Population-land urbanization and comprehensive development evaluation of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration

As the main form of the new urbanization strategy, urban agglomeration promotes inter-regional economic development, population flow, and industrial cooperation. It is not only an important platform for the country to participate in international competition, but also an important carrier to explore the multiple influencing factors of urbanization. Based on the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration, the temporal and spatial characteristics of its evolution from 1990 to 2020 are analyzed by using the models of urban evolution and industrial transfer. The results show that at the level of urban land use evolution intensity, Beijing > Tianjin > Hebei, and the evolution of urban land use showed an obvious pattern of concentration of resources in central cities (districts) and weak development in sub-central cities (counties). The overall level of urban sprawl showed a downward trend, and only 0.50% of districts and counties were in the stage of high sprawl. Before 2010, the urban sprawl of Beijing, Tangshan, and southern Hebei province remained at a high level, and after 2010, the urban sprawl of central Hebei province remained at a high level. In terms of comprehensive development, the index of cities decreased, including Beijing, Tianjin, and Tangshan, while the index of cities increased including Shijiazhuang, Handan, Xingtai, and Baoding. There is a trend of agglomeration and diffusion of regional industries in geographical space. Middle- and high-end manufacturing industry and service industry gather in the first city, and middle- and low-end processing industry, labor-intensive industry, and agriculture move to surrounding cities. The research results can provide policy suggestions for the coordinated development of regional integration in developing countries.