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In light of several recent large-scale flooding events worldwide, the urgency of involving residents in the flood risk management debate is growing. However, this has so far proven to be problematic, mainly because of lacking or ineffective communication between stakeholders. One way to better involve residents in the flood risk management debate is by developing smart applications, dedicated to facilitate and increase the insights of residents into the flood risk and vulnerability of their private properties. However, what is lacking thus far is a systematic evaluation of the technical aspects and the user experiences of such tools. The goal of this article is to explore and evaluate the technical, analytical, and communicative qualities of smart flood risk assessment tools. To this end, a new smart application named FLOODLABEL is used, aiming to inform residents of flood-prone areas about potential flood risks and associated protection measures of their dwellings. Based on this, the article concludes that a smart application like FLOODLABEL can be beneficial for informing residents about flood risks and potential protection measures. However, it also shows that a one-size-fits-all approach is not suitable for informing residents on flood risks, inter alia because how residents perceive risks is not homogeneous. This research is therefore just the first step towards a more systematic evaluation method of smart applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change will affect the way cities work substantially. Flooding and urban heating are among the most tangible consequences in cities around the globe. Extreme hydro-meteorological events will likely increase in the future due to climate change. Making cities climate-resilient is therefore an urgent challenge to sustain urban living. To adapt cities to the consequences of climate change, new ideas and concepts need to be adopted. This oftentimes requires action from different stakeholder groups and citizens. In other words, climate adaptation of cities needs governance. Facilitating such urban governance for climate adaptation is thus a big and increasing challenge of urban planning. Smart tools and its embedding in smart urban governance is promising to help in this respect. To what extent can the use of digital knowledge technologies in a collaborative planning setting be instrumental in facilitating climate adaptation? This question entails visualising effects of climate adaptation interventions and facilitating dialogue between governments, businesses such as engineering companies, and citizens. The aim of this thematic issue is to explore how the application of technologies in urban planning, embedded in smart urban governance, can contribute to provide climate change adaptation. We understand smart urban governance in this context both in terms of disclosing technical expert information to the wider public, and in terms of supporting with the help of technologies the wider governance debates between the stakeholders involved. The contributions reflect this dual focus on socio-technical innovations and planning support, and therefore include various dimensions, from modelling and interacting to new modes of urban governance and political dimensions of using technologies in climate change adaptation in urban areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been a growing interest in developing tools to assist decision-making in moving towards sustainable development, such as Sustainability Assessment (SA). It is argued here that more advanced and sophisticated tools are less useful than strengthening institutions when it comes to better engagement of stakeholders and more integrated decision-making. This paper aims at understanding barriers that impede the implementation of an SA tool for road project planning by examining how and when practitioners experience these barriers. From the empirical perspective of Indonesian road planning practitioners, the study reveals the five most influential barriers, including i) insufficient funding support, ii) limited skilled personnel that can use the tool, iii) unavailability of data and information, iv) unavailability of a specific arena for decision-making, and v) unavailability of detailed procedures/manuals. This research discusses strategies for successful implementation, particularly in a context that is less favourable to integrated decision-making, such as Indonesia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent decades, many metropolitan cities have invested in large-scale infrastructure projects to position themselves strategically as competitors in the global economy. Most of these projects visibly transform places by introducing iconic images to reflect the city's global status. One crucial question surrounding these physical changes is how citizens, and particularly communities in the vicinity of the projects, might perceive the transformed place based on their daily practices and individual experiences. Therefore, this article aims to explain the possible conflicts between project promoters and people in the adjacent areas in relation to the creation of place within a large-scale project development through the concept of place-making. The case study is an urban redevelopment project under the branding of Tangerang LIVE 2020, in the Jabodetabek Metropolitan Area in Indonesia. The project is a government's response to globalisation challenges through the creation of a sustainable city. Qualitative in-depth interviews and observations show that the use of large-scale projects as tools for the city's branding strategy have largely contended with people's daily spatial practices, especially because of the failure to provide information to the affected group of people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The academic debate on flood risk governance is paying increased attention to the shifting position of homeowners. Homeowners are increasingly expected to adapt their homes to protect against possible floods. Although an overall agreement seems to exist on the involvement of homeowners in flood risk governance, the academic literature is dispersed in its argumentation on why homeowners should be involved. Therefore, this article provides a coherent overview of the transition from flood protection to flood risk management, and subsequently of the arguments that unfold regarding the shifting position of homeowners within this debate. This overview, based on a systematic review of the academic literature, helps to shed light on the changing role of homeowners in flood risk governance and contributes to categorizing the arguments used in current academic reasoning on homeowner involvement in flood risk governance. We use a conceptual distinction between macro‐level and micro‐level arguments, and between individual and collective efforts to structure our results. This conceptual overview illustrates the potential gap in convincing homeowners of the urgency to take action, because the connection between the macro‐level arguments (i.e., climate change and responsibility) and the micro‐level arguments (i.e., minimizing flood damage on privately owned properties) is generally not made. We, therefore, suggest that a stronger coherence in the argumentation would contribute to increase homeowner awareness of their changing responsibilities, which might bring about a future shift toward a new phase in flood risk governance, in which the responsibilities of homeowners are more explicitly acknowledged and integrated into climate adaptation strategies. This article is categorized under:Engineering Water > Planning WaterHuman Water > Water Governance [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In planning regional road development, planners often face a challenge to reconcile various interests and interpretations on the ultimate goals which complicate the discussion decision-making processes. This situation is defined as strategic ambiguity. Standard procedures for impact assessment are mostly ineffective at offering solutions that satisfy all involved stakeholders. This paper analyses the situation by using a Multiple Stream Framework (MSF) approach. MSF identifies three factors, labelled "streams', i.e. the problems, the solutions, and the politics streams, that open sustainability 'windows' for integrating different interests. This paper investigates the opening of such windows in two highway projects in Indonesia. Both projects showed a high ambition for achieving environmental sustainability. In these cases, the window was opened through (i) recognition of the problems and the solutions by the active involvement of stakeholders, (ii) coalitions with influential stakeholders for political supports, and (iii) mobilization of resources and policy networks by the stakeholders. It is concluded that planners might influence the streams to outline decision-making processes and to implement environmental impact assessments effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many urban residences are insufficiently prepared for fluvial, pluvial or coastal floods, owing to a lack of accurate information on flood risk. This article analyzes how risk communication can improve disaster risk reduction by overcoming the expert–layperson gap. Building on interviews in three cities in the Netherlands, it applies Q methodology to identify four perspectives on flood risk communication. To promote greater private residential involvement in flood risk adaptation, communication should address all four rationalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Over the past twenty-five years a considerable amount of literature has emerged that addresses inland port development in a variety of ways and in different institutional contexts. A recurring issue throughout most papers focusing on inland ports is the wide diversity of definitions, actors, functions, levels and geographies that are of relevance. Therefore, a literature review on inland port development contributes to defining the most important streams in inland port research. Recent studies show that the concept of inland ports is clearly much richer and more diversified than merely an extension of deep-sea ports or port logistics. However, as much of the literature is still largely based on individual case studies and anecdotal evidences, the conceptualization of inland ports has proven to be particularly difficult. Therefore, this review paper presents a systematic and integrated review of inland port studies, covering 80 international peer-reviewed academic journal papers on inland port development between 1992 and 2017. The results show that much attention is paid on inland ports as components of the 'transport/logistics/supply chain' systems (follower), while their roles as components of the 'regional' systems (leader) are largely overlooked. Such a tweaked focus is likely to pose significant impacts on planning, management, and governance of inland ports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Facilitating start-ups located in the port-city interface is one of the current policy strategies of municipalities in many port-cities worldwide to encourage innovations in constantly evolving port areas. This could help the re-development of vacant ex-port land, while also offering new economic orientations for the city and the port. The aim of the paper is therefore to explore what conditions are needed to facilitate and encourage start-ups in innovation ecosystems in the port-city interface. The analysis is based on two in-depth case studies of the port-cities of Montreal (Canada) and Rotterdam (the Netherlands). The results indicate that government initiatives to actively facilitate start-ups in formerly industrialized port areas are quite successful. However, the functional linkages between start-ups and port activities remains rather limited, if not entirely absent, and the impact on the functioning of the innovation ecosystem at large is not substantial. Other factors such as capital, collaboration and proximity are valued more than the physical location of the start-up. In this, other actors in the ecosystem besides the municipality and the port authority also play a key role. Furthermore, start-ups often feel limited in their innovative capacity because of stringent regulations and institutional rigidness. Governments and port authorities could facilitate in this respect by working more demand-driven in terms of unburdening and creating more institutional support, instead of imposing top-down rules and regulations to try to govern the ecosystem, which in itself can be considered a contradiction in terms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although terminal efficiency has been thoroughly studied for deep-sea container ports and terminals, up till now, there has been little scientific literature on the efficiency of inland waterway container terminals (IWTs). This paper therefore focuses on determining and analyzing terminal characteristics that influence efficiency. Our analysis led to a number of conclusions. First, there exist important differences between IWTs and maritime terminals in terms of design capacity and thus also in operations. Different combinations of inputs and output have been tested with the SFA and DEA methodologies. Important terminal inputs turned out to be yard and crane, but also terminal operating hours and terminal area are important. When capacity is excluded as an input it turns out that the importance of inputs becomes more diverse under SFA. Furthermore, when the inputs and output are varied it shows that this leads to a variation in best and worst performers (the efficiency depends on defined inputs and output). Finally, terminal operating hours are an important input for IWTs which is an important difference with maritime terminals which are open 24/7. In terms of how efficiency is defined, there arises a considerable difference between design efficiency (capacity) and the operational efficiency (terminal throughput). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Attention to self-organisation and spontaneous order in urban development is growing both in academia and in planning practice. One of the current academic discussions centres around the desirability of self-organisation. This paper evaluates the case of self-organisation in Oosterwold Almere in the Netherlands - an atypical case as it is a large-scale experimental project of organic urban development. We analysed how this case deals with traditional welfare-economic justifications for urban planning by the government. Several challenges of self-governing communities in dealing with public goods and negative externalities are identified. The case of Oosterwold highlights the continued importance of collective action, both in the provision and management of public goods and services, and in the prevention of free-rider behaviour and inefficient use of space. In Oosterwold, collective solutions are being established to deal with challenges concerning institutions, common costs, and the liability of replacing the urban planning by the government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The port economics literature is extensive, but does not address well the economic effects of inland ports development. This paper explores the extent to which spatial proximity of inland ports vis-a-vis each other influences agglomeration externalities. Spatially lagged regression models are employed to analyse whether spatial dependence between proximate inland ports can be observed or, alternatively, whether the density of the inland port network in the Netherlands is leading to diseconomies of scale because of overproximity. The conclusions indicate that especially in the context of the dense fluvial network of the Netherlands inland ports development involves much competition among inland ports; being proximite to strong neighbouring inland ports is not necessarily beneficial to the growth prospects of an inland port. This indication of overproximity highlights a need for reflection on the possibility of an integrated and coordinated regional governance approach towards inland port development in the Netherlands and North-West Europe. The relationship between inland ports and regional development is obviously present, but ambiguous since it involves a multiplicity of interactions among a diversity of actors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current widespread attention on the concept of smart city in both policy and practice has stimulated academic discussion regarding the scope and applicability of this concept. An important question is whether cities and regions are truly advanced in implementing the concept in their policies and practices relative to its conceptual elaborations in academia. The aim of this paper is to analyse this congruence between theory and practice in the context of the ongoing transformations of railway station areas in European urban regions. Based on in-depth interviewing using aspects of Q-methodology, this paper investigates whether and how smart city concepts are implemented by stakeholders in three station redevelopment projects in the Netherlands. The results show that the current implementation of smart city concepts in practice is varied but modest and not (yet) very advanced. Knowledge exchange and innovations are currently hampered by a lack of acceptance and know-how among stakeholders, as well as by institutional and competitive constraints. For instance, stakeholders stress that data privacy regulations should be well organized before further implementation can occur. Transparency about how and what data are used may create more willingness among users to assist in developing and accepting new data technologies. However, the technologies are not yet completely developed, and concerns about the “loss” of personal privacy are holding back the widespread and advanced use of data supplied technologies. Although stakeholders seem to be aware of the opportunities the smart city concept offers, for now, the widespread implementation of innovative and advanced smart city concepts remains in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most scientific attention in port studies centers on deep-sea ports, in particular container ports. In our paper, in contrast, we focus our attention on the characteristics of inland waterway ports in a European context. This is an overlooked part in the scientific literature on inland port development, which is up to now mainly concerned with US-based understandings of inland ports. We try to broaden the application of the inland port concept by explaining the development of inland ports in terms of inland waterway bounded cargo throughput. Based on a large-scale quantitative dataset of inland port development in Dutch municipalities we perform various statistical analyses to arrive at a more detailed understanding of the question: What are the characteristics of European inland waterway ports and what transport and economic factors influence cargo throughput on the municipal level? The results in particular highlight the importance of the presence of a container terminal, the diversity in types of goods which are being handled by the inland port and the accessibility of the inland port relative to the regional motorway network as important factors in explaining the size and growth of inland ports. Interestingly, the popular claim in policy of ‘investments in inland port development leading to employment growth’ cannot be confirmed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transport corridors are viewed as a promising way forward in European Union (EU) transport policy, assumed to contribute positively to regional economic development. However, the validity of this assumption is not evident. The aim of this paper is to empirically test whether agglomeration economies in European transport corridor regions are positively related to indicators of regional economic development compared to regions outside the scope of corridors. The results build on the notion that the type of agglomeration economy in combination with the structure of the economy matters for prospects of structural economic growth in different regions. In this way, the analysis not only contributes to enhancing the empirical scrutiny of the corridor concept in EU transport policy, but also provides new insights into how corridors contribute to regional economic growth. We find only limited evidence for a corridor effect across European regions on productivity and employment growth externalities. Instead, we find a large degree of spatial heterogeneity interacting with corridors—a heterogeneity that has been little recognized in EU policies. We suggest that recent attention to place-based development strategies may accord well with the kinds of agglomeration effects related to corridor development observed in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Inland port challenges involve trade-offs between positive and negative effects. [•] Different port governance strategies exist to cope with these trade-offs. [•] Proactive zoning contributes to efficiently accommodating inland ports. [•] Facing inland port challenges is relevant for European corridor development. [•] Governing bodies should address multi-dimensional inland port challenges. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

After half a century of corridor development in Europe, the corridor concept is well-established in the academic discourse on transportation. Transport corridors have also been common practice in European transport policy since the creation of a borderless Europe in the 1990s. What is largely lacking in present-day research on European transport corridors is a consideration of a sector-transcendent and comprehensive spatial approach. We argue that adopting such an approach is beneficial to a valued analysis of European transport corridors, especially in the light of EU cohesion policy, agglomeration effects and place-based development. Also, negative external effects of persisting bottlenecks on welfare and quality of life in transport corridors should be better assessed and contextualised. This paper therefore suggests that policy can and should capitalise more on spatiality in corridors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos as a model system, we compared the antioxidant and cytoprotective effects of a series of new water-soluble fullerenes 1-12. Since zebrafish embryos are transparent during the first week of life, the effects of fullerenes on multiple organ systems, including CNS, PNS, and heart, could be assessed in situ. Both positively charged and negatively charged water-soluble fullerenes were added at concentrations between 1 and 500 µM to 96 well plates containing zebrafish embryos at 24-120 hours post fertilization (hpf). Direct toxicity of each fullerene compound was assessed by LC50. In addition, we assessed the ability of each fullerene to protect against toxicity induced by known chemical toxins in this system. Four different drug/chemical toxicity models were used in our study: (i) protection of neuromast hair cells from gentamicin-induced toxicity; (ii) protection of neuromast hair cells from cisplatinum-induced toxicity; (iii) protection of tyrosine hydroxylase-containing dopaminergic CNS neurons from 6-hydroxydopamine toxicity; and (iv) protection of total CNS neurons from 6-hydroxydopamine toxicity. Our results indicate that (i) positively charged water-soluble fullerenes tend to exhibit greater toxicity than negatively charged fullerenes with similar structures; (ii) toxicity varies considerably among negatively charged fullerenes from very low to moderate, depending on structural features; (iii) dendrofullerenes 2-7 (monoadducts of C60) show stronger protection against cisplatinum toxicity in neuromast hair cells while then the e,e,e-trismalonic acid 1 (so called C3) shows stronger protection against gentamicin-induced cytotoxicity in the same cells; (iv) C3 (1) is relatively unstable in all aqueous solvents tested and breaks down mainly through decarboxylation reactions to form penta, tetra and tris carboxylated forms, which exhibit increased toxicity in vivo compared with C3 (1). Our findings indicate that water-soluble fullerenes can protect against chemical toxin-induced apoptotic cell death in a vertebrate, whole-animal model that may be useful for predicting the efficacy and toxicity of these compounds in mammals. Furthermore, the relative potential for pharmacologic use of these compounds varies considerably with respect to stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Planning support systems (PSS), as geo-information technology instruments, have been developed to support planning as urban planning is becoming highly complex. Recent advances in new information and communication technologies (ICTs) in the context of smart cities have provided new potentials to enrich PSS-support functions, but they do not constitute a "silver bullet;" in fact, PSS's potential roles in practice are impeded by fundamental and structural factors. This article argues that the evolving perceptions of planning together with the changing roles of PSS in supporting planning provide the foundations for solving these structural restrictions. It presents a genealogical exploration of planning thoughts and associated PSS supports over the past 70 years, which is cross-checked by the results of expert interviews. The analysis indicates that for a factual planning supportive role: (1) the focus on the urban planning issue at hand should be strengthened, since it determines the planning mode and the relevant PSS choice; (2) there is a need for a user-centered, demand-induced approach toward PSS developments in planning, aimed at better serving the real needs of PSS users and planning practices; and (3) and there is also a need for more sensitivity toward contextual factors in PSS developments and applications, since the specific contextual characteristics help to identify the complexity faced by planners and influence the relevant planning rationality and specific PSS to be applied. This article thus highlights the importance of considering planning support as a socio-technical innovation shaped through challenges in urban contexts and the relevant planning approaches applied to handle these challenges. Further recommendations are proposed for PSS developments and applications in future planning practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study aims to examine to what extent sustainability has been incorporated into assessments of road infrastructure projects. It identifies promising approaches that include indicators reflecting core sustainability criteria, determines criteria that were insufficiently covered as indicators, and develops an integrated indicator set covering all criteria. Methods: A systematic review was performed to obtain all related papers/reports in two academic databases: Scopus and Web of Sciences. The indicators extracted from papers/reports were first coded, then evaluated by using quantitative and qualitative content analysis. Results: The project appraisal methods for decision-making is found to be a promising approach, covering more extensive criteria than others. Two criteria – namely adaptation and precaution and intergenerational equity – were hardly ever adopted as indicators. Ten main groups of indicators were extracted to construct an integrated set incorporating all core criteria. Conclusions: Some criteria appear to have become mainstream, while others deserve attention. The safest choice is to combine methods/tools or to adopt the integrated set developed for exhaustive criteria inclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past decade, two dominant perspectives prevail on the governance of smart cities. From a public administration perspective, 'smart governance' emphasizes the importance of technology-based tools in transforming government institutions. From an urban planning perspective, the governance of smart cities focuses on the institution interaction with spatial challenges. Within this backdrop, these perspectives can learn from each other to arrive at new transformative smart governance approaches. This paper proposes a specific urban planning perspective on smart governance, labeled as 'smart urban governance'. It is aiming specifically at the transformative governance of the socio-spatial context of urban challenges associated to smart cities via technological innovations and opening up new possibilities for city transformation. To this end, the meaning of smart urban governance is conceptualized from three dimensions: purposes, components and contexts. Based on a systematic literature review, these three dimensions are integrated into one holistic framework. A case illustration was applied to demonstrate the use and advantages of this framework. From this, this paper concludes that smart urban governance, by explicitly taking into account the specific socio-spatial context, can improve our understanding of the urban challenges associated to smart cities and contribute to its appropriate and 'smart' governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's High-Speed Railways (HSR) network is the biggest in the world, transporting large numbers of passengers by high-speed trains through urban networks. Little is known about the analytical meaning of the use of two types of flow data, namely, time schedule (transportation mode flow) and passenger flow data, to characterise the configuration of urban networks regarding the potential spatial effects of HSR networks on urban networks. In this article, we compare HSR passenger flow data with time schedule data from 2013 in China within the same analytical framework. The findings show great differences in the strength of cities and links generated using the two different types of flow data. These differences can be explained largely by the socio-economic attributes of the cities involved, such as tertiary employment, GDP per capita, the cities' topological properties (closeness centrality) in HSR networks and institutional factors (hub status), especially for the difference in link strength. The strength of first-tier cities in China with high socio-economic performance and the HSR links connecting core cites and major cities within respective regions tends to be underestimated when using time schedule flows compared with passenger flows. When analysing the spatial structure of HSR and urban networks by means of flows, it is important for urban geographers and transportation planners to consider the meaning of the different types of data with the analytical results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tourists are particularly vulnerable when natural disasters occur in regions that they are visiting. It is assumed that they lack awareness and understanding of the actions that they need to take in such circumstances. This study examines the responses of tourists in times of disaster, building on empirical data collected through large‐scale surveys conducted in Bali and Yogyakarta, Indonesia, in 2015. Both are important tourist destinations in the country that have suffered major disasters in recent years. The different types of responses to these events are framed using a grid/group analysis stemming from cultural theory. The study resulted in three key findings: (i) current disaster management planning largely follows a single rationale; (ii) tourists are not a homogeneous group, but rather a complex, diverse, and dynamic body of stakeholders; and (iii) the focus of disaster management planning should shift from a single rationale to a polyrational methodology. Disaster managers need to consider, therefore, these different aspects in the context of preparedness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The high speed railway (HSR) has played a crucial role in the regional integration of urban networks in China. This paper analyses HSR passenger flows instead of commonly‐used time schedules for measuring different polycentricity in urban networks. Using 2013 origin/destination (O/D) passenger flow data, we analyse the spatial configurations of 99 HSR cities at the national scale in China. In addition, we compare the spatial configurations of three regional urban networks: the Pearl River Delta, the Yangzi River Delta and the Bohai Rim. The outcomes show that the three functional regions connected by HSR are the most dominant polycentric regions in China and that the Bohai Rim is less hierarchical than the other two. We conclude that the comprehensive Chinese HSR networks are largely polycentric, especially in the central and eastern regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Planning support systems (PSS) enabled by smart city technologies (big data and information and communication technologies (ICTs)) are becoming more widespread in their availability, but have not yet been fully recognized as being useful in planning practice. Thus, a better understanding of the determinants of PSS usefulness in practice helps to improve the functional support of PSS for smart cities. This study is based on a recent international questionnaire (268 respondents) designed to evaluate the perceptions of scholars and practitioners in the smart city planning field. Based on the empirical evidence, this paper recommends that it is imperative for PSS developers and users to be more responsive to the fit for task-technology and user-technology (i.e., utility and usability, respectively) since they positively contribute to PSS usefulness in practice and to be more sensitive to the potential negative effects of contextual factors on PSS usefulness in smart cities. The empirical analyses further suggest that rather than merely striving for integrating smart city technologies into advancing PSS, the way that innovative PSS are integrated into the planning framework (i.e., how well PSS can satisfy the needs of planning tasks and users by considering context-specificities) is of great significance in promoting PSS's actual usefulness. • This paper explores the determinants of PSS's actual usefulness via an international questionnaire survey. • Three groups of factors—utility, usability and contextual factors—are identified. • Results show that success factors (utility and part of usability) differ from failure factors (contextual factors). • The use of PSS should satisfy the needs of planning tasks and users by considering context-specificities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the Chinese high-speed railway (HSR) entered the transportation market at a late stage in 2003, its networks have become the world's largest and are currently even growing faster than airline networks. Using the 2013 origin/destination (O/D) passenger flow data instead of commonly used scheduled data, we compare the spatial configurations of the Chinese national urban system in both high-speed railway and airline networks. The results show that HSR-dominant cities and links are located mainly in the middle and eastern parts of China, offering regional connections, whereas air-dominant cities and links are evenly distributed across the whole of China and predominantly offer interregional connections. This is mainly because HSR networks are more focused on connections to cities with high socio-economic performance and are more restricted by the geographical distance between linked cities than the airline networks. Furthermore, HSR networks promote agglomeration economies within cities located along the trunk lines in specific regions, whereas airline networks contribute to more balanced urban development in China. These dimensions indicate that the configuration of urban systems in HSR networks differ largely from that of air networks when measured in terms of passenger flows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]