Spatial economic interaction of urban agglomeration: Gravity and intercity flow modeling & empirical study

During the past decades, many facts had proved that the urban agglomerations had become an important force in regional development. Theoretical research has indicated that close economic links of cities among urban agglomeration is the essential characteristics of urban agglomeration. The quantitative analysis of economy linkage is the basis to define the range of urban agglomeration. Based on urban connection theory in regional economics, we construct the gravity model and urban flow model. The two models can reflect the spatial economic interaction of cities from different aspects respectively. In China urban agglomerations, the central urban agglomeration in Liaoning province (CUAL) is a typical metropolis in Northeast of China where many resource cities located. Therefore, it is supposed to study the spatial economy structure and layer structure as the city system of CUAL are becoming more powerful in the revitalization of the old industrial base of the Northeast. In order to test the validity of model, we take the CUAL as a case to do empirical analysis. The research results indicate that its spatial economic links presents a fanlike characteristic taking Shenyang as its heart, which is consistent with the natural geographical feature. In the layer structure, Shenyang surrounding by three mining cities Anpsilashan, Fushun and Benxi city, is the economy radiation center and Liaoyang, Tieling, and Yingkou are peripheral cities. It is a dual-nuclei structure: Shenyan is the main core, while Anpsilashan is the sub-core in economy interaction.