level cities as its object of comprehensive assessment, developing a comprehensive assessment system for innovative cities and devising innovative monitoring system software in order to evaluate the current situation in China’s innovative city construction. The analysis addresses four key aspects - namely, independent innovation, industrial innovation, living environmental innovation, and institutional innovation - as well as the spatial heterogeneity of the innovative city construction process. The results demonstrate that the level of innovation in Chinese cities is low, and the paper warns that building an innovation-oriented country will, as a consequence, be difficult. Some 87.8% of the cities studied maintained comprehensive levels of innovation that were lower than the national average. The level of comprehensive innovation in a city was found to have close and positive correlation with economic development. The level of the eastern region of China was, in particular, found to be significantly higher than that of the central and western regions. The levels of urban independent innovation, industrial innovation, environmental innovation, and institutional innovation showed consistent spatial heterogeneity, as did the comprehensive level of innovation in cities. In the future, the authors suggest, China should speed up the construction process in accordance with the basic principles of “independent innovation, breakthroughs in key fields, market-oriented, regional interaction, talent-supported,” with the purpose of building up Beijing, Shenzhen, Shanghai, and Guangzhou as global innovation centers; and Nanjing, Suzhou, Xiamen, Hangzhou, Wuxi, Xi’an, Wuhan, Shenyang, Dalian, Tianjin, Changsha, Qingdao, Chengdu, Changchun, Hefei, and Chongqing as national innovation centers, by 2020. Through this process, China will finally build a national urban innovation network that includes 4 global innovative cities, 16 national innovative cities, 30 regional innovative cities, 55 local innovative cities, and 182 innovation-driven development cities, thereby contributing to the establishment of an innovative country by 2020.

Key words: innovative city, comprehensive assessment, sustainable development, future configuration, China

Chuanglin FANG, Haitao MA, Zhenbo WANG, Guangdong LI. The sustainable development of innovative cities in China: Comprehensive assessment and future configuration[J].Journal of Geographical Sciences, 2014, 24(6): 1095-1114.

Figures/Tables 9

Figure 1

Table 1

Constitution of comprehensive assessment system of innovative cities in China"

Primary index	Secondary index	Third-level index	Fourth-level index
Comprehensive Innovation Assessment Index of a City A	City Technology Innovation Index B1	Innovation Platform Construction Index C1	Where D1 is the number of higher education institutions per million people; D2 is the number of national key laboratories per million people; D3 is the number of national engineering research centers per million people; D4 is the number of national high-level technology development zones per million people; D5 is the number of national innovative technology zones per million people; D6 is the number of innovative corporations per million people; D7 is the number of national innovation incubators per million people; D8 is the number of post-doctoral affiliations per million people; and D9 is the number of post-doctoral research work stations per million people.
		Innovation Factors Input Index C2	Where D10 is the proportion of social R&D investment to GDP; D11 is the proportion of education funding expenditure to local government expenditure; D12 is the proportion of technology expenditures to local government expenditure: D13 is the proportion of R&D employees to total social employees: D14 is the number of students in college per 10,000 people; D15 is the number of internet users per 100 people; and D16 is the number of mobile phones per 100 people.
		Innovation Achievement Transfer Index C3	Where D17 is the number of innovation patents per million people; D18 is the contractual turnover volume in technology market per capita; D19 is the number of effective trademark registrations per million people; D20 is the number of famous Chinese trademarks per million people: D21 is the number of geographic indication products per million people; D22 is the number of independent innovation products at provincial level or above per million people; and D23 is the number of national key new products per million people.
	City Industrial Innovation Index B2	Corporate Innovation Index C4	Where D24 is the proportion of Top 500 corporations in the city to the total number of Top 500 corporations; D25 is the number of high-tech corporations at the provincial or above per million people; D26 is the proportion of the number of R&D institutions to total corporations with considerable scale; D27 is the proportion of R&D input to total primary business income of corporations with considerable scale.
		Structural Innovation Index C5	Where D28 is the proportion of high-tech industrial output to total industrial output; D29 is the proportion of added value of the service industry to GDP; D30 is the proportion of high-tech product exports in the total exports of all products; D31 is the proportion of output of high-tech industry development zones to GDP; and D32 is the proportion of new product sales to total primary business income with considerable scale
		Technology Benefit Index C6	Where D33 is per capita GDP; D34 is total productivity; D35 is the disposable income of urban residents per capita; and D36 is the urban registered unemployment ratio.
	City Living Environment Innovation Index B3	Energy-saving and Emission-reduction Index C7	D37 is the comprehensive energy consumption per unit of industrial added value; D38 is the decrease rate of energy intensity per unit GDP; D39 is carbon emissions per 10,000Yuan GDP; D40 is the urban water-saving ratio; and D41 is the comprehensive utilization productivity of “the three wastes”
	City Living Environment Innovation Index B3	Living Environment Improvement Index C8	Where D42 is the urban air quality index; D43 is the urban sewage treatment rate; D44 is the urban living garbage harmless disposal rate; D45 is the comprehensive utilization ratio of urban industrial solid wastes; and D46 is the green coverage ratio of urban built-up area.
	City Institutional Innovation Index B4	Innovation Service and Culture Construction Index C9	Where D47 is the number of talent intermediary service institutions per million people; D48 is the number of national technology associations per million people; D49 is the number of public library collections per 10,000 people; and D50 is the number of opera houses and movie theaters per 10,000 people.
	City Institutional Innovation Index B4	Policy Innovation Index C10	Where D51 refers to a listing on the “National innovative city pilot” undertaken by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC); D52 refers to classification as a “national innovative pilot city” by the Ministry of Science and Technology; D53 refers to classification as a “national sustainable development experimental zone” by the Ministry of Science and Technology; D54 refers to listing as a “national intellectual property pilot city” ; and D55 denotes a rating as a “national outstanding city in technical progress.”
Total	4	10	55

Table 1

Table 2

Strategic spatial configuration planning of national innovative cities"

Level	Global innovative city	National innovative city	Regional innovative city	Local innovative city	Innovation-driven city
Evaluation criteria (Comprehensive innovation index	≥0.75	0.5-0.75	0.25-0.5	0.1-0.25	<0.10
Evaluation criteria (Comprehensive innovation index	Senior innovative city	Senior and middle-level innovative city	Middle-level Innovative City	Low-level innovative city	Primary innovative city (Potential innovative city)
Number of cities	4	16	30	55	182
Innovative status	Global Innovation Center	National Innovation Center	Regional innovation center	Local innovation center	Innovation center
Basic function	World city International Metropolis National Central City	National central city Regional central city	Regional central city Local central city	Local central city	Local sub-central city
Regional radiation function	Core city of world-class metropolis	Core city of national urban agglomeration	Core city of regional urban agglomeration	Core city of local urban agglomeration	Core city of regional city group and circle
Representative cities	Beijing Shenzhen Shanghai Guangzhou	Nanjing, Suzhou, Xiamen, Hangzhou, Wuxi, Shenyang, Xi’an, Wuhan, Dalian, Tianjin, Changsha, Qingdao, Changchun, Chengdu, Chongqing, Hefei	Zhuhai, Fuzhou, Changzhou, Jinan, Ningbo, Harbin, Taiyuan, Nanchang, Zhenjiang, Yantai, Haikou, Zhengzhou, Shaoxing, Lanzhou, Kunming, Dongguan, Yinchuan, Foshan, Hohhot, Wenzhou, Yangzhou, Huizhou, Taizhou, Mianyang, Guiyang, Shijiazhuang, Urumqi, Shantou, Tangshan, Nanning	Weihai, Jinhua, Wuhu, Dongying, Xiangtan, Baotou, Zhoushan, Zhongshan, Zibo, Karamay, Tongling, Jiaxing, Huzhou, Sanya, Nantong, Baoji, Taizhou, Weifang, Jingdezhen, Jiangmen, Laiwu, Quanzhou, Daqing, Zhuzhou, Langfang, Lianyungang, Erdos Jiayuguan, Ma’anshan, Anshan, Jinchang, Benxi,, Changzhi, Xining, Yancheng, Zhangzhou, Yueyang, Huainan, Bengbu, Putian, Lhasa, Tai’an, Jilin, Xinyu, Xuzhou, Qinhuangdao, Ezhou, Luoyang, Guilin, Deyang, Rizhao, Yichang, Liuzhou, Baoding, Dezhou	Longyan, Jincheng, Sanming, Lishui, Xuchang, Jining, Zhaoqing, Anyang, Xiangyang, Xingtai, Chengde, Wuhai, Pingdingshan, Quzhou, Binzhou, Zhangjiakou, Linyi, Xinxiang, Chaozhou, Panjin, Shaoguan, Huaian, Liaocheng, Zaozhuang, Tongliao, Mount Huangshan, Yingtan, Xianyang, Yingkou, Yuncheng, Luohe, Huaibei, Zigong, Changde, Yangquan, Shizuishan, Datong, Qingyang, Liaoyuan, Hengshui, Tongchuan, Beihai, Suqian, Yulin, Meizhou, Yanan, Yunfu, Jiaozuo, Yuxi, Cangzhou, Zhangjiajie, Dandong, Handan, Fushun, Yulin

Table 2

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7

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