Analysis of Spatial Wharf Pattern of the Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration, China

Wharves, which play a vital role in ensuring and promoting social progress and national economic development, are important in water transportation. At present, studies on related fields mainly focus on ports. A robust research system has been formed through the continuous development of port geography from the perspective of space. However, the number of relevant studies on wharves is limited. This study explores the spatial distribution characteristics of wharves in the Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration by using spatial analysis methods, such as nearest neighbor index, multi-distance spatial clustering, kernel density estimation, and standard deviation ellipse. Moreover, it evaluates the allocation level of wharves from different scales by constructing an index system based on the location data of 1264 wharves in the Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration. Results show that the spatial pattern of wharves exhibits evident aggregation and regional differences. The spatial distribution of wharves is characterized by a "band" structure, which is densely distributed along the Yangtze River and the eastern coast. The allocation level of wharves presents evident agglomeration at different scales. The relationship between the spatial wharf pattern and the economy shows that high gross domestic product and total imports and exports correspond to a considerable number of wharves.