PROGRESS IN GEOGRAPHY ›› 2012, Vol. 31 ›› Issue (8): 989-996.doi: 10.11820/dlkxjz.2012.08.001

• Original Articles •     Next Articles

Spatial Evolution and Influencing Factors of R&D Industry in the Yangtze River Delta Region

WANG Chengyun, ZHANG Tingting   

  1. Department of Geography, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 200234, China
  • Received:2011-11-01 Revised:2012-02-01 Online:2012-08-25 Published:2012-08-25

Abstract: The Yangtze River Delta, with the city of Shanghai as the center, is one of the regions with the most concentrated R&D investment in China. This article analyzes the spatial evolution and influencing factors of the R&D industry of 16 cities located in the Yangtze River Delta Region. The research was performed through factor analysis, cluster analysis and GIS mapping, combined with theories of spatial structure and urban system. The results indicate that there are six major factors dominating the spatial structure of the R&D industry: overall strength of industrial development, industrial structure, industrial competition force, supporting economic structure, economic development level and R&D activity level. In addition, through the comparison of the level of spatial structure of the R&D industry in the Yangtze River Delta Region in 2000 and 2007, we discovered that the R&D industry in this region in 2000 was characterized by a monopole structure with its conspicuous geographic concentration in Shanghai. On the other hand, the development of other cities in the region including Nanjing, Hangzhou and Suzhou has created a shift in the industry and transformed the industrial structure into a multi-pole one in 2007. As such, the spatial structure of the R&D industry sector in the Yangtze River Delta Region is expected to develop into a triangular pattern in the future with Shanghai, Nanjing and Hangzhou as its three vertexes.

Key words: influence factors, R&D industry, spatial evolution, Yangtze River Delta