Chinese Pattern of Urban Development Quality Assessment: A Perspective Based on National Territory Spatial Planning Initiatives

The State Council of the People's Republic of China issued the National Territory Spatial Planning Outline (2016-2030), which is a fundamental guide and blueprint for China to achieve its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Based on its sustainable-city initiatives, this paper establishes a "four-space (4S)" assessment framework, and measured the urban development quality (UDQ) of 336 cities in China. Then we analyzed the spatial patterns of UDQ, and identified the main obstacles. Our results show that there is considerable room for improvement in UDQ in China. The spatial pattern of UDQ shows that the eastern economic zone score is higher than the western score and the northern lower than the southern. The spatial efficiency, structure, and quality in Chinese cities have significant hierarchical structure, while the form pattern is complicated. The most important obstacle to China's high-quality development is spatial efficiency. The most significant limiting indicator is the industrial structure, followed by land output level and land consumption per unit GDP. Our findings help enhance the effectiveness of National Territory Spatial Planning policy implementation and guide China's urban planning and management to achieve sustainability.