An Empirical Evaluation of the Critical Population Size for “Knowledge Spillover” Cities in China: The Significance of 10 Million
In advanced countries such as the USA and China, some cities are characterized by “knowledge spillover industries”, which play crucial roles in driving innovation, entrepreneurship, and economic growth. However, the excessive expansion of megacities in China has led to the overabsorption of labour f...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2025-06-01
|
| Series: | Urban Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2413-8851/9/7/245 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1849418998188343296 |
|---|---|
| author | Xiaohui Gao Qinghua Chen Ya Zhou Siyu Huang Yi Shi Xiaomeng Li |
| author_facet | Xiaohui Gao Qinghua Chen Ya Zhou Siyu Huang Yi Shi Xiaomeng Li |
| author_sort | Xiaohui Gao |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In advanced countries such as the USA and China, some cities are characterized by “knowledge spillover industries”, which play crucial roles in driving innovation, entrepreneurship, and economic growth. However, the excessive expansion of megacities in China has led to the overabsorption of labour from other cities. The unchecked growth of individual megacities causes metropolitan malaise and regional imbalance, further limiting the emergence of new “knowledge spillover” cities, which is detrimental to overall economic development. This study analyses China’s employment population structure to identify the critical population size required for the formation of “knowledge spillover” cities. The results show that 10 million is the unique threshold for which cities with populations above this size see a significant improvement in the prominence of “knowledge spillover” industries. Therefore, a population base of approximately 10 million is essential for these cities to thrive. This result suggests that China should pay more attention to the construction of urban agglomerations as geographic or administrative units to better distribute resources and promote balanced regional development. This approach can help foster the emergence of more “knowledge spillover” cities, thereby enhancing national innovation capacity and economic growth. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-4099d5ca578840fa8abcf1283bc4dafa |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2413-8851 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Urban Science |
| spelling | doaj-art-4099d5ca578840fa8abcf1283bc4dafa2025-08-20T03:32:16ZengMDPI AGUrban Science2413-88512025-06-019724510.3390/urbansci9070245An Empirical Evaluation of the Critical Population Size for “Knowledge Spillover” Cities in China: The Significance of 10 MillionXiaohui Gao0Qinghua Chen1Ya Zhou2Siyu Huang3Yi Shi4Xiaomeng Li5School of Systems Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, ChinaSchool of Systems Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, ChinaSchool of Systems Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, ChinaSchool of Systems Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, ChinaChina Population and Development Research Centre, Beijing 100081, ChinaSchool of Systems Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, ChinaIn advanced countries such as the USA and China, some cities are characterized by “knowledge spillover industries”, which play crucial roles in driving innovation, entrepreneurship, and economic growth. However, the excessive expansion of megacities in China has led to the overabsorption of labour from other cities. The unchecked growth of individual megacities causes metropolitan malaise and regional imbalance, further limiting the emergence of new “knowledge spillover” cities, which is detrimental to overall economic development. This study analyses China’s employment population structure to identify the critical population size required for the formation of “knowledge spillover” cities. The results show that 10 million is the unique threshold for which cities with populations above this size see a significant improvement in the prominence of “knowledge spillover” industries. Therefore, a population base of approximately 10 million is essential for these cities to thrive. This result suggests that China should pay more attention to the construction of urban agglomerations as geographic or administrative units to better distribute resources and promote balanced regional development. This approach can help foster the emergence of more “knowledge spillover” cities, thereby enhancing national innovation capacity and economic growth.https://www.mdpi.com/2413-8851/9/7/245populationurban developmentknowledge spilloverindustrial employmentinnovative cities |
| spellingShingle | Xiaohui Gao Qinghua Chen Ya Zhou Siyu Huang Yi Shi Xiaomeng Li An Empirical Evaluation of the Critical Population Size for “Knowledge Spillover” Cities in China: The Significance of 10 Million Urban Science population urban development knowledge spillover industrial employment innovative cities |
| title | An Empirical Evaluation of the Critical Population Size for “Knowledge Spillover” Cities in China: The Significance of 10 Million |
| title_full | An Empirical Evaluation of the Critical Population Size for “Knowledge Spillover” Cities in China: The Significance of 10 Million |
| title_fullStr | An Empirical Evaluation of the Critical Population Size for “Knowledge Spillover” Cities in China: The Significance of 10 Million |
| title_full_unstemmed | An Empirical Evaluation of the Critical Population Size for “Knowledge Spillover” Cities in China: The Significance of 10 Million |
| title_short | An Empirical Evaluation of the Critical Population Size for “Knowledge Spillover” Cities in China: The Significance of 10 Million |
| title_sort | empirical evaluation of the critical population size for knowledge spillover cities in china the significance of 10 million |
| topic | population urban development knowledge spillover industrial employment innovative cities |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2413-8851/9/7/245 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT xiaohuigao anempiricalevaluationofthecriticalpopulationsizeforknowledgespillovercitiesinchinathesignificanceof10million AT qinghuachen anempiricalevaluationofthecriticalpopulationsizeforknowledgespillovercitiesinchinathesignificanceof10million AT yazhou anempiricalevaluationofthecriticalpopulationsizeforknowledgespillovercitiesinchinathesignificanceof10million AT siyuhuang anempiricalevaluationofthecriticalpopulationsizeforknowledgespillovercitiesinchinathesignificanceof10million AT yishi anempiricalevaluationofthecriticalpopulationsizeforknowledgespillovercitiesinchinathesignificanceof10million AT xiaomengli anempiricalevaluationofthecriticalpopulationsizeforknowledgespillovercitiesinchinathesignificanceof10million AT xiaohuigao empiricalevaluationofthecriticalpopulationsizeforknowledgespillovercitiesinchinathesignificanceof10million AT qinghuachen empiricalevaluationofthecriticalpopulationsizeforknowledgespillovercitiesinchinathesignificanceof10million AT yazhou empiricalevaluationofthecriticalpopulationsizeforknowledgespillovercitiesinchinathesignificanceof10million AT siyuhuang empiricalevaluationofthecriticalpopulationsizeforknowledgespillovercitiesinchinathesignificanceof10million AT yishi empiricalevaluationofthecriticalpopulationsizeforknowledgespillovercitiesinchinathesignificanceof10million AT xiaomengli empiricalevaluationofthecriticalpopulationsizeforknowledgespillovercitiesinchinathesignificanceof10million |