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

摘要： 20世纪中叶以来，城市群的出现与发展成为世界范围内城市化一个重要趋势。目前我国进入了城市化加速发展阶段，以长三角等地区为代表的城市群在促进区域经济增长中起着重要作用，而交通运输作为区域经济联系的纽带，成为城市群空间有序发展和合理组织的关键。本文在对城市群与区域交通关系的理论分析基础上，首先运用引力模型解释了交通在加强城市经济联系中的作用；接着以长三角城市群为例，测算了该地区交通改善前后主要城市与上海市之间经济联系强度的变化，并指出交通改善有利于增强城市之间的经济联系；最后给出了结论，并建议构建区域性快速轨道交通以促进城市群和交通系统的协调发展。

关键词: 经济联系, 交通改善, 城市群, 引力模型