REVIEWS ON METHODS MEASURING THE INTERREGIONAL ECONOMIC CONNECTION
CHEN Rui-shan1, YE Chao2, CAI Yun-long1
1. College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, the Center for Land Study, Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes of the Ministry of Education, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China;
2. College of Geographic Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210046, China
Abstract：Regional study is one of the cores of geography. As regional economic development involves not only the internal relations but the interregional relations as well,so the interregional relations are often see as more important. Researchers have paid great attentions to the measurement of interregional economic relationships,especially the city connection on some economic zone. This paper systematically summarizes the theories and methods on measuring interregional economical relationships,and clarifies the general approaches to measure the interregional relationships which is scale identify-boundary identify-the measurement of the interregional relationships. A multi-scale approach that simultaneously uses larger-scale and smaller-scale measurement can identify important relationships of the system that might otherwise be overlooked. The central function intensity index is always applied to distinguish the hierarchical level of cities. Boundaries of regions are critical which define the space radiation area of cities; the common way to identify boundaries of regions or radiation area of cities is breaking-point formula. The function and location of cities in regional network is the focus of the measurement of interregional economical relationships. The measurement of the interregional economical relationships can benefit the development of the cities and shed light on the planning of the cities and regions. Recently the development of urbanization,information technology and globalization challenges the measurement of interregional economic relationships. The transportation development such as the plane and high-speed railway decreased the dependence on distance. Information technology and globalization made it possible to distribute and access resources globally.
