Effects of HSR station location on urban spatial structure: A spatial equilibrium analysis for a two-city system

• Propose a novel two-city spatial equilibrium model with consideration of the high-speed rail (HSR) station location. • Investigate eight urban spatial structures of micropolis due to the diversity of station locations. • Obtain insights into how technical and socioeconomic parameters affect the model solution. • Conduct a case study of fifty city pairs in China. This paper aims to provide some new insights into the impacts of high-speed rail (HSR) on urban spatial structure. A two-city spatial equilibrium model is proposed to investigate the subtle effects of HSR station location on urban spatial structure, households’ location choices of work and residence, and housing rents across the two cities (one metropolis with higher wages, another micropolis with lower wages). We systematically analyze and summarize eight spatial structures for micropolis, as a result of a great diversity of station locations. The conditions and analytic solutions of each structure are derived. It is shown that the HSR station of micropolis closer to metropolis may decrease the number of metropolis residents. The effects on intercity and intracity commuting depend on endogenous urban spatial structure. Numerical results from an example and a case study conducted for fifty city pairs in China, illustrate and verify our analyses and findings.