Abstract: Coastal ports have become a geographic hub between global production chains and local network links under the promotion launched by globalization and world industrial transfer. At the same time, port development evolution affects economic development of hinterland, when promotes the transportation system itself and spatial evolution. Firstly, this paper proposes the conception and connotation of harbor spatial effect from the angle of economic geography. The dynamical structure and forming elements are elaborated from three angles including port's potential energy, port-hinterland gravitation and action passageway. Secondly, the paper establishes the measurement model based on the dynamical structure of harbor spatial effect. Thirdly, the index of harbor spatial effect is calculated with the sample of coastal ports of east China by using the measurement model of harbor spatial effect. The study chooses port throughput, container throughput and foreign trade throughput to show the distribution pattern of transport spatial effect from port alongside the coast to hinterland, while it also chooses the city industry of port, foreign trade and financial indicators to show the distribution pattern of non-transport effect from port alongside the coast to hinterland. Furthermore, compared with the characteristics and differences of different districts, the accuracy and maneuverability of the model is testified. The results indicate that the model can nicely identify port economic spatial effect of different cases in macro-scale. The model has a guiding significance for revealing the location essence of port, comparing the tendency of approaching the port in different districts and describing the space connection of urban region system in port-hinterland city.

Key words: economic geography, harbor spatial effect, harbour-hinterland gravitation, harbour location potential