LONG Xiaofeng, HU Shuhao, LIAO Weizhen, TANG Jiaqi, JIANG Xin
Based on the low-altitude economic patent data of 337 cities in China from 2013 to 2024, and using the methods of LDA topic model, location quotient index, social network analysis method and geographic detector, this paper reveals the spatial evolution characteristics and influencing factors of China's low-altitude economic innovation network. It's found that: 1) China's low-altitude economic innovation has formed the cluster fusion structure of five major technologies, with low-altitude perception and flight control system, low-altitude intelligence and data processing system being dominant. 2) Technological innovation has evolved from a highly centralized network to a multi-center network. Beijing, Shenzhen and Shanghai have formed a "dual-core+balanced hub" pattern. Cities such as Xi'an, Nanjing and Hangzhou have formed comparative advantages in specific technological fields, showing a spatial division of labor pattern of "eastern region leading the R&D, central and western regions focusing on specialized in targeted fields". 3) The urban collaborative network has experienced the dual evolution process of scale expansion and efficiency improvement. Four types of urban collaborative evolution modes are identified: comprehensive hub type, scene-driven type, technology-specialized type and collaborative support type. The topological structure has evolved from single-point agglomeration to multi-polarization development trend. 4) The formation of the low-altitude economic innovation network is the result of the nonlinear synergy of innovation-driven, industrial ecology, market environment and institutional policies. The driving mechanism has evolved from the factor facility dependence to the system synergy drive, and the role of policy factors has gradually been embedded from external supply as the core hub of network synergy. On the basis of the above, it puts forward some policy suggestions, such as matching resource allocation, improving functional coordination, implementing classification policies and promoting system empowerment, in order to provide scientific support for the spatial optimization layout and network structure evolution of China 's low-altitude economy.