Tang, H.; Wei, Z., and Xiao, H., 2020. Interactive mechanism of characteristic town construction and industrial upgrading in coastal areas. In: Yang, Y.; Mi, C.; Zhao, L., and Lam, S. (eds.), Global Topics and New Trends in Coastal Research: Port, Coastal and Ocean Engineering. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 103, pp. 47–51. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.

This paper studies the interactive mechanism between the characteristic town of Zhejiang Province and the industrial upgrading. We examined how aspects of characteristic town influenced industrial upgrading, such as industry merit-based and synergistic mechanism, mechanism of technological innovation and mechanism of brand effect--high consumption. In a longitudinal, multiple-informant study of characteristic towns in Zhejiang Province, we found that industry merit-based and synergistic mechanism, mechanism of technological innovation and mechanism of brand effect--high consumption and their interrelationships selectively influenced planning and development of a characteristic town. As anticipated, industry merit-based and synergistic mechanism and mechanism of technological innovation positively influenced characteristic town, they can promote industrial transformation and upgrading. Counter to our expectations, however, mechanism of brand effect—high consumption by itself was negatively associated with characteristic town. Interestingly, the three mechanisms played a significant role in characteristic town, as it positively influenced industrial transformation and upgrading.