Geographical location is constantly changing. On the one hand, natural things themselves change, and of course this change is relatively slow. On the other hand, frequent changes in social and economic factors such as science and technology, transportation and economic structure will also cause changes in geographical location. In other words, both natural geographical location and economic geographical location are changing. However, the change of economic geographical position is more frequent, which has a greater impact on the development of regional economy. Let's take Hefei as an example and make a brief analysis.
It is recorded in Shuijing Note that "Hefei is named after applying chemical fertilizer", which means that Hefei is named because it is located at the intersection of two rivers, Feishui. Shi Shui is today's Nanfeihe River (the mouth of Nanfeihe River into Chaohu Lake, also called Shikou today), and Feishui is said to be today's Beifeihe River. This intersection may be not far from the northwest of Dongpu Reservoir today. Nanfei River flows into Chaohu Lake and then into the Yangtze River, belonging to the Yangtze River system. Beihefei River flows northward into Huaihe River through Wabu Lake, which belongs to Huaihe River system and is in the position of water transport hub connecting the two major water systems. According to historical records, "Hefei was affected by the north-south tide, and leather, abalone and wood were also lost", which means that Hefei is a commercial center where products from the north and the south meet, and it is said to be one of the national 18 commercial cities at that time.
From this perspective, the superiority of natural geographical location will often bring prosperity to the economy. However, in the Three Kingdoms period, the change of political structure reduced the importance of Hefei in economic status, while its military status was highlighted. Anyone who has seen the Three Kingdoms knows the story of "Zhang Liao Wei Town xiaoyaojin". Zhang Liao, the famous Cao Cao, defeated Sun Quan in Hefei. Hefei was the junction of Wei and Wu. When Wei controls Hefei, it can threaten the health of the south, while when Wu controls Hefei, it can attack Xuchang in the north. Hefei has become a battleground for military strategists and a military hub. The military hub will be destroyed because of the constant war, and Hefei will be greatly weakened after the Three Kingdoms. During the Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties, because of the war in the north, a large number of Central Plains residents moved south, which promoted the development of the southern region and led to the deterioration of the ecological environment in the Jianghuai area. Therefore, the water volume of the North-South Hefei River is decreasing, especially the source of the North Hefei River is farther and farther away from Hefei. Hefei's status of "fertilization" is no longer worthy of the name, and the traffic conditions as a commercial center no longer exist. This is why Hefei never recovered to the prosperity of the Han Dynasty after the Three Kingdoms.
In modern times, with the gradual formation of the world market, marine transportation has become more and more important, and its coastal status has become prominent. Macao, Guangzhou, Shanghai, etc. It was developed under such a background. At first, ocean transportation depended on sailboats, and later on ships. Sailing boats have shallow draft and ships have deep water, so the requirements for port conditions are different. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Macau was once the largest port in the Far East and the trade center of Europe and China. However, after the appearance of ships, the seawater in Macau Port was too shallow to meet the needs of ships, so Macao's position was replaced by Hong Kong. In the era of ocean transportation, Hefei's status is declining, because it is neither near the sea nor the Yangtze River, and ships can't cross the Fei River.
The great change of modern land transportation is that the railway has replaced the carriage. Because of its high speed and large volume, iron wheel often becomes the main traffic line of a country, and railway hub often becomes the commercial center, which drives economic prosperity. Cities such as Zhengzhou and Zhuzhou were formed in this way. Hefei is still unlucky at this time. There are not only few railways passing through Hefei, but also national trunk railways. Therefore, for a long time after the founding of New China, Hefei gave people the impression that it was closed and the traffic was inconvenient. Here I want to explain the trunk railway. The so-called trunk railway is a railway line connecting big cities or big economic zones. For example, the Beijing-Shanghai line has become a trunk railway because it connects Beijing and Shanghai, the two largest cities. The Beijing-Guangzhou line has become a trunk railway because it connects Beijing-Tianjin-Tanggu and the Pearl River Delta. And Hefei? Only one Huainan railway line passed by, and then the Hejiu Railway was added, all of which were feeder railways, so the traffic geographical conditions in Hefei have not fundamentally changed.
2 1 century, Hefei is facing great development opportunities. This can be understood from three aspects. First of all, the geographical location of Hefei will undergo fundamental changes. The high-speed rail construction planned by the state will completely change the traffic appearance of Hefei. Hefei is located at the intersection of Beijing-Fuzhou high-speed railway and Shanghai-Chengdu high-speed railway under construction. Hefei has become an important transportation hub in East China and one of the 40 railway transportation hubs planned by the Ministry of Railways. In addition to the railway, Hefei has also started the construction of Hefei Port, which is equivalent to moving Hefei to the banks of the Yangtze River. Tongjiang reaches the sea, connecting east and west, and connecting north and south. Hefei's traffic can be described as extending in all directions.
Secondly, the adjustment of China's economic structure has also made Hefei's economic geographical position look brand-new. For a long time after the reform and opening up, the coast was the center of economic development, and the gap between the coast and the mainland widened. However, the economic crisis in 2008 hit the coastal economy, which is highly dependent on the international market, and coastal enterprises moved in one after another. Hefei has become the first choice to undertake industrial transfer in the Yangtze River Delta. As Xie Guozhong said, "The sun will rise in Anhui tomorrow". With the promotion of the western development and the implementation of the strategy of the rise of central China, Wuhan, Zhengzhou, Xi, Chongqing and Chengdu have gradually formed economic regions with national significance, increasing the importance of the east-west railway passing through Hefei. Although the Beijing-Fuzhou Railway is not a "four vertical and four horizontal" high-speed rail trunk line planned by the state, with the relaxation of cross-strait relations, the Haixi economic circle will inevitably rise, and the importance of the Beijing-Fuzhou Railway goes without saying. Therefore, Hefei will become the most important core of economic growth in the central region.
Finally, with the continuous progress of transportation technologies such as expressways, high-speed railways and modern aviation, the advantages of coastal areas are decreasing; Inland areas are becoming more and more important because they are closer to the center of population distribution. Hefei is the capital city closest to the population center of China.
To sum up, the geographical position of the same geographical thing is constantly changing, which will bring the rise and fall of the city. Hefei, which combines many advantages such as transportation hub, population center of gravity and industrial layout adjustment, will usher in long-term rapid development. Perhaps this will rewrite the history of China's urban development.