Research on the Characteristics and Evolution of Urban Spatial Structures under Complex Terrain Conditions: Taking 71 Typical Cities in China as an Example

In the past, research on urban spatial structure under complex terrain conditions has mostly remained at the level of analyzing a specific city and a single type of terrain, the limitations of the research scope and perspective making it difficult to fully determine any general laws. In order to effectively grasp the mode of spatial expansion, development law, and evolutionary mechanism, we innovatively chose to combine dynamic and static research methods, utilizing static and dynamic maps as two mutually supportive analysis paths, and taking 71 typical cities in China as samples to provide empirical evidence. Our results indicate that there is a phenomenon of differentiation in the types of preferred spatial structure of cities under different terrains, which is realized through the urban space adapting to the topographic constraints, penetrating into the topography, and crossing the topography to break through barriers of scale. Compared with plains cities, the spatial structure of cities under complex terrain changes from compact to decentralized, the urban form tends toward complex from single, and the development rate is divided into two trends of continuous acceleration and reduced growth rate. The reason for this is that the topographical environment is the fundamental influencing factor, and social factors, such as economy and population, play an inherent driving role. National policies directly determine the flow of land and other factors, which are ultimately reflected in the spatial structure. These insights are beneficial for improving the academic research system in this field, as well as supporting the foresight of planning schemes, the direction of optimization measures, and the decision-making of urban agglomeration development.