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

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.

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

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph181910043 ◽

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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Study on Temporal and Spatial Variation Characteristics and Influencing Factors of Land Use Efficiency in Xi’an, China

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su11236649 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (23) ◽

pp. 6649

Author(s):

Jing Huang ◽

Dongqian Xue

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Urban Area ◽

Influencing Factors ◽

Urban Land ◽

Urban Land Use ◽

Western China ◽

Land Use Efficiency ◽

Use Efficiency ◽

Underdeveloped Areas ◽

The City

China’s urban land use has shifted from incremental expansion to inventory eradication. The traditional extensive management mode is difficult to maintain, and the fundamental solution is to improve land use efficiency. Xi’an, the largest central city in Western China, was selected as the research area. The super-efficiency data envelopment analysis (DEA) model and Malmquist index method were used to measure the land use efficiency of each district and county in the city from the micro perspective, and the spatial-temporal change characteristics and main influencing factors of land use efficiency were analyzed, which not only made up for the research content of urban land use efficiency in China’s underdeveloped areas, but also pointed out the emphasis and direction for the improvement of urban land use efficiency. The results showed that: (1) The land use efficiency of Xi’an reflected the land use intensive level of the underdeveloped areas in Western China, that is, the overall intensive level was not high, the gap between the urban internal land use efficiency was large, the land use efficiency of the old urban area and the mature built-up area was relatively high, and the land use efficiency of the emerging expansion area and the edge area was relatively low. (2) Like the eastern economically developed areas, the land use efficiency of western economically underdeveloped areas was generally on the rise, while Xi’an showed the U-shaped upward evolution characteristics, and there were four types of changes in the city, that is, highly intensive, medium intensive, high–medium–low-intensive, and intensive–extensive. (3) Various cities should configure resources and optimize mechanism to improve their land use efficiency based on economic and social development. During the study period, Xi’an showed the law of evolution from the south edge area and the emerging expansion area to the main urban area. (4) The improvement of technological progress was the main contribution factor of the land use efficiency in underdeveloped areas of China, and the low-scale efficiency was the main influence factor that caused low land use efficiency. In future urban land use, efforts should be made to optimize and upgrade technology and strictly control the extensive use of land.

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Spatio-Temporal Distributions of the Land Use Efficiency Coupling Coordination Degree in Mining Cities of Western China

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su11195288 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (19) ◽

pp. 5288 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Junfang Yuan ◽

Zhengfu Bian ◽

Qingwu Yan ◽

Yuanqing Pan

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Composite Index ◽

Urban Land ◽

Entropy Method ◽

Urban Land Use ◽

Western China ◽

Analysis Tool ◽

Land Use Efficiency ◽

Use Efficiency ◽

Coordination Degree

A high coupling coordination degree of urban land use efficiency promotes sustainable regional economic development. In this study, land use efficiency coupling coordination degrees were calculated for 36 mining cities of western China, with a focus on economic, social, and ecological benefits for land use efficiency. Four years (2000, 2005, 2010, and 2015) of data were selected. A land use efficiency index system was generated and the improved entropy method was used to calculate the index weights of land use efficiency for each year. The spatial distributions of the coupling coordination degree were assessed by the ArcGIS spatial analysis tool. Spatial correlation analysis was conducted for the coupling coordination degree. The following conclusions could be drawn: (1) According to the composite index results, urban land use efficiency could be divided into three stages and showed several different time patterns in mining cities of western China; (2) analysis of the spatial and temporal distributions of the land use efficiency coupling coordination degree identified a low level of coupling coordination and reluctant coupling coordination. An obvious core-periphery and gradual trickle-down trend was observed; (3) the land use efficiency of western mining cities presents negative and positive spatial autocorrelation characteristics. Shizuishan city, Ordos city, Jinchang city, and Wuhai city have significant aggregation types. Therefore, the western mining cities were subjected to different complex time and space characteristics.

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Spatio-Econometric Analysis of Urban Land Use Efficiency in China from the Perspective of Natural Resources Input and Undesirable Outputs: A Case Study of 287 Cities in China

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph17197297 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (19) ◽

pp. 7297

Author(s):

Xiao Han ◽

Anlu Zhang ◽

Yinying Cai

Keyword(s):

Economic Growth ◽

Land Use ◽

Natural Resources ◽

Clean Energy ◽

Urban Land ◽

Urban Land Use ◽

Sustainable Urban Development ◽

Rapid Urbanization ◽

Land Use Efficiency ◽

Use Efficiency

The rapid urbanization in China has had a huge impact on land use and the scarcity of land resources has become a constraint for sustainable urban development. As urban land is an indispensable material basis in economic development, measuring its use efficiency and adopting effective policies to improve urban land use efficiency (ULUE) are important links in maintaining sustainable economic growth. By establishing a comprehensive ULUE evaluation index system that emphasizes on incorporating the natural resources input and the undesirable output, ULUE from 2010 to 2016 was calculated based on super efficiency SBM model, and its potential influencing factors were explored using a spatial econometric model. The results show that: (1) temporally, the overall ULUE in China is upward growing, and the gap among regions is becoming gradually convergent. (2) Spatially, the ULUE of Chinese cities are positively correlated. (3) Economic agglomeration and industrial structure significantly improve ULUE in China, but the intensity of energy consumption has a negative impact on ULUE. We suggest that: (1) differentiated industrial development strategies should be formulated; (2) the economic growth pattern should be changed from energy-consuming to energy-saving; (3) priority should be given to innovation on science and education, so as to increase in clean energy input and cleaner production.

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The impact of land finance on urban land use efficiency: A panel threshold model for Chinese provinces

Growth and Change ◽

10.1111/grow.12464 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Peng Wang ◽

Zinan Shao ◽

Jian Wang ◽

Qun Wu

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Threshold Model ◽

Urban Land ◽

Urban Land Use ◽

Land Use Efficiency ◽

Use Efficiency ◽

The Impact

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The Spatial Changes of Transportation Infrastructure and Its Threshold Effects on Urban Land Use Efficiency: Evidence from China

Land ◽

10.3390/land10040346 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (4) ◽

pp. 346

Author(s):

Xinhai Lu ◽

Mengcheng Wang ◽

Yifeng Tang

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Spillover Effects ◽

Urban Land ◽

Urban Land Use ◽

Transportation Infrastructure ◽

Spatial Spillover ◽

Land Use Efficiency ◽

Use Efficiency ◽

Spatial Spillover Effects ◽

The Impact

The development of social production and the agglomeration of the urban population have brought tremendous pressure to transportation infrastructure. However, the impacts of transportation development on urban land use systems have not been well investigated. Under the pressure of limited land resources, the impact of transportation infrastructure on urban land use efficiency (ULUE) is receiving increasing attention from scholars and needs to be explored. By collecting panel data from 30 regions in China from 2003 to 2018, in this study we constructed a spatial Durbin model and a panel threshold regression model to explore the spatial spillover effects and threshold effects of transportation infrastructure on ULUE. The most obvious findings emerging from this study are that (1) ULUE is not randomly distributed over different regions in China, but has an obvious positive spatial correlation; (2) transportation infrastructure has significant positive direct and spatial spillover effects on ULUE and the direct effects of transportation infrastructure (0.823) are significantly stronger than the spatial spillover effects (0.263); (3) the impact of transportation infrastructure on ULUE has a significant double threshold effect, and the threshold values are 4.520 and 6.429 respectively, and with the improvement of transportation infrastructure, its marginal effects on ULUE show a downward trend. This paper provides theoretical support for policymakers to achieve cross-regional cooperation on land use and transportation infrastructure construction and inspirations for sustainable development.

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Assessment and Spatial-Temporal Evolution Analysis of Urban Land Use Efficiency under Green Development Orientation: Case of the Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomerations

Land ◽

10.3390/land10070715 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (7) ◽

pp. 715

Author(s):

Yingkai Tang ◽

Kun Wang ◽

Xuanming Ji ◽

He Xu ◽

Yangqing Xiao

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Urban Development ◽

Evaluation System ◽

Yangtze River Delta ◽

Urban Land ◽

Urban Land Use ◽

Land Use Efficiency ◽

Green Development ◽

Use Efficiency ◽

Development Orientation

Rapid urbanization has provided a strong impetus for the economic growth of China, but it has also caused many problems such as inefficient urban land use and environmental pollution. With the popularization of the concept of green and sustainable development, the Environmental-Social-Governance (ESG) assessment concept is widely accepted. The government and residents are paying more and more attention to environmental issues in urban development, and environmental protection has formed an important part of urban development. In this context, this study takes 26 cities in the Yangtze River Delta as examples to build an evaluation system for urban land-use efficiency under green development orientation. The evaluation system takes into account the inputs of land, capital, labor, and energy factors in the process of urban development. Based on emphasizing economic output, the social benefits and undesired outputs brought about by urban development are taken into account. This paper measures urban land use efficiency by the super-efficiency SBM model, and on this basis, analyses the spatial-temporal evolution characteristics of urban land-use efficiency. Further, this paper measures urban land use efficiency without considering undesired outputs and compares the two evaluation methods. Again, the comparison illustrates the rationality of urban land use efficiency evaluation system under green development orientation.

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