Shrinking or Expanding? City Spatial Distribution and Simulation Analyses Based on Regionalization along the Yellow River

In recent years, many cities in China have faced profound and complex shrinkage problems, which have required new perspectives and approaches to improve understanding. In this context, this study built a framework to understand city shrinkage based on the regionalization perspective. By simulating land use with spatial relations and conducting a coupling analysis on land use efficiency and accessibility (by strength) based on the study of urban systems, 96 cities along the Yellow River were analyzed under this framework. The research found that cities with significantly lower land use efficiency tend to exhibit lower accessibility (by strength), and city shrinkage in China may be the consequence of the lower de facto accessibility and mismatch between development rights and development potential. The urban system has proven to be helpful in the research, planning, and administration of city shrinkage.