Role of transportation network on population distribution evolution

Abstract

Research on the evolution mechanism of population distribution has practical applications in transportation science, spatial economics and many other fields. However, the evolution of population distribution is influenced by numerous factors, among which transportation is a very important one. This paper proposed a dynamic model of population distribution that considers the impact of the transportation network. In the model, the human prefers to move to areas with good transportation. By considering the highway and railway network, we investigate the effects of them on the population spatial distribution. The parameters of the model can govern how many people can immigrate and emigrate in each area. It can be determined by the nonlinear least square method. Furthermore, we use the data of china’s population distribution to demonstrate our model’s ability. Moreover, this model can help us better understand the underlying mechanism of population distribution evolution.