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The Drag Effect of Land Resources on New-Type Urbanization: Evidence from China’s Top 10 City Clusters

Author

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  • Lei Liu

    (School of Public Administration, Hebei University of Economics and Business, Shijiazhuang 050031, China)

  • Weijing Liu

    (School of Public Administration, Hebei University of Economics and Business, Shijiazhuang 050031, China)

  • Liuwanqing Yang

    (School of Public Administration, Hebei University of Economics and Business, Shijiazhuang 050031, China)

  • Xueru Zhang

    (School of Public Administration, Hebei University of Economics and Business, Shijiazhuang 050031, China)

Abstract

Land resources are the basis of human production and life, and they face many challenges in the process of urbanization, such as the prominent contradiction between land supply and demand and the inefficient use of land, which in turn restricts the socio-economic development and the promotion of urbanization. This paper takes China’s ten largest urban agglomerations as its research object and constructs a land resource drag effect model based on the C-D production function. The geographical weighted regression method is used to calculate the coefficient of the land drag effect. Combining kernel density analysis and spatial autocorrelation analysis, the paper reveals the temporal and spatial evolution patterns of the drag effect and discusses the impact of land resources on new urbanization and its temporal and spatial differentiation characteristics. The study shows that during the period of 2006–2022, China’s new-type urbanization as a whole rises, but the development of each urban agglomeration has significant differences, showing a spatial pattern of “east high, west low”; the drag effect of land resources shows a decreasing trend, but regional differences are obvious, showing a distribution of “east strong, west weak”; the kernel density curve of drag effect of land shows a “right-skewed-left-skewed” change, with the overall level weakening and the degree of concentration increasing; the drag effect of land resources shows significant positive global autocorrelation, and there are spatial proximity effect and spillover effect in space. The findings provide a theoretical basis for land resource utilization and spatial development in China’s new-type urbanization process. Therefore, it is necessary to implement differentiated land resource allocation and urban planning policies according to different types of urban spatial agglomeration and to give full play to the cooperative linkage effect of urban agglomerations in reducing the drag effect of land resources.

Suggested Citation

  • Lei Liu & Weijing Liu & Liuwanqing Yang & Xueru Zhang, 2025. "The Drag Effect of Land Resources on New-Type Urbanization: Evidence from China’s Top 10 City Clusters," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(17), pages 1-25, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:17:p:7746-:d:1736343
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