Understanding the structure and determinants of economic linkage network: The case of three major city clusters in Yangtze River Economic belt

The economic linkages between cities within the Yangtze River Economic Belt city cluster are important for precisely implementing the Yangtze River Economic Belt strategy. Accordingly, this study used the revised gravity model, social network method, and spatial Durbin model to analyze the economic linkage strength, spatial-temporal differentiation, and driving factors of the three major city cluster in the Yangtze River Economic Belt from 2006-2020. The results confirm that the Chengdu-Chongqing urban agglomeration has formed a network structure with Chengdu and Chongqing as the two poles; the urban agglomeration in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River has formed a point-axis development pattern of Wuhan, Changsha and Nanchang. The Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration formed a multi-center radiation and sub-network development pattern. Additionally, the characteristics of network structure significantly affected the flow of factors, the level of economic development was the basis for strengthening communication and cooperation between cities. Meanwhile, the advanced industrial structures played an important role in promoting industrial linkages, and human capital exerts an obvious spatial spillover effect. Therefore, these three major urban agglomerations should implement differentiated development strategies and enhance the synergy of their linkage networks, thus promoting high-quality development.