IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v6y2014i7p4558-4579d38426.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Changing Urban Form and Transport CO 2 Emissions: An Empirical Analysis of Beijing, China

Author

Listed:
  • Yunjing Wang

    (State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, Beijing Normal University, 19 Xinjiekouwai Street, Beijing 100875, China
    International Research Center for Sustainable Transport and Cities, Nagoya University, C1-2(651) Furo-cho, Nagoya 4648603, Japan)

  • Yoshitsugu Hayashi

    (International Research Center for Sustainable Transport and Cities, Nagoya University, C1-2(651) Furo-cho, Nagoya 4648603, Japan)

  • Jin Chen

    (College of Global Change and Earth System Science, Beijing Normal University, 19 Xinjiekouwai Street, Beijing 100875, China)

  • Qiang Li

    (College of Resources Science and Technology, Beijing Normal University, 19 Xinjiekouwai Street, Beijing 100875, China)

Abstract

Decentralization development and changing urban form will increase the mobility and contribute to global CO 2 emissions, in particular for developing countries which are experiencing rapid economic growth and urban expansion. In this paper, an integrated analytical framework, which can quantify the impact of changing urban form on commuting CO 2 emissions, is presented. This framework simultaneously considers two emission dependent factors, commuting demand and modal share based on the concept of excess commuting and accessibility analysis, and ensures its applicability to other cities where the detailed individual travel data is not available. A case study of Beijing from 2000 to 2009 is used to illustrate this framework. The findings suggest that changing urban form in Beijing did have a significant impact on commuting CO 2 emission increase. Changing to a more decentralized urban form in Beijing had a larger impact on commuting distance and increased usage of cars, which resulted in a significant rise in CO 2 emissions. There is a larger space and an urgent need for commuting CO 2 emission reduction, in 2009 in Beijing, by planning and by strategic measures in order to promote sustainable transport.

Suggested Citation

  • Yunjing Wang & Yoshitsugu Hayashi & Jin Chen & Qiang Li, 2014. "Changing Urban Form and Transport CO 2 Emissions: An Empirical Analysis of Beijing, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(7), pages 1-22, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:6:y:2014:i:7:p:4558-4579:d:38426
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/6/7/4558/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/6/7/4558/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mindali, Orit & Raveh, Adi & Salomon, Ilan, 2004. "Urban density and energy consumption: a new look at old statistics," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 143-162, February.
    2. Andrea CIRILLI & Paolo VENERI, 2010. "Spatial Structure and CO2 Emissions Due to Commuting: an Analysis on Italian Urban Areas," Working Papers 353, Universita' Politecnica delle Marche (I), Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali.
    3. Pengjun Zhao, 2013. "The Impact of Urban Sprawl on Social Segregation in Beijing and a Limited Role for Spatial Planning," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 104(5), pages 571-587, December.
    4. White, Michelle J, 1988. "Urban Commuting Journeys Are Not "Wasteful."," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 96(5), pages 1097-1110, October.
    5. Papagiannaki, Katerina & Diakoulaki, Danae, 2009. "Decomposition analysis of CO2 emissions from passenger cars: The cases of Greece and Denmark," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(8), pages 3259-3267, August.
    6. Cao, Xinyu (Jason) & Mokhtarian, Patricia L. & Handy, Susan L., 2009. "The relationship between the built environment and nonwork travel: A case study of Northern California," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 43(5), pages 548-559, June.
    7. Marique, Anne-Francoise & Dujardin, Sébastien & Teller, Jacques & Reiter, Sigrid, 2013. "School commuting: the relationship between energy consumption and urban form," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 1-11.
    8. Dujardin, S. & Pirart, F. & Brévers, F. & Marique, A.-F. & Teller, J., 2012. "Home-to-work commuting, urban form and potential energy savings: A local scale approach to regional statistics," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 46(7), pages 1054-1065.
    9. E Verhoef & P Nijkamp & P Rietveld, 1997. "Tradeable Permits: Their Potential in the Regulation of Road Transport Externalities," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 24(4), pages 527-548, August.
    10. White, M.J., 1988. "Urban Commuting Journeys Are Not Wasteful," Papers 88-10, Michigan - Center for Research on Economic & Social Theory.
    11. B J Linneker & N A Spence, 1992. "Accessibility Measures Compared in an Analysis of the Impact of the M25 London Orbital Motorway on Britain," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 24(8), pages 1137-1154, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Wang, Shaojian & Liu, Xiaoping & Zhou, Chunshan & Hu, Jincan & Ou, Jinpei, 2017. "Examining the impacts of socioeconomic factors, urban form, and transportation networks on CO2 emissions in China’s megacities," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 185(P1), pages 189-200.
    2. André Luiz Lopes Toledo & Emílio Lèbre La Rovere, 2018. "Urban Mobility and Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Status, Public Policies, and Scenarios in a Developing Economy City, Natal, Brazil," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-24, November.
    3. Shi, Kaifang & Yu, Bailang & Zhou, Yuyu & Chen, Yun & Yang, Chengshu & Chen, Zuoqi & Wu, Jianping, 2019. "Spatiotemporal variations of CO2 emissions and their impact factors in China: A comparative analysis between the provincial and prefectural levels," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 233, pages 170-181.
    4. Jindamas Sutthichaimethee & Kuskana Kubaha, 2018. "The Relationship of Causal Factors Affecting the Future Equilibrium Change of Total Final Energy Consumption in Thailand’s Construction Sector under a Sustainable Development Goal: Enriching the SE-VA," Resources, MDPI, vol. 8(1), pages 1-18, December.
    5. Tianren Yang & Ying Jin & Longxu Yan & Pei Pei, 2019. "Aspirations and realities of polycentric development: Insights from multi-source data into the emerging urban form of Shanghai," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 46(7), pages 1264-1280, September.
    6. Gudipudi, Ramana & Fluschnik, Till & Ros, Anselmo García Cantú & Walther, Carsten & Kropp, Jürgen P., 2016. "City density and CO2 efficiency," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 352-361.
    7. Li, Zhihui & Deng, Xiangzheng & Peng, Lu, 2020. "Uncovering trajectories and impact factors of CO2 emissions: A sectoral and spatially disaggregated revisit in Beijing," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    8. Xiaobin Yang & Zhilong Chen & Hao Cai & Linjian Ma, 2014. "A Framework for Assessment of the Influence of China’s Urban Underground Space Developments on the Urban Microclimate," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(12), pages 1-31, November.
    9. Chuyu Xia & Yan Li & Yanmei Ye & Zhou Shi, 2016. "An Integrated Approach to Explore the Relationship Among Economic, Construction Land Use, and Ecology Subsystems in Zhejiang Province, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(5), pages 1-20, May.
    10. Shi, Kaifang & Chen, Yun & Li, Linyi & Huang, Chang, 2018. "Spatiotemporal variations of urban CO2 emissions in China: A multiscale perspective," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 211(C), pages 218-229.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wang, Donggen & Chai, Yanwei & Li, Fei, 2011. "Built environment diversities and activity–travel behaviour variations in Beijing, China," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 19(6), pages 1173-1186.
    2. Sohee Lee & Tsutomu Suzuki, 2016. "A scenario approach to the evaluation of sustainable urban structure for reducing carbon dioxide emissions in Seoul," International Journal of Urban Sciences, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(1), pages 30-48, March.
    3. Xiaoyu Wang & Jinquan Gong & Chunan Wang, 2020. "How Does Commute Time Affect Labor Supply in Urban China? Implications for Active Commuting," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(13), pages 1-18, June.
    4. Peter Bäckström & Erika Sandow & Olle Westerlund, 2016. "Commuting and timing of retirement," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 56(1), pages 125-152, January.
    5. Jing, Yue & Hu, Yujie, 2022. "The unequal commuting efficiency: A visual analytics approach," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    6. Chunil Kim & Choongik Choi, 2019. "Towards Sustainable Urban Spatial Structure: Does Decentralization Reduce Commuting Times?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-28, February.
    7. Modarres, Ali, 2013. "Commuting and energy consumption: toward an equitable transportation policy," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 240-249.
    8. Giménez-Nadal, José Ignacio & Velilla, Jorge & Ortega, Raquel, 2022. "Revisiting excess commuting and self-employment: The case of Latin America," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1179, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    9. Andy C. Pratt, 1996. "Coordinating Employment, Transport and Housing in Cities: An Institutional Perspective," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 33(8), pages 1357-1375, October.
    10. Xingang Zhou & Anthony GO Yeh & Weifeng Li & Yang Yue, 2018. "A commuting spectrum analysis of the jobs–housing balance and self-containment of employment with mobile phone location big data," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 45(3), pages 434-451, May.
    11. Cheng, Lin & Chen, Chen & Xiu, Chunliang, 2017. "Excess kindergarten travel in Changchun, Northeast China: A measure of residence-kindergarten spatial mismatch," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 208-216.
    12. Kang-Rae Ma & David Banister, 2006. "Extended Excess Commuting: A Measure of the Jobs-Housing Imbalance in Seoul," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 43(11), pages 2099-2113, October.
    13. Shu‐Hen Chiang, 2012. "The Source of Metropolitan Growth: The Role of Commuting," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(1), pages 143-166, March.
    14. Korsu, Emre & Le Néchet, Florent, 2017. "Would fewer people drive to work in a city without excess commuting? Explorations in the Paris metropolitan area," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 259-274.
    15. Myung-Jin Jun & Simon Choi & Frank Wen & Ki-Hyun Kwon, 2018. "Effects of urban spatial structure on level of excess commutes: A comparison between Seoul and Los Angeles," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 55(1), pages 195-211, January.
    16. Murphy, Enda, 2009. "Excess commuting and modal choice," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 43(8), pages 735-743, October.
    17. Manuel Suárez & Masanori Murata & Javier Delgado Campos, 2016. "Why do the poor travel less? Urban structure, commuting and economic informality in Mexico City," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 53(12), pages 2548-2566, September.
    18. Mark Horner, 2007. "A multi-scale analysis of urban form and commuting change in a small metropolitan area (1990–2000)," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 41(2), pages 315-332, June.
    19. David, Quentin & Kilani, Moez, 2022. "Transport policies in polycentric cities," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 101-117.
    20. Marique, Anne-Francoise & Dujardin, Sébastien & Teller, Jacques & Reiter, Sigrid, 2013. "School commuting: the relationship between energy consumption and urban form," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 1-11.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:6:y:2014:i:7:p:4558-4579:d:38426. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.