This paper attempts to integrate urban development and ecological conservation by applying and syncretizing the “urban region” concept from landscape ecology and the “city-region” concept from socioeconomics. First, various concepts pertaining to regions are discussed and then, the integration of ecological conservation and urban development on a regional scale is introduced. Subsequently, the Greater Pearl River Delta, in China, is used as a case study area and landscape ecology’s “urban region” concept is applied to produce a landscape spatial arrangement framework for an urban region. This framework is achieved through the following steps: conceiving the study area as a region that consists of two urban regions, arranging ecological conservation landscapes by establishing a regional ecological network within the urban-region rings; and formulating an urban development strategy using central place theory. The resulting landscape spatial arrangement solution includes natural protection areas that cover half of the study area, several key strategic urbanizing locations, and suggestions for the strict protection of certain agricultural land-use areas. We believe that this framework facilitates a feasible exploration of land-use planning on a regional scale, although more in-depth studies are required to refine this approach.
KeywordsCity-RegionUrban RegionEcological NetworkCentral Place TheoryGreater Pearl River Delta
Geddes, P. (1915) Cities in Evolution. Williams and Norgate, London.
McHarg, I.L. (1969) Design with Nature. Natural History Press, Garden City, NJ, USA.
Naveh, Z. (2000) What Is Holistic Landscape Ecology? A Conceptual Introduction. Landscape and Urban Planning, 50, 7-26. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-2046(00)00077-3
Forman, R.T.T. (1995) Land Mosaics: The Ecology of Landscapes and Regions. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781107050327
Forman, R.T.T. (2008) Urban Regions: Ecology and Planning Beyond the City. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511754982
Battisti, C. (2013) Ecological Network Planning—From Paradigms to Design and Back: A Cautionary Note. Journal of Land Use Science, 8, 215-223. https://doi.org/10.1080/1747423X.2011.639098
Boitani, L., Falcucci, A., Maiorano, L. and Rondinini, C. (2007) Ecological Networks as Conceptual Frameworks or Operational Tools in Conservation. Conservation Biology, 21, 1414-1422. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2007.00828.x
Hepcan, C.C. and Ozkan, M.B. (2011) Establishing Ecological Networks for Habitat Conservation in the Case of Cesme-Urla Peninsula, Turkey. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 174, 157-170. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-010-1447-y
Jongman, R.H.G. (2003) Ecological Networks and Greenways in Europe: Reasoning and Concepts. Journal of Environmental Science, 15, 173-181.
Opdam, P., Steingrover, E. and Van Rooij, S. (2006) Ecological Networks: A Spatial Concept for Multi-Actor Planning of Sustainable Landscapes. Landscape and Urban Planning, 75, 322-332. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2005.02.015
Hall, P. and Pain, K. (2006) The Polycentric Metropolis: Learning from Mega-City Regions in Europe. Earthscan, London.
Hall, P. (2009) Looking Backward, Looking Forward: The City Region of the Mid-21st Century. Regional Studies, 43, 803-817. https://doi.org/10.1080/00343400903039673
Davoudi, S. (2008) Conceptions of the City-Region: A Critical Review. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers-Urban Design and Planning, 161, 51-60. https://doi.org/10.1680/udap.2008.161.2.51
Parr, J. (2005) Perspectives on the City-Region. Regional Studies, 39, 555-566. https://doi.org/10.1080/00343400500151798
Rodríguez-Pose, A. (2008) The Rise of the “City-Region” Concept and Its Development Policy Implications. European Planning Studies, 16, 1025-1046. https://doi.org/10.1080/09654310802315567
Camagni, R. and Salone, C. (1993) Network Urbanstructures in Northern Italy: Elements for a Theoretical Framework. Urban Studies, 30, 1053-1064. https://doi.org/10.1080/00420989320080941
Batten, D. (1995) Network Cities: Creative Urban Agglomerations for the 21st Century. Urban Studies, 32, 313-327. https://doi.org/10.1080/00420989550013103
Meijers, E. (2007) From Central Place to Network Model: Theory and Evidence of a Paradigm Change. Tijdschrift Voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, 98, 245-259. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9663.2007.00394.x
Mulligan, G.F., Partridge, M.D. and Carruthers, J.I. (2012) Central Place Theory and Its Reemergence in Regional Science. The Annals of Regional Science, 48, 405-431. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00168-011-0496-7
Parr, J. (2002) The Location of Economic Activity: Central Place Theory and the Wider Urban System. In: McCann, P., Ed., Industrial Location Economics, Edward Elgar Publishing House, Cheltenham, 32-82.
Agnew, J. (1999) Regions on the Mind Do Not Equal Regions of the Mind. Progress in Human Geography, 23, 91-96.
Hart, J.F. (1982) The Highest Form of the Geographer’s Art. Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 72, 1-29.
Gregory, D., Johnston, R., Pratt, G., Watts, M. and Whatmore, S. (2009) Region. In: The Dictionary of Human Geography, 5th Edition, Blackwell, Oxford, 630-632.
Paasi, A. (2009) The Resurgence of the “Region” and “Regional Identity”: Theoretical Perspectives and Empirical Observations on Regional Dynamics in Europe. Review of International Studies, 35, 121-146.
Suorsa, K. (2014) The Concept of “Region” in Research on Regional Innovation Systems. Norwegian Journal of Geography (Norsk Geografisk Tidsskrift), 68, 207-215.
Gottmann, J. (1961) Megalopolis: The Urbanized Northeastern Seaboard of the United States. Twentieth Century Fund, New York.
Pannell, C.W. and Loughlin, P.H. (2015) Macau’s Role as a Recreation/Tourist Center in the Pearl River Delta City-Region. Urban Geography, 36, 883-904.
Castells, M. (2000) The Rise of the Network Society. Blackwell, Oxford.
America (2050). http://www.america2050.org/content/megaregions.html
Dewar, M. and Epstein, D. (2007) Planning for Megaregions in the United States. Journal of Planning Literature, 22, 118-124.
Marull, J., Galletto, V., Domene, E. and Trullén, J. (2013) Emerging Megaregion: A New Spatial Scale to Explore Urban Sustainability. Land Use Policy, 34, 353-366.
Todorovich, P. (2009) America’s Emerging Megaregions and Implications for a National Growth Strategy. International Journal of Public Sector Management, 22, 221-234.
Kloosterman, R. and Musterd, S. (2001) The Polycentric Urban Region: Towards a Research Agenda. Urban Studies, 38, 623-633.
Meijers, E. (2005) Polycentric Urban Regions and the Quest for Synergy: Is a Network of Cities More than the Sum of the Parts? Urban Studies, 42, 765-781.
Bie, J., Jong, M.D. and Derudder, B. (2015) Greater Pearl River Delta: Historical Evolution towards a Global City-Region. Journal of Urban Technology, 22, 103-123.
National Bureau of Statistics of China (2016) China Statistical Yearbook 2015.
Guangdong Provincial Government (2016) Guangdong Statistical Yearbook 2015.
Guo, Y. and Liu, Y. (2017) Connecting Regional Landscapes by Ecological Networks in the Greater Pearl River Delta. Landscape and Ecological Engineering, 13, 265-278.
Théau, J., Bernier, A. and Fournier, R.A. (2015) An Evaluation Framework Based on Sustainability-Related Indicators for the Comparison of Conceptual Approaches for Ecological Networks. Ecological Indicators, 52, 444-457.
Jongman, R.H.G. (2004) Ecological Networks and Greenways: Concept, Design and Implementation. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.