PROGRESS IN GEOGRAPHY ›› 2022, Vol. 41 ›› Issue (7): 1213-1225.doi: 10.18306/dlkxjz.2022.07.006

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Shrinkage effect of urban-rural integration on shrinking cities in the three provinces of Northeast China and mechanism

SUN Pingjun(), ZHANG Keqiu, HE Tian   

  1. School of Geography Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
  • Received:2022-01-10 Revised:2022-03-24 Online:2022-07-28 Published:2022-09-28
  • Supported by:
    Humanities and Social Sciences Project of the Ministry of Education(21XJC790010);Chongqing Talent Fund Project(2021YC024)

Abstract:

Urban-rural integration has great significance for the effective implementation of rural revitalization and urban sustainable development in China, but shrinking cities have emerged in the process of rapid urbanization. Characteristics of urban-rural integration development of shrinking cities and the impact of urban shrinkage on urban-rural integration have become one of the core scientific issues to be addressed in the current research on promoting the goal of common prosperity in China. This study constructed an evaluation indicator system based on the definition of urban-rural integration, with the driving force-pathway-goal of "urban development driven-coordination of urban and rural investment-promoting the balance of basic public services and narrowing urban-rural income gaps". It took the three northeastern provinces as examples and conducted an empirical analysis of urban-rural relationship in 2010-2019 from the perspective of shrinking cities and non-shrinking cities, different development stages, and different development types of shrinking cities. The results show that: 1) The overall development of urban-rural integration in the three northeastern provinces showed an upward trend, but the development level is still low and the internal spatial differentiation is obvious. 2) Urban shrinkage has an obvious impact on urban-rural integration, and the overall level of urban-rural integration in shrinking cities is lower than that of non-shrinking cities. Urban and rural dual structure is more obvious in shrinking cities. 3) Urban-rural integration development level shows differences in cities of different shrinkage types and shrinkage development stages. The level of urban-rural integration decreased gradually from pre-shrinkage stage to post-shrinkage stage, and resource-dependent shrinking cities < comprehensive shrinking cities < "siphon" shrinking cities < location-constrained shrinking cities. Therefore, this study concluded that shrinking cities are affected by the "spatial deprivation" of development factors on urban-rural integration development. The emergence of shrinking cities is not conducive to regional coordination and the integration of urban and rural development, and the sustainable development of shrinking cities should be fully considered in the revitalization of Northeast China.

Key words: urban-rural integration, shrinkage effects, urban shrinkage, shrinking cities, the three provinces of Northeast China