Developing an Assessment Model for Sustainable Economic Development in China's High-Speed Rail Construction

In the modern world, exports, energy investment and CO2 emissions are some main factors that are associated with sustainable development. This paper proposes an adjusted analytical model to address the issue of assessing the relationship between economic development and environmental impact. It aims to explore this relationship in China's high-speed rail (HSR) network, by analyzing the key railway sections constructed by China. This paper is based on the content and indicators of sustainable development analysis by the Cobb–Douglas production function model, combines the multiple-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) to standardize the indicators, and adjusts the invalid indicators in the context of China's HSR. The research results show that the adjusted Cobb–Douglas production function model has certain practicability and reliability in the assessment of sustainable economic development of China's HSR. Besides, economic development has a linear relationship with carbon emissions. Furthermore, new energy resources play a crucial role in China's HSR, showing the alignment with the country's environmental and economic goals in the future.