China＇s regional transport dominance： Density, proximity, and accessibility

Transport infrastructure plays an important role in shaping the configuration of spatial socio-economic structures and influences regional accessibility. This paper defines transport dominance from three aspects： quafity, quantity, and advantage, measured by density, proximity, and accessibility indices. County is the basic unit for analysis. The results reveal： （1） Transport dominance statistically follows a partial normal distribution. A very few counties, 1.4% of the total, have extremely high transport dominance which strongly supports the socio-economic development in these areas. In contrast, one eighth of all counties have poor transport dominance which impedes local socio-economic development to some extent. The remaining areas, about 70% of the counties, have median transport dominance. （2） Transport dominance is spatially unevenly distributed, with values decreasing gradually from the coastal area to the inland area. Areas in the first-highest level of transport dominance are mainly concentrated in the Yangtze River Delta, the Greater Beijing area, and the Pearl River Delta. Areas in the second-highest level are focused in Chengdu, Chongqing, and Wuhan metropolitan areas. Provincial capitals and a few other counties belong to the third-highest level.

Evolution of regional transport dominance in China 1910-2012

Transport infrastructure plays an important role in shaping the configuration of spatial socio-economic structures and influencing regional accessibility. Although China＇s transport infrastructure has been experiencing a rapid development in the last 100 years, there lacks a systematic examination of the complete evolution history of China＇s transport development, particularly with all kinds of transport modes. This paper first aims to clarify the history of China＇s transportation from 1910 to 2012, and divides its evolution process into five periods （1911, 1935, 1953, 1981 and 2012） whereby each period represents the preliminary development time for each transport mode. Second, the paper calculates the transport dominance and analyses its spatial distribution in each period, with county as the basic analysis unit. Transport dominance here is defined as an integrated indicator for evaluating regional transport conditions. The results demonstrate the following： （1） areas with relative good transport dominance have expanded from scattered dots such as Tianjin, Shanghai, Guangzhou in 1911 to extensive areas with each provincial city as cores in 2012; （2） transport development is improved by advances in transportation technology. The construction of modern transport infrastructures such as seaports, airports, high-speed rails （HSRs）, and freeways lead the expansion of national territorial areas with good and excellent transport dominance and the increase of the value of transport dominance over time; （3） transport dominance is spatially unevenly distributed and exhibits resemblance with the expansion of transport network, which is closely related to China＇s socio-economic development and policles.