ZHANG Tianlin, REN Lijian, YUN Yingxia

Keywords： Rail Transit Accessibility; Weighted Average Travel Time; Economic Potential; Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan; Polycentric Space Structure

Abstract：

Rail transit construction generates the “time and space contraction”, which impacts the urban spatial organization. This paper studies Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan area, considering time and economic factors, selecting the weighted average travel time and economic potential. On this basis, the accessibility changes of the rail transit along the metropolitan area from 2013 to 2021 are calculated, and the accessibility effect on the remodeling of the metropolitan spatial structure is analyzed. The results demonstrate that accessibility for the core cities and the periphery towns of the metropolitan area is greatly increased, and the economic potential is increased significantly in the core cities and decreases slightly in the periphery towns. We analyze the changes in the spatial structure of metropolitan areas under the influence of accessibility from three aspects: forms, functions and policies, and suggest three solutions to optimize the phenomena mentioned above. Firstly, it is necessary to build a multi-level rail transit network structure and transportation service system. Secondly, governments should take accessibility as an important basis for the planning of rail transit and public service facilities. Thirdly, implementing a flexible scheme of rail operation with smooth intermodal connection to other modes of transport is critical as well.

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