IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v11y2019i11p3106-d236461.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Polycentricity in the Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration (YRDUA): More Cohesion or More Disparities?

Author

Listed:
  • Wen Chen

    (Key Laboratory of Watershed Geographic Sciences, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 73 East Beijing Road, Nanjing 210008, China)

  • Komali Yenneti

    (Faculty of Built Environment, University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia)

  • Yehua Dennis Wei

    (Department of Geography, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA)

  • Feng Yuan

    (Key Laboratory of Watershed Geographic Sciences, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 73 East Beijing Road, Nanjing 210008, China)

  • Jiawei Wu

    (Key Laboratory of Watershed Geographic Sciences, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 73 East Beijing Road, Nanjing 210008, China)

  • Jinlong Gao

    (Key Laboratory of Watershed Geographic Sciences, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 73 East Beijing Road, Nanjing 210008, China)

Abstract

Urban spatial structure is a critical component of urban planning and development, and among the different urban spatial structure strategies, ‘polycentric mega-city region (PMR)’ has recently received great research and public policy interest in China. However, there is a lack of systematic understanding on the spatiality of PMR from a pluralistic perspective. This study aims to fill this gap by investigating the spatiality of PMR in the Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration (YRDUA) using city-level data on gross domestic product (GDP), population share, and urban income growth for the period 2000–2013. The results reveal that economically, the YRDUA is experiencing greater polycentricity, but in terms of social welfare, the region manifests growing monocentricity. We further find that the triple transition framework (marketization, urbanization, and decentralization) can greatly explain the observed patterns. Although the economic goals are accomplished with better spatial linkages and early economic development policies, inequality in spatial distribution of public services and the continuing legacy of central planning remain barriers for the YRDUA to emerge as a successful PMR. The results of this research offer meaningful insights on the impact of polycentric policies in the YRDUA and support policymakers in the implementation of appropriate urban spatial development strategies.

Suggested Citation

  • Wen Chen & Komali Yenneti & Yehua Dennis Wei & Feng Yuan & Jiawei Wu & Jinlong Gao, 2019. "Polycentricity in the Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration (YRDUA): More Cohesion or More Disparities?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-18, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:11:p:3106-:d:236461
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/11/3106/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/11/3106/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Robert C. Kloosterman & Sako Musterd, 2001. "The Polycentric Urban Region: Towards a Research Agenda," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 38(4), pages 623-633, April.
    2. Jinlong Gao & Yehua Dennis Wei & Wen Chen & Komali Yenneti, 2015. "Urban Land Expansion and Structural Change in the Yangtze River Delta, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(8), pages 1-27, July.
    3. Dani Rodrik & Arvind Subramanian & Francesco Trebbi, 2004. "Institutions Rule: The Primacy of Institutions Over Geography and Integration in Economic Development," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 9(2), pages 131-165, June.
    4. Evert J Meijers & Martijn J Burger, 2010. "Spatial Structure and Productivity in US Metropolitan Areas," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 42(6), pages 1383-1402, June.
    5. Wenze Yue & Yong Liu & Peilei Fan, 2010. "Polycentric Urban Development: The Case of Hangzhou," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 42(3), pages 563-577, March.
    6. Krister Andersson & Elinor Ostrom, 2008. "Analyzing decentralized resource regimes from a polycentric perspective," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 41(1), pages 71-93, March.
    7. Feng, Yuhao & Wu, Shufan & Wu, Peixin & Su, Shiliang & Weng, Min & Bian, Meng, 2018. "Spatiotemporal characterization of megaregional poly-centrality: Evidence for new urban hypotheses and implications for polycentric policies," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 712-731.
    8. Monica Brezzi & Paolo Veneri, 2015. "Assessing Polycentric Urban Systems in the OECD: Country, Regional and Metropolitan Perspectives," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(6), pages 1128-1145, June.
    9. James Mittelman, 2013. "Global : emerging market powers and polycentric governance," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(1), pages 23-37.
    10. Simin Davoudi, 2003. "EUROPEAN BRIEFING: Polycentricity in European spatial planning: from an analytical tool to a normative agenda," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(8), pages 979-999, December.
    11. Paolo Veneri & David Burgalassi, 2011. "Questioning Polycentric Development and its Effects. Issues of Definition and Measurement for the Italian NUTS-2 Regions," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(6), pages 1017-1037, January.
    12. Xingjian Liu & Ben Derudder & Kang Wu, 2016. "Measuring Polycentric Urban Development in China: An Intercity Transportation Network Perspective," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(8), pages 1302-1315, August.
    13. Yingcheng Li & Nicholas A. Phelps, 2017. "Knowledge polycentricity and the evolving Yangtze River Delta megalopolis," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(7), pages 1035-1047, July.
    14. Evert Meijers & Krister Sandberg, 2006. "Polycentric Development to Combat Regional Disparities? the Relation Between Polycentricity and Regional Disparities in European Countries," ERSA conference papers ersa06p287, European Regional Science Association.
    15. Paul Krugman, 1999. "The Role of Geography in Development," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 22(2), pages 142-161, August.
    16. P. J. Taylor & D. M. Evans & K. Pain, 2008. "Application of the Interlocking Network Model to Mega-City-Regions: Measuring Polycentricity Within and Beyond City-Regions," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(8), pages 1079-1093.
    17. Pedro Palma & Daniel Rauhut & Alois Humer, 2015. "Polycentricity and Social Services of General Interest: A Multivariate Analysis," ERSA conference papers ersa15p1143, European Regional Science Association.
    18. Antti Vasanen, 2012. "Functional Polycentricity: Examining Metropolitan Spatial Structure through the Connectivity of Urban Sub-centres," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 49(16), pages 3627-3644, December.
    19. John Parr, 2004. "The Polycentric Urban Region: A Closer Inspection," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(3), pages 231-240.
    20. Evert Meijers, 2008. "Summing Small Cities Does Not Make a Large City: Polycentric Urban Regions and the Provision of Cultural, Leisure and Sports Amenities," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 45(11), pages 2323-2342, October.
    21. Yong-Sook Lee & HaeRan Shin, 2012. "Negotiating the Polycentric City-region: Developmental State Politics of New Town Development in the Seoul Capital Region," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 49(6), pages 1333-1355, May.
    22. Narisra Limtanakool & Tim Schwanen & Martin Dijst, 2009. "Developments in the Dutch Urban System on the Basis of Flows," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(2), pages 179-196.
    23. Nick Green, 2007. "Functional Polycentricity: A Formal Definition in Terms of Social Network Analysis," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 44(11), pages 2077-2103, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Huan Li & Yehua Dennis Wei & Elfie Swerts, 2020. "Spatial inequality in the city-regions in the Yangtze River Valley, China," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 57(3), pages 672-689, February.
    2. Yanting Tang & Jinlong Gao & Wen Chen, 2022. "The Spatial-Temporal Evolution of Population in the Yangtze River Delta, China: An Urban Hierarchy Perspective," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-15, October.
    3. You He & Alex de Sherbinin & Guoqing Shi & Haibin Xia, 2022. "The Economic Spatial Structure Evolution of Urban Agglomeration under the Impact of High-Speed Rail Construction: Is There a Difference between Developed and Developing Regions?," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-17, September.
    4. Jiawei Wu & Wei Sun, 2023. "Regional Integration and Sustainable Development in the Yangtze River Delta, China: Towards a Conceptual Framework and Research Agenda," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-20, February.
    5. Jin Hu & Xuelei Xiong & Yuanyuan Cai & Feng Yuan, 2020. "The Ripple Effect and Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Intra-Urban Housing Prices at the Submarket Level in Shanghai, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-17, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kyusang Kwon & Minho Seo, 2018. "Does the Polycentric Urban Region Contribute to Economic Performance? The Case of Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-10, November.
    2. Antti Vasanen, 2013. "Spatial Integration and Functional Balance in Polycentric Urban Systems: A Multi-Scalar Approach," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 104(4), pages 410-425, September.
    3. Martijn J. Burger & Evert J. Meijers & Frank G. van Oort, 2014. "Editorial: The Development and Functioning of Regional Urban Systems," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(12), pages 1921-1925, December.
    4. Stella Kostopoulou & Paraskevi-Kali Sofianou & Konstantinos Tsiokanos, 2021. "Silk Road Heritage Branding and Polycentric Tourism Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-18, February.
    5. David Burgalassi & Chiara Agnoletti & Leonardo Piccini, 2019. "Polycentricity and regional development: an analytical framework and some evidence from Italy," Discussion Papers 2019/249, Dipartimento di Economia e Management (DEM), University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
    6. Zhen Liu & Shenghe Liu, 2018. "Polycentric Development and the Role of Urban Polycentric Planning in China’s Mega Cities: An Examination of Beijing’s Metropolitan Area," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-14, May.
    7. Yong Liu & Peilei Fan & Wenze Yue & Jingnan Huang & Dong Li & Zongshun Tian, 2019. "Assessing Polycentric Urban Development in Mountainous Cities: The Case of Chongqing Metropolitan Area, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-15, May.
    8. Weiyang Zhang & Ben Derudder, 2019. "How sensitive are measures of polycentricity to the choice of ‘centres’? A methodological and empirical exploration," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 56(16), pages 3339-3357, December.
    9. Evert J Meijers & Martijn J Burger, 2017. "Stretching the concept of ‘borrowed size’," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 54(1), pages 269-291, January.
    10. Panagiotis NIKOLOPOULOS & Andreas GKOUZOS & Athanasios PAPADASKALOPOULOS, 2018. "Morphological Polycentricity In Southern Europe: Evidence At The National Level," Theoretical and Empirical Researches in Urban Management, Research Centre in Public Administration and Public Services, Bucharest, Romania, vol. 13(4), pages 73-93, November.
    11. Lu, Yuhai & Gong, Mincheng & Lu, Linzhuo & Wang, Yaqin & Wang, Yang, 2024. "Urban polycentrism and total-factor energy efficiency: An analysis based on the night light data," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).
    12. Yue, Wenze & Wang, Tianyu & Liu, Yong & Zhang, Qun & Ye, Xinyue, 2019. "Mismatch of morphological and functional polycentricity in Chinese cities: An evidence from land development and functional linkage," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    13. Davide Burgalassi & Tommaso Luzzati, 2015. "Urban spatial structure and environmental emissions: a survey of the literature and some empirical evidence for Italian NUTS-3 regions," Discussion Papers 2015/199, Dipartimento di Economia e Management (DEM), University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
    14. Zuo Zhang & Xinhai Lu & Min Zhou & Yan Song & Xiang Luo & Bing Kuang, 2019. "Complex Spatial Morphology of Urban Housing Price Based on Digital Elevation Model: A Case Study of Wuhan City, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-17, January.
    15. Marcińczak, Szymon & Bartosiewicz, Bartosz, 2018. "Commuting patterns and urban form: Evidence from Poland," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 31-39.
    16. Xingjian Liu & Ben Derudder & Mingshu Wang, 2018. "Polycentric urban development in China: A multi-scale analysis," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 45(5), pages 953-972, September.
    17. Weikai Wang & Ya Ping Wang & Keith Kintrea, 2020. "The (Re)Making of Polycentricity in China's Planning Discourse: The Case of Tianjin," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(5), pages 857-875, September.
    18. Burgalassi, David, 2010. "Defining and measuring polycentric regions: the case of Tuscany," MPRA Paper 25880, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Paolo Veneri & David Burgalassi, 2011. "Questioning Polycentric Development and its Effects. Issues of Definition and Measurement for the Italian NUTS-2 Regions," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(6), pages 1017-1037, January.
    20. Feng Lan & Huili Da & Haizhen Wen & Ying Wang, 2019. "Spatial Structure Evolution of Urban Agglomerations and Its Driving Factors in Mainland China: From the Monocentric to the Polycentric Dimension," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-20, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:11:p:3106-:d:236461. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.