Study on the spatial differences of measuring urbanization rate with two different statistic methods of Shandong Province

Two statistical methods are frequently used to measure the urbanization rate(UR). URI measures urban populations based on urban terrain boundaries, URII measures non-agricultural population based on registered permanent residence. However, in recent years, the results based on the two different statistical methods present more and more different characteristics. This paper compared the difference of the two kinds of statistical methods to analyze the peri-urbanization in absolute level (PUAL) and peri-urbanization in relative level (PURL) in the pattern of distribution characteristics and spatial difference of county units of Shandong Province in 2010. Results showed that the figures based on the two kinds of statistical methods of urbanization rate were obvious different. URI was much higher than URII and the changing trend was similar to that of the Shandong Province. URI and URII reflected the similar patterns of regional space difference and presented a clear administrative hierarchy of spatial difference. However, the difference between the coastal and inland space was not significant. The PUAL and PURL trends were fluctuating, first rising and then falling in general for the Shandong Province. PUAL indicated the spatial difference characteristics of polarization to the high administrative hierarchy. However, PURL showed the characteristics of spatial agglomeration in different counties, but there were no significant differences in administrative hierarchy.