Elsevier

Transport Policy

Volume 15, Issue 5, September 2008, Pages 315-323
Transport Policy

Suburbanization and transit-oriented development in China

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tranpol.2008.12.011Get rights and content

Abstract

The suburbanization of large Chinese cities has placed many residents in locations that are far less accessible than their prior residences, requiring motorized travel. This paper examines the impacts of relocation to outlying areas on job accessibility, commuting mode choice, and commuting durations based on a current-day and retrospective survey of recent movers to three suburban neighborhoods in Shanghai. Job accessibility levels were found to decline dramatically following the move, matched by increased motorized travel and longer commute durations. Relocating to a suburban area near a metrorail station, however, was found to moderate losses in job accessibility and for many, encourage switches from non-motorized to transit commuting. We conclude that transit-oriented development holds considerable promise for placing rapidly suburbanizing Chinese cities on a more sustainable pathway.

Introduction

Over the past decade, mainland Chinese cities have rapidly suburbanized. Fueling the centrifugal movement of people and jobs out of central cities has been rising disposable incomes, which allow more housing and not unrelated private automobile ownership (Ingram, 1998). More and more, Chinese cities are mimicking the suburbanization trends and patterns of the post-World-War-II United States, the world's most car-dependent nation.

The sustainability implications of car-oriented suburbanization are cause for concern. Since 1978 when China's central government introduced its open-door policy of economic form, urban population has grown from 80 million to more than 560 million, an annual growth rate of 7.5% (Lin, 2002; Zhang, 2007). Vehicle ownership has increased at more than twice this rate. In Shanghai, the number of registered private automobiles jumped from 200,000 in 1991 to 1.4 million in 2002 (Zhang, 2007).

Urban China's swift pace of peripheral growth has predictably overwhelmed roadway networks. From 2000 to 2003, China's roads absorbed nearly 14 million additional vehicles—an average of almost 13,000 new cars and trucks per day (Appleyard et al., 2007). In central Beijing, the average travel speed on major arteries plummeted from 45 kph in 1994 to 12 kph in 2003 (Cervero, 2004b). Traffic snarls have in turn worsened air quality. A World Bank study shows that of the 20 most severely polluted cities in the world, 16 are located in China (Appleyard et al., 2007). Threats to global pollution are further cause for alarm. Currently, the world's second largest greenhouse gas emitter, China is on a pace to surpass the US in 2009 (Fraker, 2007).

Among the strategies being pursued to head off rising traffic congestion and worsening environmental conditions have been investments in urban rail systems. Many Chinese cities are approaching the size (roughly five million inhabitants) and density thresholds (15,000 inhabitants per square kilometer in the urban core) often thought necessary to justify high-capacity railway investments (Cervero, 1998; Fouracre and Dunkerley, 2003). Urban rail systems are currently found in 12 mainland Chinese cities. Plans call for expanding and upgrading existing rail systems and building new ones in 15 other Chinese cities. Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) systems are also being built or expanded in Beijing, Tianjin, Chengdu, Xian, and Kunming. The cities of Tianjin and Dalian also operate trams on central-city streets. Opportunities for creating sustainable city forms through bundling land development and railway investments in large Chinese cities are quite substantial and largely untapped. Today, increasing numbers of large, rail-served Chinese cities are looking to transit-oriented development (TOD) as an alternative form of urbanism that reduces over-reliance on the private automobile.

This paper examines the effects of residential relocation to Shanghai's suburbs on job accessibility and commuting, focusing on the influences of proximity to metrorail services and neighborhood environments on commute behavior and choices. The policy implications of the research findings on the planning and design of suburban communities in large cities like Shanghai are addressed in the conclusion. Our research suggests that TOD has a potentially important role to play in placing China's large, rail-served cities on a more sustainable pathway.

Section snippets

Growth and travel in urban China

Today, the historical centers of Chinese cities are being given over to the office, retail, and government sectors, on land formerly occupied by working class families. Some households are being forcefully displaced by government takeover of land while others are willingly making the move, cashing in on their valuable central-city land holdings and with income in hand, seeking suburban locales with lower densities, less traffic and noise, and larger, more modern housing. Developers are

Study focus, research design, and survey data

In the sections that follow, statistical models are presented that empirically estimate the influences of residential relocation on changes in job accessibility, modal choices, and commute durations. The city of Shanghai is used as a case context. Based on a survey of housing and transportation characteristics of sampled households at their prior residences and current suburban residences, the influences of factors like changes in accessibility and proximity of new suburban residences to

Empirical results and research findings

This section first presents key descriptive findings from the before-and-after survey. This is followed by a path diagram that postulates statistical relationships between predictor and outcome variables of interest. The section closes with discussions of the modeling results a propos the core research questions.

Conclusions

The findings presented in this paper underscore the potential mobility—and by extension, environmental—benefits that could accrue from successful integration of urban development and rail-transit investment in large Chinese cities. Notably, our research found that moving near a suburban rail station significantly moderated the travel-consumption impacts of relocation, especially from the central city to the outskirts. Notably, households that relocated in a neighborhood served by Shanghai's

Acknowledgement

This research benefited from the comments and cooperation of many individuals. We would especially like to acknowledge the contributions made by Professor Pan Haixiao and his students Huang Zhaoxiong and Wang Xiaobo in the Department of Urban Planning at Tongji University—for their assistance with designing and conducting the survey work presented in this paper.

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