Skip to content

Travel and Car Ownership of Residents near New Suburban Metro Stations in Shanghai, China

Pan, H., Shen, Q., & Zhao, T. (2013). Travel and Car Ownership of Residents near New Suburban Metro Stations in Shanghai, China. Transportation Research Record, 2394(1), 63–69.

View Publication

Abstract

Large cities in China are building extensive rail transit systems in combination with transit-oriented development in suburban areas, so that public transportation can play a leading role in supporting rapid urban expansion. Shanghai, China has been a leader in this planning approach. Shanghai's experience can be valuable for other cities facing similar pressures of urbanization, suburbanization, and motorization while striving to improve livability and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. To gain useful insights from Shanghai, a travel survey of residents in a recently developed suburban metro station area was conducted to examine how the city's mass rapid transit (MRT) has influenced residents’ travel and car ownership. With statistical methods, including logistic regression, it was found that (a) MRT was generally adequate in supporting the station area's economic relationships with the central city and local employment locations; (b) a high percentage of residents intended to commute by the MRT when they moved to the suburban station area, and their original intention positively influenced their current travel and car ownership; and (c) rail transit may help temporarily reduce the pace of motorization in households near suburban metro stations by delaying a car purchase and lowering the probability of car use in commuting. However, it was also found that car ownership had been increasing quite rapidly despite the positive effects of a much expanded and improved metro system, and that once a person owned a car, he or she would most likely drive to work.

Transit-Oriented Development at the Urban Periphery: Insights from a Case Study in Shanghai, China

‌Pan, H., Shen, Q., & Liu, C. (2011).. Transit-Oriented Development at the Urban Periphery: Insights from a Case Study in Shanghai, China. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2245(1), 95–102.

View Publication.

Abstract

Major cities in China are extending rail transit into the urban periphery to counter urban growth and suburbanization that are automobile-driven and automobile-dependent. In the meantime, transit-oriented development (TOD) has been adopted widely in Chinese cities. Given the adoption of the TOD concept by many rail transit station areas at the peripheries of metropolitan regions, it is imperative to explore how TOD can be applied appropriately there. In this study, two station areas were examined in Songjiang, a district located approximately 30 km from the city center of Shanghai, China. These station areas have developed according to some basic TOD principles, and, in many important ways, they are representative of newly developed rail transit station areas in Shanghai and in other major Chinese cities. The conduct of a questionnaire survey allowed for investigation of resident travel behavior, assessment of the effectiveness of the TOD application, and discussion of how TOD should be adapted to peripheral locations in a large and complex metropolitan region. The study concluded that planners must carefully substantiate the basic TOD concept in connection with this particular kind of application setting. Careful consideration should be paid to mixed land use, differentiated density, and to pedestrian and bicycle travel and their connection with rail transit. Planners also must pay close attention to each peripheral area's economic and social conditions, as well as its relationships with the central city and with other parts of the metropolitan region. This case study not only provided timely feedback on current planning practice in Shanghai and other Chinese cities but also contributed to the literature on the adaptation of TOD to local circumstances.

 

How Urban Ecological Land Affects Resident Heat Exposure: Evidence from the Mega-urban Agglomeration in China

Feng, R., Wang, F., Liu, S., Qi, W., Zhao, Y., & Wang, Y. (2023). How Urban Ecological Land Affects Resident Heat Exposure: Evidence from the Mega-urban Agglomeration in China. Landscape and Urban Planning, 231.

View Publication.

Abstract

Resident heat exposure (RHE) is becoming more severe in the coming decades owing to rapid urbanization and climate change. Urban ecological land (UEL) provides important ecosystem services, such as mitigating the urban heat islands effect. However, the impacts of UEL on RHE remain poorly understood. This study quantifies the effects of UEL and its interaction with the natural-anthropogenic environment on RHE in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, a mega-urban agglomeration in China. The results showed a tight spatial–temporal coupling between the UEL and RHE: UEL transitioned from degradation-fragmentation in 2000–2010 to recovery-agglomeration in 2010–2020, while the RHE distribution evolved from intensification-expansion-inequity to mitigation-contraction-equity. The average explanatory power (q value) of UEL and its structure on RHE also increased by 75.99% and 70.79%, respectively. UEL patch diversity gradually dominated the RHE distribution, and the spatial marginal effect of UEL dominance increased by 234.97%. Moreover, RHE shifted from being dominated by UEL and anthropogenic heat emissions interactions to being jointly driven by UEL and natural-anthropogenic factors (especially the interaction of patch fragmentation with topography and built-up land expansion). The results of this study provide valuable information for nature-based (i.e., UEL) landscape planning and management to develop “human-centric” RHE mitigation strategies.

Keywords

Urban ecological land; Resident heat exposure; Spatial-temporal effects; Natural-anthropogenic factors; Interaction effect; Mega-urban agglomeration

A Global Horizon Scan for Urban Evolutionary Ecology

Verrelli, Brian C.; Alberti, Marina; Des Roches, Simone; Harris, Nyeema C.; Hendry, Andrew P.; Johnson, Marc T. J.; Savage, Amy M.; Charmantier, Anne; Gotanda, Kiyoko M.; Govaert, Lynn; Miles, Lindsay S.; Rivkin, L. Ruth; Winchell, Kristin M.; Brans, Kristien I.; Correa, Cristian; Diamond, Sarah E.; Fitzhugh, Ben; Grimm, Nancy B.; Hughes, Sara; Marzluff, John M.; Munshi-south, Jason; Rojas, Carolina; Santangelo, James S.; Schell, Christopher J.; Schweitzer, Jennifer A.; Szulkin, Marta; Urban, Mark C.; Zhou, Yuyu; Ziter, Carly. (2022). A Global Horizon Scan for Urban Evolutionary Ecology. Trends In Ecology & Evolution, 37(11), 1006-1019.

View Publication

Abstract

Research on the evolutionary ecology of urban areas reveals how human-induced evolutionary changes affect biodiversity and essential ecosystem services. In a rapidly urbanizing world imposing many selective pressures, a time-sensitive goal is to identify the emergent issues and research priorities that affect the ecology and evolution of species within cities. Here, we report the results of a horizon scan of research questions in urban evolutionary ecology submitted by 100 interdisciplinary scholars. We identified 30 top questions organized into six themes that highlight priorities for future research. These research questions will require methodological advances and interdisciplinary collaborations, with continued revision as the field of urban evolutionary ecology expands with the rapid growth of cities.

Keywords

Urban Ecology; Sustainability; Cities & Towns; Ecosystem Dynamics; Urban Growth; Ecosystem Services; Urban Research; Climate Change; Sociopolitical; Urban Evolution; Urbanization; Human Health; Biodiversity; Adaptation; Challenges; Dynamics; Management; Invasion; Science