Measurement of the degree of compactness of municipalities in coastal China: a conceptual analysis

Abstract

China is one of the developing countries with rapid urban growth, with corresponding decrease in arable land. To control the expansion of large cities and to protect the arable land, the Chinese government has published a series of policies, and considered that the cities of China should develop towards the compact cities paradigm. To put the compact city paradigm into practice, it is important to explore the status quo of the compact degree of these cities. The large cities in coastal provinces are the most developed region experiencing fast urban expansion, with the high population density, gross national product and built-up area density. This paper will select the large municipal cities in coastal provinces as case studies to reveal the degree of compactness. A conceptual model will be developed and the findings will inform the development of compact cities in China.