Regional Economic Development in China

5. Development of Pearl River Delta as a Mega-city Region

Development฀of฀Pearl฀River฀Delta฀as฀a฀Mega-city฀Region฀ 79 5 Development of Pearl River Delta as a Mega-city Region Li Yongning CONCEPTUALIZATION฀OF฀MEGA-CITY฀REGION฀AND฀THE฀ RELATED฀APPLICATION฀ Mega-city฀ region฀ is฀ not฀ a฀ new฀ concept,฀ but฀ with฀ the฀ rapid฀ process฀ of฀ globalization,฀it฀has฀acquired฀a฀new฀definition.฀According฀to฀recent฀studies,฀ the฀mega-city฀region฀can฀be฀treated฀as฀cities฀without฀considering฀the฀new฀ urban฀ forms฀ that฀ are฀ emerging฀ into฀ spaces฀ under฀ conditions฀ of฀ current฀ globalization.฀ For฀ instance,฀ they฀ can฀ be฀ regarded฀ as฀ global฀ city-regions฀ rather฀than฀global฀or฀world฀cities฀that฀are฀the฀growth฀nodes฀of฀the฀world฀ economy.1 ฀ Also฀ called฀ mega-city฀ regions,฀ these฀ urban฀ forms฀ can฀ often฀ include฀ several฀ cities฀ and฀ therefore฀ may฀ be฀ polycentric฀ in฀ structure.2 ฀The฀ interlocking฀network฀model฀has฀been฀applied฀to฀analysis฀of฀mega-city฀regions฀ in฀the฀POLYNET฀project.3 If฀we฀make฀a฀comparison฀of฀the฀development฀models฀of฀the฀traditional฀ and฀the฀contemporary฀integration฀of฀resources฀for฀urban฀regional฀development,฀ we฀can฀simply฀divide฀them฀into฀two฀categories฀the฀traditional฀model฀and฀ contemporary฀mega-city.฀ 05฀RegEDC.indd฀฀฀79 7/29/09฀฀฀9:40:33฀AM 80฀ Li฀Yongning The฀Traditional฀Models฀of฀Development฀ For฀ years,฀ the฀ most฀ influential฀ theories฀ concerning฀ regional฀ development฀ used฀ to฀ be฀ centre-periphery฀ and฀ “flying฀ geese”฀ concepts.฀ Take฀ the฀ PRD฀ studies,฀ for฀ instance,฀ among฀ all฀ these฀ works,฀ Ezra฀ Vogel’s฀ analysis฀ of฀ a฀ development฀model฀using฀the฀“theory฀of฀dependence”฀has฀been฀so฀popular฀ that฀they฀have฀received฀a฀lot฀of฀attention฀from฀regional฀planning฀specialists฀ as฀well฀development฀researchers.4 ฀In฀a฀summary฀of฀the฀PRD’s฀development฀ approaches,฀ Zhang฀ even฀ concluded฀ in฀ accordance฀ with฀ Vogel’s฀ research฀ results฀ that฀ Hong฀ Kong฀ as฀ the฀ economically฀ powerful฀ centre฀ has฀ greatly฀ pushed฀forward฀the฀whole฀regional฀change,฀or฀the฀region฀as฀periphery฀has฀ otherwise฀been฀dependent฀on฀Hong฀Kong฀in฀a฀stage฀from฀simple฀economic฀ growth฀to฀the฀overall฀development.5 ฀The฀other฀sub-centres฀in฀PRD฀around฀ the฀main฀ones฀like฀Hong฀Kong฀and฀Guangzhou฀have฀then฀obviously฀had฀ a฀role-play฀of฀“one-step-ahead”฀effect฀as฀earlier฀“flying฀geese”฀for฀the฀whole฀ country฀in฀China.฀ Another฀model฀from฀the฀historical฀and฀structural฀study฀of฀cities฀in฀the฀ past฀ focuses฀ on฀ centrality฀ and฀ related฀ resource฀ structures.฀ The฀ centrality,฀ according฀ to฀ Piet฀ Saey,฀ arises฀ from฀ activities฀ of฀ the฀ entrepreneurs,฀ who฀ may฀be฀a฀merchant,฀trader,฀retailer,฀wholesaler,฀or฀banker.฀This฀study฀based฀ on฀Bobek-Christaller-Barton฀approaches฀which฀were฀composed฀of฀Bobek’s฀ network฀of฀flows,฀Christaller’s฀spatial฀structure฀and฀Barton’s฀agency฀concepts,฀ depict฀the฀neoclassical฀framework.6 ฀From฀that฀the฀received฀theory฀of฀central฀ places฀is฀formulated฀and฀based฀on฀an฀entrepreneurial/exchange฀framework฀ based฀on฀neo-classical฀economics฀(see฀Figure฀5.1).฀ Figure฀5.1 The฀Entrepreneurial/Exchange฀Framework Source:฀Piet฀Saey,฀“The฀Study฀of฀Cities:฀Historical฀and฀Structural฀Approaches”.฀In฀2nd฀GaWC฀ Student฀ Workshop,฀ Globalization,฀ World฀ Cities฀ and฀ History,฀ in฀ conjunction฀ with฀ the฀ 10th฀ GaWC฀Annual฀Lecture,฀14฀January฀2008,฀. AGENTS฀OF฀EXCHANGE ENTREPRENUERS merchants/traders retailers/wholesalers banking CENTRALITY labour wages SOCIETY management workers PRODUCTION Industry g o o d s s p e n d i n g s i n t e r e s t i n v e s t m e n t p r o d u c t s r e v e n u e p r o fi t 05฀RegEDC.indd฀฀฀80 7/29/09฀฀฀9:40:33฀AM Development฀of฀Pearl฀River฀Delta฀as฀a฀Mega-city฀Region฀ 81 Contemporary฀Concepts฀of฀Mega-city฀Regional฀Development฀ With฀the฀adaptation฀of฀the฀mega-city฀as฀a฀way฀of฀analysing฀and฀planning฀ urban฀development,฀many฀new฀concepts฀have฀emerged.฀Since฀the฀research฀ here฀ is฀ designed฀ to฀ discuss฀ just฀ one฀ mega-city฀ region฀ in฀ south฀ China,฀ we฀ will฀use฀just฀three฀of฀them฀as฀analytical฀tools฀for฀an฀overall฀understanding฀ of฀the฀development฀tendency,฀namely,฀the฀connectivity฀of฀the฀urban฀world,฀ the฀space฀of฀flows,฀and฀the฀landscape฀methodology.฀ First,฀in฀order฀to฀define฀the฀connectivity฀of฀city฀space฀by฀value฀rather฀ than฀location,฀an฀earthwise฀atlas฀(see฀Figure฀5.2)฀was฀created฀and฀developed฀ by฀Jared฀Lang,฀Danny฀Dorling฀and฀Peter฀Taylor.฀In฀this฀atlas,฀the฀research฀ group฀developed฀an฀entirely฀new฀space฀of฀relationships.฀They฀used฀the฀raw฀ connection฀values฀to฀develop฀a฀space฀which฀depends฀entirely฀on฀connection.฀ Essentially,฀the฀researchers฀disregarded฀absolute฀geography...