• Geographical Research
  • Vol. 39, Issue 7, 1548 (2020)
Yan LI1, Yang SUN1、*, and Shimou YAO2
Author Affiliations
  • 1Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi’an 710008, China
  • 2Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, CAS, Nanjing 210008, China
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    DOI: 10.11821/dlyj020190269 Cite this Article
    Yan LI, Yang SUN, Shimou YAO. Urban network linkages of Chinese urban agglomerations based on an analysis of the Fortune China Top 500 Enterprises[J]. Geographical Research, 2020, 39(7): 1548 Copy Citation Text show less

    Abstract

    Existing urban network research mostly focuses on urban linkages or spatial linkages within an urban agglomeration, with most of the research on urban network structure of China based on the relational data of the general and branches of enterprises, while it remains lack of an overall cognition of network linkages between the Chinese urban agglomerations. Based on the data of the 311 financial and professional service enterprises in the list of the Fortune China Top 500 Enterprises, this paper takes the enterprises as cross-scale spatial expressions of urban agglomerations where their headquaters and branches are located, and regards urban agglomerations as interconnected space according to relational geography. Using analytical methods of network analysis, interlocking network model, Pajek and Gephi, this article analyzes spatial relationship between the 19 urban agglomerations and their 41 major cities, with a focus on the finance and professional service sectors, towards an exploration of coordinated spatial development of Chinese urban agglomerations. The conclusions are as follows: on the one hand, Chinese urban agglomerations form a spatial organizational system centered on the 6 urban agglomerations of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, Chengdu-Chongqing, Shandong Peninsula and Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River, which is consistent with the distributional characteristics of the national central cities, while the other 13 urban agglomerations are non-core spatial organizations served as important support for the expansion of urban agglomerations in China. On the other hand, the spatial coordination of urban agglomerations relies on efficient and optimal allocation of financial and professional service elements. The external contact scope of an urban agglomeration determines its ability to control and configure various service element flows, which in turn affects its coordinated development status. Among them, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration dominates the urban linkages formed by commercial banks, diversified financial investment, insurance, accounting and law firms, the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration dominates the securities enterprises’ urban linkages with absolute advantages, and the Yangtze River Delta, the Chengdu-Chongqing and the Pearl River Delta urban agglomerations lead the urban linkages between advertising agencies as well as management consulting companies. This paper attempts to cognize the relational proximity among the urban agglomerations to recognize the cross-scale collaborative mechanism between corporate actions and the urban agglomerations, by which it emphasizes the important role of the horizontal linkages between the urban agglomerations and thus contributes to provide reference for coordinated development of the urban agglomerations in China.
    Yan LI, Yang SUN, Shimou YAO. Urban network linkages of Chinese urban agglomerations based on an analysis of the Fortune China Top 500 Enterprises[J]. Geographical Research, 2020, 39(7): 1548
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