Abstract

Network development level and inequality level within urban agglomerations profoundly shape regional sustainability and global competitiveness. Existing studies predominantly focus on economic scale, geographic proximity, and static cross-sectional data analysis, often lacking systematic consideration of people’s wellbeing, network connectivity, and dynamic evolutionary processes. Furthermore, insufficient attention has been paid to the intrinsic connection between network development and inequality levels. Addressing this gap, this study systematically investigates the network development level, inequality level, and the correlation mechanisms between them, focusing on six national-level urban agglomerations located in China’s Yangtze River and Yellow River basins. Key findings include the following: (1) The overall connectivity efficiency of development networks within urban agglomerations continues to improve, yet the disparity in network status among node cities has gradually widened. The network centrality of core cities initially strengthens and then weakens. (2) Urban agglomerations with relatively lagging economic development often exhibit greater internal disparities in development momentum. Wealth distribution inequality within agglomerations has gradually eased, while the urban–rural development gap shows a trend of first increasing and then decreasing. Conversely, social welfare distribution inequality has intensified overall. (3) Network indicators centering on centrality significantly contribute to the imbalance in regional wealth distribution. As social welfare distribution inequality increases, the influence of network centrality characteristics on it strengthens. (4) The impact of regional network development level on inequality level is hierarchical and directional. Increasing network density, average distance, and degree of association helps mitigate wealth distribution imbalance, whereas increasing network density and centrality may exacerbate regional development inequality. Overall, this study provides empirical evidence and theoretical support for policy-making of sustainable development in urban agglomerations, and enriches the theoretical connotation of regional balanced development.

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