The Evolution of urban agglomerations in China and how it deviates from Zipf’s law
Urban Agglomeration (UA) is regarded as an emerging complex urban system in China. The development of UA demands a reasonable scale structure, which can be investigated by Zipf’s law. However, few studies have been conducted to quantify the optimal scale of UA and how its development deviates from t...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2022-10-01
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| Series: | Geo-spatial Information Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/10095020.2022.2083527 |
| _version_ | 1811337412473782272 |
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| author | Bowen Cai Zhenfeng Shao Shenghui Fang Xiao Huang Yun Tang Muchen Zheng Hao Zhang |
| author_facet | Bowen Cai Zhenfeng Shao Shenghui Fang Xiao Huang Yun Tang Muchen Zheng Hao Zhang |
| author_sort | Bowen Cai |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Urban Agglomeration (UA) is regarded as an emerging complex urban system in China. The development of UA demands a reasonable scale structure, which can be investigated by Zipf’s law. However, few studies have been conducted to quantify the optimal scale of UA and how its development deviates from the optimal scale. With the continuous urban expansion, the problem of UAs’ scale structure has received increasing attention. In this study, we propose a method based on Zipf’s law for estimating the theoretical optimal scale of UAs in China and assessing the deviation rate from their optimal scales. Twelve typical UAs in China are selected, and their development is assessed via urban impervious surface data from 2000 to 2018. The results show that the average deviation rate of the investigated UAs decreased from 3.40% in 2000 to 2.32% in 2018, demonstrating that these UAs are on a positive evolution trajectory. Furthermore, according to the development stage, we make recommendations on “large cities vs. medium/small-sized cities and promoting vs. restraining” to each UA based on its size. The conceptual and analytical knowledge, as well as the results from this study, are expected to offer valuable insights and new references for regulating and managing UAs’ development in China. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T17:54:31Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-cbf05f4d9fe5482ea486c233b36d72d9 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1009-5020 1993-5153 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T17:54:31Z |
| publishDate | 2022-10-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Geo-spatial Information Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-cbf05f4d9fe5482ea486c233b36d72d92022-12-22T02:36:33ZengTaylor & Francis GroupGeo-spatial Information Science1009-50201993-51532022-10-0111110.1080/10095020.2022.2083527The Evolution of urban agglomerations in China and how it deviates from Zipf’s lawBowen Cai0Zhenfeng Shao1Shenghui FangXiao Huang2Yun Tang3Muchen Zheng4Hao Zhang5School of Remote Sensing and Information Engineering, Wuhan University, Wuhan, ChinaSchool of Remote Sensing and Information Engineering, Wuhan University, Wuhan, ChinaDepartment of Geosciences, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USASchool of Remote Sensing and Information Engineering, Wuhan University, Wuhan, ChinaSchool of Resource and Environmental Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, ChinaSchool of Remote Sensing and Information Engineering, Wuhan University, Wuhan, ChinaUrban Agglomeration (UA) is regarded as an emerging complex urban system in China. The development of UA demands a reasonable scale structure, which can be investigated by Zipf’s law. However, few studies have been conducted to quantify the optimal scale of UA and how its development deviates from the optimal scale. With the continuous urban expansion, the problem of UAs’ scale structure has received increasing attention. In this study, we propose a method based on Zipf’s law for estimating the theoretical optimal scale of UAs in China and assessing the deviation rate from their optimal scales. Twelve typical UAs in China are selected, and their development is assessed via urban impervious surface data from 2000 to 2018. The results show that the average deviation rate of the investigated UAs decreased from 3.40% in 2000 to 2.32% in 2018, demonstrating that these UAs are on a positive evolution trajectory. Furthermore, according to the development stage, we make recommendations on “large cities vs. medium/small-sized cities and promoting vs. restraining” to each UA based on its size. The conceptual and analytical knowledge, as well as the results from this study, are expected to offer valuable insights and new references for regulating and managing UAs’ development in China.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/10095020.2022.2083527Urban agglomerationZipf’s lawscale structuredeviationurban impervious surface |
| spellingShingle | Bowen Cai Zhenfeng Shao Shenghui Fang Xiao Huang Yun Tang Muchen Zheng Hao Zhang The Evolution of urban agglomerations in China and how it deviates from Zipf’s law Geo-spatial Information Science Urban agglomeration Zipf’s law scale structure deviation urban impervious surface |
| title | The Evolution of urban agglomerations in China and how it deviates from Zipf’s law |
| title_full | The Evolution of urban agglomerations in China and how it deviates from Zipf’s law |
| title_fullStr | The Evolution of urban agglomerations in China and how it deviates from Zipf’s law |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Evolution of urban agglomerations in China and how it deviates from Zipf’s law |
| title_short | The Evolution of urban agglomerations in China and how it deviates from Zipf’s law |
| title_sort | evolution of urban agglomerations in china and how it deviates from zipf s law |
| topic | Urban agglomeration Zipf’s law scale structure deviation urban impervious surface |
| url | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/10095020.2022.2083527 |
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