Revealing multi-scale spatial synergy of mega-city region from a human mobility perspective

Spatial synergy is strengthened integration and connection between cities in a mega-city region, transcending administrative boundaries. The central flow theory suggests that the mega-city regions are formed by the interconnected flows of people across cities, making the spatial synergy can be measu...

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Main Authors: Bichen Fang, Mingxiao Li, Zhengdong Huang, Yang Yue, Wei Tu, Renzhong Guo
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2025-05-01
Series:Geo-spatial Information Science
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Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/10095020.2024.2379060
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author Bichen Fang
Mingxiao Li
Zhengdong Huang
Yang Yue
Wei Tu
Renzhong Guo
author_facet Bichen Fang
Mingxiao Li
Zhengdong Huang
Yang Yue
Wei Tu
Renzhong Guo
author_sort Bichen Fang
collection DOAJ
description Spatial synergy is strengthened integration and connection between cities in a mega-city region, transcending administrative boundaries. The central flow theory suggests that the mega-city regions are formed by the interconnected flows of people across cities, making the spatial synergy can be measured by assessing the aggregation and intensity of flows and interactions between cities and regions. Human mobility data, such as mobile phone data and social media check-ins, enable the tracking of human movements, thus facilitating the transition of central flow theory from theoretical constructs to empirical research. To this end, this study presents an alternative data-driven framework to reveal the multi-scale spatial synergy of mega-city regions from a human mobility perspective. It uncovers homogeneously spatial communities with high inter-city integration using community detection. Strong internal spatial connections of 2.13 billion mobility are filtered using network backbone extraction. An experiment in the Pearl River Delta (PRD), China, demonstrates a multi-scale and multi-core hierarchical spatial synergy in the PRD region. The detailed findings are as follows: (1) Three cities attract the majority of human mobility. Mobility distance is short in urban centers and long in suburban areas. (2) The spatial integration pattern shows the detected communities reveal the hierarchical integration pattern with three main integrated regions: Guangzhou-Foshan-Zhaoqing, Shenzhen-Dongguan-Huizhou, and Zhuhai-Zhongshan-Jiangmen. (3) The spatial connection pattern illustrates the close ties of 9 cities and three core cities, including Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Foshan. These results provide a human-centric understanding of urban synergy and deeper insights into central flow theory, which supports cooperative development in mega-city regions.
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spelling doaj-art-7d545d26e5814b33bc7302b7354efc442025-08-20T03:41:11ZengTaylor & Francis GroupGeo-spatial Information Science1009-50201993-51532025-05-012831125114010.1080/10095020.2024.2379060Revealing multi-scale spatial synergy of mega-city region from a human mobility perspectiveBichen Fang0Mingxiao Li1Zhengdong Huang2Yang Yue3Wei Tu4Renzhong Guo5Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Spatial Information Smart Sensing and Services, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, ChinaShenzhen Key Laboratory of Spatial Information Smart Sensing and Services, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, ChinaShenzhen Key Laboratory of Spatial Information Smart Sensing and Services, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, ChinaShenzhen Key Laboratory of Spatial Information Smart Sensing and Services, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, ChinaShenzhen Key Laboratory of Spatial Information Smart Sensing and Services, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, ChinaShenzhen Key Laboratory of Spatial Information Smart Sensing and Services, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, ChinaSpatial synergy is strengthened integration and connection between cities in a mega-city region, transcending administrative boundaries. The central flow theory suggests that the mega-city regions are formed by the interconnected flows of people across cities, making the spatial synergy can be measured by assessing the aggregation and intensity of flows and interactions between cities and regions. Human mobility data, such as mobile phone data and social media check-ins, enable the tracking of human movements, thus facilitating the transition of central flow theory from theoretical constructs to empirical research. To this end, this study presents an alternative data-driven framework to reveal the multi-scale spatial synergy of mega-city regions from a human mobility perspective. It uncovers homogeneously spatial communities with high inter-city integration using community detection. Strong internal spatial connections of 2.13 billion mobility are filtered using network backbone extraction. An experiment in the Pearl River Delta (PRD), China, demonstrates a multi-scale and multi-core hierarchical spatial synergy in the PRD region. The detailed findings are as follows: (1) Three cities attract the majority of human mobility. Mobility distance is short in urban centers and long in suburban areas. (2) The spatial integration pattern shows the detected communities reveal the hierarchical integration pattern with three main integrated regions: Guangzhou-Foshan-Zhaoqing, Shenzhen-Dongguan-Huizhou, and Zhuhai-Zhongshan-Jiangmen. (3) The spatial connection pattern illustrates the close ties of 9 cities and three core cities, including Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Foshan. These results provide a human-centric understanding of urban synergy and deeper insights into central flow theory, which supports cooperative development in mega-city regions.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/10095020.2024.2379060Spatial synergyhuman mobilitycommunity detectionbackbone extractionThe Pearl River Delta (PRD)
spellingShingle Bichen Fang
Mingxiao Li
Zhengdong Huang
Yang Yue
Wei Tu
Renzhong Guo
Revealing multi-scale spatial synergy of mega-city region from a human mobility perspective
Geo-spatial Information Science
Spatial synergy
human mobility
community detection
backbone extraction
The Pearl River Delta (PRD)
title Revealing multi-scale spatial synergy of mega-city region from a human mobility perspective
title_full Revealing multi-scale spatial synergy of mega-city region from a human mobility perspective
title_fullStr Revealing multi-scale spatial synergy of mega-city region from a human mobility perspective
title_full_unstemmed Revealing multi-scale spatial synergy of mega-city region from a human mobility perspective
title_short Revealing multi-scale spatial synergy of mega-city region from a human mobility perspective
title_sort revealing multi scale spatial synergy of mega city region from a human mobility perspective
topic Spatial synergy
human mobility
community detection
backbone extraction
The Pearl River Delta (PRD)
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/10095020.2024.2379060
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