关键词: 经济联系, 交通改善, 城市群, 引力模型

Abstract: There have been important trends of urban agglomeration across the world since the mid-20th century. China has entered a speeding development phase of urbanization presently, and urban agglomeration such as Yangtze River Delta region has played an important role in accelerating the economic growth of different regions. Transportation, as a linkage of regional economy, is the key to promote orderly development and reasonable organization of urban agglomeration. Based on a theoretical analysis of the relations of urban agglomeration and transportation, the paper has used Gravity Model to explain the role of transportation in strengthening the economic contact between two cities. And then taking Yangtze River Delta region as an example, the authors compare the intensity of economic contact between Shanghai and other cities under different transportation conditions, and point out that transportation improvement can help intensify economic contact between two cities. In the end, the suggestion of building regional mass rail transit to accelerate the development of urban agglomeration is given.

Key words: economic contact, transportation improvement, urban agglomeration, gravity model