Metro-line expansions and local air quality in Shenzhen: Focusing on network effects

The authors examine the air-quality effects of urban-rail development in Shenzhen, taking a difference-in-differences approach. This study is motivated by existing mixed evidence on the rail-pollution relationship, which the authors associate with the dynamic nature of the relationship itself. The authors' results demonstrate that the relationship varies by time, depending on network density and scale. New station openings had no significant impacts on local air quality or even worsened it until the 2010 metro-line extension, when Shenzhen’s metro network density was still low, with limited spatial service coverage. However, the 2016 extension significantly abated air pollution as the network grew denser and more comprehensive. The rail-driven anti-pollution effects tended to be further strengthened with externalities arising from improved network connectivity, spilling over the effects beyond newly opened stations to preexisting ones. Also, metro stations in proximity to neighborhoods that share key characteristics in transit-oriented development tended to generate a greater anti-pollution effect.

• Record URL:
  • https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trd.2023.103991
• Record URL:
  • http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1361920923003887
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/13619209
• Supplemental Notes:
  • © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Abstract reprinted with permission of Elsevier.
• Authors:
  • Ou, Yifu
  • Song, Weize
  • Nam, Kyung-Min
  • 0000-0002-4579-4815
• Publication Date: 2024-1

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 103991
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment
  • Volume: 126
  • Issue Number: 0
  • Publisher: Elsevier
  • ISSN: 1361-9209
  • Serial URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/13619209

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Air quality; Built environment; Networks; Rail transit; Rail transit stations
• Geographic Terms: Shenzhen (China)
• Subject Areas: Environment; Public Transportation; Railroads;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01901975
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Dec 12 2023 9:19AM