A Study of Spatial Effect of Port-city Coordination Level on Urban Economic Growth in Yangtze River Delta

Based on the panel data of 33 prefecture-level cities in the Yangtze River Delta region from 2011 to 2020, a coupled coordination model was used to measure the level of port-city coordination in the Yangtze River Delta. On this basis, the spatial Durbin model was established to empirically explore the spatial effect of port-city coordination level on urban economic growth. The results show that the static coordination level of port-cities in the Yangtze River Delta region is not high on the whole, the dynamic coordination level is optimized year by year, and there are spatial differences in the coordination level of port-cities. There is a significant spatial correlation between the coordination level of port-city and urban economy, and there is a trend of spatial aggregation. The coordination level of port-cities has a significant spatial spillover effect on urban economic growth, and the indirect effect is greater than the direct effect. It is suggested to improve the coordination level of port-cities through unified layout of port and city construction, strengthening regional linkage division of labor; By leveraging full play to the spatial spillover effect of highly coordinated port-cities so as to drive the overall regional economic growth of the Yangtze River Delta and realize the integrated high-quality development of the Yangtze River Delta.