IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0290840.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Transportation infrastructure and eco-environmental quality: Evidence from China’s high-speed rail

Author

Listed:
  • Lan-ye Wei
  • Zhao Liu

Abstract

Ecological civilization construction is China’s national development strategy, and improving the urban eco-environmental quality is the key to accelerating this strategy, while the high-speed rail (HSR) opening is an important factor affecting the urban eco-environmental quality. Using panel data of 290 cities in China from 2004 to 2020, this study explores the impact of HSR opening on urban eco-environmental quality and its heterogeneity from the perspective of direct impact and interaction between HSR connected cities. Compared with cities without HSR service, the eco-environmental quality of cities with HSR service has significantly increased by 0.023 standard deviations, which is about 4.11% of the total change in urban eco-environmental quality in the same period. Second, there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between eco-environmental quality and urban space expansion. Third, the impact of HSR on eco-environmental quality is heterogeneous, mainly manifested in different cities and urban agglomerations. It means that the government should focus on the differences in the economic foundation and development characteristics of various regions, steadily push forward the construction and operation of the HSR, and speed up the renovation of existing lines to help the green development of cities. The research results provide a policy basis for the government to handle the relationship between infrastructure construction and eco-environmental quality, and effectively promote green sustainable development.

Suggested Citation

  • Lan-ye Wei & Zhao Liu, 2023. "Transportation infrastructure and eco-environmental quality: Evidence from China’s high-speed rail," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 18(8), pages 1-21, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0290840
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0290840
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0290840
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0290840&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0290840?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Matas, Anna & Raymond, Josep Lluis & Roig, José Luis, 2020. "Evaluating the impacts of HSR stations on the creation of firms," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 396-404.
    2. Heyman, Fredrik & Sjoholm, Fredrik & Tingvall, Patrik Gustavsson, 2007. "Is there really a foreign ownership wage premium? Evidence from matched employer-employee data," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(2), pages 355-376, November.
    3. Magazzino, Cosimo & Mele, Marco, 2021. "On the relationship between transportation infrastructure and economic development in China," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    4. Jiang, Mei & Jiang, Changmin & Xiao, Yi-bin & Wang, Chunan, 2021. "Air-HSR cooperation: Impacts on service frequency and environment," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    5. Lu, Juan & Li, He, 2022. "Can high-speed rail improve enterprise capacity utilization? A perspective of supply side and demand side," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 152-163.
    6. Zhang, Anming & Wan, Yulai & Yang, Hangjun, 2019. "Impacts of high-speed rail on airlines, airports and regional economies: A survey of recent research," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 1-19.
    7. Chen, Yu & Wang, Yuandi & Zhao, Changyi, 2023. "How do high-speed rails influence city carbon emissions?," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 265(C).
    8. Eric Sheppard, 2017. "Economic theory and underdeveloped regions," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(6), pages 972-973, June.
    9. Wang, Chunyang & Meng, Weidong & Hou, Xinshuo, 2020. "The impact of high-speed rails on urban economy: An investigation using night lighting data of Chinese cities," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    10. Davide Burgalassi & Tommaso Luzzati, 2015. "Urban spatial structure and environmental emissions: a survey of the literature and some empirical evidence for Italian NUTS-3 regions," Discussion Papers 2015/199, Dipartimento di Economia e Management (DEM), University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
    11. Rafiq, Shuddhasattwa & Nielsen, Ingrid & Smyth, Russell, 2017. "Effect of internal migration on the environment in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 31-44.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wang, Chunan & Jiang, Changmin & Zhang, Anming, 2021. "Effects of Airline Entry on High-Speed Rail," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 242-265.
    2. Xia, Xiaoxue & Wang, Chen & Lu, Chao & Zhu, Tianqi & Zhao, Ziying & Zhao, Yiwen, 2024. "High-speed railway and corporate risk-taking: Channels and evidence from China," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    3. Avenali, Alessandro & D’Alfonso, Tiziana & Reverberi, Pierfrancesco, 2025. "Airline-High speed rail cooperation, hub congestion, and airport conduct," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 194(C).
    4. Zhang, Yundi & Hu, Rong & Chen, Ruotian & Cai, Dong-ling & Jiang, Changmin, 2024. "Competition in cargo and passenger between high-speed rail and airlines—considering the vertical structure of transportation," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 120-133.
    5. Asep Yayat Nurhidayat & Hera Widyastuti & Sutikno & Dwi Phalita Upahita, 2023. "Research on Passengers’ Preferences and Impact of High-Speed Rail on Air Transport Demand," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-26, February.
    6. Liu, Jingyang & Yang, Haoran, 2023. "Income allocation and distribution along with high-speed rail development in China," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    7. Wang, Yingzhi & Jiang, Xiushan & Ma, Jihui, 2025. "Emissions reduction of air transport and high-speed rail with policy intervention considering the modal competition in a network market: Environment and welfare implications," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 379-395.
    8. Huang, Ying & Xu, Wangtu (Ato), 2021. "Spatial and temporal heterogeneity of the impact of high-speed railway on urban economy: Empirical study of Chinese cities," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    9. Jinxing Hu & Guojie Ma & Chaohai Shen & Xiaolan Zhou, 2022. "Impact of Urbanization through High-Speed Rail on Regional Development with the Interaction of Socioeconomic Factors: A View of Regional Industrial Structure," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-21, October.
    10. Mohsen Momenitabar & Raj Bridgelall & Zhila Dehdari Ebrahimi & Mohammad Arani, 2021. "Literature Review of Socioeconomic and Environmental Impacts of High-Speed Rail in the World," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-27, November.
    11. Sun, Xiaoqian & Zheng, Changhong & Li, Jiachang & Jiang, Changmin & Zhang, Anming & Wandelt, Sebastian, 2024. "A review on research regarding HSR interactions with air transport and outlook for future research challenges," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 74-85.
    12. Jun‐Teng Ma & Tie‐Ying Liu, 2022. "Does the high‐speed rail network improve economic growth?," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 101(1), pages 183-208, February.
    13. Hakkala, Katariina & Heyman, Fredrik & Sjöholm, Fredrik, 2007. "Cross-Border Acquisitions, Multinationals and Wage Elasticities," Working Paper Series 709, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    14. Yuan, Li & Rao, Siqi & Yang, Shenggang & Dai, Pengyi, 2023. "Does equity market openness increase productivity? the dual effects of Shanghai-Hong Kong stock Connect program in China," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    15. Laiqun Jin & Xiuyan Liu & Sam Hak Kan Tang, 2021. "High-Technology Zones, Misallocation of Resources among Cities and Aggregate Productivity: Evidence from China," Economics Discussion / Working Papers 21-11, The University of Western Australia, Department of Economics.
    16. Li, Xiang & Cheng, Zhonghua, 2022. "Does high-speed rail improve urban carbon emission efficiency in China?," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    17. Yan, Sen & Sun, Xinyu & Zhang, Yurong, 2024. "High-speed railway ripples on the greenness: Insight from urban green vegetation cover," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    18. Wang, Yixiao & Pels, Eric & Teunter, Ruud H. & Sun, Luoyi & Wu, Jianhong, 2023. "Railway liberalization, airport congestion toll, and infrastructure pricing: Modelling and numerical analysis for European and Chinese markets," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    19. Hartmut Egger & Udo Kreickemeier, 2017. "Why Foreign Ownership May be Good for You," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: International Trade and Labor Markets Welfare, Inequality and Unemployment, chapter 13, pages 381-421, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    20. Sourafel Girma & Holger Görg, 2022. "Productivity effects of processing and ordinary export market entry: A time‐varying treatments approach," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(3), pages 836-853, August.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0290840. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.