Polycentric Structure of Employment in Shanghai-Suzhou Mega City-Region Based on Nonparametric Analysis

Abstract:

Mobile phone signaling data is used to identify the commuting connection in the Shanghai-Suzhou mega city-region， and the employment centers identified by the nonparametric analysis in the region is used to measure the polycentric structure of the mega city-region. First， the grid-based employment density distribution in the entire region is obtained using the mobile phone signaling data to identify the working place of commuters. Next， an improved nonparametric analysis is used to identify employment centers in the mega city-region. In the first stage， the local weighted regression is used to pick out candidate employment centers. In the second stage， the high employment density grids surrounding the candidate centers are identified， and the range of employment centers are formed. Finally， the Exchange Commuting Index and Criss-cross Commuting Index are used to verify the degree of functional polycentricity of the mega city-region. It is found that from the perspective of commuting connections， there are 20 regionally influential employment centers in the Shanghai-Suzhou Mega City-Region， and a functional polycentric structure has been formed. Using mobile phone signaling data and nonparametric analysis can accurately identify the scope of employment centers with regional influence， which can avoid the influence of administrative units on the results in previous studies， and provide supports for accurately understanding the spatial structure of the Shanghai-Suzhou Mega City-Region.