Open Access

ARTICLE

Analyzing the Urban Hierarchical Structure Based on Multiple Indicators of Economy and Industry: An Econometric Study in China

Jing Cheng¹, Yang Xie², Jie Zhang^1,*

1 School of Architecture, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China
2 Beijing Tsinghua Tongheng Urban Planning & Design Institute, Beijing, 100085, China

* Corresponding Author: Jie Zhang. Email:

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Numerical Methods in Engineering Analysis, Data Analysis and Artificial Intelligence)

Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences 2022, 131(3), 1831-1855. https://doi.org/10.32604/cmes.2022.020178

Received 09 November 2021; Accepted 29 November 2021; Issue published 19 April 2022

Abstract

For a city, analyzing its advantages, disadvantages and the level of economic development in a country is important, especially for the cities in China developing at flying speed. The corresponding literatures for the cities in China have not considered the indicators of economy and industry in detail. In this paper, based on multiple indicators of economy and industry, the urban hierarchical structure of 285 cities above the prefecture level in China is investigated. The indicators from the economy, industry, infrastructure, medical care, population, education, culture, and employment levels are selected to establish a new indicator system for analyzing urban hierarchical structure. The factor analysis method is used to investigate the relationship between the variables of selected indicators and obtain the score of each common factor and comprehensive scores and rankings for 285 cities above the prefecture level in China. According to the comprehensive scores, 285 cities above the prefecture level are clustered into 15 levels by using K-means clustering algorithm. Then, the hierarchical structure system of the cities above the prefecture level in China is obtained and corresponding policy implications are proposed. The results and implications can not only be applied to the urban planning and development in China but also offer a reference on other developing countries. The methodologies used in this paper can also be applied to study the urban hierarchical structure in other countries.

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Keywords

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