High-speed rail network development effects on the growth and spatial dynamics of knowledge-intensive economy in major cities of China

The development of high-speed rail (HSR) is a key component of China's overall economic development policy. HSR generates external effects across economic sectors and has the potential to transform spatial-economies. Understanding these effects is, therefore crucial for long-term urban and regional development policy and planning. This paper examines the effect of HSR development on the growth and spatial dynamics of knowledge intensive economy (KE) in major cities of China. The analysis does not only adopt the widely used proxy of total length of HRS network, but it also includes the frequency of HSR services and its interactions with network length. HSR effects on: (a) absolute KE employment growth (b) KE spatial concentration and (c) KE regional specialisation are examined, controlling for relevant socio-economic variables. The results show that HSR network development and service frequency had varying effects on KE growth and spatial dynamics at multiple spatial scales. At the national level, HSR service frequency positively affected KE employment growth, concertation and specialisation, while HSR network expansion had a small but negative association with KE regional specialisation. Among the three main regions of China, positive effects of HSR service frequency were evident in the more prosperous eastern region. In contrast, effects were negligible in the less-developed central region. The results show that HSR development combines with existing favourable regional economic conditions to generate more growth in historically prosperous regions, thereby entrenching existing economic development imbalances. These insights could inform long-term strategic regional development policy to reduce uneven development outcomes in China.