Research on the Development of Medium-sized Cities from the Perspective of a Metropolitan Area—A Case Study of Ziyang City in the Chengdu Metropolitan Area

The Chengdu metropolitan area serves as the hub of the western region’s development and the western pole of the Chengdu-Chongqing region’s twin-city economic circle. Chengdu metropolitan area is in the development stage of agglomeration as well as diffusion in rapid urbanization and economic globalization. As a medium-sized city in the Chengdu metropolitan area, Ziyang city must determine its urban function positioning in the future based on the spatial structure characteristics of the Chengdu metropolitan area for industrial and economic layout optimization as well as for the rapid and coordinated development of the entire Chengdu metropolitan area, more importantly, to maximize its benefits.