The impact of high-speed rail on the trajectories of shrinking cities: the case of the extension of the Shinkansen network in northern Japan

As more countries witness depopulation, the expansion of High-Speed Rail (HSR) to reach shrinking cities in peripheral regions is renewing debate on effects this infrastructure. This case Japan, a country that continues extend its highly developed HSR network hoping curb regional decline. paper investigates whether had positive effect trajectories connected medium and small-sized by examining impact extending Shinkansen five municipalities prefectures Iwate Aomori, northern Japan. Although depopulation decelerated some studies, findings highlight did not reverse shrinkage benefits are mainly found increased accessibility, albeit unevenly distributed. suggests that, rather than uniformly uplifting socio-economic outlooks, contributed reshaping reproduced core–periphery dynamics at level.