Evolutionary patterns and theoretical models of spatial structure in Yangtze River Delta
Yangtze River Delta,as a pivotal region where the coastal axis and the riverside axis intersect,is characterized by complexity,diversity and typicality of the spatial structural evolution.Therefore,understanding its evolutionary pattern and constructing a theoretical model has important theoretical significance and application value.According to the core-periphery structure theory,the Yangtze River Delta can be divided into a core area that is centered on the Taihu Lake Basin and remaining periphery areas.However,due to its location at the junction of the river and the sea,a gateway area has emerged within the periphery area,thus forming a spatial structure that is composed of the core area and the gateway area.In the early period,the core area was centered on Suzhou,and a five-tier central place structure became well established since ancient times.However,the gateway area kept evolving and underwent three main changes:in ancient times,the gateway area was centered on Yangzhou,forming the canal gateway cluster;in the modern age,the gateway area became centered on Shanghai,forming an offshore gateway cluster;and in the contemporary era,the gateway area became centered on Ningbo,forming an oceanic gateway cluster.Their corresponding navigation capacities were 500 t,10,000 t,and 200,000 t,respectively.Therefore,in addition to the existing central place theory and seaport spatial structure theory,the spatial structure evolution of the Yangtze River Delta presents a new evolutionary model:namely,the fusion evolutionary model of central places and port gateways.According to this model,in the early period,it was an endogenous evolution of the core area's spatial structure,which was in line with Christaller's hexagonal structure;while in modern times,the evolution of the spatial structure of the Yangtze River Delta was no longer dominated by central places,but rather,it became dominated by the gateway areas,making the k=3 market principle turn into the k=4 transportation principle.In this way,the Yangtze River Delta provides a globally exemplary empirical case for validating the process test of the central place theory,analyzing functional attributes of urban centrality and gateway,and refining the relevant theoretical model.
T-shaped development modelspatial structureevolution patterntheoretical modelYangtze River Delta
万方数据
维普
