The Development Path of a Provincial 'Secondary City':The Case of Zhuzhou

The study of 'Secondary City',a concept first put forward by M.Jefferson in his theory of primate city,is relatively weak in China's urban system studies.As a matter of fact,'Secondary City' plays a significant role in balancing regional development and promoting regional competitiveness.This paper is, perhaps for the first time,focused on studying the unique functions of a secondary city in a regional context(at provincial level in this paper),using urban competitiveness data published by CASS.A case study of Zhuzhou(the secondary city in Hunan province,China)is introduced to discuss the status crisis and its causes.The paper covers a wide range of issues like the transformation of regional relationship,the flattening out of resource distribution,and path dependency. The development trajectory of Zhuzhou is projected at two geographical levels: regional level and city level.At the regional level,Zhuzhou is to provide functional spaces by developing into a regional center and metropolitan area; while at the city level,it is more concerned about securing a sustainable industrial growth and creating unique city characteristics.The empirical findings from Zhuzhou are expected to contribute to the understandings of Secondary Cities in other provinces of China.