PROGRESS IN GEOGRAPHY ›› 2023, Vol. 42 ›› Issue (4): 657-669.doi: 10.18306/dlkxjz.2023.04.004

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Spatiotemporal changes and correlation of the new urbanization and urban-rural income gap in Sichuan Province

LI Jing1(), LIAO Heping2,*(), LIU Yuanli3, ZHANG Jie1   

  1. 1. School of Economics and Management, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang 621000, Sichuan, China
    2. School of Geographical Science, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
    3. School of Business Administration, Chongqing Technology and Business University, Chongqing 400067, China
  • Received:2022-09-20 Revised:2022-11-08 Online:2023-04-28 Published:2023-04-27
  • Contact: LIAO Heping E-mail:lij2019@swust.edu.cn;liaohp@swu.edu.cn
  • Supported by:
    The Open Fund of Key Laboratory of Regional Sustainable Development Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS(KF2020-01);The Research Fund for Doctoral Program of Southwest University of Science and Technology(19sx7106)

Abstract:

As an important measure to improve the institutions and mechanisms for coordinated regional development, the new urbanization is of great significance for reversing the unbalanced development between urban and rural areas and between different regions, and promoting high-quality economic development. Taking Sichuan Province as the research object and adopting the spatial autocorrelation analysis method, the spatial econometric model, and the threshold panel model, this study analyzed the spatiotemporal change of the new urbanization and urban-rural income gap, discussed the relationship between them, and verified other influencing factors of urban-rural income gap. The conclusions are as follows: 1) In 2009-2019, the level of new urbanization was rising year by year, and annual urban-rural income gap were continuously narrowing. Urban-rural income gap in each year showed significant spatial autocorrelation, with the low value areas concentrated in the Chengdu-Chongqing economic corridor, and the high value areas concentrated in western Sichuan and the Qinba Mountains area in the northeast. 2) The new urbanization had a nonlinear impact on urban-rural income gap, showing an inverted U-shaped relationship, the main reason of which was that the new urbanization and agricultural modernization were not coordinated and synchronized. Only when the level of agricultural modernization crossed the threshold, would the new urbanization curb the widening of urban-rural income gap. 3) Degree of regional economic imbalance, scientific and technological innovation, and human capital level were also significant factors that affect urban-rural income gap. The research results may provide theoretical support to steadily promote new urbanization and to narrow the urban-rural income gap effectively.

Key words: new urbanization, urban-rural income gap, agricultural modernization, Sichuan Province