Research On Effects Of Wuhan-Guangzhou High-Speed Railway On Urban System Development

The medium and long term plan of railway network, which was adopted at the executive meeting of the State Council in January, 2005, has decided to form "four vertical and four horizontal" dedicated passenger network by 2010. According to the Eleventh Five-Year Plan of Railway, China has planed to construct 17000 kilometers of new railways and 7000 kilometers of high-speed railways by 2010, and basically form the rapid passenger transport network connecting the major cities in which passenger dedicated line is the backbone. Wuhan-Guangzhou high-speed railway, as a part of Beijing-Guangzhou passenger dedicated line, is the first-batch project approved by the State Council. Full length of the line is 995 kilometers. It passes through Hubei, Hunan, and Guangdong province. The project was launched in June 2005 and will be achieved in 2010. Once completed, it will reduce travel time from Wuhan to Guangzhou by 7 hours compared with 11 hours nowadays. Wuhan-Guangzhou high-speed railway, parallel to JingGuang railway, passes through the regions where enjoy a high level of economical development and urbanization. Urban system along the railway line has basically been formed in the existing transport links of JjingGuang railway and Beijing-Zhuhai expressway, and has been one part of Bej ing-Guangzhou megalopolis. The construction of wuguang high-speed railway will improve the traffic conditions, enhance the communication and connection among the cities along the railway line, and impel the development of Wuhan-Guangzhou Traffic Economic Belt. It will effect the development of existing urban system. The systematical analysis on effects of Wuhan-Guangzhou high-speed railway on existing urban system development has theoretical significance and realistic meanings.On the basis of summarizing the theories of urban system, traffic economic belt and relative regional economic development theories, the paper analyzes the effects of Wuhan-Guangzhou high-speed railway on urban system development from hierarchical structure, spatial structure and function structure three aspects separately. From the analysis, it comes to the conclusion that the construction of Wuhan-Guangzhou high-speed railway will help the cities at all levels produce agglomeration effects and spread effects, and optimize the hierarchical structure of urban system. Wuhan-Guangzhou high-speed railway will improve the spatial accessibility and attraction among the cities, enhance spatial interaction, optimize the urban internal and external spatial structure, make the most effective spatial development mode—point-axle development mode function better, and form the "one megalopolis, multiple points and three agglomerations" spatial development pattern. It also concludes that the construction of Wuhan-Guangzhou high-speed railway will strengthen the general urban function, and optimize the function structure of urban system by impacting industry development. Finally the paper provides some policy recommendations for urban system development.