Abstract: Although land resource misallocation is widely acknowledged to impede spatial optimization and high-quality regional economic growth, its influence on the configuration and developmental trajectories of functional networks within urban agglomerations has received comparatively little scholarly attention. Based on panel data from 148 cities within 9 major Chinese urban agglomerations spanning from 2010-2022, the analysis reveals three principal findings. Firstly, urban land resource misallocation stemming from suboptimal governmental land allocation practices exerts a detrimental effect on the formation and evolution of urban agglomeration functional networks. This misallocation operates through two distinct mechanistic channels: the“governmental role”pathway and the“market effectiveness”pathway. Secondly, within the“governmental role”dimension, these adverse effects primarily manifest through mechanisms such as obstructing market integration, undermining specialized labor division, and intensifying urban spatial sprawl; within the“market effectiveness”dimension, the impediments predominantly operate through restricting innovative allocation of productive resources, and hindering the diffusion of technological innovations. Thirdly, the impact of urban land resource misallocation on urban agglomeration functional networks demonstrates significant heterogeneity across Locational Development Milieu and regional development strategies. Notably, adverse effects on functional network evolution become particularly pronounced when land misallocation occurs in coastal cities lacking metropolitan policy overlays. Therefore, in order to better leverage the network function of urban agglomerations, it is necessary to innovate the mechanism of land resource allocation, establish and improve a land management system that efficiently connects with regional development strategies; further clarify the relationship between the government and the market, and achieve the organic integration of a proactive government and an effective market; dynamically implement differentiated land resource allocation strategies based on the location development environment and regional development policies of cities and urban agglomerations.

Key words: land resource misallocation, urban agglomeration, functional network, governmental role, market effectiveness