The Influence of High-speed Rail on the Level and Structure of Urban Economic Vitality: An Empirical Study Based on Real GDP Data

High-speed rail (HSR) improves urban accessibility, changes the inter-city flow pattern of human and capital factors, and has a potential impact on urban economic vitality. A real GDP data is used to characterize urban economic vitality, and the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index(HHI) is used to characterize the urban economic vitality structure. Geodetector is used to study the influence of HSR on the level and structure of urban economic vitality. The main conclusions are as follows: The HSR frequency improves accessibility, promotes consumption, employment, investment in real estate development, tertiary industry development and the supply of urban construction land, and thus has a stronger positive impact on urban economic vitality. The magnet effect of HSR stations makes the station area attract resources to gather and develop, and the interaction with consumption, investment in real estate development and the supply of urban construction land has a stronger impact on urban economic vitality. More HSR lines extend the reach of cities, promote the development of consumption-related industries and real estate development, thus increasing economic vitality. The higher the HSR frequency, the more the HSR lines and HSR stations, the more dispersed the urban economic vitality structure. The layout of HSR stations in areas close to the city center will enhance the attractiveness of the city, which will increase the employment density, thus strengthening the economic vitality of the central urban area, and the urban economic vitality structure will be more concentrated. The results confirm that only when the variables related to HSR work together with the socio-economic variables, can the intensity of the influence of HSR on the level and structure of urban economic vitality be enhanced. In addition, HSR stations are the most important factors controlling the urban economic vitality structure, which has certain indicative significance for the future urban spatial planning.