Abstract
There have been growing concerns around the world over the rising spatial inequality (SI) amid fast and vast globalization. This paper presents an effort to benchmark the conditions and trends of spatial inequality in 37 megaregions in the United States, Europe, and China. Furthermore, the study selected three megaregion examples and analyzed the effect of developing high-speed rail (HSR) as an infrastructure investment strategy on reshaping the spatial pattern of job accessibility. The study measures spatial inequality with the Theil index of gross regional product and with the rank-size coefficient of polycentricity. Results show that spatial inequality exists and varies in magnitude within and between megaregions. On average, Chinese megaregions exhibited the level of spatial inequality about two times or more of those in the U.S. and European megaregions. The decade between 2006 and 2016 saw a decrease in the Theil index measure of megaregional inequality in China, but a slight increase in the United States and Europe. Fast growing megaregions exhibit high levels and rising trends of spatial inequality regardless of the country or continent setting. HSR helps improve mobility and accessibility; yet the extent to which HSR reduces spatial inequality is context dependent. This study presents a first attempt to assess and compare the spatial inequality conditions and trajectories in world megaregions aiming at promoting international learning.
Highlights
The core interest of this paper is to assess spatial inequality (SI) and the role of major transportation investments, high-speed or high-performance rail (HSR), in shaping SI of large-sized regions or megaregions
The renewed interest in megaregions beginning after the turn of the 21st century lies in the premise that, in the globalized economy, it is these mega-agglomerations, not individual cities, that play renewed interest in megaregions beginning after the turn of the 21st century lies in premise that, in the globalized economy, it is these mega-agglomerations, not individ cities, that play a key role for competition
This part compares the trend of regional inequality in 37 megaregions between the years 2006 and 2016 (Table 2)
Summary
The core interest of this paper is to assess spatial inequality (SI) and the role of major transportation investments, high-speed or high-performance rail (HSR), in shaping SI of large-sized regions or megaregions. This study focuses on the undesired spatial difference in a megaregional context. The concern has been growing recently over the worsening inequality, spatial and nonspatial, amid the fast and vast globalization in the past decades. Whil number of scholars have come up with their own delineations of U.S megaregions [ 20],competition. They share the the urgent research needsfourths to understand megaregional ch a key role for Theview. U.S of projections show that three of U.S jobs and lenges and devise a megaregional approach to address in institutional/legal, a population will concentrate in the eleven megaregions by 2050.
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