Detecting the Spatial Network Structure of the Guanzhong Plain Urban Agglomeration, China: A Multi-Dimensional Element Flow Perspective

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report (Previous Reviewer 1)

Congratulations, I believe the manuscript has
been significantly improved.

Reviewer 2 Report (Previous Reviewer 2)

I believe the authors have addressed the review comments. I would suggest publishing it. 

This manuscript is a resubmission of an earlier submission. The following is a list of the peer review reports and author responses from that submission.

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The article is interesting, and its methodology is rigorous when analysing the urban networks of the 11 prefectural cities in the Guanzhong Plain urban agglomeration. However, in my opinion, the article could be improved in two important respects:

1st- The work of Castells (Grassrooting the Space of Flows ) is cited, but there are other classic works that can be cited that are of interest when it comes to understanding the dynamics of the spatial structure of urban agglomerations, beyond the Chinese geographical context. For example:

·         Dieleman, F. M. and Faludi, A. (1998). Polynucleated Metropolitan Regions in Northwest Europe. European Planning Studies. 6, 365-377.

·         _(1998). Randstad, Rhine-Ruhr and Flemish Diamond as One Polynucleated Macro-Region?. Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografic. 89.3, 320-327.

·         Champion, A. G. (2001). A Changing Demographic Regime and Evolving Polycentric Urban Regions: Consequences for the Size, Composition and Distribution of City Populations. Urban Studies, 38(4), 657-677.

 2º- The paper comments on the following:

 Development of small and medium-sized cities should be strengthened in the future...

... However, the Guanzhong Plain urban agglomeration, as the largest urban agglomeration in the middle reaches of the Yellow River Basin, has faced problems such as late development planning, convergence of urban functions, regional administrative barriers, and improper regional competition.

These are interesting ideas, but they need to be further developed in the article. Therefore, concrete metropolitan governance measures that are of interest for the future of the Guanzhong Plain urban agglomeration should be included. In addition, some citation of other works outside the Chinese context is missing. For example, other articles could be cited on this issue:

·         Audouin, M., & Finger, M. (2018). The development of Mobility-as-a-Service in the Helsinki metropolitan area: A multi-level governance analysis. Research in Transportation Business & Management, 27, 24-35.

·         Medeiros, E., & van der Zwet, A. (2020). Sustainable and integrated urban planning and governance in metropolitan and medium-sized cities. Sustainability, 12(15), 5976.

·         Miller, D. Y. (2018). The regional governing of metropolitan America. Routledge.

 

 

 

Reviewer 2 Report

This is a case study research containing limited number of cases with little potential for further research, yet the topic is  interesting. The research approach is fundamental and devoid of originality.

The discussion part contains no new insights or even recommendations for further study.

Overall, I consider the paper's quality is insufficient for publication with Land.