区域经济空间结构理论的发展经历了从19世纪初-20世纪40年代的基于产业、企业的区位选择、空间行为和组织结构规律性研究阶段,和二次世界大战以后~20世纪80年代的区域总体空间结构与形态演化规律研究阶段,以及20世纪80年代以后的新空间经济学阶段。研究重点从抽象的纯理论研究演变为从总体出发寻求各种经济主体在空间中的最优组合与分异的区域经济空间结构演化理论研究。对于区域经济空间结构研究,经典区位论所揭示的区域经济活动的空间分布形态,基本上概括了区域经济空间分异的主要特征性规律,是当今区域经济空间结构演化的基础性理论。区域经济空间结构演化理论是区域经济空间结构演化研究的主要理论,这些理论不仅可以为区域经济空间结构演化研究提供理论范式,也为区域经济空间结构研究提供有益的启示。新空间经济学对经济活动的空间集聚和增长集聚的动力分析.为区域经济空间结构演化研究提供了新思路与方法。伴随区域经济空间结构演化理论的发展,其相应的方法也从静态分析模拟逐步向动态过程的空间演化模拟发展。新方法与技术手段在区域空间结构演变研究中已开始发挥越来越重要的作用,特别是复杂性科学方法和GIS与RS技术的结合展示出良好的应用前景。
The about 200 years' development history of regional economic spatial structure theories can be roughly divided into three periods, the classic location theories development period, the regional economic spatial structure evolvement theories, and the new economic geography theories. With the development of the regional economic spatial structure theories, the research foci have transferred from abstract theoretical explorations to comprehensive studies on the evolvement theories of regional economic spatial structure. And the corresponding research methods have transferred from the analyses based on geometry and calculus to computer simulation based on complicated mathematical and physical principles, and even complexity science. On one hand, the classic location theories and regional spatial structure theories are the basic theories, new economic geography theories provide new viewing angle for regional economic spatial structure, and all have special reference to the future studies of regional economic spatial structures; on the other hand, because these theories were deducted from the rigid hypotheses, theoretical spatial structure patterns inferred from the theories are not accordant with the realities. So, these should be kept in mind when using them to explain the nowadays concrete regional economic spatial structure phenomena. Accordingly, the leading research methods have shifted from the static simulations of regional development states to the dynamic simulations of regional development processes. New methods and computer technologies have exerted increasing effects on the studies of regional economic spatial structure, especially, the combination of complexity scientific methods with GIS and RS technologies has shown good prospects in the future studies of regional economic spatial structure.