Road to health: Evidence from subway construction in China

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

2024

Subject Area

place - asia, place - urban, mode - subway/metro, infrastructure - station, land use - impacts

Keywords

Subway

Abstract

This paper uses data on city subway openings to match data on the health status of respondents from the China Health and Nutrition Survey database between 1991 and 2015. Our conclusions show that urban subway opening significantly improves the health of the population and reduces the incidence of diseases. Furthermore, the closer residents live to a subway station, the more they will be affected by the subway opening. After conducting a series of robustness tests to eliminate possible biases in the model, the results remain robust. We also find that the effects of using subways on health varies considerably among different populations. People belonging higher-income brackets, lower-middle-aged demographic, and moderately educated groups tend to be more affected by subway opening. Based on the analysis of the existing literature on the influence path of subways, subways mainly affect people's daily lives by reducing transportation costs and promoting information exchange. Therefore, we consider that the influence of subway use on health may come from the following mechanisms: subway openings enhance the level of medical services sought by residents, promote the purchase of commercial insurance, and reduce the severity of diseases.

Rights

Permission to publish the abstract has been given by Elsevier, copyright remains with them.

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