STUDY ON THE SINICIZATION OF “SPACE OF FLOWS” BASING ON THE VISUAL ANGLE OF URBAN GEOGRAPHY
GAO Xin1,2, XIU Chun-liang1, WEI Ye1
1. School of Urban and Environmental Science of Northeast Normal University, Jilin 130024, China;
2. School of Geography and Tourism of Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing 400047, China
Abstract The space of flows has a far-reaching influence on urban geography both at home and abroad. Firstly, this paper discusses the interrelationship between space of flows and space of place, basing on a systematic study on the concept of "space of flows" under urban geography frame work. Secondly, this paper summarizes the urban geography research on the space of flows at home and abroad, and discusses the necessity of sinicization in "space of flows" research. Finally, this paper put forward some fundamental approaches to sinicization in "space of flows" research, basing on a system analysis on the operating environment differences of "space of flows" between Chinese and western society. The results show that: (1) it is the so-called "localized space of flows" that directly acts on a certain urban and regional area. The "localized space of flows" is the result of interaction between space of flows and space of place; (2) the operation law of sinicized "space of flows" is far more complex, taking the economic fondation, social system and the special economic, social and cultural background in the transformation period into account. Therefore, the analytical scale should not be too large, and the Urban Functional Region (UFR) is a proper scale; (3) logistics industry, large state-owned enterprise, large non-governmental consortium and enterprise are of great importance to the research on space of flows sinicization. The relevant date of logistics industry can be an important parameter to characterize the basic pattern of chinese urban and regional connection under the "space of flows" background.
2012, Vol. 27 
