Transportation accessibility and regional growth in the Greater Bay Area of China

This paper investigates a fundamental question related to the massive infrastructure development that has occurred in the Greater Bay Area (GBA) in South China: What is the impact of transportation accessibility on regional economic growth? This question is investigated using an endogenous growth model based on panel data that covers 11 cities in the GBA from 2000 to 2016. For the first time, the change in accessibility caused by both infrastructure development and the adjustment of custom policies were considered. In addition, impacts from the accessibility of various transportation modes (highway and rail) on different economic sectors were examined. The research findings confirm that the regional economy of the GBA is converged, which suggests that the regional economic disparity among the nine cities in the Guangdong province and the special administrative region of Hong Kong and Macau is reduced. In addition, the improvement of transportation accessibility was found to have a significant influence on regional economic growth, but the effects vary among different modes and economic sectors. In particular, the improved highway accessibility was found to have a positive effect on the regional growth of agriculture, construction, retail and hospitality. The effect of rail accessibility was found to be mixed, as a positive and significant effect was found on the sectors, such as agriculture, transportation, whereas the opposite effect was also confirmed in the manufacturing sector. Such a result suggests that the massive development of rail infrastructure system in GBA has facilitated economic restructuring to evolve from a manufacturing dominated system to a more balanced economic system. Overall, this study provides important implications for transportation planners and policymakers to improve their decision-making of future infrastructure investments pertaining to the improvement of transportation accessibility in GBA and beyond.