Change in Urban Land Use Efficiency in China: Does the High-Speed Rail Make a Difference?

High-speed rail (HSR) increases the non-local connections in cities and plays an essential role in urban land use efficiency. This paper uses a multi-period difference-in-difference model and a threshold model based on sample data that cover 284 Chinese cities from 2003–2018 to investigate the impact of HSR on urban land use efficiency. The results show that there is a 0.021 increase in urban land use efficiency after opening the HSR. The number of HSR stations and routes can increase the urban land use efficiency by 0.004 and 0.013, respectively. Compared with the cities in the East, the midwestern ones are more vulnerable to the impact of HSR. In particular, the positive impact of the number of HSR stations on the urban land use efficiency in cities with an urban population density exceeding 795 person/km2 is two times larger than cities with an urban population density of less than 795 person/km2. In addition, the impact of the number of HSR routes on urban land use efficiency in cities with an urban population density of less than 1003 person/km2 is five times larger than that of cities with an urban population density exceeding 1003 person/km2.