Research on the Influence of a High-Speed Railway on the Spatial Structure of the Western Urban Agglomeration Based on Fractal Theory—Taking the Chengdu–Chongqing Urban Agglomeration as an Example

Jiao Li, Yongsheng Qian, Junwei Zeng, Fan Yin, Leipeng Zhu and Xiaoping Guang
Additional contact information
Jiao Li: School of Traffic and Transportation, Lanzhou Jiaotong University, Lanzhou 730070, China
Yongsheng Qian: School of Traffic and Transportation, Lanzhou Jiaotong University, Lanzhou 730070, China
Junwei Zeng: School of Traffic and Transportation, Lanzhou Jiaotong University, Lanzhou 730070, China
Fan Yin: School of Traffic and Transportation, Lanzhou Jiaotong University, Lanzhou 730070, China
Leipeng Zhu: School of Traffic and Transportation, Lanzhou Jiaotong University, Lanzhou 730070, China
Xiaoping Guang: School of Traffic and Transportation, Lanzhou Jiaotong University, Lanzhou 730070, China

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 18, 1-13

Abstract: By shortening the transportation time between cities, high-speed rail shortens the spatial distance between cities and exerts a far-reaching influence on urban agglomerations’ spatial structures. In order to explore the influence of high-speed rail on the spatial reconstruction of an urban agglomeration in western China, this paper employs fractal theory to compare and analyze the spatial structure evolution of the Chengdu–Chongqing urban agglomeration in western China before and after the opening of a high-speed railway. The results show that after the completion of the high-speed railway, the intercity accessibility is improved. The Chengdu–Chongqing urban agglomeration’s spatial distribution shows a decreasing density from the central city to the surrounding areas. Furthermore, the urban system presents a trend of an agglomeration distribution. Therefore, strengthening the construction of high-speed rail channels between primary and medium-sized cities, as well as accelerating the construction of intercity railway networks and rapid transportation systems based on high-speed rail cities, would help develop urban agglomerations in western China.

Keywords: urban agglomeration; spatial structure; fractal theory; high-speed railway (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/18/7550/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/18/7550/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:18:p:7550-:d:413042

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().