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This article examines the relationship between the political fragmentation of cities in metropolitan regions, the distribution of social vulnerability, and the city-level economic and social sustainability strategies they adopt. Strategies emerge from prevailing community norms, and polycentric governance arrangements can support conditions in which both economic and social sustainability strategies emerge as compliments, contrary to the concern that fragmentation spurs zero-sum competition. Combining surveys of U.S. cities with social vulnerability data and text analysis of planning documents, we find that greater fragmentation has a negative impact on the sustainable development strategies cities adopt. However, growth and sustainable development strategies tend to develop alongside social sustainability efforts to address human needs. We conclude that development strategies emerge in polycentric systems in relation to the degree of fragmentation which exists, and that subsequent work should continue to focus on identifying these entropic thresholds in order to effectively address lingering inequities.
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Polycentricity in the Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration (YRDUA): More Cohesion or More Disparities?
Urban spatial structure is a critical component of urban planning and development, and among the different urban spatial structure strategies, ‘polycentric mega-city region (PMR)’ has recently received great research and public policy interest in China. However, there is a lack of systematic understanding on the spatiality of PMR from a pluralistic perspective. This study aims to fill this gap by investigating the spatiality of PMR in the Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration (YRDUA) using city-level data on gross domestic product (GDP), population share, and urban income growth for the period 2000–2013. The results reveal that economically, the YRDUA is experiencing greater polycentricity, but in terms of social welfare, the region manifests growing monocentricity. We further find that the triple transition framework (marketization, urbanization, and decentralization) can greatly explain the observed patterns. Although the economic goals are accomplished with better spatial linkages and early economic development policies, inequality in spatial distribution of public services and the continuing legacy of central planning remain barriers for the YRDUA to emerge as a successful PMR. The results of this research offer meaningful insights on the impact of polycentric policies in the YRDUA and support policymakers in the implementation of appropriate urban spatial development strategies.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1759746
- PAR ID:
- 10139773
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Sustainability
- Volume:
- 11
- Issue:
- 11
- ISSN:
- 2071-1050
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 3106
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.3390/su11113106
