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Metro and urban growth: Evidence from China

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  • Zhang, Haoran

Abstract

We investigate the effects of metro systems on urban growth in China. Using a difference-in-differences combined with propensity score matching framework, we find that metro systems have an economically significant positive effect on the urban GDP growth rate and that this effect is much larger for megacities with permanent populations of more than 6.15 million. Meanwhile, cross-city metro operations tend to increase economic concentrations in larger cities and expand GDP inequalities between cities connected by a cross-city metro. Our mechanism analyses further corroborate that a higher metro density has a positive effect on urban employment growth and a negative effect on the average wage of employees, but this does not improve urban total factor productivity (TFP), suggesting that a metro system is more likely to provide consumption amenities and employment access than it is to provide production amenities.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhang, Haoran, 2020. "Metro and urban growth: Evidence from China," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:jotrge:v:85:y:2020:i:c:s0966692319306878
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2020.102732
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    Cited by:

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    2. Rudke, Anderson Paulo & Martins, Jorge Alberto & dos Santos, Alex Mota & Silva, Witan Pereira & Caldana, Nathan F. da Silva & Souza, Vinicius A.S. & Alves, Ronaldo Adriano & de Almeida Albuquerque, Ta, 2021. "Spatial and socio-economic analysis of public transport systems in large cities: A case study for Belo Horizonte, Brazil," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    3. Deng, Yiling & Zhao, Pengjun, 2022. "The impact of new metro on travel behavior: Panel analysis using mobile phone data," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 46-57.
    4. Zhang, Haoran, 2023. "Coal busts and urban recovery: Evidence from China," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    5. Lee, Jae Kwang, 2021. "Transport infrastructure investment, accessibility change and firm productivity: Evidence from the Seoul region," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    6. Wood, Astrid & Kębłowski, Wojciech & Tuvikene, Tauri, 2020. "Decolonial approaches to urban transport geographies: Introduction to the special issue," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    7. Jean-Philippe Meloche & Vincent Trotignon & François Vaillancourt, 2021. "Densification ou prolongement des réseaux de transport structurants ? Une recension des écrits sur les coûts et les bénéfices attendus," CIRANO Project Reports 2020rp-28, CIRANO.

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