Abstract Economic basic theory is one of the classical theories to explain the urban growth, but the lack of field data in empirical research leads to controversial results. Wholesale markets are important nodes in a city for its functions of trade and distribution; goods flow of markets is belong to the urban logistics activities. Based on the data of an investigation in Guangzhou wholesale markets, this paper analyses the spatial patterns of sales logistics network from the perspective of basic-nonbasic economic activity. The network is divided into two parts: the basic economic activity network and the nonbasic economic activity network. Results show that: 1)the ratio of basic to nonbasic economic activity is 4.27, reflecting the highly externally-oriented character of the Guangzhou economy; 2)the network of basic economic activity shows a star-like pattern, which centers on Guangzhou city; the Pearl River Delta and other provinces are also important nodes both in the networks of urban-export and urban-import flow; 3)in the nonbasic economic activity network, goods flow mainly concentrates in the middle of the city, while distributes sparsely in the southern and northern parts. Finally, in order to take an in-depth look at the spatial patterns, we identify the flow fields of the sales logistics network by using R-mode and Q-mode factor analysis. Results show that the network forms three kinds of activity fields, which include one comprehensive activity field, five basic activity fields and two nonbasic activity fields. As part of the urban logistics activity, goods flow of wholesale markets has certain complexity; studying the spatial patterns of its sales logistics network can contribute to the optimization of the urban logistics activity and provide a reference to similar studies.
2012, Vol. 27 
