The Impacts of Transportation Sustainability on Higher Education in China

Daqing Zu,Jian Xu,Kang Cao

doi:10.3390/su132212579

Daqing Zu, Jian Xu + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su132212579

Copy DOI

Abstract

Improving transportation sustainability serves as a means of reducing the perceived and real distance, thereby contributing to the city and higher education development. In this paper, the complexity of transport sustainability is measured via four different dimensions: economy, society, environment and politics. The variables are designed by the four dimensions. The higher education development is measured via the ratio of higher education degree holders, reflecting the skilled work mobility. Over the last 30 years, university students moving to cities for study and work purposes have become an important part of rural–urban transition mobility. However, few studies have explored the impacts of transportation sustainability on higher education development in China. The economic, environmental, social and political dimensions in transportation sustainability can boost China’s higher education attainment in different ways. Against this background, this study, drawing on the panel data and employing the spatial multilevel model, investigated the impacts of transportation sustainability on higher education in China, adding new empirical evidence for China’s higher education development. A panel analysis revealed that the increase in transportation sustainability induces the growth of higher education. Moreover, higher education attainment showed significant spatial dependence at the county level and had significant spatial clustering of county-level higher education attainment across provinces. Furthermore, modeled test results showed that the spatial multilevel model was more suitable for our study than traditional regression models. By identifying transport sustainability variables that have an effect on higher education, this study is the first to uncover the complexity of transportation sustainability and contributes to the latest policy implications for promoting higher education attainment through sustainable transportation.

Highlights

IntroductionThere is emerging research that focuses on the positive role of transport in an area’s development [2,3,4,5,6], it has not yet been addressed that transportation sustainability affects interregional long-distance mobility, migration of high-end, and high-skilled human capital [6,7]
Modern transportation mode choices such as air transportation and high-speed railways have connected distant regions, thereby contributing to accessibility through boosting opportunities for individuals to study, work, and even migrate to distant areas [1]. there is emerging research that focuses on the positive role of transport in an area’s development [2,3,4,5,6], it has not yet been addressed that transportation sustainability affects interregional long-distance mobility, migration of high-end, and high-skilled human capital [6,7]
China City Statistical Yearbooks from 2010–2020, this study answers the following research question: What are the associations between transportation sustainability and China’s higher education based on the measure of sustainable transport development? With the help of a spatial multilevel analysis, we provide an empirical analysis for understanding the various dimensions of transportation sustainability and its impacts on higher education

Summary

Introduction

There is emerging research that focuses on the positive role of transport in an area’s development [2,3,4,5,6], it has not yet been addressed that transportation sustainability affects interregional long-distance mobility, migration of high-end, and high-skilled human capital [6,7]. This study contributes to understanding the associations between sustainable transportation and higher education development through choosing key variables that reflect the effects of transportation sustainability on higher education attainment and providing empirical evidence and implications for the growth dynamics and competitiveness of regions. Growing transportation demand has led to a series of problems such as traffic congestion and pollution, creating barriers to regional development. Under this circumstance, sustainability is introduced to transportation studies, encompassing a holistic consideration. We follow the definition of transportation sustainability provided by the Centre for Sustainable Transportation (CST)

Methods

Results

Conclusion