Constrained Collaboration: Structural Barriers to Sustainable Public Sports Service Integration in the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle

Constrained Collaboration: Structural Barriers to Sustainable Public Sports Service Integration in the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Constrained Collaboration: Structural Barriers to Sustainable Public Sports Service Integration in the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle Xiaohui Xu This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7110897/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Achieving balanced regional collaboration in public services is a core challenge for sustainable urban development. This study analyzes the formation mechanisms of the public sports service collaborative network in the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle (CCEC) to provide targeted policy insights for promoting equitable regional integration. To overcome the challenge of analyzing unstructured policy texts, we developed an integrated framework: a fine-tuned BERT model was used to extract weighted collaborative relationships from policy documents (2020–2024). The network's structural evolution was then analyzed using Social Network Analysis (SNA), and its formation mechanisms were identified using Valued Exponential Random Graph Models (VERGMs) for the period 2021–2023. The results show that: (1) The collaborative network exhibits a persistent core-periphery structure, evolving towards denser but uneven integration, with peripheral areas lagging significantly. (2) Chengdu and Chongqing consistently function as the dominant hubs, concentrating the majority of collaborative ties and reinforcing regional imbalances. (3) Network formation is significantly driven by endogenous structural tendencies (transitivity), strong administrative homophily (OR ≈ 5.93), resource attraction (PGDP, R&D), and policy-activated geographic proximity (OR ≈ 2.27). In conclusion, while policy initiatives successfully stimulate collaboration, the network's evolution is fundamentally constrained by pre-existing administrative hierarchies and resource imbalances, hindering the goals of sustainable and equitable development. The proposed BERT-VERGM framework is a powerful tool for uncovering these policy-driven dynamics. regional economic sustainable development governance network urban services exponential random graph model Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7110897","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":488941310,"identity":"dbe1d2d3-a22e-41f9-8775-d5d6c2af9d16","order_by":0,"name":"Xiaohui Xu","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA3klEQVRIie3RMQrCMBSA4SeBusR2TSnoFSIBcfAwKa4OilCcVChkdNZb6A3aKUupa8WpCLoqBWdT7SSS6uaQn0whH49HAEymfww9DwFoLqub6GuCo+p1LXkpFeFfEipRfpqIvr89XPLiJqBtZ7xRjDXEDS3GNoIwehwxEgtgbsaRt9YQB0HPawnSVsQCRfxtxi2ENcRCzXtJMD3Ic0kWtcRBuJqSQa8knNYRN8RThlPC3ETtkqSku0ny0NMRupe7Ew7m/krK/DoLBh1bDuNCR95TfwqN5Q/AZDKZTJ96AMH4RO6opRF5AAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"Sichuan Tourism University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Xiaohui","middleName":"","lastName":"Xu","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-07-13 03:23:10","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7110897/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7110897/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":95229224,"identity":"fafa6fae-0203-41fd-9b1e-807927c22b8a","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-05 16:34:37","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1113115,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7110897/v1_covered_74b1b755-fcfe-4165-9720-7d1a0b9f151c.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Constrained Collaboration: Structural Barriers to Sustainable Public Sports Service Integration in the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"regional economic, sustainable development, governance network, urban services, exponential random graph model","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7110897/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7110897/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eAchieving balanced regional collaboration in public services is a core challenge for sustainable urban development. This study analyzes the formation mechanisms of the public sports service collaborative network in the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle (CCEC) to provide targeted policy insights for promoting equitable regional integration. To overcome the challenge of analyzing unstructured policy texts, we developed an integrated framework: a fine-tuned BERT model was used to extract weighted collaborative relationships from policy documents (2020\u0026ndash;2024). The network's structural evolution was then analyzed using Social Network Analysis (SNA), and its formation mechanisms were identified using Valued Exponential Random Graph Models (VERGMs) for the period 2021\u0026ndash;2023. The results show that: (1) The collaborative network exhibits a persistent core-periphery structure, evolving towards denser but uneven integration, with peripheral areas lagging significantly. (2) Chengdu and Chongqing consistently function as the dominant hubs, concentrating the majority of collaborative ties and reinforcing regional imbalances. (3) Network formation is significantly driven by endogenous structural tendencies (transitivity), strong administrative homophily (OR\u0026thinsp;\u0026asymp;\u0026thinsp;5.93), resource attraction (PGDP, R\u0026amp;D), and policy-activated geographic proximity (OR\u0026thinsp;\u0026asymp;\u0026thinsp;2.27). In conclusion, while policy initiatives successfully stimulate collaboration, the network's evolution is fundamentally constrained by pre-existing administrative hierarchies and resource imbalances, hindering the goals of sustainable and equitable development. 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