IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jlands/v12y2023i1p152-d1022838.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Unveiling the Regional Differences and Convergence of Urban Sprawl in China, 2006–2019

Author

Listed:
  • Qixuan Li

    (School of Public Administration, Hunan University, Changsha 410012, China)

  • Ying Xu

    (School of Public Administration, Hunan University, Changsha 410012, China)

  • Xu Yang

    (School of Public Administration, Hunan University, Changsha 410012, China)

  • Ke Chen

    (School of Public Administration, Hunan University, Changsha 410012, China)

Abstract

There is an obvious imbalanced regional development among eastern, central, and western China. This is also a fundamental problem that policy makers and planners need to address. Specific to urban development, we wondered whether there were regional differences in urban sprawl and whether this trend was under control. By using the urban sprawl index (USI), this paper investigated the spatiotemporal pattern of urban sprawl from 2006 to 2019, and its regional difference and convergence among eastern, central, and western China. It finds that the cities with high, medium, and low sprawl in the east and west regions are distributed with a clear geographical pattern, while the distribution in the central region has no intuitive geographical features. Also, the proportion of cities with high sprawl in the eastern region is more than that in the other regions, with low sprawl in central China and medium sprawl in the western region. Moreover, urban sprawl in all three regions showed a downward trend, but this process was fluctuating and had obvious phase characteristics. It can be concluded that there is a convergence trend in urban sprawl in China over the research period, and the club convergence effect exists in the eastern, central, and western regions.

Suggested Citation

  • Qixuan Li & Ying Xu & Xu Yang & Ke Chen, 2023. "Unveiling the Regional Differences and Convergence of Urban Sprawl in China, 2006–2019," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-15, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:12:y:2023:i:1:p:152-:d:1022838
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/1/152/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/1/152/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Robert M. Solow, 1956. "A Contribution to the Theory of Economic Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 70(1), pages 65-94.
    2. Belal N. Fallah & Mark D. Partridge & M. Rose Olfert, 2011. "Urban sprawl and productivity: Evidence from US metropolitan areas," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 90(3), pages 451-472, August.
    3. Nathan Nunn & Diego Puga, 2012. "Ruggedness: The Blessing of Bad Geography in Africa," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 94(1), pages 20-36, February.
    4. Y.H. Dennis Wei & Xinyue Ye, 2009. "Beyond Convergence: Space, Scale, And Regional Inequality In China," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 100(1), pages 59-80, February.
    5. Kun Ge & Shan Zou & Danling Chen & Xinhai Lu & Shangan Ke, 2021. "Research on the Spatial Differences and Convergence Mechanism of Urban Land Use Efficiency under the Background of Regional Integration: A Case Study of the Yangtze River Economic Zone, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-20, October.
    6. Vincent Dupont, 2007. "Do geographical agglomeration, growth and equity conflict?," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 86(2), pages 193-213, June.
    7. Jintao Wang & Shiyou Qu & Ke Peng & Yanchao Feng, 2019. "Quantifying Urban Sprawl and Its Driving Forces in China," Discrete Dynamics in Nature and Society, Hindawi, vol. 2019, pages 1-14, May.
    8. J. Paul Elhorst & Sandy Fréret, 2009. "Evidence Of Political Yardstick Competition In France Using A Two‐Regime Spatial Durbin Model With Fixed Effects," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(5), pages 931-951, December.
    9. Bev Wilson & Arnab Chakraborty, 2013. "The Environmental Impacts of Sprawl: Emergent Themes from the Past Decade of Planning Research," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(8), pages 1-26, August.
    10. Xin Zhang & Jinghu Pan, 2021. "Spatiotemporal Pattern and Driving Factors of Urban Sprawl in China," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-16, November.
    11. Fernando Rubiera Morollón & Victor M. González Marroquin & José Luis Pérez Rivero, 2016. "Urban sprawl in Spain: differences among cities and causes," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(1), pages 207-226, January.
    12. Ben Gardiner & Ron Martin & Peter Tyler, 2011. "Does spatial agglomeration increase national growth? some evidence from Europe," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 11(6), pages 979-1006, November.
    13. Chun-Chung Au & J. Vernon Henderson, 2006. "Are Chinese Cities Too Small?," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 73(3), pages 549-576.
    14. Ning Wang & Zhigang Chen & Tianshu Li & Mengjia Zhen, 2022. "Spatiotemporal Pattern Evolution and Influence Mechanism of Urban Vertical Expansion: A Case Study of Jiangsu Province, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-16, 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. Jie Shen & Chunlai Chen & Mengyu Yang & Keyun Zhang, 2019. "City Size, Population Concentration and Productivity: Evidence from China," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 27(1), pages 110-131, January.
    2. Xu Yang & Xuan Zou & Xueqi Liu & Qixuan Li & Siqian Zou & Ming Li, 2023. "The Spatiotemporal Pattern and Driving Mechanism of Urban Sprawl in China’s Counties," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-16, March.
    3. Guangdong Li & Chuanglin Fang, 2014. "Analyzing the multi-mechanism of regional inequality in China," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 52(1), pages 155-182, January.
    4. Kodila-Tedika, Oasis & Asongu, Simplice A. & Cinyabuguma, Matthias & Tchamyou, Vanessa S., 2017. "Financial development and prehistoric geographical isolation: global evidence," Financial History Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 24(3), pages 283-306, December.
    5. Frick, Susanne A. & Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés, 2018. "Change in urban concentration and economic growth," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 156-170.
    6. Amavilah, Voxi Heinrich, 2018. "Endogenous constraints, coefficients of economic distance, and economic performance of African countries – An exploratory essay," MPRA Paper 90065, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Cheong, Tsun Se & Wu, Yanrui, 2013. "Regional disparity, transitional dynamics and convergence in China," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 1-14.
    8. Ezebuilo Romanus Ukwueze & Ekene Stephen Aguegboh, 2018. "Institutional Determinants of Economic Growth in ECOWAS Sub-Region," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 8(5), pages 75-79.
    9. Juan C Duque & Nancy Lozano-Gracia & Jorge E Patino & Paula Restrepo, 2022. "Urban form and productivity: What shapes are Latin-American cities?," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 49(1), pages 131-150, January.
    10. Xu, Cheng-Gang & Guo, Di & Jiang, Kun & Yang, Xiyi, 2017. "Clustering, Growth, and Inequality in China," CEPR Discussion Papers 12543, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    11. Ugo Fratesi, 2008. "Regional policy from a supra-regional perspective," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 42(3), pages 681-703, September.
    12. Quintero, Luis E. & Roberts, Mark, 2023. "Cities and productivity: Evidence from 16 Latin American and Caribbean countries," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    13. Dai, R. & Mookherjee, D. & Munshi, K. & Zhang, X., 2018. "Community Networks and the Growth of Private Enterprise in China," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 1850, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    14. Qixuan Li & Xingli Chen & Sheng Jiao & Wenmei Song & Wenke Zong & Yanhe Niu, 2022. "Can Mixed Land Use Reduce CO 2 Emissions? A Case Study of 268 Chinese Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-17, November.
    15. Lei Jiang & Yuan Chen & Hui Zha & Bo Zhang & Yuanzheng Cui, 2022. "Quantifying the Impact of Urban Sprawl on Green Total Factor Productivity in China: Based on Satellite Observation Data and Spatial Econometric Models," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-17, November.
    16. Bindong Sun & Tinglin Zhang & Wan Li & Yan Song, 2022. "Effects of Polycentricity on Economic Performance and Its Dependence on City Size: The Case of China," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-19, September.
    17. Jing Zhao & Na Chen & Zhen Jin, 2025. "The more centralized the spatial structure is, the greater the economic growth? Evidence from urban agglomerations in western China," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(1), pages 1-16, December.
    18. Luping Huo, 2024. "Haze pollution and urban sprawl: An empirical analysis based on panel simultaneous equation model," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 19(2), pages 1-17, February.
    19. Celbis, Mehmet Guney & Wong, Pui-hang & Guznajeva, Tatjana, 2018. "The Eurasian customs union and the economic geography of Belarus: A panel convergence approach," MERIT Working Papers 2018-029, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    20. Tinglin Zhang & Bindong Sun & Yinyin Cai & Rui Wang, 2019. "Government fragmentation and economic growth in China’s cities," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 56(9), pages 1850-1864, July.

    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:gam:jlands:v:12:y:2023:i:1:p:152-:d:1022838. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.