An Analysis of the Urban Synergy Innovation Relationship and Its Constraints on Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area

Strengthening inter-city synergy innovation relationship is a major way for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Grater Bay Area to build an international technological innovation center. This paper uses the amount of joint applications for invention patents between cities as an index to measure the relationship between urban synergy innovations, and uses the social network analysis method and negative binomial regression model to analyze the network characteristics, spatial pattern evolution and constraints of synergy innovation links between cities in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Grater Bay Area. The study finds that from 2008 to 2016, the synergy innovation links between cities in the Great Bay Area are becoming closer and closer, the network agglomeration capacity is gradually enhanced, and the degree of collectivization within the network is increasing. In the network, an innovation corridor with Shenzhen and Guangzhou as the core and extending to Dongguan and Foshan has been respectively formed, with a positive impact of technology proximity on urban synergy innovation, while a negative effect on technology neighbors. The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Grater Bay Area should rely on the existing pattern of synergy innovation, build the platform for inter-city innovation and cooperation, strengthen the construction of inter-city transportation network, and make good use of the complementarity of innovative technology resources, so as to enhance the innovation efficiency of the Great Bay Area.