The Cost of Connectivity: Network Tradeoffs in Subway Expansion and Historic Street Preservation

Published.

Abstract As cities become increasingly interconnected, expanding regional mobility networks can come at the cost of local social networks. This study examines such tradeoffs in the case of Miaoqianzhijie, a historic street in Guangzhou, China, which was planned to be demolished for building a new interchange subway at Line 10. We introduce a network tradeoff framework that analyzes subway lines as spatial networks and historic streets as social networks within a single analytic frame. Empirically, we combine a participatory Geographic Information System (GIS)–based social network survey with origin–destination (OD) flow analysis of Guangzhou’s subway system. Our findings show that Miaoqianzhijie functions as a dense corridor of social infrastructure that supports everyday routines, social ties, mutual aid, and symbolic place attachment for residents, workers, and frequent visitors. Our OD analysis found that Line 10’s mobility benefits are unevenly distributed and the station closest to the demolition area sees only modest improvements. These findings reveal an asymmetric network tradeoff that highlights concentrated social connectivity losses versus diffuse and limited local mobility gains. This study contributes a case study and network-based methodology for representing such tradeoffs and highlights how these representations can inform more equitable planning debates around subway expansion and historic street preservation.

A little backdoor story

This paper started five years ago in a neighborhood where I (Xiaofan) grew up, when a historic street, Miaoqianzhijie, was slated for demolition to make way for a new Guangzhou Metro interchange station (Shuqianlu Station). Hoping to preserve the street, I started the Miaoqianzhijie Research Group, which eventually led to this paper.

A key framing of the paper is to understand the controversy through the lens of network tradeoffs: it is not just about land use, but about what types of connectivity are prioritized (spatial connections through the subway network or social connections through social infrastructure), for whom (regional transit users versus local communities), how these connections are represented in planning models, and the unequal power each side has in terms of visibility, data, and evidence. A major contribution is to put both spatial benefits and social costs into a shared network analytical framework so that the tradeoffs can be compared more vividly.

Our work contributed a modest piece to elevating the voices of pro-preservation activists and highlighting the social value of the historic street, but it also pinpointed a key ethos that has stayed close to my heart: our cities are becoming increasingly connected socially, spatially, and digitally, but it is time to think carefully about the tradeoffs involved in building infrastructure to support these different forms of connection, so that we do not gain more convenient mobility to reach distant places while losing our social attachments locally, or become a small world on the web while growing infinitely divided on the ground.

Beyond the research, the reality has moved on in absurd ways. In 2021, shortly after the public pushback, Guangzhou Metro paused construction of the new subway station. In 2025, the proposed station was permanently removed from Line 10, which had almost finished construction and has since entered partial operation. Meanwhile, my paper went through my PhD dissertation defense, job talks, and stuck in review cycles for two years.

This is also probably the lowest-KPI paper I have ever had. I poured a vast amount of time into things that cannot go into publications: community organizing, oral history interviews, social media posts, delivering research reports to the local planning bureau, and even designing postcards.

While Miaoqianzhijie remains intact today, it has rapidly gentrified over the past few years, partially due to the attention the controversy brought, losing much of the very “old town” character that we were striving to preserve in the first place. Looking back now, I am not sure we made things better. But at least it gave me another muscle memory for taking action and leading.

Beyond research

This research benefits from a greater civic research movement that happened locally, organized by Miaoqianzhi ‘jie’ Research Group. The research group is founded by Xiaofan Liang and has a Chinese WeChat account that published work conducted by research volunteers. So far, the research group has produced 1) a full set of shapefiles for every store on the street, 2) an archive of the store type, name, address, year, and storefront photos, 3) a research report concerning the first round of survey distribution, 4) a pack of six postcards picturing Miaoqianzhi ‘jie’, 5) two oral history interviews, and 6) passenger flow and mode counts for a sampled period of time. Survey data and the street’s GIS files can be accessed openly at GitHub.