The Spatial Pattern and Dynamic Evolution of High-Quality Economic Development in the Chengdu-Chongqing Twin-City Economic Circle

Abstract

To depict the spatial pattern and dynamic evolution of high-quality economic development in the Chengdu-Chongqing Twin-City Economic Circle, this paper takes the 16 prefecture-level cities of the region as the research subjects. A 19-indicator system is established based on five dimensions: innovation, coordination, green development, openness, and sharing. The Entropy-weight TOPSIS method is used to measure the high-quality economic development index of each city for the years 2011, 2017, and 2023. On this basis, a modified gravity model is employed to calculate the economic connection strength between cities and construct a spatial association network by binarizing the results. UCINET is used to reveal network structural characteristics and their changes from the perspectives of network density, centrality, and cohesion subgroups. The results indicate that: (1) The regional high-quality development level shows an overall upward trend. The spatial pattern evolves from a "dual-core polarization" in 2011 to a "single-core dominance with hierarchical differentiation" in 2017, and forms a gradient structure of "one core leading, multi-level support, and a mid-to-high level as the main body" in 2023. Cities at lower levels disappear, and the overall regional development quality significantly improves; (2) The number of inter-city connections and network density slightly increases but remains relatively low overall. Regional connections have strengthened, but the collaborative network is not yet closely formed; (3) The centrality structure shows a clear "core-hub-periphery" hierarchy, with Chongqing's spillover and intermediary bridge role continuously strengthening, Chengdu maintaining strong absorption and core aggregation advantages, and cities like Yibin and Zigong showing increased spillover capabilities, while some peripheral cities remain on the network's edges; (4) Cohesion subgroups have long been differentiated into four sectors, with members adjusting over time. Inter-sectoral connections are generally stronger than intra-sectoral ties, indicating that cross-sectoral collaboration is more critical to the network's operation.