Household Registration Reform, Labor Mobility and Optimization of the Urban Hierarchy

A rational hierarchy of rank-size distribution is indispensable for optimizing the urban hierarchy. On the basis of the number of permanent urban residents, using rank-size rule testing and core density estimation within the framework of spatial economics, we set up a labor force location choice model and conducted quantitative simulations. Our findings show that the structure of China's urban hierarchy differs from the pyramid structure of Zipf's Law, and the household registration system impedes the free movement of labor and makes the size distribution of cities deviate from Pareto optimality. Household registration (hukou) reform will be conducive to the optimization of the urban hierarchy. Optimizing the urban hierarchy should become a consistent objective in today's development of new-type urbanization, city clusters and metropolitan areas.