URBAN REGIONAL SPATIAL STRUCTURE BASED ON URBAN FRINGE AREA DEMARCATION: A CASE STUDY ON HANGZHOU

By integrating the analytical methods of population density and landscape,this paper clarifies the distribution of urban fringe areas in Hangzhou.The result shows that the urban fringe area covers a huge area,which becomes the spatial background for the multi-center pattern of Hangzhou.Thus,the paper concludes that the transition of urban structure from single center to multiple centers is a process in which the urban structure turns from quantitative change to qualitative change.During this process,urban fringe area has evolved into a relatively independent socio-economic unit that plays an important role in urban-rural coordinated development and the multicentered and networked development of the city.