Quantitative Diagnoses and Comprehensive Evaluations of the Rationality of Chinese Urban Development Patterns

China’s new urbanization development strategy needs to be supported by rational urban systems. Here, a comprehensive diagnostic index system that uses GIS technology and a Chinese urban scale structure rationality diagnostic model, functional structure rationality diagnostic model, spatial structure rationality diagnostic model and Chinese urban development rationality diagnostic model is used to comprehensively evaluate the rationality of Chinese urban development patterns. The results show that the structure of urban development in China is largely rational, with 70.78% of all cities rational in this respect and with rationality influenced by historical evolution, zoning adjustments and natural conditions; that overall, the scale structure of Chinese cities is rational, with 68.03% of all cities rational in this respect, conforming to Zipf’s law and exhibiting a relatively rational pyramidal pattern with “a slightly larger middle and small bottom end”; that overall, urban spatial structure is rational, with 69.41% of all cities rational in this respect, and irrational cities concentrated in areas with low carrying capacities and regions with few cities with high carrying capacities; and that urban functional structure is largely rational, with 69.11% of all cities rational in this respect, mainly concentrated in urban agglomerations. This study provides a scientific basis for further optimizing the structure of urban development in China and promoting a new type of urbanization. OPEN ACCESS Sustainability 2015, 7 3860