Asian Urban System Dominated by East Asia: An Analysis Based on Urban Competitiveness

Asia is currently the most active and most promising region in the global economy. From the new perspective of urban competitiveness, this paper uses the samples of 566 cities in Asia to measure the global connectivity of Asian cities based on the gravity model, and analyzes the Asian urban systems. The results show that Asia urban system forms the pyramids hierarchical structure which Chinese cities have significant dominant advantages. Besides, there exists significant differentiation within the Asian urban system, showing the characteristics of "strong east and west and weak in the middle" which the East Asian urban system dominates. Regression analysis shows that finance, technology and infrastructure are the three most important factors affecting cities' global connectivity. Therefore, we need to profoundly understand this imbalance within the Asian urban system and firmly grasp the key factors such as finance, technology and infrastructure to enhance urban competitiveness.