Natural City Growth in the People's Republic of China

Peter Egger, Gabriel Loumeau and Nicole Püschel ()
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Nicole Püschel: ETH Zürich, Department of Management, Technology, and Economics

Asian Development Review, 2017, vol. 34, issue 2, 51-85

Abstract: This paper analyzes the growth of Metropolitan Statistical Areas in the PRC between 1992 and 2013 by focusing on the night-light radiance—a measure of economic activity—of connected subcity places that we refer to as a natural city. This paper documents the rapid growth of natural cities in the PRC between 1992 and 2009 that was followed by a slight reduction in the size of some natural cities between 2010 and 2013 in the aftermath of the recent global financial crisis. Institutional factors—such as the location of places near Special Economic Zones, the ramifications of legal migration from rural to urban areas following reforms to the hukou (household registration) system, and infrastructure accessibility—are found to be important drivers of the integration of peripheral places into natural cities.

Keywords: city growth; Metropolitan Statistical Areas; People's Republic of China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O20 R12 R40 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:tpr:adbadr:v:34:y:2017:i:2:p:51-85

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