Based on papers presented at a workshop on the green transport agenda and its implications for Chinese cities, organised by the World Conference on Transport Research Society in September 2010, this volume reviews the challenges facing urban transport internationally and in China.

Half of the world’s inhabitants now live in cities. In the next twenty years, the number of urban dwellers will swell to an estimated five billion people. With their inefficient transportation systems and poorly designed buildings, many cities—especially in the United States—consume enormous quantities of fossil fuels and emit high levels of greenhouse gases. But our planet is rapidly running out of the carbon-based fuels that have powered urban growth for centuries and we seem to be unable to curb our greenhouse gas emissions. Are the world’s cities headed for inevitable collapse? The authors of this spirited book don’t believe that oblivion is necessarily the destiny of urban areas. Instead, they believe that intelligent planning and visionary leadership can help cities meet the impending crises, and look to existing initiatives in cities around the world. Rather than responding with fear (as a legion of doomsaying prognosticators have done), they choose hope. First, they confront the problems, describing where we stand today in our use of oil and our contribution to climate change. They then present four possible outcomes for cities: ”collapse,” “ruralized,” “divided,” and “resilient.” In response to their scenarios, they articulate how a new “sustainable urbanism” could replace today’s “carbon-consuming urbanism.” They address in detail how new transportation systems and buildings can be feasibly developed to replace our present low efficiency systems. In conclusion, they offer ten “strategic steps” that any city can take toward greater sustainability and resilience. This is not a book filled with “blue sky” theory (although blue skies will be a welcome result of its recommendations). Rather, it is packed with practical ideas, some of which are already working in cities today. It frankly admits that our cities have problems that will worsen if they are not addressed, but it suggests that these problems are solvable. And the time to begin solving them is now.

This book discusses the links between population growth, migration and the transport system in China. It first reviews the theories concerning the relationship between population growth, distribution and transport systems from an international perspective and then analyses the history of and changes in population growth, population migration, urbanisation and population spatial distribution in China by using multiple data sources, including the census, China Family Panel Studies data, China Migrants Panel Studies data and mobile phone data. Thirdly, it explores the effects of population growth and migration on transport infrastructures and services in terms of planning, investments, development, operation and management. The book also evaluates the features, strengths and weaknesses of various population policies on the basis of their impacts on transport, birth control, the hukou system, the migration management system and the policies designed to limit the growth of large cities and encourage the growth of small cities. Further, it addresses transport policies in the context of their capacity to meet people’s mobility and accessibility needs and other factors, including energy consumption, environment pollution and regional development inequalities. Examining the trends in population distribution and their influences on transport, such as an increase in urban agglomeration and mega city regions in the east of China and population shrinkage in the cities and regions in northeast and west China, it also investigates the new trends of rural migration and population movement during the Spring Festival and other public holidays and the challenges of these new trends for transport system. Lastly, the book discusses future directions and challenges, sustainable population and transport policies and proposes population-oriented transport strategies and accessibility-based population distribution policies. Relevant to China and other developing countries, the book is a valuable resource for scholars interested in population studies, sustainable transportation, regional planning and development and environmental policy.

Eco-cities and Green Transport presents a systematic, uniform, and structured way to examine different cities at different scales in order to suggest unique solutions appropriate to each scale. The book examines city infrastructure and the built environment, transport system supply and demand, and transport behavior to offer innovative policy solutions for various transport modes. With end of chapter experiences and lessons summarized, the book provides an in-depth analysis of the advantages and disadvantages for transforming cities and their transport systems to meet residents current and future needs. The increasingly rapid growth of global urbanization requires cities to be built in an ecologically sustainable, energy efficient, and livable way. A critical component in achieving these goals is an urban transportation system that uses natural resources as reasonably as possible. The outcome of a ten-year data collection research effort by the author and his team, the book sheds new insights into these challenges using a thorough investigation of traffic systems in 20 cities from 13 countries throughout Asia, Europe, and the United States.

After three decades of rapid economic growth, China became the world’s second largest economy in 2010 after the United States of America. Along with the prospect of lifting millions out of poverty and improving living standards, China is facing yet new challenges of rapid urbanization. Recent research findings show that in 2012 urbanization rate was 52.6% in China (Lacy et al., 2013). It is predicted that by 2020 the number of megacities in China with an urban population of more than 10 million will increase to thirteen. Along with the increase in urban population and living standards there has been rapid increase of car ownership in China. It is estimated that there are more than five million vehicles in Beijing (Cheng, 2013; Economist, 2013). Large cities and prefecture-level cities already contributed 89.6% of China’s total industrial CO2 emissions. One day in January 2013 air in Beijing was heavily polluted to a level of toxicity (smog) forty times the standard safe level set by the World Health Organization (Economist, 2013).At the international level, transport contributed 61.5% to world petroleum consumption and 22.3% to global CO2 emissions in 2010 (IEA, 2012). While the overall level of CO2 emissions in developed economies is stabilizing and in some cases declining, the levels in the developing and emerging economies are increasing. Large emerging economies with megacities will imminently become the major concerns of transport-related CO2 emissions. Without strategic innovations in the automotive industry and transport management system the current state of China’s transport sector is not sustainable. The long-term sustainable solutions are likely to emerge from the interplay of economic, environmental, social and technological factors.The Special Issue, partnered with the Second International Symposium on Sustainable Mobility, focuses on the issues of developing policies and corporate strategies to help the automotive industry, transport management systems, and urban planning to embark on a sustainable path to future growth and development (WBCSD, 2007; World Bank, 2008). The critical debate and research findings of this issue shed light on future research and practice on sustainable mobility in emerging economies.

Based on papers presented at a workshop on the green transport agenda and its implications for Chinese cities, organised by the World Conference on Transport Research Society in September 2010, this volume reviews the challenges facing urban transport internationally and in China.

Cities around the globe struggle to create better and more equitable access to important destinations and services, all the while reducing the energy consumption and environmental impacts of mobility. An Introduction to Sustainable Transportation illustrates a new planning paradigm for sustainable transportation through case studies from around the world with hundreds of valuable resources and references, color photos, graphics and tables. The second edition builds and expands upon the highly acclaimed first edition, with new chapters on urban design and urban, regional and intercity public transportation, as well as expanded chapters on automobile dependence and equity issues; automobile cities and the car culture; the history of sustainable and unsustainable transportation; the interrelatedness of technologies, infrastructure energy and functionalities; and public policy and public participation and exemplary places, people and programs around the globe. Among the many valuable additions are discussions of autonomous vehicles (AVs), electric vehicles (EVs), airport cities, urban fabrics, urban heat island effects and mobility as a service (MaaS). New case studies show global exemplars of sustainable transportation, including several from Asia, a case study of participative and deliberative public involvement, as well as one describing life in the Vauban ecologically planned community of Freiburg, Germany. Students in affiliated sustainability disciplines, planners, policymakers and concerned citizens will find many provides practical techniques to innovate and transform transportation.