IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v12y2020i14p5626-d383833.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Impact of Urban Transportation Infrastructure on Air Quality

Author

Listed:
  • Yujing Guo

    (International Business School, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an 710119, China)

  • Qian Zhang

    (International Business School, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an 710119, China)

  • Kin Keung Lai

    (International Business School, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an 710119, China
    College of Economics, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China)

  • Yingqin Zhang

    (International Business School, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an 710119, China)

  • Shubin Wang

    (School of Economics and Management, Xi’an University of Posts & Telecommunications, Xi’an 710061, China)

  • Wanli Zhang

    (School of Finance and Economics of Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710061, China)

Abstract

While previous study has confirmed significant correlation between infrastructure construction and air quality, little is known about the nature of the relationship. In this paper, we intend to fill this gap by using the Panel Smooth Transition Regression (PSTR) model to discuss the nonlinear relationship between transportation infrastructure construction and air quality. The panel data includes 280 cities in China for the period 2000-2017. We find that the transportation infrastructure investment is positively correlated to the air quality when the GDP per capita is below RMB 7151 or the number of motor vehicle population per capita is below 37 (vehicles per 10,000 persons) where the model is in the lower regime, and that the transportation infrastructure investment is negatively correlated to the air quality when the GDP per capita is greater than RMB 7151 or the number of motor vehicle population per capita is larger than 37 (vehicles per 10,000 persons) where the model is in the upper regime. The empirical results of the three sub-samples, including eastern, western and central regions, are similar to that of the national level. Furthermore, increasing transportation infrastructure investment is conducive to improving air quality. Urban bus services, green area, population density, wind speed and rainfall are also conducive to reducing air pollution, but the role of environmental regulation is not significant. After adding the instrumental variable (urban built-up area), the conclusions are further supported. Finally, relevant policy recommendations for reducing air pollution are proposed based on the empirical results.

Suggested Citation

  • Yujing Guo & Qian Zhang & Kin Keung Lai & Yingqin Zhang & Shubin Wang & Wanli Zhang, 2020. "The Impact of Urban Transportation Infrastructure on Air Quality," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-25, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:14:p:5626-:d:383833
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/14/5626/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/14/5626/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Carlos Javier de las Heras-Rosas & Juan Herrera, 2019. "Towards Sustainable Mobility through a Change in Values. Evidence in 12 European Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(16), pages 1-23, August.
    2. Aslanidis, Nektarios & Xepapadeas, Anastasios, 2008. "Regime switching and the shape of the emission-income relationship," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 25(4), pages 731-739, July.
    3. Yihsu Chen & Alexander Whalley, 2012. "Green Infrastructure: The Effects of Urban Rail Transit on Air Quality," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 4(1), pages 58-97, February.
    4. Sun, Chuanwang & Zhang, Wenyue & Fang, Xingming & Gao, Xiang & Xu, Meilian, 2019. "Urban public transport and air quality: Empirical study of China cities," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    5. Shubin Wang & Weijie Li & Hasan Dincer & Serhat Yuksel, 2019. "Recognitive Approach to the Energy Policies and Investments in Renewable Energy Resources via the Fuzzy Hybrid Models," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-17, November.
    6. Vickrey, William S, 1969. "Congestion Theory and Transport Investment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 59(2), pages 251-260, May.
    7. Sun, Chuanwang & Zhang, Wenyue & Luo, Yuan & Xu, Yonghong, 2019. "The improvement and substitution effect of transportation infrastructure on air quality: An empirical evidence from China's rail transit construction," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 949-957.
    8. Bel, Germà & Holst, Maximilian, 2018. "Evaluation of the impact of Bus Rapid Transit on air pollution in Mexico City," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 209-220.
    9. Chao Bi & Minna Jia & Jingjing Zeng, 2019. "Nonlinear Effect of Public Infrastructure on Energy Intensity in China: A Panel Smooth Transition Regression Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-21, January.
    10. Yang, Mian & Ma, Tiemeng & Sun, Chuanwang, 2018. "Evaluating the impact of urban traffic investment on SO2 emissions in China cities," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 20-27.
    11. Luo, Zhi & Wan, Guanghua & Wang, Chen & Zhang, Xun, 2018. "Urban pollution and road infrastructure: A case study of China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 171-183.
    12. Beirão, Gabriela & Sarsfield Cabral, J.A., 2007. "Understanding attitudes towards public transport and private car: A qualitative study," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 14(6), pages 478-489, November.
    13. Hongyou Lu & Yunchan Zhu & Yu Qi & Jinliang Yu, 2018. "Do Urban Subway Openings Reduce PM 2.5 Concentrations? Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-24, November.
    14. Chen, Xudong & Huang, Bihong & Lin, Chin-Te, 2019. "Environmental awareness and environmental Kuznets curve," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 2-11.
    15. Fu, Shihe & Gu, Yizhen, 2017. "Highway toll and air pollution: Evidence from Chinese cities," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 32-49.
    16. Shao, Shuai & Tian, Zhihua & Fan, Meiting, 2018. "Do the rich have stronger willingness to pay for environmental protection? New evidence from a survey in China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 83-94.
    17. Tiba, Sofien, 2019. "Modeling the nexus between resources abundance and economic growth: An overview from the PSTR model," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    18. G. Duggal, Vijaya & Saltzman, Cynthia & Klein, Lawrence R., 1999. "Infrastructure and productivity: a nonlinear approach," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 92(1), pages 47-74, September.
    19. Börjesson, Maria & Hamilton, Carl J. & Näsman, Per & Papaix, Claire, 2015. "Factors driving public support for road congestion reduction policies: Congestion charging, free public transport and more roads in Stockholm, Helsinki and Lyon," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 452-462.
    20. Wang, Chao & Lim, Ming K. & Zhang, Xinyi & Zhao, Longfeng & Lee, Paul Tae-Woo, 2020. "Railway and road infrastructure in the Belt and Road Initiative countries: Estimating the impact of transport infrastructure on economic growth," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 288-307.
    21. Duran-Fernandez, Roberto & Santos, Georgina, 2014. "Road infrastructure spillovers on the manufacturing sector in Mexico," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 17-29.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jan Kunkler & Florian Kellner, 2022. "Sustainable City Evaluation Using the Database for Estimation of Road Network Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-25, December.
    2. Batara Surya & Hamsina Hamsina & Ridwan Ridwan & Baharuddin Baharuddin & Firman Menne & Andi Tenri Fitriyah & Emil Salim Rasyidi, 2020. "The Complexity of Space Utilization and Environmental Pollution Control in the Main Corridor of Makassar City, South Sulawesi, Indonesia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-41, November.
    3. Jozef Gnap & Šimon Senko & Mariusz Kostrzewski & Mária Brídziková & Renáta Cződörová & Zdeněk Říha, 2021. "Research on the Relationship between Transport Infrastructure and Performance in Rail and Road Freight Transport—A Case Study of Japan and Selected European Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-20, June.
    4. Ruiqi Wang & Huanchen Tang & Xin Ma, 2022. "Can Carbon Emission Trading Policy Reduce PM2.5? Evidence from Hubei, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-21, August.
    5. Yuting Xue & Kai Liu, 2022. "Regional Differences, Distribution Dynamics, and Convergence of Air Quality in Urban Agglomerations in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-20, June.
    6. Awais Piracha & Muhammad Tariq Chaudhary, 2022. "Urban Air Pollution, Urban Heat Island and Human Health: A Review of the Literature," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-19, July.

    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. Huang, Guobin & Zhang, Jie & Yu, Jian & Shi, Xunpeng, 2020. "Impact of transportation infrastructure on industrial pollution in Chinese cities: A spatial econometric analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    2. Cui, Yin & Li, Zhiyong & Sun, Yu & Sun, Weizheng, 2023. "Environmental performance of an urban passenger transport system and influencing factors: A case study of Tianjin, China," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    3. Sun, Chuanwang & Zhang, Wenyue & Fang, Xingming & Gao, Xiang & Xu, Meilian, 2019. "Urban public transport and air quality: Empirical study of China cities," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    4. Sun, Chuanwang & Zhang, Wenyue & Luo, Yuan & Xu, Yonghong, 2019. "The improvement and substitution effect of transportation infrastructure on air quality: An empirical evidence from China's rail transit construction," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 949-957.
    5. Hongyou Lu & Yunchan Zhu & Yu Qi & Jinliang Yu, 2018. "Do Urban Subway Openings Reduce PM 2.5 Concentrations? Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-24, November.
    6. Jing Sun & Muhammad Safdar Sial & Dasong Deng & Darina Saxunova & Ahsanuddin Haider & Mohammed Arshad Khan, 2022. "The Significance of Urban Rail Transit Systems in Mitigating Air Pollution Effects: The Case of China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-10, October.
    7. Suchi Kapoor Malhotra & Howard White & Nina Ashley O. Dela Cruz & Ashrita Saran & John Eyers & Denny John & Ella Beveridge & Nina Blöndal, 2021. "Studies of the effectiveness of transport sector interventions in low‐ and middle‐income countries: An evidence and gap map," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(4), December.
    8. Gao, Yanyan & Zheng, Jianghuai & Wang, Xin, 2022. "Does high-speed rail reduce environmental pollution? Establishment-level evidence from China," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    9. Li, Jiachen & Jiang, Meiru & Li, Ge, 2024. "Does the new energy vehicles subsidy policy decrease the carbon emissions of the urban transport industry? Evidence from Chinese cities in Yangtze River Delta," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 298(C).
    10. Li, Shanjun & Liu, Yanyan & Purevjav, Avralt-Od & Yang, Lin, 2019. "Does subway expansion improve air quality?," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 213-235.
    11. Davis, Lucas W., 2021. "Estimating the price elasticity of demand for subways: Evidence from Mexico," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    12. Magalhães, David José Ahouagi Vaz de & Rivera-Gonzalez, Carlos, 2021. "Car users’ attitudes towards an enhanced bus system to mitigate urban congestion in a developing country," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 452-464.
    13. Bowen Zhou & Jieling Jin & Helai Huang & Yuanchang Deng, 2023. "Exploring the Macro Economic and Transport Influencing Factors of Urban Public Transport Mode Share: A Bayesian Structural Equation Model Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-11, January.
    14. Yang, Mian & Ma, Tiemeng & Sun, Chuanwang, 2018. "Evaluating the impact of urban traffic investment on SO2 emissions in China cities," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 20-27.
    15. repec:hal:wpaper:hal-00827972 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Xiaoli Hu & Jieping Chen & Shanlang Lin, 2023. "Influence from highways’ development on green technological innovation: the case of Yangtze River economic belt in China," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(10), pages 11095-11120, October.
    17. Saia, Artjom, 2023. "Digitalization and CO2 emissions: Dynamics under R&D and technology innovation regimes," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    18. Beaudoin, Justin & Lin Lawell, C.-Y. Cynthia, 2018. "The effects of public transit supply on the demand for automobile travel," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 447-467.
    19. Liu, Changqing & Li, Lei, 2020. "How do subways affect urban passenger transport modes?—Evidence from China," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 23(C).
    20. Monchambert, Guillaume & de Palma, André, 2014. "Public transport reliability and commuter strategy," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 14-29.
    21. Nicholas Rivers & Soodeh Saberian & Brandon Schaufele, 2020. "Public transit and air pollution: Evidence from Canadian transit strikes," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 53(2), pages 496-525, May.

    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:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:14:p:5626-:d:383833. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.