Formation and Delimitation of Extended Metropolitan Regions (Emrs) in Central China: A Case Study in the Changzhutan EMR
Dai Lizhu, Sit Victor Fung-Shuen, Zheng Yanting

Abstract
The Global Economic Crisis has forced the Chinese government to take domestic demand as an important national development strategy. New EMRs in the inland China are designated by the central government to promote domestic demand. Remarkable among these are the Wuhan, Changzhutan (CZT), and Zhongyuan EMRs. Would these EMRs formed in the inland China share the same spatial characteristics and mechanisms as those in the coastal areas? The paper will first discuss the concept of the EMR and deliberate on the method of their delimitation in China. Using the CZT as a case, this paper demarcates it into the core, inner ring and outer ring through the GIS-based map of the intensity of socio-economic links. This spatial dynamics of each components of the EMR reveals that socio-economic gradients descend from the core to the periphery, such that heavy industries, labor-intensive industries, and transport are largely made in the inner zone, while service activities, including producer services and recreation activities, are located in the core to support the overall role of the EMR as a production and marketing platform especially in linking the region with more developed regions of China. In the meantime, domestic demand and investment, apart from global forces, have played increasing crucial roles in driving these EMRs’ formation.

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