Has high-speed railway promoted spatial equity at different levels? A case study of inland mountainous area of China

摘要

Since China's high-speed railway (HSR) has gradually shifted from coastal to inland areas, more marginal inland areas have been covered by the national HSR network. The assessment of the effect of HSR on spatial equity is now becoming an important issue for governments and planners. Little research has investigated the effect of HSR on spatial equity in inland mountainous areas. Based on the case study of Southwest China, this paper evaluates the effects of HSR on regional spatial equity at different planning levels. First, accessibility values are calculated to assess the efficiency effects of HSR. Then, the overall changes in spatial equity are evaluated by the Accessibility Dispersion (AD) index and Territorial Cohesion (TC) index. Finally, the normalized differences in the accessibility values of cities are used to reflect the regional polarization or equalization at local conditions. The results show that HSR causes significant accessibility improvements in non-HSR cities with poor initial accessibility and has a positive effect on spatial equity at the national level. However, at the regional level, HSR has damaged territorial cohesion and caused a more polarized accessibility pattern. In addition, the non-HSR cities are more likely to be winners in HSR construction at national level. At the regional level, non-HSR cities mostly become losers, and this situation may be solidified by further HSR construction. We argue that different measures should be coordinated at different planning levels to reduce the risks of spatial inequity caused by HSR construction in cities unconnected by newly built HSR lines.