Influence of metro construction on Kunming economy

Abstract

As a typical representative of urban rail transit, the subway not only changes the transportation mode of the city, but more importantly, it can play an important role in shaping and influencing the urban framework, location fairness, and radiating the economy. The city of Kunming where I live is facing serious losses from the subway and public opinion questioning the need to continue building the subway. This article will use economic models at the data level to quantify the promoting effect of Kunming's subway construction on the economy. This provides academic evidence for the viewpoint that subway construction should continue. There are relatively few studies in existing literature that use double difference models to test whether subway brings economic effects. Therefore, this article selects relevant cities in Yunnan Province as samples and uses the double difference method to quantify the impact of subway opening on Kunming, analyzing the economic benefits brought by subway opening. This article uses a double difference model to analyze data from Kunming and several other cities in Yunnan Province that do not have subways from 2000 to 2020, and ultimately concludes that the promotion effect of subway opening on economic growth has improved.