Will the construction of high-speed rail accelerate urban land expansion? Evidences from Chinese cities

2022 ◽  
Vol 114 ◽  
pp. 105920
Author(s):  
Rong Wu ◽  
Yingcheng Li ◽  
Shaojian Wang
Keyword(s):  
High Speed ◽  
Urban Land ◽  
High Speed Rail ◽  
Chinese Cities ◽  
Urban Land Expansion

scholarly journals Does the Construction and Operation of High-Speed Rail Improve Urban Land Use Efficiency? Evidence from China

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 303
Author(s):  
Xinhai Lu ◽  
Yifeng Tang ◽  
Shangan Ke
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Land Use ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Urban Land ◽  
Urban Land Use ◽  
Western China ◽  
High Speed Rail ◽  
Land Use Efficiency ◽  
Use Efficiency ◽  
The Impact

The construction and operation of high-speed rail (HSR) has become an important policy for China to achieve efficiency and fairness and promote high-quality economic growth. HSR promotes the flow of production factors such as labor and capital and affects economic growth, and may further affect urban land use efficiency (ULUE). To explore the impact of HSR on ULUE, this paper uses panel data of 284 cities in China from 2005 to 2018, and constructs Propensity Score Matching-Differences in Differences model to evaluate the effect of HSR on ULUE. The result of entire China demonstrates that the HSR could significantly improves the ULUE. Meanwhile, this paper also considers the heterogeneity of results caused by geographic location, urban levels and scales. It demonstrates that the HSR has a significantly positive effect on ULUE of Eastern, Central China, and large-sized cities. However, in Western China, in medium-sized, and small-sized cities, the impact of HSR on ULUE is not significant. This paper concludes that construction and operation of HSR should be linked to urban development planning and land use planning. Meanwhile, the cities with different geographical locations and scales should take advantage of HSR to improve ULUE and promote urban coordinated development.

scholarly journals Impacts of high-speed rail development on urban land expansion and utilization intensity in China

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 583-601
Author(s):  
Xin Li ◽  
Xiaodong Ma
Keyword(s):  
High Speed ◽  
Joint Effect ◽  
Urban Land ◽  
Urban Land Use ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Eastern Region ◽  
Significance Level ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Urban Land Expansion ◽  
The Impact

Urban land expansion (ULE) is a crucial factor for socioeconomic and environmentally sustainable development. However, nowadays, the unprecedented scale of high-speed railway (HSR) construction in China could exert an important influence on ULE. This manuscript first reveals the influence mechanism of HSR on ULE and then employs difference-in-difference (DID) models to investigate this effect based on the data of 280 prefectures and above level cities of 2001-2016. We analyze that HSR exerts a joint effect on ULE from the territorial and local levels and then affects urban land-use intensity (ULUI). HSR opening and HSR station distance both have notably positive effects on ULE, with elastic coefficients of 4.1% and 0.5%, respectively. HSR opening and HSR station distance also both exert positive effects on ULE of the central, eastern region cities and large cities of China, while for the western region and small to medium cities, they are not significant. The impact of HSR station distance on ULUI is negative with a significance level of 0.073, while the impact of HSR opening on ULUI is not significant. Lastly, relevant policy implications are proposed to alleviate urban land waste and spatial disequilibrium under the context of HSR building. This study can provide an important basis for sustainable urban land allocation.

Intra-city access to inter-city transport nodes: The implications of high-speed-rail station locations for the urban development of Chinese cities

Urban Studies ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 54 (10) ◽  
pp. 2249-2267 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mi Diao ◽  
Yi Zhu ◽  
Jiren Zhu
Keyword(s):  
Urban Development ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Property Values ◽  
Residential Property ◽  
High Speed Rail ◽  
Chinese Cities ◽  
Residential Property Values ◽  
Surrounding Areas ◽  
The Impact

In the high-speed-rail (HSR) construction boom of China, although some cities have upgraded old train stations in inner cities to be compatible with HSR, more cities have built new HSR stations on undeveloped land in the urban periphery. This study investigates the impact of intra-city access to inter-city transport nodes and explores the implications of HSR station locations for the accessibility and residential property values in Chinese cities connected by bullet trains. We find that for the cities with HSR stations in suburbs, the gains in inter-city travel brought by HSR are largely offset by the prolonged intra-city travel time to reach the stations, thus limiting frequent usage of HSR for daily commuting. The inner-city HSR station in Hangzhou shows a positive impact on residential property value in the vicinity, while the suburban HSR station in Guangzhou has not been observed to raise the residential property values noticeably in the short term despite the government’s intention to stimulate development in surrounding areas. The research findings show the need for better connections of HSR stations with the city to magnify the accessibility provided by HSR and careful integrated planning to promote desirable urban development outcomes in station areas.

scholarly journals A Panel Investigation of High-Speed Rail (HSR) and Urban Transport on China’s Carbon Footprint

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongchang Li ◽  
Jack Strauss ◽  
Lihong Liu
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Emissions ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
High Speed Rail ◽  
Rapid Urbanization ◽  
Chinese Cities ◽  
Transportation Modes ◽  
Conventional Rail ◽  
The Impact

Rapid urbanization and industrialization in Chinese cities have substantially elevated carbon emissions, and transportation plays a major role in these emissions. Due to data availability, research on the impact of both high-speed rail (HSR) and other urban transportation modes on urban carbon emissions is rare. Using a relatively large panel of 194 Chinese cities from 2008–2013, we examine the impact of HSR, conventional rail, bus, roads, and subways on urban carbon emissions. We further document the interaction of these transport modes with geo-economic variables, and more accurately measure HSR’s impact on emissions using a comprehensive accessibility metric. During this time, China developed, constructed and began to operate an extensive HSR network. Our results show that increases in HSR lead to rises in carbon emissions, emissions per GDP unit and per capita. We also find that transportation’s impact on carbon emissions differs by city size and region, and transportation modes significantly interact with GDP, population and urban area to affect carbon emissions. These interactions imply that the government’s promotion of HSR over conventional rail may have unintended consequences and boost urban carbon emissions.

scholarly journals Assessing Interannual Urbanization of China’s Six Megacities Since 2000

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (18) ◽  
pp. 2138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sisi Yu ◽  
Zengxiang Zhang ◽  
Fang Liu ◽  
Xiao Wang ◽  
Shunguang Hu
Keyword(s):  
Land Surface ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Local Environment ◽  
Urban Land ◽  
Environmental Crisis ◽  
Vegetation Coverage ◽  
Urbanization Process ◽  
Rapid Urbanization ◽  
Urban Land Expansion ◽  
Basic Characteristics

As a large and populous developing country, China has entered the rapid urbanization stage since 2000. Until 2018, China has accounted for nearly 1/5 of global megacities. Understanding their urbanization processes is of great significance. Given the deficiencies of existing research, this study explored the interannual urbanization process of China’s six megacities during 2000–2018 from four aspects, namely, the basic characteristics of urban land expansion, expansion types, cotemporary evolution of urban land–population–economy, and urbanization effects on the local environment. Results indicated that (1) urban lands in China’s six megacities increased by 153.27%, with distinct differences across megacities; (2) all of six megacities experienced the expansion processes from high-speed to low-speed, but they varied greatly in detail; (3) the speeds of urban land expansion in China’s megacities outpaced the population growth but lagged behind in GDP increase; and (4) urbanization has triggered an environmental crisis, which is represented by the decline in vegetation coverage and the increase in land surface temperature in newly expanded urban lands. This study enriched the content of urbanization, supplemented the existing materials of megacities, and provided a scientific reference for designing rational urban planning.

scholarly journals Change in Urban Land Use Efficiency in China: Does the High-Speed Rail Make a Difference?

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (19) ◽  
pp. 10043
Author(s):  
Wenyi Qiao ◽  
Xianjin Huang
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Population Density ◽  
Urban Population ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Urban Land ◽  
Urban Land Use ◽  
High Speed Rail ◽  
Land Use Efficiency ◽  
Use Efficiency ◽  
The Impact

High-speed rail (HSR) increases the non-local connections in cities and plays an essential role in urban land use efficiency. This paper uses a multi-period difference-in-difference model and a threshold model based on sample data that cover 284 Chinese cities from 2003–2018 to investigate the impact of HSR on urban land use efficiency. The results show that there is a 0.021 increase in urban land use efficiency after opening the HSR. The number of HSR stations and routes can increase the urban land use efficiency by 0.004 and 0.013, respectively. Compared with the cities in the East, the midwestern ones are more vulnerable to the impact of HSR. In particular, the positive impact of the number of HSR stations on the urban land use efficiency in cities with an urban population density exceeding 795 person/km2 is two times larger than cities with an urban population density of less than 795 person/km2. In addition, the impact of the number of HSR routes on urban land use efficiency in cities with an urban population density of less than 1003 person/km2 is five times larger than that of cities with an urban population density exceeding 1003 person/km2.

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