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Chin. Geogra. Sci. 2010 20(4) 298–308
DOI: 10.1007/s11769-010-0402-8
Received date: 2009-08-25; accepted date: 2010-04-01
Foundation item: Under the auspices of National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 40901088, 40671063); Knowledge Innova-
tion Programs of Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. KZCX2-YW-321), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No. 20080440513,
200902134)
Corresponding author: WANG Kaiyong. E-mail: wangky@igsnrr.ac.cn
© Science Press, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, CAS and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2010
Spatial Structure and Land Use Control in Extended
Metropolitan Region of Zhujiang River Delta, China
DAI Junliang1, WANG Kaiyong2, GAO Xiaolu2
(1. Bureau of Administrative Areas and Geographical Names, Ministry of Civil Affairs of the People′s Republic of
China, Beijing 100010, China; 2. Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research,
Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China)
Abstract: The Zhujiang (Pearl) River Delta is one of the most developed Extended Metropolitan Regions (EMR) in
China. With the rapid urbanization, the agglomeration of population and industries has emerged, which has led to dra-
matic changes of spatial structure and land use in this region. With data of high resolution TM remote sensing images
and Google Earth maps, this paper identified and analyzed the spatial pattern of the Zhujiang River Delta EMR using
Envy and ArcGIS tools. It was found that 1) the industrial land uses were expanding substantially, particularly on the
bank sides of the Zhujiang River estuary; 2) large-scale housing developments were concentrated in the fringe of met-
ropolitan areas such as those of Guangzhou and Shenzhen; 3) a regional transportation network with the spatial pattern
of ″1 circle +2 pieces + 3 axes″ had significantly affected the location choice of manufacture enterprises. At the same
time, both highly specialized land use and severely mixed land use patterns were identified. As a consequence of the
latter, land use efficiency of the whole EMR areas was reduced. Moreover, ecologic and environmental problems were
severe. Based on the above analysis, suggestions were given from the viewpoint of spatial safety, land use efficiency,
and the reorganization of spatial structure in the Zhujiang River Delta EMR.
Keywords: spatial pattern; agglomeration and expansion; spatial expansion; Extended Metropolitan Region (EMR);
Zhujiang River Delta (Pearl River Delta)
1 Introduction
The spatial organization and the spatial structure are one
of the focus topics of economic geography. The spatial
organization refers to the construction activities of peo-
ple with the purposes of local development and the spa-
tial relationships brought by these activities. The spatial
structure is the result of the spatial activities and or-
ganizations (Jin, 2007). Pushed by the globalization and
the integration of regional economy, in all over the
world, the economic core regions have increasingly
concentrated to a few regions. Subsequently, the Ex-
tended Metropolitan Regions (EMR) have come into
being and become the dominant regions of regional
economy. The competition among countries and among
regions has changed from that of single cities to that of
EMRs. In view of the important leading role of EMR in
global economy, the spatial structure and organization of
EMR have brought more and more concerns in the aca-
demic world. At the same time, because of the disparity
of regional development in China, regional management
become one of the important means within the national
policy system of macro-adjustment along with the main
ideas of the functional-oriented zoning.
Ever since Guttmann put forward the concept of
′megalopolis′ (Guttmann, 1957), there have been
′metropolis′ (McGee, 1991), ′super metropolis′ (Hall,
1999), ′mega-urban region′ (Ginsburg, 1991), ′extended
metropolitan region′ (EMR) (Wang and Chen, 2008),
′megalopolis′ (Fujita, 2005), ′metropolitan interlocking
region′ (Zhou, 1995), etc. It is notable that all of the ur-
ban agglomeration areas are featured by close economic
relationships and spatial connections among cities of
different sizes. Many theories for analyzing the regional
Spatial Structure and Land Use Control in Extended Metropolitan Region of Zhujiang River Delta, China 299
changes, spatial structure and the pattern of interaction
were proposed such as the spatial interaction theory by
Ullmann (1957), the correlation of economic develop-
ment with spatial evolution by Friedman (1966), and the
modern spatial expansion by Hagerstrand (1968). With a
comparison of the structural change of the three Japa-
nese metropolises including Tokyo, Kobe and Nagoya, a
poly-centric structure was pointed out that had become
the dominant spatial pattern of regional development
(Tomida, 1995). McGee (1987) developed the term of
DESA-KOTA to refer to the intensively mixed urban
and rural areas in Asian countries. Specifically, these
regions were characterized by highly intensive and fre-
quent exchange between urban and rural areas as well as
mixed agricultural and non-agricultural activities. Later,
McGee also proposed the term of Mega-urban Region
(McGee, 1995).
The spatial transition of megalopolis has also been ex-
tensively studied. For instance, Friedman (1966) once
used the core-periphery model to explain the formation of
spatial structure in different phases of industrialization.
According to LU (1987), industrial differentiation, con-
nection and cooperation between cities in a region dem-
onstrate the form of point-axis pattern, whereby the rela-
tionship between cities and the role of cities were re-
shaped constantly (Peng, 1998). Integration is the essen-
tial means to form the ordered structure and network,
which has created a spatial order of the region (Wang,
2001). Basing on the density of distribution in cities and
counties, Qiao and Li (2006) analyzed the regional struc-
ture, whose researches indicated that great changes have
taken place in the traditional core-periphery model and
multi-center and sub-level core regions have existed.
With the rapid urbanization, the economic regions of the
Zhujiang River Delta have gradually expanded to the
outer region and the trend of anti-polarization is emerging
(Zhen et al., 2000). On the other hand, the chaotic spatial
compositions have lowered the efficiency of land use.
According to the past related researches at home and
abroad, the sustainable development and spatial distri-
bution of city-and-town concentrated areas such as
EMR draw more and more attention, but it was often
explained by mathematics′ analyses from the aspects of
the spatial structure, rank and scale structure, functional
type structure, and the network structure of cities (Gu,
1987). However, as an urban-region with complex sys-
tem and different kinds of regional constitution, the ac-
tual spatial distribution and constitution can not be gras-
ped by data analysis and mathematics model. With the
progress of Remote Sensing (RS) technology and Geo-
graphic Information System (GIS) analyses method, this
paper tried to use RS and GIS technology instead of
mathematics′ statistics method to justify the regional
make-up and show the actual spatial distribution char-
acteristics in the EMR of the Zhujiang River Delta,
which has been the most dramatically changed region in
China in respect of spatial structure and land use since
the implemention of the policy of reform and opening
up 30 years ago.
2 Methodology and Study Area
2.1 Methodology
The 30m-resolution TM remote sensing image on a scale
of 1︰100 000 taken in 2000 acquiring from Center for
Resources and Environmental Data, Chinese Academy of
Sciences, and Google Earth digital maps of the Zhujiang
River Delta region taken in 2007 were used in this study.
First, we combined the TM phantoms of the Zhujiang
River Delta region. With the ENVI remote sensing proc-
essing software, five types of land use including water,
mountain, agricultural land, forest and built-up areas were
defined. Second, we identified the composition of land
use in the built-up areas. With the reference of high reso-
lution digital maps downloaded from Google Earth, we
distinguished the functions of various areas such as in-
dustrial areas and residential areas manually. In detail, 1)
we divided the study area into small units with acceptable
display resolution, and coded and downloaded the Google
Earth pictures by spatial units. 2) The pictures were com-
bined in Photoshop, which constituted the full-range digi-
tal map of the study area. 3) We integrated the digital
maps and auto-classified vector data with ArcGIS, and
conducted spatial adjustment and spatial overlapping op-
erations. And 4) based on the new maps, different func-
tional areas including residential area, industrial area,
Logistics and warehousing area, transportation system,
green space, etc., were identified. The interpretation result
would be adjusted and revised by comparing with city
map and field survey.
In the high-density metropolitan areas such as the
Zhujiang River Delta EMR, the resolution of Google
Earth can be set as high as 2 m, thus it is quite easy to
identify the detailed functions of each area. For other
DAI Junliang, WANG Kaiyong, GAO Xiaolu
300
areas where the resolution is low or where it is difficult
to determine the main functions of the area, we em-
ployed paper maps of cities and villages, as well as sur-
veys data in some areas. As for the detailed interpreta-
tion of the spatial structure, the reader may refer to ref-
erence of Wang and Chen (2008).
2.2 Study area
The spatial unit of the analysis is cities or counties. In
this study, the Zhujiang River Delta EMR includes the
traditional economic region of the Zhujiang River Delta
and Hong Kong and Macau special administrative re-
gions (Fig. 1). The economic region of the Zhujiang
River Delta covers 13 municipal cities or some part of
them (Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Jiangmen,
Dongguan, Zhongshan, Huizhou′s urban region, Hui-
dong County, Boluo County, Zhaoqing′s urban region,
Gaoyao and Sihui). In total, the region has 43 boroughs
and counties (county-level cities).
The urbanization level in the Zhujiang River Delta
had reached 80% by the end of 2008, and the total GDP
was 2.97×1012 yuan (RMB), which was 83.3% of the
Guangdong Province and 9.89% of China. The per cap-
ita GDP was 62 644 yuan, which was three times as
much as the average of China. If the GDPs of Hong
Kong (HK$1.679×1012) and Macau (171.9×109 patacas)
added to Zhujiang River Delta together, the total GDP in
Zhujiang River Delta EMR was near US$670×109, whi-
ch has become a very important part in the global eco-
nomic system.
3 Spatial Structure of Zhujiang River Delta
EMR
3.1 Spatial distribution of industrial land and resi-
dential land
It was found that the land for industries is high in pro-
portion. The industrial land use is mainly distributed
along the two sides of the Zhujiang River, i.e. the core
of the EMR, and the spatial pattern of conglomeration
was forming (Fig. 2). On the contrary, the industrial en-
terprises on the periphery of the Zhujiang River Delta
are relatively dispersive and small in size. Small facto-
ries are widely scattered, and many industrial areas on
township level and village level are identified.
Compared with the scattered distribution of industrial
enterprises, the development of real estate is mainly
concentrated in urban areas as well as their peripheries.
In recent years, with the robust development of real es-
tate, large residential conglomerations have increasingly
emerged in the fringes of Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai
and other big cities. Especially in the Panyu District, in
the south of Guangzhou, large residential areas con-
glomerate and give rise to the well-known South China
Plate. The continuous emergence of large residential
clusters in the suburbs not only gives a rapid push to the
Fig. 1 Whole Zhujiang River Delta EMR
Spatial Structure and Land Use Control in Extended Metropolitan Region of Zhujiang River Delta, China 301
Fig. 2 Distribution of industrial and residential areas in Zhujiang River Delta Extended Metropolitan Region
suburbanization of EMR of the Zhujiang River Delta,
but also speeds up the spatial expansion of built-up ar-
eas, thus leading to more and more conflicts between
land supply and construction demand.
3.2 Transport-oriented manufacturing industry
There are a large number of industrial enterprises along
the arterial roads in the Zhujiang River Delta EMR. The
main manufacturing areas in this region are consistent
with the distribution of two transportation aisles, dem-
onstrating a clear transport-oriented spatial pattern. We
studied the industrial distribution within the buffer areas
of the expressways and national highways by using Ar-
cGIS tools (Fig. 3). The results indicated that about
64.9% of the industrial enterprises located within a dis-
tance of 5 km from the expressways and 39.9% within a
distance of 5 km from the national highways. A close
correlation exists between the production space and ar-
terial roads.
The Zhujiang River Delta EMR takes advantage of its
well-developed transportation system. In 2007, the ex-
pressways open to traffic were 53 106 km in length and
the road density was 1.27 km/km2, which was 25%
higher than the average of Guangdong Province. The
expressway network covers all the townships in the
province. However, due to the enhancing connection
among different areas in this region, the transportation
network with expressways as the main frame is still in-
adequate. As early as 2004, the 2005–2020 Transporta-
tion Network Plan of Railways between Cities in the
Zhujiang River Delta was proposed and approved by the
National Development and Reform Commission
(NDRC) of China (Fig. 4). According to the plan, by
2020, the commuting railways between cities in this
region will have covered 600 km, forming a fairly dense
trunk transport network, which will greatly alleviate the
tension of transportation system.
3.3 Salient centrality and circular expansion
The core area of the Zhujiang River Delta EMR, which
is the R&D center, management center and business
center, mainly performs the managerial function, where
population and consumption will agglomerate. There-
fore, other areas with various functions are all socially
and economically connected to the core area, either in a
direct or indirect way. In view of spatial distribution, it
DAI Junliang, WANG Kaiyong, GAO Xiaolu
302
Fig. 3 Distribution of industrial areas within 5 km along expressways and
national highways in Zhujiang River Delta Extended Metropolitan Region
Fig. 4 Transportation network plan of Zhujiang River Delta Extended Metropolitan Region
Spatial Structure and Land Use Control in Extended Metropolitan Region of Zhujiang River Delta, China 303
behaves as a center-oriented pattern, with various func-
tions centering the core area (Fig. 5). The industries of
manufacturing and service were concentrated and dis-
tributed at the core area of the metropolis and gradually
evolved towards specialization to serve the whole region
and even larger areas. By contrast, the peripheral areas,
which enjoyed the better infrastructures, the convenient
connection with the core area and low land costs, at-
tracted most of the expanded economic activities and
population. In the periphery, the manufacturing industry
developed particularly fast and often took the lead. Thus,
in the internal part of the EMR, close connection came
into being between the core area and its periphery; the
periphery was mainly oriented to the manufacturing in-
dustry with regard to its production space. Subsequently,
through the convenient transportation network, a verti-
cal spatial pattern of industrial division and integration
came into existence.
For each city, the driving function of the central area
is remarkable to the peripheral areas in the influencing
radius and it is easy to form a core-periphery spatial
structure. This structure is a distinct circular one in the
Zhujiang River Delta EMR. On the two sides of the
Zhujiang River, industrial areas, residential areas, logis-
tics and warehousing areas, as well as recreation areas
and entertainment areas were densely located. The
natural scenes were replaced by urban buildings and the
conglomerated spatial structure was preliminarily for-
med. However, the distribution of the residential and
manufacturing areas was relatively scattered in the pe-
riphery, where the dotted structure with the city as the
center was found, and less disturbance and destruction
was done to its landscapes. However, given the distinct
radiating and driving effects of the core area, close eco-
nomic cooperation and industrial connection were
maintained between the peripheral and the core area.
3.4 Specialization and mixture of regional function
With robust economic strength, the GDP was 2.97×1012
yuan in the Zhujiang River EMR in 2008. Among them,
the proportions of the output values of the three industries
were 2.4︰50.3︰47.3, which indicated the economic struc-
ture with the second industry as the main part. In each city,
the tertiary industry or the service industry developed
rapidly and the industrial structure were gradually de-
veloping from ″the secondary, tertiary and primary in-
dustries″ in the order of importance into ″the tertiary,
secondary and primary industries″, and continuously
moving for the better. At present, the economic situation
focused on the service industry has been formed in
Hong Kong, Macau, and Guangzhou, and especially, the
driving effect of the service industry in the core cities of
the Zhujiang River Delta is more and more conspicuous.
In terms of GDP, Hong Kong and Macau take the lead,
Fig. 5 Circular pattern of land use structure in Zhujiang River Delta Extended Metropolitan Region
DAI Junliang, WANG Kaiyong, GAO Xiaolu
304
followed by Shenzhen and Guangzhou, which have ba-
sically achieved the average level of developed coun-
tries, and the core-fringe spatial structure is established
on the whole (Fig. 6)
The industrial structure of this delta has undergone
constant adjustment from the only priority of the light
industry to the equal importance of the light and heavy
industries. With the optimization of the industrial struc-
tures, the degree of specialization has been improved.
The specialization in many cities and towns (townships)
has standed out, such as the lighting industry in Guzhen
Township and the wholesale of hardware and building
materials in Xiaolan Township in Zhongshan, produc-
tion of small household appliances in Rongqi Township
in Foshan, production of spare parts and components for
computers in Houjie and Fenggang Townships in
Dongguan, the wholesale of apparel in Humen Town-
ship in Dongguan, the shoemaking industry in Huangbu
and Longji Townships at Huidong County, etc. Those
industries have given shape to a large scale of speciali-
zation and a distinctive clustering distribution of associ-
ated industries. Meanwhile, the complication and mix-
ture of the spatial structure of various areas in this
region were serious. For examples, many medium- and
small-sized enterprises in each city and town were still
small home-making businesses; the pattern of residence
upstairs and production downstairs or the pattern of
production on streets and residence inside were common;
the mixture of industrial production and residential areas
is also prevalent. The mixed layout of land for industrial
production and agriculture and that of independent lei-
sure space, open green space and ecologic barrier space
cause difficulties in identifying the regional functions.
3.5 Spatial pattern of ″1 circle +2 pieces + 3 axes″
With the analysis and sorting out of remote sensing im-
ages, it can be seen that the spatial structure of ″1 circle
+ 2 pieces + 3 axes″ has been formed in the Zhujiang
River Delta EMR, and demonstrated a spatial evolution
pattern of ″two pieces′ agglomeration, three axes′ exten-
sion and multi-polar radiation″. Now, it is developing
from piece-and-axe agglomeration to a network (Fig. 7).
″1 circle″ refers to the exterior highways on the periph-
erals of the core areas of Guangzhou and Foshan. The
interior ring highways in the two cities have been built
while the exterior ring highways are in planning or un-
der construction. The formation of exterior ring high-
ways will certainly promote the economic cooperation
and spatial integration between Guangzhou and Foshan,
strengthen the two cities′ economic connection and re-
ciprocal coordination, and elevate the competitiveness
and radiating and driving effects across the Guangzhou
and Foshan Metropolis. ″2 pieces″ means one large clus-
ter centered on Guangzhou and Foshan and the other on
Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Dongguan. Among them, the
first cluster, which is on the west bank of the Zhujiang
Fig. 6 Industrial structure and per capita GDP in Zhujiang River Delta Extended Metropolitan Region in 2008
Spatial Structure and Land Use Control in Extended Metropolitan Region of Zhujiang River Delta, China 305
Fig. 7 Regional spatial structure in Zhujiang River Delta Extended Metropolitan Regions
River, is mature and the trend of conglomeration is ob-
vious. The large cluster on the eastern bank of the Zhu-
jiang River is characterized by industries occupying
large areas, where industrialized urban sights are seen
everywhere and the industry of logistics and storage are
well developed. ″3 axes″ indicates three developing axes:
the first one connecting Dongguan, Shenzhen and Hong
Kong along the Dongguan–Shenzhen Expressway on
the east bank of the Zhujiang River; the second one
connecting Guangzhou, Foshan, Zhongshan (Jiangmen),
Zhuhai and Macau along the Beijing–Zhuhai National
Highway that runs from north to south on the west side
of the Zhujiang River; the third one that runs from west
to east connecting Zhaoqing, Foshan, Guangzhou,
Dongguan and Huizhou. The three developing axes link
the core areas of all the cities in the Zhujiang River
Delta, thus forming the general frame for developing the
Zhujiang River Delta and further guiding the spatial
development pattern in this delta.
The two agglomeration areas of ″2 pieces″ facilitate
the further agglomeration of population and industries in
the delta, and continuously accelerate structural differ-
entiation and spatial integration. Based on the two ag-
glomeration areas, the spatial expansion and the ag-
glomeration and diffusion of population and industries
are carried out along the three main developing axes,
and various functions of the extended metropolitan re-
gion evolve outside the metropolises. Moreover, each
city within the Zhujiang River Delta, which has robust
economic strength, can bring rapid sustainable devel-
opment to its periphery. The peripheries of urban centers
basically present urbanized scenes, the spatial distribu-
tion of the population and industrial activities are dense,
many functional clusters with obvious agglomeration
effects are formed, and the spatial pattern of multi-polar
radiation is demonstrated.
3.6 Broken spatial development and extensive land
use
The Zhujiang River Delta EMR is relatively mature,
which has formed a relatively dense population and in-
dustrial layout. However, the spatial distribution of dif-
ferent geographic types is chaotic and disorder. Particu-
larly in the distribution of industrial area, whether in
large number of state-level development zones or in
some small villages, there are a lot of industrial enter-
prises at different levels, some of which are mixed with
residential areas, causing considerable environmental
pollution and traffic jam. Even though the land demand
is beyond land supply in the Zhujiang River Delta EMR,
DAI Junliang, WANG Kaiyong, GAO Xiaolu
306
there are still numbers of vacant land which is idle and
deserted. Land use is more extensive, resulting in seri-
ous waste of land.
Through remote sensing image interpretation and
field investigation in the Zhujiang River Delta EMR, it
is found that there are a lot of idle lands that have been
developed but not used in the Zhujiang River Delta
EMR, most of which are near development zones, sci-
ence parks, and some industrial parks surrounding towns.
According to the results of this image processing, there
was more than 817 pieces of idle lands in the Zhujiang
River Delta, whose total area was about 298.8 km2 (Fig.
8). Among them, the smallest one was only 6 400 m2;
the largest one was 10.7 km2, located in Hengqin Island,
Zhuhai City; and the second largest one was 7.6 km2,
located in Panyu District, Guangzhou City. The top
three cities whose land waste was most serious were
Guangzhou, Dongguan and Shenzhen. Though the land
is rare in the Zhujiang River Delta EMR, there remains
so much idle land, which deserves more and more atten-
tion and reflection from government departments.
Fig. 8 Distribution of idle land in Zhujiang River Delta EMR
4 Strategic Analysis of Spatial Structure and
Land Use
4.1 Scientific spatial development based on regional
spatial safety and efficiency
Establishing a scientific spatial value requires full rec-
ognition of the value of space. Space is an insufficient
public resources, so the importance must be attached to
spatial safety and reasonable use. The rough land use
and disordered development pattern in this region, to a
great extent, were caused by the lack of spatial planning.
The dialogues or communications were missing among
various city governments, consequently, serous identical
industrial structures and repeated constructions resulted in
low-leveled vicious competition in some places. In the
Zhujiang River Delta EMR, a unified organic body, it is
necessary to formulate a uniform spatial plan for this re-
gion according to the demand of function-oriented zoning
in Guangdong Province, which can scientifically deploy
the internal spatial resources of this region. During the
process of spatial planning, it is imperative to follow the
guidelines of integrating spatial development with spatial
protection, and consider not only the population growth,
expansion of city areas, extension of transportation facili-
ties and construction of the developing axes, but also the
arrangement of the forbidden development zones, impor-
tant projects of ecological renovation and strict protection
of ecological corridors, and so on. It is equally important
to strengthen spatial management and optimizational con-
trol in this region, increase the efficiency of spatial use for
various activities within the region, and improve the
overall economic strength.
4.2 Integrating regional function by geographic divi-
sion of labor and cooperation
The mixed spatial structure and disordered function in
the Zhujiang River Delta EMR should be changed effec-
tively by integrating regional function and optimizing
the spatial layout. Combined with the construction of
rapid rail transport, expressways and national highways
between cities, the external nodes of metropolis area
should be strengthened, which can guide various types
of urban nodes to form a network. In order to shape or-
derly and reasonable production, living and transporta-
tion patterns, transport corridor construction should be
attached importance. Concentration and expansion of
industrial zone should be guided properly, and ecologi-
cal corridors and ecological buffer zones should be in-
creased. At the same time, regional advantages division
of work should be strengthened according to the theory
of geographic division of labor, which can enhance re-
gional cooperation and increase regional development
efficiency. And regional cooperation of the environment
protection should be strengthed in order to control and
manage regional pollution and achieve sustainable de-
velopment .
The structures and functions interact with each other.
Spatial Structure and Land Use Control in Extended Metropolitan Region of Zhujiang River Delta, China 307
The spatial structure and function of the EMR also con-
nect with and improve each other, and as a result, con-
tinuously facilitate the optimization and advancement of
this region. The mechanism for the interaction between
the regional spatial structure and the regional function is
shown in Fig. 9.
4.3 Establishing growth boundaries to control disor-
derly spread of industrial areas and residential areas
Mature EMR abroad such as the Greater London and
Paris EMR, pay more attention to the concept of smart
growth and take a series of ways to control urban disor-
derly spread, one of which is to establish urban growth
boundaries (UGB). The industrial park in the Zhujiang
River Delta EMR should be guided and concentrated,
changing the disorderly layout of industrial areas in
towns and villages and promoting centralized layout for
related industries which can guide the large-scale de-
velopment of industrial clusters. At the same time, new
residential areas need to continue improving living en-
vironment. The green isolation belt should be con-
structed between the residential areas and industrial
zones, and pay more attention to the transport infra-
structure construction surrounding the residential areas
to increase the convenience of outlying residential areas.
4.4 Making good use of urban stock land to improve
land use efficiency
Based on the results of remote sensing image interpreta-
tion in the Zhujiang River Delta EMR, there are amount
of idle lands, which also gives a possibility for the in-
dus-trial structure adjustment and internal industry re-
structuring. In order to make good use of land potential
and improve land use efficiency, urban stock land
should be redeveloped and reuse in the Zhujiang River
Delta EMR. The emphasis is to focus on land survey
and clean-up work in the two sides of the Zhujiang
River estuary, such as Shenzhen, Dongguan, Guangzhou,
Foshan, Zhongshan, Zhuhai, etc. The approval and su-
pervision of land should be strengthened. When the land
was auctioned but not developed more than one year, it
should be confiscated by local government. The land
readjustment and land replacement should be strength-
ened. The new land gained by readjustment should be
used to high value-added and light pollution industries,
to build the industrial chain and guide industrial clusters,
which can constantly improve land use efficiency and
production capacity.
5 Conclusions
This paper has interpreted and analyzed the land use
composition and the spatial patterns in the Zhujiang
River Delta EMR, and discussed the developmental
tendency as well as problems with the region. The find-
ings in the study are as follows: 1) in terms of the spatial
distribution of the industrial and residential areas, con-
nected urbanized scenes are basically formed in the core
area of the Zhujiang River Delta EMR, which is obvious
along the banks of the Zhujiang River Delta; 2) the in-
creasingly close connection in transportation has given
shape to the network-oriented spatial pattern; 3) in terms
of the spatial pattern, a ″1 circle +2 pieces + 3 axes″ sp-
atial pattern has been established in the Zhujiang River
Fig. 9 Interaction between regional spatial structure and spatial function
DAI Junliang, WANG Kaiyong, GAO Xiaolu
308
Delta EMR; 4) the industrial structure in this delta is
evolving for the higher level and the spatial industrial
agglomeration has been further enhanced; and 5) in the
EMR such as the Zhujiang River Delta, the scenic pat-
tern is disordered, land use is rough, and environmental
pollution is serious.
In general, all cities in the metropolitan region should
strengthen cooperation and communications between
governments, promote spatial integration and economic
coordination in this region, and avoid the duplication in
development so as to improve the overall economic
competitiveness. As for the important infrastructural
projects, joint inspection and discussion, cooperation,
co-construction and sharing should be carried out, thus
alleviating the fiscal burden of single governments and
enhancing the efficiency of infrastructure use. With the
continuously enhanced economic connection, the con-
struction of expressways has become the urgent problem
needed to be solved.
With the continuous progress of suburbanization,
more and more industrial parks and large new residen-
tial areas moved to the outlying areas, which led to the
emergence of a large number of commuter population.
Therefore, transport nodes and transport hubs should be
enhanced in the Zhujiang River Delta EMR to build a
fast and convenient living area and employment circle.
The rapid rail transportation construction should be
promoted to strengthen the leading role of the core area
and enhance the traffic accessibility between various
cities. Therefore, a scientific spatial concept must be
established and the spatial management and control
must be strengthened so as to facilitate the ordered evo-
lution of the Zhujiang River Delta EMR.
The study is an analysis of the spatial pattern on a time
cross-section, and will devote more to the spatial structure.
In the future, further study must be carried out in combin-
ation with the evolution of regional functions and spatial
patterns to facilitate spatial optimization and coordinated
development of the Zhujiang River Delta EMR.
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