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Dataset on Delineating the Hinterlands of Central Cities in China Based on a Region-Growing Algorithm under Spatial Adjacency Constraints


WANG Xiaoshen1ZHANG Yang*1HU Xiaomei1LI Juan1
1 College of Geography and Planning,Chengdu University of Technology,Chengdu 610059,China

DOI:10.3974/geodb.2026.08.04.V1

Published:Aug. 2026

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Key Words:

hinterland delineation,population-flow network,central cities,spatial adjacency constraints,region-growing algorithm

Abstract:

The hinterland of a central city constitutes a critical spatial unit through which the city exerts its radiating influence and organizes the circulation of regional factors. Accurately delineating the spatial extent of central-city hinterlands is therefore of great significance for regional coordinated development and territorial spatial planning. Taking the 37 central cities identified in China’s officially approved territorial spatial master plans as the study objects, we constructed an inter-city population-flow network covering 366 Chinese cities based on 2025 Baidu Migration data. By integrating inter-city population mobility with spatial adjacency relationships, a region-growing approach under spatial adjacency constraints is employed to delineate the hinterlands of central cities, resulting in the development of a dataset on central-city hinterland delineation in China. The dataset includes: (1) an inter-city population-flow linkage intensity matrix and population-flow network; (2) a binary spatial adjacency matrix representing city-to-city contiguity relationships; (3) delineation results and spatial distribution patterns of Tier-1 and Tier-2 central-city hinterlands; (4) spatial data of central and non-central cities. The dataset is archived in .shp and .xlsx data formats, and consists of 36 data files with data size of 33.3 MB (compressed into 1 file with 16.0 MB).

Foundation Item:

National Natural Science Foundation of China (42501258)

Data Citation:

WANG Xiaoshen, ZHANG Yang*, HU Xiaomei, LI Juan. Dataset on Delineating the Hinterlands of Central Cities in China Based on a Region-Growing Algorithm under Spatial Adjacency Constraints[J/DB/OL]. Digital Journal of Global Change Data Repository, 2026. https://doi.org/10.3974/geodb.2026.08.04.V1.
.

References:


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Data Product:

ID Data Name Data Size Operation
1 ChinaCityHinterlands.rar 16472.16KB
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