The reshaping effect of transportation infrastructure innovation on regional consumption patterns has become a core proposition in economic geography research. Based on panel data from 285 prefecture-level cities in China (2013–2024), this study employs a Spatial Durbin Model (SDM) to investigate the impact of high-speed rail (HSR) opening on urban consumption from a spatial spillover perspective. Using Python web scraping to collect HSR line opening information from Wikipedia and constructing an HSR opening dummy variable, combined with industrial and economic data from the CEIC database, we systematically analyze the logic of consumption spatial restructuring under time-space compression effects. Empirical results demonstrate that HSR opening significantly promotes local consumption expansion. The fixed-effects model indicates that the total retail sales of consumer goods in HSR-opened cities increase by an average of 10.57%, with a significant positive spatial spillover (? = 0.1127). Heterogeneity analysis reveals that sub-provincial and higher-level cities amplify consumption siphon effects due to resource endowments (coefficient: 210,285.0, p < 0.01), while ordinary prefecture-level cities exhibit a pronounced "conduit effect" in the initial HSR phase due to weaker consumption foundations. Mechanistically, the synergy between HSR and the tertiary industry drives consumption growth in both city types, with sub-provincial cities showing stronger synergistic effects owing to advanced service industries. The HSR-export synergy forms a transmission chain through improved logistics efficiency-e.g., foreign trade consumption accounts for 28.3% in Suzhou Industrial Park. Rising housing prices exhibit a "wealth effect" in sub-provincial cities (12.70, p < 0.01) but a "crowding-out effect" in ordinary prefecture-level cities. This study provides empirical support for differentiated HSR consumption policies. We recommend optimizing industrial synergy pathways and strengthening spatial equilibrium mechanisms to unlock HSR’s potential for driving consumption upgrading.
High-speed rail; Urban consumption; Spatial spillover effects; Prefecture-level cities; Spatial Durbin Model
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