Methodologically, network analysis has been widely employed to examine the spaces of some established city-regions, such as the Greater South East (Pain, 2008), Central Belgium (Hanssens, Derudder, Van Aelst, & Witlox, 2014), Greater Dublin (Sokol, Van Egeraat, & Williams, 2008), and the PRD (Yeh, Yang, & Wang, 2015). Network analysis is helpful in depicting a broader pattern of functional and institutional spaces, such as the degree of polycentricity, urban centrality, network density, and core-periphery layout. Also, it is conducive to identifying the role of urban node in the urban network and its connections with other nodes based on specific flow.  However, there is scant literature systemically connecting functional and institutional spaces of a city-region, notably examining them by network analysis simultaneously. Although Shen (2014) investigates the relationships among economic, social, and institutional integration between Hong Kong and the PRD, and Sohn et al. (2009) build up a conceptual framework to illustrate the interaction between functional and institutional integration, the methodologies are ambiguous and concretely produced without connections to the urban networks.

在方法上，网络分析被广泛应用于一些已建立的城市区域的空间，如大东南(Pain, 2008)，比利时中部(Hanssens, Derudder, Van Aelst， & Witlox, 2014)，大都柏林(Sokol, Van Egeraat， & Williams, 2008)，和PRD (Yeh, Yang， & Wang, 2015)。网络分析有助于描述更广泛的功能和制度空间格局，如多中心度、城市中心性、网络密度和核心-外围布局。同时，也有助于识别城市节点在城市网络中的作用，以及基于特定流的城市节点与其他节点的联系。然而，将一个城市区域的功能空间与制度空间系统地联系起来的文献并不多见，尤其是同时通过网络分析对其进行研究的文献更是少之又少。虽然Shen(2014)研究了香港与珠三角之间的经济、社会和机构一体化的关系，Sohn等人(2009)建立了一个概念框架来说明职能和机构一体化之间的相互作用，但这些方法是模糊的，而且在与城市网络没有联系的情况下具体产生。

To understand city-regional development, this article investigates both the functional and institutional spatial structures of a city-region. Also, we elaborate the spatial differences and relationships between the two spaces and propose policy implications for the China’s city-regional development. The PRD has been investigated to reach these objectives by answering three research questions: (1) what are the spatial structures of intraregional investment and people flows that underpin the functional space of PRD? (2) what is the spatial structure of city-to-city cooperation that underpins the institutional space of PRD? and (3) what are the relationships between functional and institutional spaces, and the policy implications for the China’s city-regional development? Addressing these three questions will provide preliminary investigation for the interaction between functional and institutional spaces, and sheds lights on the formation of a city-region in China.

为了理解城市区域发展，本文研究了城市区域的功能空间结构和制度空间结构。阐述了这两个空间的空间差异和相互关系，并对中国城市区域发展提出了政策建议。为了实现这些目标，对珠三角进行了调查，回答了三个研究问题:(1)支撑珠三角功能空间的区域内投资和人员流动的空间结构是什么?(2)珠三角制度空间的城市间合作空间结构是怎样的?(3)功能空间与制度空间的关系，以及对中国城市区域发展的政策启示?解决这三个问题，将为功能空间与制度空间的互动提供初步的考察，并对中国城市区域的形成提供一定的启示。