Exploration of the Industrial Spatial Linkages in Urban Agglomerations: A Case of Urban Agglomeration in the Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River, China

Yan Yu, Qianwen Han, Wenwu Tang, Yanbin Yuan and Yan Tong
Additional contact information
Yan Yu: Department of Regional Planning and Management, School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China
Qianwen Han: Department of Regional Planning and Management, School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China
Wenwu Tang: Center for Applied Geographic Information Science, Department of Geography and Earth Sciences, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC 28223, USA
Yanbin Yuan: Department of Regional Planning and Management, School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China
Yan Tong: Department of Regional Planning and Management, School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 5, 1-18

Abstract: The study of industrial spatial linkages of urban agglomerations is crucial to recognizing spatial structure and optimizing regional division and cooperation. The existing studies often focus on external spatial interaction at the inter-city level, but few have considered complex internal economic linkages at the inter-sector level. In this study, we established an integrated framework by combining the wave effect gradient field with the gravity model. The wave effect gradient field was used to analyze the inter-sector relation, while the gravity model was adopted to explore the spatial interactions of industry at the inter-city level. The Urban Agglomeration in the Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River (UAMRYR) was taken as a case study, which demonstrates the applicability of the proposed framework. The results indicate that there exists an imbalanced development in the network of industrial linkages in the study region. Each subgroup has presented a self-organized spatial linkage network, but the linkages between subgroups are immature. Compared with other sectors, the high-tech and internet industrial sectors contribute most to economic linkages among cities. Thus, policymakers should take actions to strengthen the inter-subgroup spatial linkages and give priority to the high-tech industries, which is necessary for the integrated and sustainable development of UAMRYR.

Keywords: input-output theory; gravity model; industrial spatial linkage; urban agglomeration (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/5/1469/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/5/1469/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:5:p:1469-:d:145104

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().