IGSNRRsupervisor:ProfessorJiaoeWANG
UNNCsupervisor:DrMarinaGLUSHENKOVA(NottinghamUniversityBusinessSchool)
In2013,ChinesePresidentXiJinpingannouncedtheestablishmentofanewregionalcooperationprogramme,officiallynamedthe“BeltandRoadInitiative”(BRI).OneofthemaingoalsoftheBRIistodeepenmarketintegrationthroughenhancinginfrastructureandinstitutionallinkages.Geographically,theBRIprogrammecoverssixlandroutes(China-Europe,China-Mongolia-Russia,China-MediterraneanSea,China-Pakistan,Bangladesh-China-India-Burma,andChina-SouthAsia)andtwomaritimeroads(China-SouthPacificandChina-Europe).InfrastructureisthemostsignificantcomponentoftheBRI,whichdirectlyaffectsconnectivityofregionsandisexpectedtobeconducivetointernationaltradeandinvestment.Betterconnectionsandthelowertradecostsmayinturntriggertheprocessofeconomicconvergenceacrosscountries.
ThisprojectaimstoanalysetheimportanceofinfrastructuredevelopmentalongtheBRIfortheeconomicintegrationofcountriesparticipatingintheinitiativebyexploringthelinkagebetweenconnectivityofcountriesandtheireconomicperformance.Ourgoalistostudythedevelopmentoftransportinfrastructuresystemsatvariousscales,includingtheinter-state,nationalandsub-nationallevels,evaluatetheeffectsofurbanaccessibilityandconnectivityalongBRI,andexaminetowhatextenttheincreasingphysicalandsoftconnectivityinfluencesthesocietyandeconomy.
InformalinquiriesmaybeaddressedtoDrMarinaGlushenkova(marina.glushenkova@***.cn)andProfJiaoeWang(wangje@igsnrr.***),butformalapplicationsshouldfollowinstructionsinthe‘Howtoapply’sectionbelow.