Research On The Influence Of High-speed Railway Opening On The Development Of Urban Tourism And Environmental Pollution In China

China is focusing on building the “eight vertical and eight horizontal” trunk line network of high-speed railways characterized by safety,comfort and efficiency.It has had a significant impact on the economy,society and ecological environment.Although many literatures have explored the impact of the opening of high-speed rail on urban tourism and the environment in my country,the research results are inconsistent whether it is the tourism effect of high-speed rail or the environmental effect.The possible reasons come from different samples,estimation methods and selection of variable indicators.As one of the most important infrastructures in my country to promote the flow of factors,what impact will the opening of high-speed rail have on the development of urban tourism? Will more efficient and cleaner high-speed rail further affect the level of urban environmental pollution? Answering these questions has important reference value for the green and high-quality development of urban tourism in my country.To this end,this paper first theoretically analyzes the impact mechanism of high-speed rail construction and opening as an infrastructure investment on regional tourism development and environmental pollution.Then the instrumental variable approach is used to empirically evaluate the impact of the opening of high-speed rail on the development of urban tourism and environmental pollution.The study finds that:(1)The opening of high-speed rail can improve the accessibility of cities or regions,and concentrate more human resources,capital and other elements in central cities.After many elements flow in,tourism and its related industries have achieved rapid development;(2)Compared with cities without high-speed rail,the average annual increase of domestic tourism revenue in cities with high-speed rail is about 9 billion yuan,and the annual average annual reduction of industrial pollution emissions is about 12.79%,which has obvious high-speed rail tourism and environmental dividends;(3)The tourism and environmental effects of the opening of the high-speed rail have a lag and only become significant in the second year.At the same time,the tourism and environmental effects of the opening of high-speed rail are heterogeneous,and are more significant in western cities,non-resource-based cities,and general prefecture-level cities;(4)The opening of high-speed rail can promote the development of tourism through agglomeration effect and structural effect,and reduce the level of environmental pollution through substitution effect,technical effect and structural effect;(5)The opening of high-speed rail has promoted the development of urban tourism.One of the important factors is that the opening of high-speed rail has reduced the level of environmental pollution in the destination,and ultimately led to an overall improvement in the economic and ecological benefits of tourist cities.Based on the research results,this paper puts forward relevant policy recommendations:(1)Continue to promote the opening of high-speed rail and increase network density,give full play to the tourism and environmental effects of high-speed rail opening;(2)Combine regional resource advantages to cultivate tourism hotspots and adjust Industrial positioning,strengthen investment in western cities and non-resource-based cities,improve the layout of high-speed rail network construction,narrow the gap in the construction of high-speed rail and other transportation infrastructure between different regions,and give full play to the opening of high-speed rail in urban industrial structure adjustment and sustainable economic environment important role in development.