High-Speed Rail and Urban Growth Disparity: Evidence from China

Haoran Zhang, Ying Chai, Xuyu Yang and Wenli Zhao
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Haoran Zhang: School of Economics, Guangdong University of Finance and Economics, Guangzhou 510320, China
Ying Chai: School of Economics, Guangdong University of Finance and Economics, Guangzhou 510320, China
Xuyu Yang: School of Sociology and Population Studies, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China
Wenli Zhao: School of Economics, Guangdong University of Finance and Economics, Guangzhou 510320, China

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 13, 1-13

Abstract: We investigate the effects of high-speed rail (HSR) operation on urban growth disparity in China. Using urban panel data from 2005 to 2019 and difference-in-differences estimation, we find that the operation of HSR has exerted a strong and robust positive effect on urban growth and total factor productivity (TFP) in core cities, while this effect is much weaker in non-core cities, especially in non-core cities close to provincial capitals. Meanwhile, high-speed rail has triggered relatively slower urban growth in the central cities compared with the suburbs in regional primate prefectures. The results suggest that the extension of HSR promotes centralization across cities and local decentralization within regional primate cities.

Keywords: high-speed rail; urban growth; TFP; centralization across cities; decentralization within cities (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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