Assessing the incentives in regional city-to-city cooperation: A case study of Jiangyin–Jingjiang Industrial Park of Jiangsu Province in the Yangtze River Delta region 区域城市间合作诱因：以长江三角洲地区江苏江阴-靖江工业园区为例?

摘要

With the rise of cities as geographical units, intercity cooperation has been increasing worldwide. Benefits of regional city-to-city (C2C) cooperation can be seen in the political added value and added value of urban competitiveness. This paper focuses on the Jiangyin–Jingjiang Industrial Park in the Yangtze River Delta region as a case study to explore these benefits in regional C2C cooperation in China's local context. It is found that political added value is more effective and efficient in accelerating strategy formulation and partner selection within regional C2C cooperation. The added value of urban competitiveness is more crucial in regional C2C partnership maintenance serving as an internal driving force for sustainable C2C cooperation. In addition, intervention from the provincial government tends to consolidate the impact of urban competitiveness in regional C2C cooperation. The empirical study also sheds light on the dynamics of China's economic decentralisation, political centralisation and the market logic interwoven with state authority.