Exploring the effects of congestion charge on relocation decisions under non-capital functions relieving strategy in Beijing

A common problem with rapid urbanization is the associated infrastructure lag that fails to keep pace with an increasingly growing population. Lawmakers try to minimize this lag by implementing policies that can ameliorate the challenges faced by rapid urbanization. The Beijing government has implemented a “non-capital functions relieving strategy” to incentivize specific industries to relocate. Unfortunately, the willingness of business owners to relocate was too low, and the reasons remain unclear. Moreover, limited studies explored the long-term effects of a congestion charge, especially when combined with a government relocation strategy. The purpose of this research is to achieve a deeper understanding of the urban population's attitudes towards strategies that aim to mitigate the effects of over-populated cities. To accomplish this research, face-to-face surveys were conducted in six wholesale markets in four categories. The ordered logit model revealed there were seven types of influential factors that had a significant effect on the respondents' willingness to relocate. The results indicate that the relocation effect of a congestion charge may be weakened under such an urban strategy. This study empirically informs market managers and policymakers on how to incentivize merchants into resettling into areas outside of megacities to mitigate the adverse effects of overpopulation.