Evaluation of Urban Economic Competitiveness under the Regional Competition and Cooperation Perspectives: Theoretical Models and Empirical Test

Taking Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei metropolitan region for example, this paper evaluates of urban economic competitiveness under the regional competition and cooperation perspectives. The result shows that: 1) Over the past two decades, in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Metropolitan Region, the leading industry in the city, the relative position and role of almost all the cities in the region have changed significantly. Concretely, according to the feature of the change, two stages can be divided, which are 1994-2004 and 2004-2012. Further, there are two critical time intervals, which are 2000-2004, and 2004-2008. 2) In the first critical time interval, the regional competitiveness of Beijing, Shijiazhuang, Baoding, Zhangjiakou, Chengde, Cangzhou, Langfang were weaker. And Beijing's economic growth was behind the average level of the region, the leading role to the region is not strong. 3) In the second critical stage, the economic growth of Beijing was higher than the average level of this region, and the leading role had significantly enhanced. But the industrial structure of Tianjin does not comply with the development trend of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Metropolitan Region. And the city of Tangshan and Cangzhou had more location competitive than the average level. 4) This study has confirmed the effectiveness of assessment urban competitiveness from the perspective of regional competition and cooperation.