Research on the Sustainable Synergetic Development of Chinese Urban Economies in the Context of a Study of Industrial Agglomeration

Synergetic development is the basis and means for the sustainable development of regional economies. Research on the synergetic economic relationship between cities and the exposure of the internal structure and evolution mechanisms of the Urban Economic Synergetic Development Network (UESDN) in the context of industrial agglomeration promote the construction and sustainable development of such a system. Industrial agglomeration not only affects the spatial distribution of industrial structures and enterprise activities but also causes differences in city positions. Using input-output theory, this study constructed a UESDN for China in 2005, 2010, and 2015, and employed social-network analysis to analyze the spatial and temporal evolution characteristics of China's synergetic development pattern. The degree centrality, betweenness centrality, and cohesive subgroups of the UESDN were computed using models in complex-network theory. This study found that the synergetic development pattern of Chinese urban economies has gradually developed from the hub-spoke model focused on Eastern provincial capitals to the network model of eastern and central cities over the period of 2005-2015. A few key cities act as intermediaries that carry economic factors with the shortest path in the UESDN. The Yangtze River economic belt, the axis belt of the Eastern coast and that of the Western economic belt were gradually formed. The number and strength of the correlation between cities within the subgroups have also continually increased. In our conclusion, we offer some suggestions for establishing a system of synergetic development between cities to improve urbanization levels.