Regional Small Towns Classification Assessment and Spatial Pattern Integration: A Case Study of the Yunnan Section of the China–Laos Economic Corridor

Abstract

The role of small towns in regional development is being emphasized, especially in developing countries, where small towns are driving regional spatial integration and optimization from the ‘bottom up’. In the context of further refinement of regional governance, it is important to identify the characteristics of regional small towns and explore the spatial pattern and structure of their development to achieve regional strategic goals. Taking the Yunnan section of the China–Laos Economic Corridor as an example, this study integrated small towns and regional high-quality development needs, constructed a regional small-town classification and evaluation index system, used various quantitative analysis methods to explore the spatial differentiation of regional small towns’ development levels, and constructed a spatial pattern of regional small towns. Our results reveal that: (1) Small towns in the Yunnan section of the China–Laos Economic Corridor showed large variations in the scores of the four indicator types, which were spatially distributed as ‘core-edge’ and ‘peripheral core’. (2) There was spatial autocorrelation in the classification assessment results of small towns, where small towns with similar levels of development were spatially adjacent and dominated by hot spot agglomerations, but with different agglomeration patterns and distribution locations. (3) The spatial pattern of regional small towns was composed of various elements such as points, lines, axes, rings, and clusters, which can meet the diversified development needs of the region. (4) Our study found that the horizontal transportation links of the Yunnan section require strengthening and suggested the construction of a ‘1 + 3’ regional transportation network.