Tendencies of Chinese subways’ spatial growth in 2000-2020

One of the main transportation problems of biggest modern cities is the excessively high load on ground transport, which is why the development of subway networks is of particular importance. This article analyzes the development of the spatial structure of subway networks in China. Currently China shows an intensive growth of existing networks and massive openings of new networks, which makes it the most suitable object for studying the evolution of subway networks. The methodology developed by K. Kansky and S. A. Tarkhov was used as the theoretical basis of this study. The study was conducted by analyzing the dynamics of the main quantitative and topomorphological indicators of subway networks during their passage through the stages of spatial evolution. The following indicators were used: the number of subways, the total length of the network, the number of cycles in the network, the number of topological layers and the number of cycles in each of them, the number of branching tiers, the area of topological layers and their share in the cyclic core of the network, the distribution of the length between the elements of the network structure, average cycle size, topological limit, cyclization index and circuity index. We identified the patterns for passing the stages of evolutionary development by the networks of Chinese subways; also, we found common features that define the “Chinese” type of subway, we identified a new subtype of networks.