Explaining High Output Efficiency in Strategic Emerging Industrial Spaces: A Spatial Economic Analysis of 78 Domestic and International Cases

Authors

  • Yiyao Yang Urban Planning & Design Institute of Shenzhen Co., Ltd. Author
  • Qi Wang Urban Planning & Design Institute of Shenzhen Co., Ltd. Author
  • Leixian Guo Urban Planning & Design Institute of Shenzhen Co., Ltd. Author
  • Qijun Li Urban Planning & Design Institute of Shenzhen Co., Ltd. Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.71204/vkw73b72

Keywords:

Industrial Space, Industrial City, Urban Spatial Performance, Urban Spatial Organization, Rent Gradient

Abstract

At present, China attaches great importance to the development of new quality productive forces. As the spatial projection carriers of these forces, strategic emerging industrial spaces exhibit high-output efficiency that calls for theoretical explanation. Existing research has largely focused on the internal efficiency of industries, with insufficient attention paid to the mechanisms of spatial attributes—particularly the systematic analysis of spatial economic factors such as intensification, functional mixing, and location–bid rent relations. To address this gap, this study draws upon 78 samples of strategic emerging industrial spaces from China and abroad. By employing quantitative analyses of the density–scale relationship, calculating functional mixing through the information entropy model, and assessing spatial bid rent effects, the study uncovers the underlying causes of the high efficiency observed in new industrial spaces. The results demonstrate that high development intensity and high functional mixing are distinctive characteristics of strategic emerging industrial spaces. Their bid rent capacity in core urban areas exceeds traditional land rent gradients, presenting an empirical challenge to the Alonso model. This high-density, high-mixing spatial pattern fosters reverse industrial clustering in urban cores through mechanisms such as knowledge spillovers, industrial chain collaboration, and innovation network agglomeration, thereby reshaping the theoretical framework of spatial economics. The findings provide a partial explanation for the high-output performance of new industrial spaces and offer a theoretical foundation for optimizing industrial space policies and planning supply strategies.

Author Biographies

  • Qi Wang, Urban Planning & Design Institute of Shenzhen Co., Ltd.

    Not applicable

  • Leixian Guo, Urban Planning & Design Institute of Shenzhen Co., Ltd.

    Not applicable

  • Qijun Li, Urban Planning & Design Institute of Shenzhen Co., Ltd.

    Not applicable

References

Chen, L., & Liu, X. (2024). Industrial spatial co-agglomeration, knowledge spillovers, and innovation performance: On the construction path of regional industrial diversified clusters. Economic Research Journal, 59(4), 78–95.

Douglass, M. (2000). Mega-urban regions and world city formation: Globalisation, the economic crisis and urban policy issues in Pacific Asia. Urban Studies, 37(12), 2315–2335.

Fujita, M., Hamaguchi, N., Kameyama, Y., et al. (2021). Transformation processes of national land systems and reconstruction policy from a spatial economics perspective. In Spatial economics for building back better: The Japanese experience (pp. 25–74).

Greenhut, M. L. (1956). Plant location in theory and in practice (pp. 70–88). University of North Carolina Press.

Henderson, J. V., & Thisse, J. F. (2024). Urban and spatial economics after 50 years. Journal of Urban Economics, 144, 103813.

Hoover, E. M. (1948). The location of economic activity (pp. 102–118). McGraw-Hill.

Huang, J., Yu, G., Yang, S., et al. (2023). From industrial cities to post-industrial cities to AI cities: Reflections on the evolution of urban industrial space triggered by machine substitution. Urban Development Studies, 30(3), 98–105.

Kincaid, G. R., Fetherston, M., Isard, P., et al. (n.d.). (2001). II A methodology for assessments of industrial countries. In Methodology for current account and exchange rate assessments. International Monetary Fund.

Marshall, A. (2024). Money, credit and commerce. In Business cycle theory, Part I Volume 1 (pp. 227–258). Routledge.

Porter, M. E. (1999). Michael Porter on competition. The Antitrust Bulletin, 44(4), 841–880.

Richardson, H. W. (1969). Regional economics: Location theory, urban structure and regional change (pp. 85–97). Praeger Publishers.

Smith, D. M. (1981). Industrial location: An economic geographical analysis (pp. 120–135). John Wiley & Sons.

Wang, C., & Meng, Q. (2020). Research on the sustainable synergetic development of Chinese urban economies in the context of a study of industrial agglomeration. Sustainability, 12(3), 1122.

Wang, Y., Yue, J., Du, Y., et al. (2024). Policy evaluation and optimization suggestions for Shenzhen’s innovative industrial space from a supply–demand perspective. Planners, 40(6), 62–71.

Weber, A. (1929). Alfred Weber's theory of the location of industries (C. J. Friedrich, Trans.). University of Chicago Press. (Original work published 1909, pp. 57–65).

Wei, Q., & Zhang, Y. (2024). Vertical expansion in the making: Planning against deindustrialization by promoting “industry’s going upstairs” in Shenzhen. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 56(5), 1447–1461.

Xu, J., & Yu, T. (2021). The transformation from mega-city industrial space to industrial space: An empirical analysis of Beijing based on multi-source data. Planners, 37(20), 5–12.

Yang, X., & Zhou, Q. (2020). Research dynamics of China’s urban and rural planning discipline from the perspective of literature analysis. Modern Urban Research, 2020(1), 81–88.

Yue, L., Miao, J., Ahmad, F., et al. (2022). Investigating the role of international industrial transfer and technology spillovers on industrial land production efficiency: Fresh evidence based on directional distance functions for Chinese provinces. Journal of Cleaner Production, 340, 130755.

Zagorskas, J. (2016). GIS-based modelling and estimation of land use mix in urban environment. International Journal of Education and Learning Systems, 1, 14–19.

Zhu, K., Gu, Z., Sun, W., et al. (2023). Micro-organization framework and model of urban industrial space for future factories. Planners, 39(5), 61–67.

Downloads

Published

2025-09-08

How to Cite

Explaining High Output Efficiency in Strategic Emerging Industrial Spaces: A Spatial Economic Analysis of 78 Domestic and International Cases. (2025). The Development of Humanities and Social Sciences, 1(3), 59-70. https://doi.org/10.71204/vkw73b72

Similar Articles

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.