Mega-towns in China: Their spatial distribution features and growth mechanisms

doi:10.1007/s11442-020-1770-3

Abstract

Abstract:

As a special outcome of urbanization, mega-towns not only play an important role in the process of socio-economic development, but also are important contributors to urbanization. Based on a spatial database of mega-towns in China, this paper explores the spatial distribution features and growth mechanisms of China’s 238 mega-towns using the nearest neighbour distance method, kernel density estimation, regression analysis, global autocorrelation, local autocorrelation and other spatial analysis methods. Results of spatial distribution features show that: (1) on the national scale, the existing 238 mega-towns mainly gathered in the southeast coastal areas of China; they formed two spatial core agglomerations, several secondary ones and a southeast coastal agglomeration belt; (2) on the regional scale, each economic region’s index was less than 1, indicating that mega-towns in each region tended to be spatially agglomerated due to the close relationship with regional development level and their number; (3) on the provincial scale, 68% of provincial-level units in China tended to be a spatial agglomeration of mega-towns; only one province had a random distribution; the number of mega-towns in those evenly-distributed provinces was generally small. The growth of mega-towns was determined by a combination of various natural and humanistic factors, including topography, location, economy, population, traffic, and national policy. This paper chose digital elevation model (DEM), location advantage, economic density, population density, and highway density distribution as corresponding indicators as quantitative factors. By combining their local autocorrelation analysis, these factors all showed certain influence on the spatial growth of mega-towns and together scheduled it. In the future, provinces and cities should make full use of the mega-town functions to promote their socioeconomic development, especially the central and western regions in China.

Key words: mega-town, features, spatial distribution, growth mechanism, China

WANG Xueqin, LIU Shenghe, QI Wei. Mega-towns in China: Their spatial distribution features and growth mechanisms[J].Journal of Geographical Sciences, 2020, 30(7): 1060-1082.

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Mega-town	Inhabitants (person)	Number	List
Medium city level	≥500,000	2	Chang'an Omitted, Humen Town
Type-I small city level	200,000-500,000	37	Tangxia Town, Houjie Town, Liaobu Town, Changping Town, Dachang Town, Xiaolan Town, Fenggang Town, Dalang Town, Qingxi Town, Qibao Town, Xinzhuang Town, Xucheng Town, Taihu Lake New Town, Dalingshan Town, Longgang Town, Yangshe Town, Yushan Town, Beiqijia Town, Suicheng Town, Tianya Town, Zhili Town, Shijie Town, Nanqiao Town, Qian'an Town, Huangjiang Town, Gucun Town, Sanlin Town, Meilong Town, Wucheng Town, Wuchang Town, Gaobu Town, Jiuting Town, Tangxia Town, Hengli Town, Licheng Town, Shishan Town
Type-II small city level	100,000-200,000	199	Omitted

Regions	GDP (billion)	Urbanization rate (%)	Inhabitants (billion)
Eastern Coastal Area	13812.6	73.3	159.3
Northern Coastal Area	13236.1	69.4	209.9
Southern Coastal Area	10249.5	62.1	156.0
Middle Yangtze River	9718.2	52.5	233.5
Southwest Area	8669.5	48.2	242.9
Middle Yellow River	8562.2	54.0	194.5
Northeast Area	5781.6	60.5	109.5
Northwest Area	2247.0	44.8	65.4

Region	Number of mega-towns	r	Region	Number of mega-towns	r
Eastern Coastal Area	72	0.83	Southwest Area	29	0.70
Northern Coastal Area	17	0.71	Middle Yellow River	9	0.70
Southern Coastal Area	57	0.82	Northeast Area	8	0.69
Middle Yangtze River	44	0.84	Northwest Area	2	0.64

Province-level region	Number of mega-towns	r	Distribution mode	Province-level region	Number of mega-towns	r	Distribution mode
Beijing	1	0.00	agglomeration	Guangdong	48	0.83	agglomeration
Guizhou	1	0.00	agglomeration	Jiangxi	13	0.86	agglomeration
Liaoning	1	0.00	agglomeration	Hunan	9	0.87	agglomeration
Ningxia	1	0.00	agglomeration	Tianjin	3	0.89	agglomeration
Qinghai	1	0.00	agglomeration	Heilongjiang	3	0.95	agglomeration
Shaanxi	1	0.00	agglomeration	Anhui	15	1	random
Shandong	2	0.07	agglomeration	Yunnan	3	1.08	uniform
Inner Mongolia	3	0.38	agglomeration	Jiangsu	35	1.15	uniform
Guangxi	5	0.63	agglomeration	Henan	3	1.18	uniform
Jilin	4	0.64	agglomeration	Hebei	11	1.32	uniform
Hubei	7	0.70	agglomeration	Hainan	4	1.41	uniform
Sichuan	18	0.70	agglomeration	Shanxi	2	2.15	uniform
Chongqing	2	0.71	agglomeration	Gansu	0	—	—
Zhejiang	14	0.72	agglomeration	Tibet	0	—	—
Shanghai	23	0.75	agglomeration	Xinjiang	0	—	—
Fujian	5	0.81	agglomeration	China	238	0.48	agglomeration