High-Speed Rail and Urban Decentralization in China

Abstract

The construction of a large-scale high-speed rail (HSR) network in China is altering the time–space relationships between cities. As a result, HSR is changing the traditional hierarchical urban system in China, and regions with large-scale networks of cities are forming. At the city level, the construction of HSR new towns could contribute to urban decentralization. The focus in this study is on the impact of HSR at the city level and how HSR is transforming cities in China through urban spatial restructuring. Case studies on two cities located on the Beijing–Shanghai HSR corridor were conducted, and the impact of the planned HSR new towns on the decentralization patterns of these two cities as well as the potential effects on their economic development are discussed. For large cities, the decentralization is actively driven by HSR because these cities are able to carefully choose the locations of their HSR stations. An HSR new town (i.e., a new district built around an HSR station) serves as an opportunity for well-planned spatial restructuring and as a catalyst for sustainable economic growth. For medium-sized to small cities, decentralization is often passively driven by HSR because the site selections of HSR stations are beyond the cities' control. The long distance between the HSR new town and the urban center weakens the economic strength of the existing urban core. The HSR new town presumably functions as a distraction rather than an attraction to the economic growth of the city as a whole. The leapfrog type of development also induces a wasteful use of land and other resources and further increases the living costs of the city's people and the operation costs of its firms.