本研究应用非参数计量方法,实证刻画北京都市区人口-就业空间分布演化,揭示在快速城市化和城市增长背景下,北京都市区空间结构特征及发展趋势。研究发现,北京都市区人口和就业分布都呈现多中心空间结构。20世纪80年代以来,随着人口郊区化,北京都市区人口次中心数量不断增加,并由近郊向远郊扩展,人口分布呈现明显的分散化和多中心化趋势,但人口分散的空间范围还比较有限。与人口的分散化趋势不同,2004—2008年,北京都市区就业仍呈现向心集聚的趋势,造成远郊就业次中心的影响不断被弱化,都市区空间结构的多中心性有所降低。这说明北京都市区的单中心或强中心结构可能并未从根本上改变,且人口的分散化和就业的向心集聚导致宏观面上人口-就业的空间失衡。北京都市区多中心空间结构的形成,需要强化郊区次中心的集聚能力,同时注重人口-就业的平衡布局,这是未来北京都市区空间结构调整的重点。
This study aims to examine the characteristics and changes of the spatial structure in the Beijing Metropolitan Area with the rapid urban growth and decentralization, through analyzing the spatial distributions of urban population and employment. To demonstrate the spatial evolution of population and employment distributions in the Beijing Metropolitan Area, we apply the nonparametric analysis in this study. Our study finds that the significant population and employment subcenters in the suburbs of the Beijing Metropolitan Area, characterized by the polycentric urban spatial structure. Since the 1980s, with the suburbanization of population, the number of population subcenters has increased in the Beijing Metropolitan Area, and the distribution of population subcenters has expanded from the inner suburbs to the outer suburbs. The overall trend toward the decentralization and polycentrification of population is evident, whereas the spatial extent of the decentralization of population is limited in the Beijing Metropolitan Area. Contrary to the decentralization of population, our study finds that the centralization of employment in the Beijing Metropolitan Area from 2004 to 2008 has led to the weakening influences of the outer suburban employment subcenters as well as the decline of the polycentricity of the spatial structure. This implies the spatial pattern of the Beijing Metropolitan Area may still be highly centralized, and the nature of the monocentric urban spatial structure may not be fundamentally changed. Meanwhile, the decentralization of population and the centralization of employment may lead to the overall jobs-housing imbalance. Therefore, to form the polycentric spatial structure, it is necessary to reinforce the agglomeration economies of suburban subcenters and improve the overall jobs-housing balance in the Beijing Metropolitan Area.