STRUCTURAL OPTIMIZATION OF LIAONING COASTAL URBAN AGGLOMERATION
QIN Zhi-qin1,2, ZHANG Ping-yu1
1. Northeast Institute of Geography and Agricultural Ecology, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130012, China;
2. Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
Abstract：The structural optimization of urban agglomeration is a process which can promote the development of urban agglomeration towards maturity. Liaoning coastal urban agglomeration which lies in the Bohai bay is the Northeast region's only access to the sea. In recent years it has been a highlight in the structure system of Chinese urban agglomeration. Owing to superior location and development foundation, Liaoning coastal urban agglomeration has become the core region to promote the coastal development and revitalize the traditional industrial base of Northeast China. So it is necessary to analyze what the regional structural characteristics are and how the structures get to optimization. This paper discusses the current characteristics of Liaoning coastal urban agglomeration from urban scale ranking, functional and spatial structure. The conclusions are as follows. Firstly, the urban system is characterized by high urban primacy ratio and the gap between different scales is evident. The number and scale of medium-sized cities are all lower than the small cities of which the number is great, but the spatial distributions are imbalanced. Secondly, the industry is in dominant position in the inter-regional labor division, but the productive services have limited influence on regional development. And the intra-regional industrial structure has great homogeneity while the service, transportation, commercial trade complement each other. Thirdly, the transportation network is maturing and its system is forming. The point-axle spatial structure has been formed and developed towards network structure. On the basis of analysis, the authors put forward some suggestions of structural optimization which are that (1) a rational urban system with the mega cities, big cities and the medium-sized cities should be established as the main of the scale structure; (2) based on the remodeling patterns of new regional labor division, the functions of urban zone should be optimized by coordinating spatial organizations, including Dalian, Ying-Pan, Jin-hu and Dandong metropolitan areas; (3) spatial organization should be formed in accordance with the pattern of points-axis which includes development of nuclei and axis.
