IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/cep/sercdp/0173.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Exploring the Geography of China's Airport Networks: A Hybrid Complex-Network Approach

Author

Listed:
  • Zhengbin Dong
  • Wenjie Wu

Abstract

Air networks are normal examples of transportation systems among ubiquitous big data networks in the dynamic nature. This is particularly the case in developing countries with rapid airport network expansions. This paper explores the structure and evolution of the trunk airport network of China (ANC) in major years during 1980s-2000s. We generalise the complex network approach developed in existing studies and further test for statistical properties of weighted network characteristics by using pair-wise traffic flows. The spatiotemporal decomposition of network metric plots and the visualization maps leads to a rich harvest of stylized ANC structures: (i) national hub-and-spoke patterns surrounding mega-cities; (ii) regional broker patterns surrounding Kunming and Urumqi, and (iii) local heterogeneous disparity patterns in isolated geographical cities, such as Lhasa, Lijiang, Huangshan, etc. These findings have important implications towards understanding the geo-political and economic forces at stake in shaping China's urban systems.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhengbin Dong & Wenjie Wu, 2015. "Exploring the Geography of China's Airport Networks: A Hybrid Complex-Network Approach," SERC Discussion Papers 0173, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    • Handle: RePEc:cep:sercdp:0173
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://cep.lse.ac.uk/pubs/download/sercdp0173.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stephen J. Redding & Daniel M. Sturm & Nikolaus Wolf, 2011. "History and Industry Location: Evidence from German Airports," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 93(3), pages 814-831, August.
    2. Bagler, Ganesh, 2008. "Analysis of the airport network of India as a complex weighted network," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 387(12), pages 2972-2980.
    3. Gilles Duranton & Henry G. Overman, 2008. "Exploring The Detailed Location Patterns Of U.K. Manufacturing Industries Using Microgeographic Data," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(1), pages 213-243, February.
    4. Zhang, Yahua & Round, David K., 2008. "China's airline deregulation since 1997 and the driving forces behind the 2002 airline consolidations," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 14(3), pages 130-142.
    5. Ellison, Glenn & Glaeser, Edward L, 1997. "Geographic Concentration in U.S. Manufacturing Industries: A Dartboard Approach," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 105(5), pages 889-927, October.
    6. Frédéric Dobruszkes, 2006. "An analysis of European low-cost airlines and their networks," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/95835, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    7. Krugman, Paul, 1980. "Scale Economies, Product Differentiation, and the Pattern of Trade," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 70(5), pages 950-959, December.
    8. Jan K. Brueckner, 2003. "Airline Traffic and Urban Economic Development," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 40(8), pages 1455-1469, July.
    9. Yang, Hangjun & Zhang, Anming, 2012. "Effects of high-speed rail and air transport competition on prices, profits and welfare," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 46(10), pages 1322-1333.
    10. Chen, Yanguang, 2009. "Spatial interaction creates period-doubling bifurcation and chaos of urbanization," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 1316-1325.
    11. Zhang, Anming, 1998. "Industrial reform and air transport development in China," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 4(3), pages 155-164.
    12. Shaw, Shih-Lung & Lu, Feng & Chen, Jie & Zhou, Chenghu, 2009. "China’s airline consolidation and its effects on domestic airline networks and competition," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 17(4), pages 293-305.
    13. Yang, Xiuyun & Keat Tok, Sow & Su, Fang, 2008. "The privatization and commercialization of China's airports," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 14(5), pages 243-251.
    14. Goetz, Andrew R. & Vowles, Timothy M., 2009. "The good, the bad, and the ugly: 30 years of US airline deregulation," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 17(4), pages 251-263.
    15. Lei, Zheng & O’Connell, John F., 2011. "The evolving landscape of Chinese aviation policies and impact of a deregulating environment on Chinese carriers," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 829-839.
    16. Wang, Jin, 2013. "The economic impact of Special Economic Zones: Evidence from Chinese municipalities," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 133-147.
    17. John Bowen, 2002. "Network Change, Deregulation, and Access in the Global Airline Industry," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 78(4), pages 425-439, October.
    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. Yang, Haoran & Du, Delin & Wang, Jiaoe & Wang, Xiaomeng & Zhang, Fan, 2023. "Reshaping China's urban networks and their determinants: High-speed rail vs. air networks," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 83-92.
    2. Zhu, Zhenran & Zhang, Anming & Zhang, Yahua & Huang, Zhibin & Xu, Shiteng, 2019. "Measuring air connectivity between China and Australia," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 359-370.
    3. Zhang, Yahua & Zhang, Anming & Zhu, Zhenran & Wang, Kun, 2017. "Connectivity at Chinese airports: The evolution and drivers," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 490-508.

    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. Lin, Jingyi, 2012. "Network analysis of China’s aviation system, statistical and spatial structure," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 22(C), pages 109-117.
    2. Stephen Gibbons & Wenjie Wu, 2020. "Airports, access and local economic performance: evidence from China [Are Chinese cities too small?]," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 20(4), pages 903-937.
    3. Wang, Jiaoe & Mo, Huihui & Wang, Fahui & Jin, Fengjun, 2011. "Exploring the network structure and nodal centrality of China’s air transport network: A complex network approach," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 712-721.
    4. Wang, Jiaoe & Mo, Huihui & Wang, Fahui, 2014. "Evolution of air transport network of China 1930–2012," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 145-158.
    5. Pere Suau-Sanchez & Guillaume Burghouwt & Xavier Fageda, 2016. "Reinterpreting EU Air Transport Deregulation: A Disaggregated Analysis of the Spatial Distribution of Traffic in Europe, 1990–2009," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 107(1), pages 48-65, February.
    6. Stephen Gibbons & Wenjie Wu, 2017. "Airports, Market Access and Local Economic Performance: Evidence from China," SERC Discussion Papers 0211, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    7. Jiang, Yonglei & Yao, Baozhen & Wang, Lu & Feng, Tao & Kong, Lu, 2017. "Evolution trends of the network structure of Spring Airlines in China: A temporal and spatial analysis," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 18-30.
    8. Jiaoe Wang & Haoran Yang & Han Wang, 2019. "The Evolution of China’s International Aviation Markets from a Policy Perspective on Air Passenger Flows," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(13), pages 1-15, June.
    9. Chow, Clement Kong Wing & Tsui, Wai Hong Kan, 2017. "Organizational learning, operating costs and airline consolidation policy in the Chinese airline industry," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 108-118.
    10. Wang, Jiaoe & Bonilla, David & Banister, David, 2016. "Air deregulation in China and its impact on airline competition 1994–2012," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 12-23.
    11. Lei, Zheng & O’Connell, John F., 2011. "The evolving landscape of Chinese aviation policies and impact of a deregulating environment on Chinese carriers," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 829-839.
    12. Stephen J. Redding, 2013. "Economic Geography: A Review of the Theoretical and Empirical Literature," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Daniel Bernhofen & Rod Falvey & David Greenaway & Udo Kreickemeier (ed.), Palgrave Handbook of International Trade, chapter 16, pages 497-531, Palgrave Macmillan.
    13. Allroggen, Florian & Wittman, Michael D. & Malina, Robert, 2015. "How air transport connects the world – A new metric of air connectivity and its evolution between 1990 and 2012," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 184-201.
    14. Wang, Kun & Xia, Wenyi & Zhang, Anming, 2017. "Should China further expand its high-speed rail network? Consider the low-cost carrier factor," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 105-120.
    15. Czerny, Achim I. & Fu, Xiaowen & Lei, Zheng & Oum, Tae H., 2021. "Post pandemic aviation market recovery: Experience and lessons from China," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    16. Frédéric Dobruszkes & Jiaoe Wang, 2019. "Developing a low-cost airline in a semi-protected regime: Comparing China to Europe and the US," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/286424, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    17. Wang Liao & Xiaoshu Cao & Shengchao Li, 2019. "Competition and Sustainability Development of a Multi-Airport Region: A Case Study of the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-21, May.
    18. Zhang, Qiong & Yang, Hangjun & Wang, Qiang & Zhang, Anming & Zhang, Yahua, 2020. "Impact of high-speed rail on market concentration and Lerner index in China's airline market," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    19. Dobruszkes, Frédéric & Wang, Jiaoe, 2019. "Developing a low-cost airline in a semi-protected regime: Comparing China to Europe and the US," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 48-58.
    20. Maria Sartzetaki & Dimitrios Dimitriou & Aristi Karagkouni, 2019. "Optimum Allocation of Time Resources For Transport Operation Enterprises," International Journal of Business Research and Management (IJBRM), Computer Science Journals (CSC Journals), vol. 10(3), pages 29-43, October.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Airport system; complex network; regional development; China;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C55 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - Large Data Sets: Modeling and Analysis
    • O18 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure
    • R12 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity; Interregional Trade (economic geography)
    • P25 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist and Transition Economies - - - Urban, Rural, and Regional Economics

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:cep:sercdp:0173. 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: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://cep.lse.ac.uk/_new/publications/serc-papers/ .

    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.