Changing accessibility and connectivity from high-speed rail development in metropolitan China

摘要

Massive development of China's high-speed rail (HSR) network has resulted in unprecedented improvement in spatial accessibility. This paper uses the Yangtze River delta (YRD), one of the most populous and developed mega-regions in China, as a case study to examine the spatial impacts of the HSR network development. It uses official train timetables to employ a weighted measurement, including rail travel time and train service frequency, to assess the changing network accessibility and connectivity at the multi-scale of provincial, regional and urban between April 2007 (pre-HSR) and October 2016 (16 HSR lines). The study finds that the introduction of the HSR network has enhanced, rather than comprehensively restructured, already-existing uneven patterns of accessibility and connectivity. Developed cities have benefited more from increases in connectivity, while the less-developed peripheral cities have experienced greater accessibility gains, which are, in part, the results of the YRD's persistent pattern of economic geographies. The research advances understanding of the impacts of HSR development in the mega-regions.