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Gradient effect of road transportation on economic development in different geomorphic regions

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Abstract

The economic benefits of transport infrastructure investment have been widely accepted. However, the varying influence of road transport development across vertical space has rarely been discussed. Taking Sichuan province in China as case study area where the landform is diverse and complex, administrative counties were categorized into 4 main types: plain counties, hill counties, mountain counties, and plateau counties. Using statistical data during 2006-2014, the performance of economic development and transport construction level in the four types of counties are discussed. Subsequently, the heterogeneous effect of each grade road on economy was calculated by local regression model (GWR). The results indicate that plain counties largely surpassed the other geomorphic counties in economic development level, while the gradient gap among them was on the decline. Similarly, distribution of transport infrastructure presented a decreasing trend from the low plain counties to high plateau counties. Regional imbalances were mainly reflected in the County road and Village road. Regarding the changes of regional gaps, National & Provincial roads and County roads were constantly expanding, whereas the disparity of Village road was slowly narrowing over time. Particularly noteworthy was the non-stationary economic influence of traffic factors across vertical gradients. On average, National & Provincial roads generated higher benefits in the high elevation regions than the lowlands. In contrast, County road and Village road were found to be more effective in promoting economic development in plains. With regard to local estimates of traffic factors, coefficients in mountain counties exhibited larger fluctuation ranges than other geomorphic units. The conclusions provide a basis for government decisionmaking in a more reasonable construction arrangement of road facilities and sustainable economic development.

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Acknowledgement

The research reported in this manuscript was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grants No. 41571523 and 41661144038), the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program) (Grant No. 2013CBA01808) and the National Key Technology Research and Development Program of the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (Grant No. 2014BAC05B01).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, 610041, China

    Xue-ting Yang, Yi-ping Fang, Xiao-ping Qiu & Fu-biao Zhu

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Xue-ting Yang, Xiao-ping Qiu & Fu-biao Zhu

  3. College of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China

    Yi-ping Fang

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  1. Xue-ting Yang
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Yang, Xt., Fang, Yp., Qiu, Xp. et al. Gradient effect of road transportation on economic development in different geomorphic regions. J. Mt. Sci. 15, 181–197 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-017-4498-5

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