Spatial planning on the eastern-end urban agglomeration of the New Eurasian Continental Bridge

The Huaihai Urban Agglomeration is located at the eastern end of the New Eurasian Continental Bridge,and it has the strategic position in China which links north with south and east with west.The Huaihai Urban Agglomeration shoulders the important task of leading the underdeveloped region in East China as well as promoting the development of the country's central and western regions.Based on the concepts of regarding New Eurasian Continental Bridge Economic Belt and spatial reconstruction,this paper summarizes the spatial features of the Huaihai Urban Agglomeration as follows: major cities are distributed along five railways;the economic development levels of southern Shandong province and northern Jiangsu province are higher than those of northern Anhui province and eastern Henan province;the spatial structure of the Huaihai Urban Agglomeration is smaller on both ends and bigger in the middle.On the other hand,the paper points out that there are four features in the development of the New Eurasian Continental Bridge: its position in the national opening-up strategy is more important than ever;the majority of economic zones along the Continental Bridge have been upgraded to national-level significance;urban economic activities along the Continental Bridge develop rapidly;and regional cooperation between the eastern region and mid-west regions along the Continental Bridge is deepening.The latest development of the economic belt along the Continental Bridge will bring about new challenges to the Huaihai Urban Agglomeration.In order to make a more powerful urban agglomeration which can promote the development of the eastern economic belt along the Continental Bridge,the Huaihai Urban Agglomeration should improve its present developing situation.We have calculated the index of central city functions and economic-tie strengths and confirmed that Xuzhou is the regional central city in the Huaihai Urban Agglomeration.At last,the paper proposes that the spatial planning of the Huaihai Urban Agglomeration should aim at developing a spatial pattern of one core,five axes,and six urban clusters.One core is the Xuzhou megapolis;five axes are the Longhai axis,the Xinshi axis,the Jingjiu axis,the Jinghu axis,and the Yanhai axis;six urban clusters are the Xuzhou metropolitan region,the Yanhuai urban cluster,the Linzhao urban cluster,the Jihe urban cluster,the Bianshang urban cluster,and the Fubo urban cluster.In order to accomplish the spatial planning,this paper also proposes three measures as follows to cope with regional competition and co-operation: first,build a stronger regional central city with greater radiating effects;second,promote the integration of the Huaihai Urban Agglomeration;third,upgrade the planning of the Huaihai Urban Agglomeration to a national-level strategy to promote development of the entire urban agglomeration. Developing the Huaihai Urban Agglomeration is an enormous system engineering.The paper only provides a proposition on its spatial planning,which is hoped to be a reference for governmental decisions at higher levels and regional planning research.In the future more profound research is needed to be done,including infrastructure construction,industry development planning,and national promote policy.