Spatial Differentiation and Influencing Factors of Tertiary Industry in the Pearl River Delta Urban Agglomeration

The tertiary industry has become the main driving force for China’s economic development, and the adjustment and optimization of its structure are important prerequisites for achieving high-quality economic development. Existing studies have mostly focused on the spatial layout and influencing factors of the tertiary industry, with insufficient exploration of its internal structure. In this study, the PRD urban agglomeration is selected as the study area. On the basis of classifying the tertiary industry, the Dagum Gini coefficient, kernel density estimation, and local spatial autocorrelation are used to explore the spatial differentiation of various tertiary industries. The influencing factors are analyzed using geographical detectors, and suggestions for future development strategies are proposed. The results show that in terms of regional differentiation, the agglomeration of various tertiary industries in Guangzhou and Shenzhen is the most significant, but there is insufficient spillover to surrounding cities. In terms of development structure, the level of agglomeration of the consumptive tertiary industry is higher, the public tertiary industry tends to be more evenly distributed, and the productive tertiary industry is relatively dispersed. In terms of influencing factors, the interaction between population and employment dominates the spatial differentiation and evolution of the tertiary industry in the PRD urban agglomeration. Therefore, in the future, the tertiary industry in PRD urban agglomeration should promote the optimization of industrial structure and regional coordinated development under the guidance of the government.