IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/growch/v52y2021i1p425-442.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The comparative study of China's mega‐city regions: A perspective of competitiveness

Author

Listed:
  • Fan Zhang
  • Xiyang Lou
  • Yuemin Ning

Abstract

Mega‐city regions (MCRs) have emerged as the main spatial form of China's new urbanization strategy and become the basic spatial units participating in global and regional competition. However, MCRs are not equally capable of boosting regional economic development due to their different levels of development. Therefore, this paper adopts the concept of competitiveness as both a theoretical framework and an empirical model to evaluate the development status of China's MCRs. Based on a review of the existing literature, this paper proposes a multi‐tier evaluation system to calculate the competitiveness of 13 MCRs. The chosen indicators come from the six perspectives of economic development, human resources, infrastructural accessibility, integration into the global economy, capacity for scientific and technological innovation, and sustainable development. The results show that there are great disparities and regional inequalities in competitiveness across different MCRs. The Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, and Beijing–Tianjin–Tangshan MCRs are the first‐tier MCRs with the highest levels of development and have significant global influence as well. Chengdu–Chongqing, Shandong Peninsula, South‐central Liaoning, and Wuhan belong to the second‐tier of MCRs that show partial advantages and have significant regional influence. The remaining regions belong to the third‐ or fourth‐tier of MCRs that have relatively weak competitiveness. The competitiveness of MCRs largely depends on the concentration of core elements in core cities.

Suggested Citation

  • Fan Zhang & Xiyang Lou & Yuemin Ning, 2021. "The comparative study of China's mega‐city regions: A perspective of competitiveness," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(1), pages 425-442, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:growch:v:52:y:2021:i:1:p:425-442
    DOI: 10.1111/grow.12422
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/grow.12422
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/grow.12422?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Haixiang Guo & Xiao Liu & Yijing Li & Deyun Wang & Xiaohong Chen, 2015. "Comparison Analysis and Evaluation of Urban Competitiveness in Chinese Urban Clusters," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(4), pages 1-23, April.
    2. Michael Storper & Allen J. Scott, 2009. "Rethinking human capital, creativity and urban growth," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 9(2), pages 147-167, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Niusha Esmaeilpoorarabi & Tan Yigitcanlar & Mirko Guaralda, 2016. "Place quality and urban competitiveness symbiosis? A position paper," International Journal of Knowledge-Based Development, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 7(1), pages 4-21.
    2. Pierluigi Sacco & Guido Ferilli & Giorgio Tavano Blessi, 2014. "Understanding culture-led local development: A critique of alternative theoretical explanations," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 51(13), pages 2806-2821, October.
    3. Duranton, Gilles & Puga, Diego, 2014. "The Growth of Cities," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 5, pages 781-853, Elsevier.
    4. Paula Prenzel & Simona Iammarino, 2018. "Ageing labour: How does demographic change affect regional human capital?," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 1832, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Aug 2018.
    5. Karelin, Iliya & Kapelyuk, Sergey, 2023. "Digital Skills of Russian Citizens: Regional Differences," MPRA Paper 119494, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Fikri Zul Fahmi, 2015. "Regional Distribution of Creative and Cultural Industries in Indonesia," ERSA conference papers ersa15p914, European Regional Science Association.
    7. Anthony Goerzen & Michael Sartor & Kristin Brandl & Stacey Fitzsimmons, 2023. "Widening the lens: Multilevel drivers of firm corporate social performance," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 54(1), pages 42-60, February.
    8. Gianluca Orsatti & François Perruchas & Davide Consoli & Francesco Quatraro, 2020. "Public Procurement, Local Labor Markets and Green Technological Change. Evidence from US Commuting Zones," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 75(4), pages 711-739, April.
    9. Weiwei Li & Pingtao Yi & Danning Zhang, 2018. "Sustainability Evaluation of Cities in Northeastern China Using Dynamic TOPSIS-Entropy Methods," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-15, December.
    10. Diane-Gabrielle Tremblay & Angélo Battaglia, 2013. "A comparative approach to doing research on cities: comparing North American cities to others," Chapters, in: Peter Karl Kresl & Jaime Sobrino (ed.), Handbook of Research Methods and Applications in Urban Economies, chapter 5, pages 97-126, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    11. Thomas Brenner & Matthias Duschl, 2015. "Causal dynamic effects in regional systems of technological activities: a SVAR approach," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 55(1), pages 103-130, October.
    12. Aurélie LALANNE & Guillaume POUYANNE, 2012. "Ten years of metropolization in economics: a bibliometric approach (In French)," Cahiers du GREThA (2007-2019) 2012-11, Groupe de Recherche en Economie Théorique et Appliquée (GREThA).
    13. Chakravarty, Dwarka & Goerzen, Anthony & Musteen, Martina & Ahsan, Mujtaba, 2021. "Global cities: A multi-disciplinary review and research agenda," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 56(3).
    14. William Sander & William Testa, 2015. "Parents' education, school-age children and household location in American cities," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 94(3), pages 573-595, August.
    15. Arntz, Melanie & Brüll, Eduard & Lipowski, Cäcilia, 2021. "Do preferences for urban amenities really differ by skill?," ZEW Discussion Papers 21-045, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    16. Wei-Bin Zhang, 2017. "Spatial Agglomeration And Economic Development With The Inclusion Of Interregional Tourism," Economic Annals, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Belgrade, vol. 62(213), pages 93-128, April - J.
    17. Riccardo Crescenzi & Nancy Holman & Enrico Orru’, 2017. "Why do they return? Beyond the economic drivers of graduate return migration," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 59(3), pages 603-627, November.
    18. Carla M. Kayanan, 2022. "A critique of innovation districts: Entrepreneurial living and the burden of shouldering urban development," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 54(1), pages 50-66, February.
    19. Neil Lee & Paul Sissons & Katy Jones, 2016. "The Geography of Wage Inequality in British Cities," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(10), pages 1714-1727, October.
    20. Leknes, Stefan, 2015. "The more the merrier? Evidence on quality of life and population size using historical mines," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 1-17.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:bla:growch:v:52:y:2021:i:1:p:425-442. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0017-4815 .

    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.