Dynamics of the air transport network in China: A geographical and socioeconomic embeddedness perspective

Abstract

The development of air transport networks is deeply embedded in geographical and socioeconomic contexts. Drawing upon advances in actor-oriented network modelling and longitudinal data on domestic air flights in China from 2002 to 2022, this study aims to explore how the evolution of the air transport network in China is systematically and dynamically shaped by multi-dimensional activity and similarity effects related to regional geographical, economic and social characteristics. The results illustrate that the air transport network exhibits persistent small-world properties and increasingly cohesive core-periphery structure. After controlling for the impacts of network structure and other characteristics, the results illustrate that the network tie formation is most strongly driven by economic and population scales, followed by geographical centrality, and finally by economic and population growth rates. Although the effects of economic and population growth rates are relatively weak, they exhibit distinct strengthening trends over time. The results further provide evidence that these effects do not operate in isolation. While the effect of geographical centrality generally strengthens the economic and population effects, the effects of economic and population scales substitute each other, and the scale- and growth-rate-related effects strengthen each other. With a deepened understanding of the dynamic associations between air transport systems and socioeconomic contexts, the findings offer implications for more equitable and efficient socioeconomic development through strategic inter-city air transport network planning.