Liu Ziliang, Zhu Shengjun, He Canfei
College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes of the Ministry of Education, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
PNAS Nexus. 2024 Dec 10;3(12):pgae507. doi: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae507. eCollection 2024 Dec.
Industrial pollution and the associated spatial environmental inequality increase health risks and hinder sustainable development, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Large-scale public transportation infrastructure that connects developed and developing cities, exemplified by high-speed railway (HSR), has the potential to be an effective instrument. Here, we provide nationwide micro-level estimates for the overall and distributional environmental impacts of HSR in a middle-income context. Using over half-a-million emission records of industrial firms during the rapid expansion of Chinese HSR, the world's largest HSR program, we find significant reductions in firm emissions after HSR opening (by 5.11-13.80%). The contributions come via facilitating intercity element flows like (green) technologies and lowering emission intensities. At the aggregate level, the HSR-driven emission reductions account for 0.49-1.70% of the overall emissions during the study period. Last, we examine the geographical distributional impacts of HSR. Both our between-city and within-city analyses reveal that laggard areas benefit more from HSR connection, thereby contributing to inter-regional environmental equality.
工业污染及相关的空间环境不平等加剧了健康风险，阻碍了可持续发展，在低收入和中等收入国家尤其如此。以高速铁路（HSR）为代表的连接发达城市与发展中城市的大规模公共交通基础设施，有可能成为一种有效的手段。在此，我们在中等收入背景下，对高铁在全国范围内的总体和分布环境影响进行了微观层面的评估。利用中国高铁这一全球最大的高铁项目快速扩张期间超过50万条工业企业排放记录，我们发现高铁开通后企业排放量显著减少（减少了5.11%-13.80%）。其贡献来自于促进（绿色）技术等城际要素流动以及降低排放强度。在总体层面，高铁带动的减排量占研究期间总排放量的0.49%-1.70%。最后，我们考察了高铁的地理分布影响。我们的城市间和城市内分析均表明，落后地区从高铁连接中受益更多，从而有助于区域间环境平等。
