A spatial research on the influencing factors of urbanization in Anhui Province

The spatial econometric method was applied to analyze the influencing factors of urbanization based on the panel data of Anhui Province. The spatial lag and error models were constructed in the empirical study to verify the theoretical assumptions. The results show that there exists a strong spatial dependence in urbanization between neighboring cities; the developmental level of secondary and tertiary industries, fixed-asset investment and residents degree of education are the main influencing factors of urbanization; the promoting effect of economic development level on urbanization is not significant; the income gap between urban and rural areas inhibits the development of urbanization. Finally, some suggestions were given on how to promote the urbanization of Anhui Province based on the conclusions.