Study on Spatial Economic Structure of Taiyuan Metropolitan Area in the Context of the Rise of Central China

In the light of the rising strategy of Central China and relevant planning of National Pilot Zone for Comprehensive Coordinated Reform for Transformation into Resource-based Economy of Shanxi Province,this paper researches on the Taiyuan metropolitan area from an interdisciplinary approach combining economics and geography.Based on centrality of the city and the closeness of the city’ s economic linkage with other cities,this paper illustrates the spatial layers of Taiyuan metropolitan area,arguing that such an area is heavily characterized by separation and stratification and cities at outer layers have difficulty in engaging the core layer.In other words,Taiyuan City is still undergoing a polarization development instead of diffusion and radiation development.On such a basis,Urban Rank-Size Rule based on Central Place Theory is applied in the regression using non-agricultural population data of all cities in the metropolitan area.The results certify that that the urban monopoly characteristic is heavy in central cities inside the metropolitan area of Taiyuan,and the spatial distribution of these central cities is principally subject to the K=7 administrative principle.At the end of the paper,several recommendations are provided for expanding and integrating the Taiyuan metropolitan area.