Spatial inequality in the city-regions in the Yangtze River Valley, China

Huan Li, Yehua Dennis Wei and Elfie Swerts
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Huan Li: Ludong University, China
Yehua Dennis Wei: Department of Geography, University of Utah, USA; Department of Land Management, Zhejiang University, China
Elfie Swerts: Institute of Geography and Sustainability, University of Lausanne, Switzerland

Urban Studies, 2020, vol. 57, issue 3, 672-689

Abstract: The city-region has emerged as an important scale of state spatial strategy in China to promote equitable and sustainable development. This study investigates the spatial inequality of city-regions in the Yangtze River Valley (YRV) in terms of population, land, GDP and productivity, and examines changing patterns and factors of GDP per capita. We find that the spatial form of the YRV is typical of city-regions in China, where population density and productivity around mega-cities are much higher and decline from the low to the middle and upper reaches of the YRV. We also find that inequality across city-regions is high, and that most inequality is due to differences within city-regions. We find that the YRV is driven by capital-intensive and labour-intensive growth, with an emerging significance of productivity. Our analysis reveals the significance of institutional factors, including the processes of marketisation, globalisation, decentralisation and urbanisation in regional development. Moreover, the importance of the non-state sector in economic growth has been increasing, while the role of globalisation has been declining.

Keywords: China; city-region; spatial inequality; Yangtze River Valley; 中国; 城市区域; ç©ºé—´ä¸ å¹³ç­‰; é•¿æ±Ÿæµ åŸŸ (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:57:y:2020:i:3:p:672-689

DOI: 10.1177/0042098019898145

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