Investigating multi-way impacts of transportation on human footprint: Evidence from China

Abstract

Transportation can indirectly impact the environment through affecting various human activities. Previous literature has not adequately discussed in what direction and to what extent transportation impacts human activities and in turn the environment in a large geographical context. This paper aims to investigate the multi-way impacts of transportation on human activities and their spatial-temporal variations. We adopt transportation dominance as a proxy for transportation, which is an integration of density, proximity, and location advantage. We employ human footprint as a proxy for human activities, which is compiled on built environments, population density, electric infrastructure, croplands, and pasture lands. Ordinary least squares (OLS) and geographically and temporally weighted regression (GTWR) models are used to estimate transportation impacts. The results show that multi-way impacts of transportation on human footprint are related to a host of variables and exhibit spatial-temporal heterogeneity, which can be positive, negative, and non-significant. Multi-way impacts are mainly manifested in spatial variation rather than temporal variation, with macroscopic east-west variation, mesoscopic core-periphery variation, and microscopic urban-rural variation. Our findings also suggest that human footprint in rural areas and central provinces is more susceptible to improved transportation conditions. Roadless areas should be protected from transportation-induced human activities and disturbance to promote sustainable transportation development.