Process and Mechanism of Urbanization in Beijing Area
北京地区城市化过程与机制研究

Urbanization has become one of the most important methods for human to changethe earth. The paper analyzes the process and mechanism of urbanization in the past twodecades. Based on the analysis, three models are further explored. The first one is thepolygon urbanization of the central city and the sub-central cities; the second one is the lineUrbanization along the major roads between the central city and the sub-central cities; thethird one is the point urbanization with the non-Urban land between the central city and thesub-central cities. Of them, the polygon urbanization of the central city held the leadingposition, while after the l990s, the point urbanization developed very fast, causing the patchdensity of the urban land increase. The expansion of urban land and the formation of theregional city pattern are the result of the collective effects between the exogenous drivingforces, such as population, economic policy and so on, and the internal suitable factors, suchas traffic condition, locations, landforms, etc. Of them, the government behavior, such asurban planning and industrial policy, and the existing city pattern and traditional culturedeveloped during the past 3000 years has exerted more important impacts than others ondevelopment process of this modern city.